A Low-Cost Dual-Frequency Dual-Polarized Antenna Array with High Gain

Area of Science:

• Electrical Engineering
• Antenna Theory
• Satellite Communications

Background:

• Satellite communication systems require efficient antennas for transmitting and receiving signals.
• Traditional microstrip antennas can suffer from high losses in feed lines for large apertures.
• Dual-frequency and dual-polarization capabilities are desirable for increased communication flexibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a high-gain microstrip antenna array with dual-frequency and dual-polarization capabilities.
• To address the challenge of high losses in microstrip feed lines for large antenna arrays.
• To enable satellite communication systems to use a single antenna for both transmission and reception.

Main Methods:

• The antenna array is divided into subarrays, each fed by a low-loss separate feed network.
• Dual-frequency and dual-polarization are achieved using orthogonal modes of a corner-fed rectangular patch.
• Semi-ridged coaxial lines and low-insertion-loss radial power dividers are employed to minimize feed network losses.

Main Results:

• A 32x32 element array prototype was fabricated and measured, operating at 12.5 GHz and 14.25 GHz.
• Measured results closely matched simulation data.
• Achieved -10 dB return loss bandwidths of 12.04-12.69 GHz and 13.82-14.66 GHz.
• Measured gains were 34.5 dBi and 35.2 dBi at the respective operating bands.

Conclusions:

• The proposed microstrip antenna array design successfully demonstrates high gain, dual-frequency, and dual-polarization operation.
• The subarray feeding strategy and optimized feed network effectively minimize losses.
• The design is validated by measured performance, showing excellent agreement with simulations.