XFdtd Analysis Of A Ku-Band Satellite Antenna Array For Mobile Devices

In this example, a satellite antenna originally designed for X-band operation is modified in XFdtd to reduce the overall size, allowing it to fit on a mobile device. This is accomplished by shifting its operating frequency to the Ku-band at 12.5 GHz.

The antenna consists of a 4x4 array of elements, each containing four rotated patch elements. The four patch elements are fed with phase adjustments of 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees to produce a circularly-polarized field. The array produces a main beam with gain of over 20.7 dBi which can be steered over a wide field of +/- 60 degrees. The performance of the array in this configuration is investigated to determine the feasibility of such an application.