A dual band, dual polarised array antenna of modular construction

Describes the design and performance of a composite antenna consisting of a number of wideband array antenna modules (WAAMs), fed by a special-to-purpose dual corporate feed network. The WAAM consists of a 2*2 array of printed antenna elements, optimised for use over the military satellite communications band of 7.25-8.4 GHz. It has a minimum gain of 10 dBic and can operate in duplex mode in dual orthogonal circularly polarised transmit and receive bands, covering a total bandwidth of about 15%. The WAAM provides a building block for the creation of arrays of a size and shape limited only by the design of the feed network. Utilised in this way, applications for the WAAMs could include personal, mobile or phased array satellite communications terminals. A composite antenna is described which consists of a square array of four WAAMs, and has a minimum gain of 16 dBic in both transmit and receive bands.< >