A Design Concept for an MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit) Microstrip Phased Array.

A conceptual design for a microstrip phased array with monolithic microwave integrated circuit MMIC amplitude and phase controls is described. The MMIC devices used are 20 GHz variable power amplifiers and variable phase shifters recently developed by NASA contractors for applications in future Ka band advanced satellite communication antenna systems. The proposed design concept is for a general NxN element array of rectangular lattice geometry. Subarray excitation is incorporated in the MMIC phased array design to reduce the complexity of the beam forming network and the number of MMIC components required.