Mouser - White Papers

Mouser Electronics White Paper Satellite Communications The X-band plays an important role in both terrestrial broadband and satellite communications, providing weather-resistant, high-throughput links for Earth observation and defense applications. In these applications, signal degradation due to rain fade is a challenge. The level of signal attenuation hinges upon the signal frequency, rainfall intensity, and raindrop size. Rain fade can be intense at frequencies above 10GHz, causing signal outages, data loss, and system unavailability. Because much of the X-band range operates below this 10GHz threshold, it encounters less interference and noise, which is a necessity for long-range, high-data-rate communications. For example, the X-band is often used in satellite communications (Figure 2) for both uplink (Earth-to-space) and downlink (space-to-Earth) transmissions due to its resistance to noise and interference Figure 2: A communications satellite relies on the X-band to provide uplink and downlink transmissions. (Source: 3dsculptor/stock.adobe.com) Radar and Defense Applications The X-band's short wavelength supports narrow beamwidths and fast update rates in radar systems that require effective target discrimination. These characteristics make X-band well-suited for applications such as drone tracking, aviation, and defense, particularly where compact antenna architectures are required. In defense applications, X-band radar systems are used to detect and track targets in missions involving intelligence, surveillance, and perimeter monitoring. Additionally, the X-band supports aerospace activities as well as deep space telecommunications. Advanced Radar Architectures and Design The high resolution achieved by the X-band spectrum is in part dependent upon advanced beamforming techniques. Legacy beamforming systems are built in a passive electronically scanned array (PESA) architecture, where phase shifters steer a signal from a single transmit-and-receive (T/R) module to each antenna element, forming beams. PESA antennas provide fast and accurate beam steering, but because they have only one T/R module, they are limited to a single frequency at a time. Modern radar systems in defense applications often use active electronically scanned arrays (AESA), which contain a T/R module for each antenna element (Figure 3). The additional T/R modules provide an additional layer of accurate beam control, enabling the AESA system to use multiple frequencies simultaneously. This makes AESA systems more resilient against jamming and harder to discern from background noise. Figure 3: Antenna elements in PESA antennas share a T/R module, while AESA antennas contain a T/R module for each antenna element. (Source: Qorvo) An array of beamformer ICs, often controlling four or more elements, controls the T/R modules in AESA systems (Figure 4). Each beamformer IC contains gain and phase controls for several T/R modules, enabling fast, accurate beamsteering that can be daisy-chained into larger arrays of beamformers and antennas. 5 Beamformer ICs must be highly integrated to meet demanding SWaP-C requirements for AESA systems, particularly for airborne or mobile platforms where X-band is well-suited. Qorvo's AWS-0103 beamforming IC combines high built for critical detection and surveillance applications.

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