Open AccessAnalytical expressions for the evaluation of gravity distortion impact on the antenna efficiency applied to large antenna uplink arrays
Author(s) -
SalasNatera Miguel A.,
RodríguezOsorio Ramón Martínez,
Haro Ariet Leandro,
Calvo Ramón Miguel
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
iet microwaves, antennas and propagation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.555
H-Index - 69
eISSN - 1751-8733
pISSN - 1751-8725
DOI - 10.1049/iet-map.2016.0953
Subject(s) - antenna (radio) , antenna measurement , reflector (photography) , distortion (music) , telecommunications link , antenna factor , physics , optics , mathematics , electronic engineering , acoustics , computer science , telecommunications , engineering , bandwidth (computing) , light source , amplifier
We present analytical expressions for the evaluation of the antenna efficiency loss due to the gravity distortion on large reflector antennas from 6 to 35 m diameter at X and Ka bands with a lack of usual complexity. These analytical expressions can be used to evaluate the gain reduction versus the maximum deviation of the rim of the reflector due to the gravity distortion extending the model proposed by JPL to other antenna diameter in the range of 6 to 35 m. These expressions were compared with the empirical model for gravity evaluation presented by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the DSN antennas obtaining a good match between both models. This is useful to specify the maximum distortion due to the gravity for antenna system design level. For this, a five steps procedure is presented starting with the estimation of the antenna efficiency reduction based on the analytical expressions as a function of the maximum gravity distortion, the antenna size and frequency band and concluding with the estimation of the gain of a single antenna as a function of the elevation angle. The case study is focused on error analyses for large antenna uplink arrays at X and Ka band.