A Lightweight Organic X-Band Active Receiving Phased Array With Integrated SiGe Amplifiers and Phase Shifters

Abstract

This paper presents for the first time an X-band antenna array with integrated silicon germanium low noise amplifiers (LNA) and 3-bit phase shifters (PS). LNAs and PSs were successfully integrated onto an 8 × 2 lightweight antenna utilizing a multilayer liquid crystal polymer (LCP) feed substrate laminated with a duroid antenna layer. A baseline passive 8×2 antenna is measured along with a SiGe integrated 8×2 receive antenna for comparison of results. The active antenna array weighs only 3.5 ounces and consumes 53 mW of dc power. Successful comparisons of the measured and simulated results verify a working phased array with a return loss better than 10 dB across the frequency band of 9.25 GHz-9.75 GHz. A comparison of radiation patterns for the 8×2 baseline antenna and the 8×2 SiGe integrated antenna show a 25 dB increase in gain (ΔG). The SiGe integrated antenna demonstrated a predictable beam steering capability of ±41°. Combined antenna and receiver performance yielded a merit G/T of -9.1 dB/K and noise figure of 5.6 dB.