Multi-Beam Antennas (MBAs) and Beam-Forming Networks (BFNs)
Abstract – Distinguished Speakers Giovanni Toso and Piero Angeletti from European Space Agency, Netherlands will present the state of the art and the on-going development in Multi-Beam Antennas (MBAs) and Beam-Forming Networks (BFNs). They find applications in several fields including communications, remote sensing (e.g. radars, radiometers, etc.), electric surveillance and defense systems, science (e.g. multibeam radio telescopes), RF navigation systems, etc. They may be installed on board satellites, airplanes, trains, buses, cars etc. MBAs and BFNs are becoming also fundamental elements in emerging MIMO and 5G communications. The BFN plays an essential role in any antenna system relaying on a set of radiating elements to generate a beam. The lectures cover both theoretical and practical aspects for the following topics:
- Overview of systems applications
- Multibeam Antenna Architecture (based on Reflectors, Arrays. Lenses)
- Beamforming Networks
- Analogue BFNs (Corporate, Blass, Nolen, Butler matrices, Digital BFNs)
- Overview of some Operational Multibeam Antennas/BFNs
- On-going European Developments
- Current Design and Technical Challenges
Bio – Giovanni Toso received the Laurea Degree (cum laude), the Ph.D. and the Post Doctoral Fellowship from the University of Florence, Italy, in 1992, 1995 and 1999, respectively. Since 2000, he has been with the Antenna and Submillimeter Waves Section, European Space Agency (ESA), European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), Noordwijk, The Netherlands. He has been initiating several research and development activities on satellite antennas based on arrays, reflectarrays, discrete lenses, and reflectors. Since 2010, together with Dr. P. Angeletti, he has been instructing short courses on Multibeam Antennas and Beamforming Networks during international conferences that have been attended by more than 1200 participants. He is the organizer of two EurAAP-ESoA Courses on Active Antennas and on Satellite Antennas. From January 2023 Giovanni Toso has been elevated to IEEE Fellow grade for contributions to multibeam antenna developments for satellite applications. G. Toso is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society and has coauthored about 20 ESA International Patents.
Piero Angeletti (M’07) received the Laurea degree in electronics engineering from the University of Ancona, Ancona, Italy, in 1996, and the Ph.D. degree in electromagnetism from the University of Rome “La Sapienza,” Rome, Italy, in 2010.,His 15 years of experience in RF Systems engineering and technical management encompass conceptual/architectural design, tradeoffs, detailed design, production, integration, and testing of satellite payloads and active antenna systems for commercial/military telecommunications and navigation (spanning all the operating bands and set of applications) as well as for multifunction RADARs and electronic counter measure systems. He is currently a Member of the Technical Staff with the European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC), European Space Agency, Noordwijk, The Netherlands. He is with the RF Payload Systems Division, ESA Technical and Quality Management Directorate, which is responsible for RF space communication systems, instrumentation, subsystems, equipment, and technologies. In particular he oversees ESA R&D activities related to flexible satellite payloads, RF front ends and on-board digital processors. He authored or coauthored over 150 technical reports, book chapters, and papers published in peer reviewed professional journals and international conference proceedings.
This is an in-person seminar. If you opt to join via zoom use meeting ID 878 4444 5479 Passcode 058517