Ku-band flat lens design for satellite TV applications

Abstract

In this paper, the design of a dielectric flat lens to operate in the Ku-band for satellite communications is presented. Modern dishes intended for home television are generally bulky and heavy. Moreover, the costs of installation and alignment with the desired satellite are high. Satellite television providers are therefore looking for alternatives to the traditional dishes that could provide narrow beamwidths (5° max.), high gains, low side-lobe levels and beam steering capabilities. To satisfy the aforementioned requirements, we propose a dielectric flat lens to steer and enhance the radiation of the feed in a particular direction. Our simulation results indicate that we can achieve up to 31 dB of gain with 2.3° beamwidth, and beam-steering capabilities from +15° to -15° in both azimuth and elevation with more than 28 dB of gain with around 4° beamwidth, with low side-lobe levels, in the entire frequency band of interest (from 11.7 to 12.2 GHz). Moreover, the proposed design leads to a low-profile antenna configuration, easy to manufacture and low-cost.