Wide-Angle Beam Steering Closed-Form Pillbox Antenna Fed by Substrate-Integrated Waveguide Horn for On-the-Move Satellite Communications

Wide-angle mechanical beam steering for on-the-move satellite communications is presented in this paper based on a closed-form pillbox antenna system. It includes three main parts: a fixed-feed part, which is a substrate-integrated waveguide (SIW) horn with an extended aperture attached to a parabolic reflector; a novel quasi-optical system, which is a single coupling slot alongside and without spacing from the parabolic reflector; and a radiating disc, which is a leaky-wave metallic pattern. To make the antenna compact, pillbox-based feeding is implemented underneath the metallic patterns. The antenna is designed based on a substrate-guided grounded concept using leaky-wave metallic patterns operating at (Formula presented.). Beam scanning is achieved using mechanical rotation of the leaky-wave metallic patterns. The proposed antenna has an overall size of 340 × 335 × 2 mm³, a gain of (Formula presented.), wide beam scanning range of (Formula presented.), from (Formula presented.) to (Formula presented.) in the azimuthal plane, and a low side lobe level of (Formula presented.) at a maximum scan angle of (Formula presented.). The proposed antenna terminal is suitable for next-generation ubiquitous connectivity for households and small businesses in remote areas, ships, unmanned aerial vehicles, and disaster management.