A novel conformal DBF receiving phased array on satellite application

A novel digital beam forming conformal phased array employed for satellite communication is introduced. A hemispherical shaped structure is designed for arranging the antenna elements, and the dual-layer patch antenna element is adopted to achieve broadband circular polarization. Depending on the directions of incoming waves, the elements/RF channels projected over the surface of the hemispherical array are selectively operating for beam forming. The beam coverage with gain variation within 1.5 dB are achieved in the space from -75° to 75°. The RF-digital integrative technique is proposed to achieve multiple beams at the same time, so the tracking of several satellites using one set of antenna is achieved. Finally, a prototype is manufactured and tested to verify the beam forming capability of the conformal hemispherical array. The proposed antenna is helpful for extending the beam forming architecture in satellite communication, and is instructive for engineering research.