A Quadruple-Mode Contiguous-Band Multiplexer for Communications Satellites

A new type of Ku-band, contiguous-band multiplexer with quadruple-mode degeneracies was designed, manufactured, and tested. Extensive tradeoff studies comparing a conventional multiplexer with the present design in terms of system performance were conducted. This paper summarizes the sign technique, experimental measurements, and system performance simulations. Each multiplexed channel filter is realized by a single physical cavity, thus leading to about 60 percent mass savings and 50 percent insertion loss improvement per filter when compared to the conventional dual-mode multiplexers presently being used in most communications satellites. The experimental results exhibit excellent agreement with the designed performance.