European Space Agency

Giovanni Toso

Piero Angeletti

A beamforming network includes a three-dimensional discrete lens with front and back apertures, each comprising a plurality of discrete elements. Each discrete element of the back aperture is homologous to a respective discrete element of the front aperture. The discrete lens further comprises a plurality of transmission lines connecting respective pairs of homologous discrete elements. The beamforming network can further include a feed array that illuminates the back aperture when the lens is working in transmission, and/or receives signals from the back aperture, when the lens is working in reception. A ratio of a size of the back aperture and a size of the front aperture defines a zooming factor whose value is different from unity, so that angles of emergence of beams of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the front aperture are either tilted towards or away from a center axis compared to angles of incidence on the back aperture.

Two-dimensional and three-dimensional discrete constrained lenses with minimized optical aberrations

A beamforming network for use with a plurality of antenna elements arranged in a planar array of linear sub-arrays includes first and second sets of beamforming sub-networks. Each beamforming sub-network in the first set of beamforming sub-networks is associated with a respective one of the linear sub-arrays and is adapted to generate, via the associated linear sub-array, fan beams along respective beam directions in a first set of beam directions. Each beamforming sub-network in the second set of beamforming sub-networks is associated with a respective one of the beam directions in the first set of beam directions. For each beamforming sub-network in the second set of beamforming sub-networks, each of the output port is coupled to an input port of a respective beamforming sub-network in the first set of beamforming sub-networks that corresponds to the associated beam direction. The application further relates to a multibeam antenna comprising such beamforming network.

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Noordwijk ZH, Netherlands

Giovanni Toso