Ka-band phased array antenna with integrated MEMS phase shifters

We present a wideband Ka-band phased array antenna with micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) phase shifters integrated directly into the feeding structure of each element. Traditionally, phased arrays use GaAs monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) phase shifters for beam-steering. However, as the number of array elements grow, MEMS-based phase-shifter technologies become more attractive due to lower insertion loss and very low power consumption. In particular, for a new class of phased arrays developed recently, the large number of elements necessitates use of MEMS-based phase-shifter to minimize total power.