Design and prototyping of a microstrip transmit-receive array antenna for mobile Ku-band satellite terminals

Microstrip array antennas are used in a wide range of communication systems thanks to their numerous appreciated features. However, one persistent disadvantage of this technology is a potentially high level of inter-element mutual coupling, especially if reception and transmission radiating patches are combined on the same aperture plane. The present work explores a new technique to reduce the aforementioned limitation, based on a patch pattern optimized for this kind of situation. A transmit-receive array that operates in Ku band is designed, built and measured to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed patch geometry.