441

A Compact LTCC Butler Matrix Realization for Phased Array

Applications
George Tudosie, Helmut Barth and Ruidiger Vahldieck
Laboratory for Electromagnetic Fields and Microwave Electronics (IFH), ETH Zurich,
Gloriastrasse 35, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland,
Phone: +41 44 63 23099, Email: tudosie@ifh.ee.ethz.ch

Abstract - This paper describes a novel realization for a 8x8

Butler matrix centered at 5 GHz. The structure is implemented in
LTCC (Low-Temperature-Cofired-Ceramics) and is part of a Ante nnas
beamforming network for radiometer application.
Index Terms - Beam scanning, beamformers, Butler matrix,
intelligent antenna systems, SDMA. Couplers

I. INTRODUCTION 45 Phase shifters

Modern communication and remote sensing technologies
move towards implementation of highly directive and space
selective RF front ends. Space division multiplexing access Couplers
(SDMA) schemes are becoming more and more attractive for
commercial applications in these areas. With the directivity
improvements and space division possibilities, antenna arrays 67.5 s5 Phase shifters
are essential components in this context. Beamforming
networks are used to feed antenna arrays and several different Couplers
concepts can be utilized. Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of an
8x8 Butler matrix with multiple input ports corresponding to
the different beam directions of a phased array. This multiple 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Ports
beam antenna system based on a matrix structure has the
capability to form a fixed number of beams in different
directions from the same aperture. It differs from an Fig. 1 Block diagram of the 8x8 Butler matrix in LTCC.
electronically scanned array in that it has one port for each
beam. Ideally, these ports are isolated. If a separate transmit or
receive system is connected to each port, simultaneous
independent operation in different direction can be obtained.
Such a system is advantageous for passive remote sensors
like radiometers, since it allows a parallel processing of all the II. THE BUTLER MATRIX DESIGN
space sectors in one unit at the same time. This leads to an
increase of the integration time of the radiometer compared to The schematic layout of the Butler matrix is shown in Fig 1.
a sequential scanned (electrically or mechanically) system. Compared to a Blass matrix [2], the Butler matrix requires a
The Butler matrix [1] presented in this paper is part of a lower number of couplers and crossings. The N input ports of
highly integrated millimeter wave radiometer front end. The the Butler matrix are interconnected to the N output ports
matrix is realized in Low-Temperature-Cofired-Ceramic (NxN order of the matrix) in such a way that feeding an input
(LTCC) technology at 5GHz and will be used in conjunction port produces an equal current distribution and a
with a low-loss 35GHz front-end antenna array which includes corresponding specific linear progressive phase shift along the
a microscan system in which the 35GHz receive signal is output ports. Therefore, the matrix will produce N
down converted to a 5GHz IF. The Butler matrix employs a orthogonally spaced beams (overlapping at -3.9 dB level)
large number of phase shifters and 3db couplers which must corresponding to the number of input ports. The number of the
be interconnected. By utilizing the advantages of 3D input and output ports is limited to an integer power of two as
integration in LTCC a very compact layout can be obtained. given by (1).

0-7803-9542-5/06/$20.00 ©2006 IEEE

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N = 2' Va >1 (1) IMWX

The performance of the Butler matrix deperids critically on the

bandwidth of the 3 dB couplers and the liniearity of the phase
shifter. Due to the interconnections of all iinput ports with all
I S31
output ports numerous line crossings occIar. The number of Zoo
Er
couplers [3] and corresponding line crossin gs are given by (2) a)
and (3). Obviously, increasing the order of the matrix requires
an increasing number of couplers and an e ven higher number
of crossings. A practical 2D realization (i..e. [4]) of a Butler S41
matrix is thus limited by the number of cros,sing.
4.u
Froq [3Hl

Ca =2Ca +2 a 2(2a 2 - 1); Cl =1 (2)

Fig. 3 Simulation results for the transmission from port to
Ha =a2al (3) port 3 and port 4 of the directional coupler.

The thickness of the middle layer is critical for the design of

LTCC technology shows great promise
3todBcoulners,
tthel the coupler. Dupont 951 tape system offers only two tape
to eliminate this

problem by offering 3D integration: The

different crossings and the phase 3s dBf couplers, the
interconnected by taking advantage o f the multilayer
technology.
III. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE BUTLER M ATRIX IN LTCC
The Butler matrix was designed in stiripline technology,
with a characteristic line impedance of 30O 2 using 5 layers Of
Dupont 951 material (cr= 7.8). Fig. 2 shows an elegant
realization of a single 3dB coupler in LTC(I. The input power
is transmitted to the output ports 3 and 4, while port 2 is
thicknesses, corresponding to 96,um and 208,um after the
shrinkage from the firing process. The thinner tape had to be
placed between the coupled lines to achieve a near-equal
power division (Fig.3) between port 3 and port 4, a high
isolation between port and port 2 and a low input reflection
coefficient (Fig.4). It can be seen that both S31 and S41 have
values close to -3dB over a frequency range of 3.5GHz to
6.5GHz. The high isolation of port 2 and low input reflection
coefficient are demonstrated in Fig. 4, where the values of all
the three parameters SIl, S21 and S22, are below -22dB in the
frequency range of interest.
-2100

