Multiple Feed per Beam networks for Ka-band satellite communication systems in LTCC technology

Abstract

Modern communication satellites need to cover very large service areas with local variations in required transmission capacity. To allow for efficient frequency re-use and bandwidth to local beam allocation a Multiple Feed per Beam (MFB) concept with a four color topology may be used to illuminate the reflector antenna. However, in current systems the size of the feed network requires the usage of one reflector antenna for each color. In this paper a scalable and size-efficient LTCC power divider network is presented, that will form the basis of a MFB network, which enables the use of a single reflector antenna for all four colors. Thus, the payload of the satellite is significantly reduced.