Large Ka-Band Slot Array for Digital Beam-Forming Applications

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California

This work describes the development of a large Ka Band Slot Array for the Glacier and Land Ice Surface Topography Interferometer (GLISTIN), a proposed spaceborne interferometric synthetic aperture radar for topographic mapping of ice sheets and glaciers. GLISTIN will collect ice topography measurement data over a wide swath with sub-seasonal repeat intervals using a Ka-band digitally beam-formed antenna. For technology demonstration purpose a receive array of size 1×1 m, consisting of 160×160 radiating elements, was developed. The array is divided into 16 sticks, each stick consisting of 160×10 radiating elements, whose outputs are combined to produce 16 digital beams. A transmit array stick was also developed. The antenna arrays were designed using Elliott’s design equations with the use of an infinite-array mutual-coupling model. A Floquet wave model was used to account for external coupling between radiating slots. Because of the use of uniform amplitude and phase distribution, the infinite array model yielded identical values for all radiating elements but for alternating offsets, and identical coupling elements but for alternating positive and negative tilts.

Waveguide-fed slot arrays are finding many applications in radar, remote sensing, and communications applications because of their desirable properties such as low mass, low volume, and ease of design, manufacture, and deployability. Although waveguide-fed slot arrays have been designed, built, and tested in the past, this work represents several advances to the state of the art. The use of the infinite array model for the radiating slots yielded a simple design process for radiating and coupling slots. Method of moments solution to the integral equations for alternating offset radiating slots in an infinite array environment was developed and validated using the commercial finite element code HFSS. For the analysis purpose, a method of moments code was developed for an infinite array of subarrays.

Overall the 1×1 m array was found to be successful in meeting the objectives of the GLISTIN demonstration antenna, especially with respect to the 0.042°, 1/10th of the beamwidth of each stick, relative beam alignment between sticks.

This work was done by Sembiam Rengarajan, Mark S. Zawadzki, and Richard E. Hodges of Caltech for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. NPO-47416