Design of dual-band shared-aperture circularly polarized antenna with a wide beam for aircraft platforms

Most of published shared-antennas focus mainly on the characteristics of multi-band and multi-polarization, that is, a high profile and a complex structure. A dual-band circularly polarized shared-antenna is presented with a simple structure and wide beam coverage. Firstly, to reduce the size and weight, the shared-aperture antenna is applied for the quad-operating frequencies (UHF1/UHF2/S1/S2) with a stacked microstrip patch antenna and high dielectric constant substrates. All the quad-operating bands can be freely tuned by changing the lengths of patches. Secondly, the substrate with a high dielectric constant is added on the patch to improve the gain of the antenna in the low elevation direction, broadening the antenna beam. Next, to obtain the quad-band circularly polarization (CP) radiation pattern, the feeding structure with the broadband phase shifter is also designed. Finally, the proposed antenna prototype is fabricated and measured. Its measured impedance bandwidth, axial ratio and radiation pattern are in good agreement with simulation results. The proposed antenna has already been applied to a special airborne communication system. Additionally, the antenna synthesis method may be further extended to realize the shared-aperture circularly polarized antenna with more than two bands.