An Antenna Array for Ku band Satellite Reception

1 2 2 1 1
Ahmet F. Yagli , Mesut Gokten , Lokman Kuzu Hasan H. Ertok and Senol Gulgonul
1
R&D and Satellite Design Dept.
Turksat AS, Ankara, Turkey
afyagli@turksat.com, hertok@turksat.com, sgulgonul@turksat.com
2
Space Technologies Research Inst.
Tubitak, Ankara, Turkey
mesut.gokten@tubitak.gov.tr, lokman.kuzu@tubitak.gov.tr

Abstract ņ A Ku-band antenna is designed in this desired gain. The array is composed of 16×16
study. The wide-band antenna is made of a multi- elements of slot antennas. Each element is
layer planar slot array operating at 11.725 GHz optimized to have minimum return loss at 11.725
center frequency for satellite communication GHz. The antenna is supposed to receive both
purposes. The simulation results are presented in orthogonal linear polarizations. Since the Effective
this paper. Isotropic Radiated Power of Turksat satellites
around Turkey region is nearly 54 dBW, the
Index Terms – Array antenna, Ku-band, satellite required antenna gain of the overall structure is
communications, slot array. aimed to be minimum 27 dBi.

I. INTRODUCTION II. DESIGN

Ku-band frequencies are widely used in The design procedure starts with designing
satellite communications especially for TV and simulating the single radiating element excited
broadcasting services. As one of the major players with two linear polarizations using CST EM
of the satellite services industry in Europe, Middle simulation software. The antenna has slot structure
East and Central Asia regions, Turksat AS with 3 layers each having a circular aperture and
operates three satellites, all with Ku-band between each stacked up layer a feed network of
repeaters. One of the main goals of Turksat is to one of the polarizations is placed. After optimizing
add value to satellite services and thus it supports the single element, a 2×2 subarray is formed as
R&D projects. For this purpose, a planar antenna shown in Fig.1. The S parameters and the radiation
is developed for satellite TV signal reception, pattern of one polarization is given in Fig. 2. The
which operates at around 11.725 GHz frequency. return loss is below 14 dB between 10 to 13 GHz
Array antennas can be built using various frequencies, where the gain is above 12.5 dB at the
antenna elements such as patches, slots, dipoles, boresight.
horns etc. [1, 2]. The radiating elements are
distributed in linear, two or three dimensional
configurations. The amplitude and phase of the
signals fed into each element can be modified to
reach the desired radiation pattern. Wansch et al.
utilized microstrip patch radiators to form a mini
terminal antenna for Ku-band [3]. Moreover, many
researchers worked on various types of array
antenna design for Ku-band frequencies [4-7].
The antenna considered in this study is
designed to have an array structure to obtain the Fig. 1. The 2×2 subarray.

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 The feed network of one polarization of 8×8
subarray is shown at Fig. 3, which is the one
quarter of the total structure given in Fig. 4. The
connections are formed using quarter wave
impedance transformers.

Fig. 5. The radiation pattern of 16×16

antenna array.

II. CONCLUSIONS
Fig. 2. S parameters of 2×2 subarray. The design phases of an array antenna
operating at Ku-band frequencies are presented in
this paper. The antenna consists of slot radiating
elements and is optimized to receive the TV
broadcast signals of Turksat satellites within
Turkey. The simulations are performed using CST
software, and the gain pattern results are
demonstrated.

REFERENCES
th
[1] J. L. Volakis, Antenna Engineering Handbook, 4
ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, 2007.
nd
[2] T. A. Milligan, Modern Antenna Design, 2 ed.,
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[3] R. Wansch, H. Adel, and H. Humpfer,
“MiniTerminal – a small antenna for satellite
nd
reception,” INICA 2007 2 International ITG
Fig. 3. The feed network of 8×8 subarray. Conference on Antennas, Munich, Germany,
March 2007.
[4] R. Manrique, R. Torres, C. Dominguez, F. Tiezzi,
and J. Mosig, “Design and prototyping of a
microstrip transmit-receive array antenna for
mobile Ku-band satellite terminals,” EuCAP 2010,
Barcelona, Spain, pp. 1-5, April 2010.
[5] H. T. Chou, and M. H. Wu, “Design of an all-metal
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[6] M. C. Vigano, D. Llorens del Rio, F. Bongards,
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mobile terminals using 1 bit phase controls,” IEEE
Trans. Antennas Propagat., –“UG hwT]YSG ——U
Fig. 4. The array antenna with 16×16 elements. X^YZTX^ZWSGYWX[UG
[7] K. M.-J. Ho, and G. M. Rebeiz, “Dual-band
The radiation pattern of the total structure is circularly polarized microstrip antenna for Ku-Ka
shown in Fig. 5 where the gain is above 30 dBi at band satellite communication arrays”, IEEE
11.725 GHz. APSURSI, pp. 1931-1832, Memphis, TN, July
2014.

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