Integrated eight element Ku band transmit/receive beamformer chipset for low-cost commercial phased array antennas

An integrated eight element SiGe Ku band phased array and smart antenna beamformer chipset design is described. The beamformer chips include independent digital phase shifters and variable gain amplifiers in each of eight signal paths. The receive chip includes a low noise amplifier at each RF input, and the transmit chip includes a power amplifier at each RF output. Simulated performance meets design targets for the intended application to low-cost commercial phased array antennas for bidirectional satellite video and data ground terminals.