64 Element Active Phased Array as Focal Plane Array Feed for Reflector Antennas for mm-Wave Wireless Communications

Reflector antennas are utilized in a lot of applications that require a high gain antenna system. Conventionally, the reflector antenna is fed by a single radiating element, making the direction of the beam fixed. Using a focal plane array (FPA) as feeding mechanism, the magnitude and direction of the resulting beam can be controlled electronically. Using an in-house developed tool, the amplitude and phase settings for a 28 GHz active phased array antenna are determined in order to mimic the ideal feeding pattern for a certain reflector. The far-field of the FPA in combination with the reflector antenna is determined for a scan angle of 0° and 3°.