Title :
On-board electronics for an active near field multibeam
Author :
Bartolucci, G. ; Leuzzi, G. ; Paoloni, Claudio ; Ruggieri, M.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. Eng., Rome Univ.
Abstract :
Some results of a study on active antennas for communications satellites are presented. A comparison between the performances of the antenna system in the two cases of a beam forming network (BFN) at low (IF) or high (RF) frequency is carried out, and the results are presented. The comparison is performed from the point of view of total weight, size, bandwidth, and reliability for a near-field multibeam antenna covering Western Europe. In the case of a low-frequency BFN the system is formed by a diode matrix followed by 37 chains of two cascaded mixers for the two-step up-conversion. The prevailing mass contribution comes from the mixers, even if they are refunded, while the use of the active matrix has the greater impact on reliability and bandwidth limitation. In the case of a high-frequency BFN the single or double (cascaded) bank of 14 mixers is followed by a hybrid BFN. The mixers, even if fully redundant and with a two-step up-conversion, are fewer in number, and therefore lighter, than in the previous case, while the reliability is ensured to a good level
Keywords :
antenna phased arrays; satellite antennas; HF; IF; LF; RF; Western Europe; active antennas; active matrix; active near field multibeam; antenna phased array; antenna system; bandwidth; beam forming network; communications satellites; diode matrix; mixers; onboard electronics; reliability; size; total weight; two-step up-conversion; Bit error rate; Bit rate; Electronic equipment testing; Fading; Frequency conversion; Frequency estimation; Hafnium; Interference; Mixers; Packaging;
Conference_Titel :
Electrotechnical Conference, 1989. Proceedings. 'Integrating Research, Industry and Education in Energy and Communication Engineering', MELECON '89., Mediterranean
Conference_Location :
Lisbon
DOI :
10.1109/MELCON.1989.50060
