Broadband RF-MEMS based switching network for automated measurements of multifeed antennas

This paper describes the design, integration and test of a broadband SP16T switching network based on commercially available RF-MEMS SPDT switches. The switching network has been developed to replace an existing network based on semiconductor technology in an automated measurement setup for multifeed X-band and Ka-band satellite communication (SatCom) antennas. A high isolation to insertion loss ratio from 10 GHz to 30 GHz has been one of the main challenges of the project. The SP16T has a wide operational bandwidth, from 7 GHz to 33 GHz, insertion loss lower than 15 dB and isolation higher than 60 dB almost over the whole frequency range.