Hybrid Waveguide Feed Network for Aperiodic Subarray Beamforming

Abstract

In this letter, a hybrid waveguide feed network for an aperiodic subarray beamforming antenna is presented. The feed structure is divided into vertical and horizontal parts. Vertical parts have inclined slots with a reduced-height waveguide, and the horizontal part has unequal <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">H</i> -plane septum power dividers to achieve a compact feed network with acceptable electrical characteristics. The angle of each inclined slot and the position of each septum were designed for amplitude weighting and in-phase characteristics. For comparison, a simple resonant feed network without septum power dividers (i.e., with waveguides and inclined slots) was simulated to access the effectiveness of the proposed network. The proposed structure was fabricated using computer numerical control milling and diffusion bonding. The input reflection coefficient was less than −15 dB, and the transmission phase difference between 20 ports was less than 72° within a bandwidth of 2.4%. This feed network design has potential applications in electronically scanned arrays and subarray antennas for a limited field of view.