Compact Substrate Integrated Waveguide (SIW) Monopulse Network for $Ku$ -Band Tracking System Applications

A compact single-layer substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) monopulse network for Ku-band tracking system applications is investigated and demonstrated in this work. The feeding network and the monopulse comparator are integrated into a substrate with a structure size of 8.2λ
₀
×9λ
₀
at center frequency while 32 output ports are welded perpendicularly for connecting active transmit/receive modules. The optimal design of a 3-dB coupler with metallic slots and phase shifter with dual steps is presented. The relative frequency bandwidth ( | S11|, | S22|, and ) of the network is 6%, in which the phase imbalance of all ports is less than 5.5° [root mean square (rms)], the power imbalance is about 0.5 dB (rms). The insertion losses are about 3-5 dB and the isolations between the three channels are all better than 25 dB. The good performances of this SIW-based monopulse network are validated by measurements, showing the advantages of low cost, light weight, easy fabrication, etc. It presents an excellent candidate for Ku-band tracking systems or up-band millimeter-wave systems.