Design of a highly integrated Ku-band planar broadband phased array receiver with dual polarization

A highly integrated Ku-band (10.7-12.75 GHz) planar phased array receiver of 64 antenna elements is presented. It features instantaneous reception of the full Ku-band (2.05 GHz wide) in two orthogonal polarizations with scan angles up to 75 degrees by using time delay instead of phase shift. The receiver is part of a system for satellite reception on board of moving vehicles. Two SiGe RFICs were developed, packaged in ceramic BGAs and assembled onto a 15-layer PCB which integrates the antenna elements. An outline of the system is given along with a detailed description. It sets a new standard in integration density.