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

摘要

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 $,times,$2 lightweight antenna utilizing a multilayer liquid crystal polymer (LCP) feed substrate laminated with a duroid antenna layer. A baseline passive 8$,times,$2 antenna is measured along with a SiGe integrated 8$,times,$ 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 $,times,$2 baseline antenna and the 8$,times,$2 SiGe integrated antenna show a 25 dB increase in gain $(Delta G)$. The SiGe integrated antenna demonstrated a predictable beam steering capability of ${pm 41}^{circ}$. Combined antenna and receiver performance yielded a merit $G/T$ of ${- 9.1}~{rm dB}/{rm K}$ and noise figure of 5.6 dB.