Design and Development of Flat Panel Phased Array Antennas for Wireless and Satellite Communication Applications
Location
- MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Main Cafeteria
- 244 Wood St, Lexington, MA, 02421
More Info
Microwave Theory & Technologies Society and Antennas & Propagation
Registration: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/507406
Professor Satish Kumar Sharma, IEEE Fellow Director, Antenna and Microwave Lab (AML), Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, San Diego State University, 5500 Campanile Drive, San Diego, CA, 92182-1309, USA
Email: ssharma@sdsu.edu
Webpage: https://electrical.sdsu.edu/faculty_websites/satish_sharma/home
There is a great demand for high data throughput, innovative beam steering antenna solutions for wireless and satellite communication applications. In the last decade, beam steering antennas have seen tremendous progress, primarily due to the maturity of silicon beamforming chipsets, multilayer printed circuit boards, and 3D printing technologies. This talk will focus on the emerging flat panel phased array antennas used in wireless and satellite communications. The presentation will delve into electronic beam steering through beam forming networks and commercially available beam forming integrated circuit (BFIC) chips. Examples of X-/Ku-/Ka-band flat panel phased array antennas featuring dual linear, dual circular, and polarization reconfigurable designs will be showcased. The challenges and roles of silicon BFICs, multilayered printed circuit board (PCB) fabrication, RF component assembly, beam forming algorithms, and 3D dielectric and metal printing in antenna array designs will be explored during these discussions. The talk will emphasize the importance of data throughput testing of Ka-band flat panel phased array antennas in a laboratory environment and over-the-air (OTA) testing across a 1 km link between two San Diego State University buildings. It will also cover data throughput testing of a dual circular polarized Ka-band flat panel phased array on a payload over a 100,000 ft Aerostar balloon. The speaker will conclude with insights on the future evolution of beam steering technology.
DL Speaker – Dr. Satish Kumar Sharma
Dr. Satish Kumar Sharma, IEEE Fellow, received his Ph. D. degree in Electronics Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Banaras Hindu University (BHU), India, in August 1997. He received his Bachelor of Technology in Electronics Engineering from Kamla Nehru Institute of Technology, India 1991. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Manitoba, Canada, from March 1999 to May 2001. He joined InfoMagnetics Technologies (IMT) Corporation, Winnipeg, Canada, as a Senior Antenna Engineer from May 2001 to August 2006. While at IMT, he was also a Part-Time Research Associate at the University of Manitoba until August 2006. Dr. Sharma joined San Diego State University (SDSU) as an Assistant Professor in August 2006. He established the Antenna and Microwave Laboratory (AML) shortly after joining SDSU and has led the AML as its Director since then. He became a tenured Associate Professor in August 2010. He was promoted to full Professor in August 2014 and currently holds this position. He received the National Science Foundation (NSF)’s prestigious faculty early career development (CAREER) award 2009. He also received the 2015 IEEE AP-S Harold A. Wheeler Prize Paper Award. He was Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Antennas & Propagation and IEEE Antennas, Wireless & Propagation Letters. He is an IEEE AP-S Distinguished Lecturer (2025-2027), IEEE AP-S AdCom member (2025-2027), and the 2025 inaugural Chair of the Technical Committee on Security (TC9): Security, Defense, Disaster Management. His research lab can analyze, design, develop, and verify antennas from VHF to millimeter wave (110 GHz) frequencies. He has advised and mentored more than 110 undergraduate/graduate students and Post-Doctoral Fellows/visiting research scholars.
Dr. Sharma has published over 335 journal and conference papers and holds three US and Canadian patents. He co-edited three volumes of “Handbook of Reflector Antennas and Feed Systems”, published by Artech House in May/June 2013. His other co-authored book, “Multifunctional Antennas and Arrays for Wireless Communication Systems”, was published by IEEE-Press/Wiley in April 2021. He has collaborated with industry professionals on SBIR/STTR Phase I and II projects funded by DARPA, SPAWAR, Missile Defense Agency, and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) in addition to projects from the NSF and Office of Naval Research (ONR). He has also served as an engineer/consultant for several wireless and defense companies. He is also the CEO/founder of 5GAntennaTech, LLC. His research interests include microwave and millimeter-wave frequencies, beam steering antennas, flat panel phased array antennas, reconfigurable and tunable antennas, 3D printed antennas, inkjet printed conformal antennas, massive MIMO antennas, antennas for Cube-Satellites, reflector antennas and their feed systems, and metasurface antennas. His h-index is 38, i10-index is 112, with a record of 6300+ citations (source: Google Scholar, July 2025).
