Stabilization of Beams of a Satellite Hybrid Reflector Antenna via Processing Signals from the Ground Beacon

Abstract

This paper discusses a heuristic algorithm that provides stabilization of beams of a satellite multiple beam hybrid reflector antenna via processing the antenna array signals received from a ground beacon. First, in accordance with the proposed algorithm, the actual profile of the reflector is retrieved as a surface on which the phase difference between the field of the conjugate excited antenna array and the field of a plane wave propagating in the direction of the beacon equals to zero. After that, taking into account the reconstructed profile, the weight vectors of the antenna array are adjusted to form the necessary set of beams. By modeling three types of reflector distortions, the accuracy of the weight vectors correction and the effectiveness of beams stabilization have been confirmed.