Multi-Beam Antennas (MBAs) and Beam-Forming Networks (BFNs)

Distinguished speakers from European Space Agency: Giovanni Toso (Fellow IEEE) and Dr. Piero Angeletti

These two distinguished speakers are from European Space Agency, Netherlands. They will present the state of art work in the following areas.

The objective of the two IEEE Distinguished Lectures consists in presenting the state of the art and the on-going developments in Multi-Beam Antennas (MBAs) and Beam-Forming Networks (BFNs). They find application in several fields including communications, remote sensing (e.g. radars, radiometers, etc.), electronic surveillance and defense systems, science (e.g. multibeam radio telescopes), RF navigation systems, etc. They may be installed on board satellites, airplanes, trains, buses, buildings, cars etc. MBAs and BFNs are becoming also fundamental elements in emerging MIMO and 5G communications. The BFN plays an essential role in any antenna system relaying on a set of radiating elements to generate a beam. The lectures cover both theoretical and practical aspects for the following topics:

• Overview of system applications
• Multibeam Antenna Architectures (based on Reflectors, Arrays, Lenses)
• Beamforming Networks
• Analogue BFNs (Corporate, Blass, Nolen, Butler matrices, Digital BFNs)
• Overview of some Operational Multibeam Antennas/BFNs
• On-going European Developments
• Current Design and Technological Challenges