Robert Michael Sorbello

MMIC: a key technology for future communications satellite antennas

The results of ongoing development programs in the area of advanced satellite antenna technology currently being pursued at COMSAT Laboratories, under the sponsorship of the World Systems Division of COMSAT Corporation, are described. These programs are exploiting the promise of monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) as they apply to active phased arrays. Performance data on two phased-array programs are presented. The first program involves the development of a 64-element array in which MMICs are used to optimize and reconfigure the radiation pattern performance. The array is capable of generating a single beam and accurately synthesizing a specified radiation performance. The second array program, building on knowledge gained in the first program, addresses the problems of generating multiple beams, as well as the effect of power amplifiers on multicarrier performance. MMICs are employed in the beam-forming matrix and in the distributed 2-W solid-state power amplifiers. This design is capable of forming four simultaneous, independently steerable beams while allowing for flexible power sharing among the beams.