Active discrete lens for multi-beam applications operating in the Ka/Q/V bands with very wide scan angles and limited envelope for MEO/LEO applications.

The proposed activity concerns a further development of the ESA patent PAT 750 “Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Discrete Constrained Lenses with Minimized Optical Aberrations” to be applied for on-board multibeam active antennas operating in the Ka/Q/V frequency bands with wide scan angles and limited envelopes, or for the design of Q/V-band multibeam terrestrial gateway antennas. The proposed idea consists in making the discrete lens more compact than would result from its conventional synthesis, by using two new techniques. The first involves a synthesis method that significantly extends the maximum scan angle up to 50°/55° with low losses compared to those of a planar phased array. The second technique, instead, allows to compensate for the effects of lens aberrations, thus allowing or a further extension of the maximum scan angle, or a reduction of the antenna envelope, depending on what is most appropriate for the application. It is based on a multiple-feed-per-beam architecture and requires a network, composed of Beam Former Integrated Circuits (BFICs) and Blocking Switch Matrices (BSMs), to feed clusters of PA elements to ensure electronic scanning of several beams simultaneously on the entire field of view.