Wide-Beamwidth Circular Polarized Antenna for Diversity Combining Applications

in Vasquez-Peralvo, Juan Andres; Merlano Duncan, Juan Carlos; Eappen, Geoffrey (Eds.) et al Global Communications Conference, Rio de Janeiro, 4 - 9 December 2022 (in press)

This paper presents the design, simulation, and manufacturing of a right-hand circularly polarized antenna working in the frequency band 17.7-20.2 GHz with a beamwidth of 42.4$^\circ$ and 5.4$^\circ$ for ... [more ▼]

This paper presents the design, simulation, and manufacturing of a right-hand circularly polarized antenna working in the frequency band 17.7-20.2 GHz with a beamwidth of 42.4$^\circ$ and 5.4$^\circ$ for the H-plane and E-plane, respectively. The presented antenna is part of a set of three antennas, two high-gain antennas, and, presented in this paper, a low directive antenna used for reception. The application we describe in this paper combines the radio-frequency signals obtained from the O3b satellite constellation, using three antennas to apply path diversity later to reconstruct the original signal. Moreover, using an antenna with a beamwidth in one plane allows receiving two satellite signals at the same time, increasing by 3 dB the overall gain. The wide-band capabilities of the antenna are obtained using aperture coupling. In particular, the circular polarization of the antenna is generated using a truncated corner square patch. Further, a metasurface is placed at the top to enhance the axial ratio. Importantly, the simulation results obtained using CST Microwave Studio show that the antenna has a reflection coefficient below -10 dB and an axial ratio below -3 dB in the intended frequency range. [less ▲]

Joint Linear Precoding and DFT Beamforming Design for Massive MIMO Satellite Communication

in IEEE Global Communications Conference GLOBECOM 2022 (2022, December)

Area-Power Analysis of FFT Based Digital Beamforming for GEO, MEO, and LEO Scenarios

in Area-Power Analysis of FFT Based Digital Beamforming for GEO, MEO, and LEO Scenarios (2022, June 19)

Satellite communication systems can provide seamless wireless coverage directly or through complementary ground terrestrial components and are projected to be incorporated into future wireless networks ... [more ▼]

Satellite communication systems can provide seamless wireless coverage directly or through complementary ground terrestrial components and are projected to be incorporated into future wireless networks, particularly 5G and beyond networks. Increased capacity and flexibility in telecom satellite payloads based on classic radio frequency technology have traditionally translated into increased power consumption and dissipation. Much of the analog hardware in a satellite communications payload can be replaced with highly integrated digital components that are often smaller, lighter, and less expensive, as well as software reprogrammable. Digital beamforming of thousands of beams simultaneously is not practical due to the limited power available onboard satellite processors. Reduced digital beamforming power consumption would enable the deployment of a full digital payload, resulting in comprehensive user applications. Beamforming can be implemented using matrix multiplication, hybrid methodology, or a discrete Fourier transform (DFT). Implementing DFT via fast Fourier transform (FFT) reduces the power consumption, process time, hardware requirements, and chip area. Therefore, in this paper, area-power efficient FFT architectures for digital beamforming are analyzed. The area in terms of look up tables (LUTs) is estimated and compared among conventional FFT, fully unrolled FFT, and a 4-bit quantized twiddle factor (TF) FFT. Further, for the typical satellite scenarios, area, and power estimation are reported. [less ▲]