Analysis and design of a continuous parallel plate waveguide multiple beam lens antenna at Ku-band

This paper presents the description and analysis of a continuous parallel plate waveguide (PPW) lens-like beamformer. The main design parameters of the continuous delay lens are defined starting from an ideal bifocal constrained lens. A dedicated ray tracing analysis tool is developed to better describe propagation effects in the delay lens and provide more insight on phase aberrations versus pointing angle. Numerical results of a specific design at Ku-band are reported by comparing radiation patterns obtained with the ray tracing tool and a full-wave method. These results are also compared to the ideal bifocal constrained lens design.