Highly Integrated Wideband Transmit/Receive Module for X-Band SAR Applications

The roadmaps of satellite-based synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems show a trend that requires a continuous improvement of the active antenna in terms of operating bandwidth, scanning angle capability, and swath width, thus leading to the demand for increased RF power and better power efficiency of the RF transmitter. Moreover, compact size and light weight are relevant objectives for making the overall SAR instrument appealing for future applications. The transmit/receive module (TRM) shown in this paper was developed while combining all these requirements in a cost-effective approach. A careful design of all relevant RF interconnects and passive devices was performed to ensure the largest output power from the last high-power amplifier of the transmitting chain, the lowest noise figure at the input of the receiving chain, and the calibration capability for appropriately tuning the TX and RX signal. The TRM was manufactured and experimentally tested to verify its performances. The measurement results show the superior performances of the proposed compact high-power large-bandwidth TRM. The achieved target objectives make the design of the proposed TRM readily applicable for the development of a compact, high-power, and highly integrated AESAs to be used for next-generation satellite constellations for Earth observation.