Dual-circular polarized antenna system
In an example embodiment, an azimuth combiner comprises: a septum layer comprising a plurality of septum dividers; first and second housing layers attached to first and second sides of the septum layer; a linear array of ports on a first end of the combiner; wherein the first and second housing layers each comprise waveguide H-plane T-junctions; wherein the waveguide T-junctions can be configured to perform power dividing/combining; and wherein the septum layer evenly bisects each port of the linear array of ports. A stack of such azimuth combiners can form a two dimensional planar array of ports to which can be added a horn aperture layer, and a grid layer, to form a dual-polarized, dual-BFN, dual-band antenna array.
1. A waveguide network for an antenna comprising:
a first port associated with a first polarization;
a second port associated with a second polarization;
an array of third ports in a plane, wherein each third port of the array of third ports is associated with a respective polarizer dividing the each third ports into a first portion associated with the first polarization and a second portion associated with the second polarization;
a first combiner/divider coupled with the first port; and
a second combiner/divider coupled between the first combiner/divider and the first portions of the array of third ports,
wherein at least a portion of the first combiner/divider and at least a portion of the second combiner/divider overlap in a dimension perpendicular to the plane.
2. The waveguide network of claim 1 , wherein the array of third ports includes a first group of third ports and a second group of third ports, wherein the first group is offset from the second group along a dimension of the plane.
3. The waveguide network of claim 1 , further comprising:
a third combiner/divider coupled with the second port; and
a fourth combiner/divider coupled between the third combiner/divider and the second portions of the array of third ports,
wherein at least a portion of the third combiner/divider and at least a portion of the fourth combiner/divider overlap in the dimension perpendicular to the plane.
4. The waveguide network of claim 3 , wherein:
the plane is a first plane;
the first combiner/divider has mirror symmetry with the third combiner/divider across a second plane; and
the second combiner/divider has mirror symmetry with the fourth combiner/divider across the second plane.
5. The waveguide network of claim 4 , wherein the second plane is perpendicular to the first plane.
6. The waveguide network of claim 1 , wherein the first polarization is associated with a first circular polarization and the second polarization is associated with a second circular polarization that is different than the first circular polarization.
7. The waveguide network of claim 1 , wherein each of the respective polarizers is a stepped septum divider.
8. The waveguide network of claim 1 , wherein the first combiner/divider, the second combiner/divider, or both comprises an E-plane septum.
9. The waveguide network of claim 1 , wherein the first combiner/divider and the second combiner/divider are configured for combining/dividing in different planes.
10. The waveguide network of claim 1 , wherein the second combiner/divider is an H-plane combiner/divider.