A Modular, Low-Cost Ka-Band Antenna Subarray as Building Block for Phased Arrays of Arbitrary Size and Shape

Recent and upcoming megaconstellations in LEO orbit will contribute to suppress the digital divide through satellite communication (satcom). The big obstacle, for an even more widespread use, is currently represented by the user terminal. The everyday consumer has still to deal with high power consumption and cost, exhibited by existing phased array- based antenna solutions. In this paper, a cost-effective phased array modular antenna concept, based on domino subarrays, is presented. The domino subarrays can be deployed in an arbitrary size and shape, opening to fully customizable phased arrays which can accommodate different designs for the upcoming 6G applications.