MEMS-Enabled W-Band SATCOM Phased Arrays

XCom Wireless is a developer of micromachined microwave circuitry for adaptive filters and phased array antennas, high-performance sub-systems identified as critical technologies for the next generation of defense and commercial RF electronics. The XCom process for MEMS-based millimeter-wave circuitry provides a direct alternative to solid-state and waveguide components, so communications and radar system manufacturers can easily upgrade to this technology, saving weight, space, power, and money. The proposed program is to design a micromachined space-capable millimeter-wave phased array antenna platform suitable for SATCOM transmit and receive operations. The design will integrate passive circuit elements into the antenna array developed during the Phase I effort, and will use MEMS phase shifters to provide high-performance electronic beam-steering capabilities in a compact, low-cost form factor. Separate arrays for downlink (71-76 GHz) and uplink (81-86 GHz) will be developed. As with the Phase I effort, Phase II continues to leverage XCom hybrid MEMS and micromachined interconnect technologies developed in association with DARPA, ARO, U.S. Army CECOM, and NASA JPL. This suite of novel devices and processes provides critical technological advantages for this Phase II effort, including the ability to prototype Phase I designs ahead of schedule. Hybrid assembly of millimeter-wave antenna and circuit elements using RF MEMS promises low-cost, rapid manufacturing of compact communications and radar phased arrays, and the use of robust hermetic XCom packaging provides shock survivability and temperature tolerance for space-based operation.