Leaky wave enhanced feeds for multibeam reflectors to be used for telecom satellite based links

The use of dielectric super-layers for shaping the radiation pattern of focal plane feeds of a multibeam reflector system is discussed. Using the super-layers, it is possible to reduce the spillover from the reflectors without increasing the dimension of each aperture. The effect has been demonstrated using a realistic array configuration. The experimental demonstration is obtained with configurations which are typical for satellite based multi beam telecommunication links. Thanks to the adoption of a × 4 reuse scheme, based on frequency and polarization orthogonal channels, the measured edge of coverage directivity has improved, with respect to a standard technology case, by 2 dB over an operational bandwidth of about 2%.