A 30 GHz highly integrated LTCC antenna element for digital beam forming arrays

The increasing demand for mobile access to fast data services is one of the drivers for future broadband satellite systems. In-flight data exchange between aircraft and satellites for real-time Internet access is a prominent example for this kind of satellite link. Antennas employing digital beam-forming provide the fast and flexible reconfigurability required in such a system without the necessity for moving mechanical parts. The antenna presented is a circularly polarised, 4×4 element array building block. This module can be used for a digital beam forming terminal transmitting system operating at 29.75 GHz (Baggen, L. et al., IEEE Phased Array Systems and Technology, p.571-76, 2003). The array features a calibration network as well as transmitting circuitry for each single element. This high density integration task is achieved by the vertical integration of antenna and circuitries in an LTCC multilayer module.