MILLIMETER-WAVE TIGHTLY-COUPLED PHASED ARRAY WITH INTEGRATED MEMS PHASE SHIFTERS

A low-loss electronic beam steering model is presented in this paper based on tightly-coupled dipole array topology for satellite communications applications for K through Ka-band (18–40) GHz. The array is low-profile having < 3.4 mm height and printed on an affordable single-layered PCB. As proof-of-concept, a 4×4-element, single polarized array is fabricated and measured showing (18–40) GHz (VSWR < 2) continual band coverage. A compact, low-loss electronic beam steering architecture for moderate bandwidth arrays is also utilized for beam steering. A 2-bits tunable phase shifter, spanning over (18–30) GHz with IL < 2.5 dB, is developed using micro-electro mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. The phase shifter is integrated with the array elements resulting in reduced size, cost, and complexity of the feeding network. A full-wave simulation of the 4× Infinite array with the integrated MEMS phase shifter is conducted to prove the concept.