Low-cost planar phased array with wide scan and multioctave bandwidth

Abstract

There are several leading challenges for planar phased arrays. First, for performance, it is difficult to achieve wide angle scan over a wide bandwidth. Second, their costs have been prohibitively high. The third challenge is to be thin and lightweight, suitable for mounting on various terrestrial and ex-terrestrial platforms and for ease of transportation. Consequently, Multioctave Planar Phased Arrays (MPPA) having multioctave bandwidth, in particular thin MPPAs, are highly desirable. Applications of MPPAs include radars, Electronic Warfare (EW) systems, communications systems, and next-generation cellphone base stations.