Design and analysis of a satellite-mount array-fed parabolic antenna by electromagnetic computations

Precise contoured beam is very important in designing antenna system for satellite broadcasting application. Through accurate contoured beam design, constant signal and optimum beam performance can be achieved throughout the region. For the case of Malaysia, two separate contoured beams for the peninsular and Borneo regions must be obtained. In this paper, a lightweight non-symmetrical array feed structure is designed to illuminate a single parabolic reflector. For this structure, calculation of the exact positions of radiating element on a widely distributed feed area is the most critical aspect in achieving an optimum contoured beam. Therefore, an accurate two-dimensional caustic locus graph is used to determine the position of the array elements on the radiating patch. Optimization of amplitude excitations of each element is performed to ensure less than -3dB variation along the edge of coverage (EOC). The performance of the multi-element asymmetrical patch feed integrated with parabolic reflector system are analyzed and verified through MOM-based FEKO solver.