Satellite Beam Weights Explained | Learn What They Are

[CatWoman]

Hi, can anyone explain satellite beam weights, I think more precisely, phase weights and amplitude weights. I am starting a job next week and at my interview they mentioned these. I am trying to read up on these before I start and can't find anything useful on the internet.
Many thanks.

 

[jsgruszynski]

Hi, can anyone explain satellite beam weights, I think more precisely, phase weights and amplitude weights. I am starting a job next week and at my interview they mentioned these. I am trying to read up on these before I start and can't find anything useful on the internet.
Many thanks.

I'm not an expert in this specifically but I used to work with satellites. It's about "smart antennas" based on "phased array" techniques for "beam forming". The weighting is referring to the "programming" of phased array elements' amplitude and phase.

Essentially you can get arbitrary antenna power patterns, e.g. beaming in a signal from geosync orbit and creating a beam pattern that covers only a specific territory of commercial interest. For example, say you wanted to beam satellite TV to Malaysia but not Thailand or Indonesia (see at a map of SE Asia). You could create a specific beam pattern to do that.

Useful background references: Skolniks Radar Handbook (borrow it first from an engineering library - it's pricey) which has a nice section on microwave phased array antenna. There are probably specific texts available on smart antenna or adaptive antenna systems. These are used quite extensively now for cellular phone base stations. Wifi MIMO is pretty much the same concept but with an array of 2 antennae.

 

[CatWoman]

Thanks - given those keywords I was able to find out enough on the internet for now - many thanks!