20 GHz high power onboard beam switching circuit for multi-beam satellite systems

A newly developed K-band beam switching circuit is presented. The K-band beam switching circuit for multibeam satellite system is effective to improve the transponder utilization efficiency. The beam switching circuit divides the output of a transponder among several different light traffic beams in a time division manner. The single pole double throw (SPDT) beam switching circuit consists of one circulator, one 90 degree hybrid coupler, and two 0/pi reflection type PIN diode phase shifters. A trially manufactured SPDT switching circuit has high power handling capability of more than 10 watts, low insertion loss of less than 1.2 dB, high isolation of more than 23 dB, and high speed switching time of faster than 100 nanoseconds in the frequency band between 18.85 GHz and 19.15 GHz.