A Mobile Antenna for the Digital Satellite Radio (DSR)

An adaptive antenna for mobile reception of the digital satellite radio (DSR) is presented. The antenna system is developed for the 12 GHz frequency range and left-hand circular polarization. It consists of four planar arrays, each with 8×32 microstrip patches. The design of the antenna considers the special problems inherent in the mobile reception of direct broadcasting satellites in Germany. With the main beam steerable in a full azimuth range of 360° and an elevation range of 150° - 37° the antenna meets the required specifications. 4-bit phase shifters are used to control the main beam in azimuth and 1-bit phase shifters are sufficient for the elevation range. The applied adaptation method needs only input information, which can easily be provided by the receiver. First tests on the mobile reception of the DSR signals via TV-SAT2 have shown good performance.