isolated. A phase difference of 90 degrees iss achieved between

port 3 and 4. The characteristic impedan( ce of the coupling
section is matched to the impedance of th e external lines by S21

adjusting the widths of the lines and th( selection of the

.e

dielectric layer in between. The characteriistic impedance of n -23.00-

the coupling section is determined by the c cmbination of even -
and odd modes, field simulations based on IUIFSSTm are used for -
2400 S22

the optimization.
-25.00

S-
-26.0
3.0 .4.00 5.00 6.00 70
Freq [GHzJ

Coupler

Fig. 4 Simulation results for the isolation between port

and port 2 and return loss of both ports.

Oiutput, 90°
Traditionally, the many line crossovers have been one of the
main drawbacks of practical Butler design. In the LTCC
implementation this problem does not exist anymore. Via
transitions are used to cross two striplines on different layers
with a height difference of 3 layers (512gm).

Fig. 2 Broadside 3-dB directional coupler.

2
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IV. RESULTS
The array factor of a phased array antenna is the quality
measure of any beamforming network. The amplitude and
a
phase results from the HFSS simulation and measurements of
U. the 8 output ports were fed into an array of 8 isotropic,
k/2 separated radiators, to generate the array factor.
Figs. 7 and 8 contain the array factor obtained from
simulated and measured data, respectively. In both plots one
can distinguish the separate 8 beams corresponding to the 8
active input ports and read the side lobe level (SLL). The SLL
lrO .....................................................

Fig. 5 Coupling between two crossing striplines.

5
Fig. 5 shows the optimized low coupling coefficient of less
than -35 dB with a return loss below -30 dB over the 0
bandwidth of interest.
After designing and optimizing the individual components -5~ .....
LL
to meet the best performance (maintaining the low crossover
coupling and return loss), the parts were combined to form the -10 OL...,\
matrix as shown in Fig. 6.
The complete Butler matrix was simulated using Designer -1 5~..X.-XA
(Ansoft Corp.) and HFSS. Designer is based on the Method of
Moments (MoM) approach and gives fast results for a first- {) I
-}

order response of the overall performance. A second -50 0 50

0 [Deg]
simulation is based on HFSS to take into account also the
metallization thickness of the striplines and the ground planes.
The simulation of the complete system in HFSS proved to be Fig. 7 Array factor of the HFSS simulated Butler matrix.
extremely important because of the spurious parallel plate
modes exited at the many via transitions which lead to sharp
resonance peaks in the overall performance. Parallel plate line
modes could finally be eliminated by enclosing every stripline
with via fences connecting the two grounds. lo ......
10

-20
-50 0 50
0 [Deg]

Fig. 8 Array factor of the measured Butler matrix.

is below -l0dB and remains below that value over a

bandwidth of 2 GHz around the center frequency of 5 GHz.

Fig. 6 Complete Butler matrix implemented in HFSS.

3
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loor '''.'''''''''''''''''-'''''''''''''''' . power at the output of the matrix versus the inputted power at
port j and has been plotted over the frequency in Fig.9.
80[-....... ...: pTas
P,rnit iti =
16 d i 2
(4)
Input j i=9
6Ou ............... %w

.
cD
LU
40[ V. CONCLUSION

An 8x8 Butler matrix has been designed, realized and

'O ,,,,,,,,,......
2 . ................................ .................... .......................
measured in LTCC. All subcomponents (broadside coupler,
transitions and crossings) were simulated and optimized

2 0______,_____,_____,______,_____,_____,____ manufacturing the matrix. LTCC technology is utilized

before
to integrate this matrix in a 5 layer Dupont 951 mixed tape
3 4 5 6 7 8
Freq [GHz] process. A very good agreement between simulation and
measurement is observed. LTCC technology opens new
opportunities for realization of compact Butler matrixes of
Fig. 9 Efficiency of the measured Butler matrix. higher order.

The simulated and measured beam directions and beam

widths are in excellent agreement. Within a frequency range REFERENCES
of 4 GHz-6 GHz the beam directions of the main lobes of the
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from the ideal value. The input return loss for all the ports is 173, 1961.
below 15dB over the whole bandwidth.
- [2] R.C. Hansen, Phased Array Antennas, New York: J. Wiley &
The size of the LTCC Butler matrix is 46mmx46mm. The Sons, 1988.
size of the LTCC substrate is 100mmx92mm. The substrate [3] A. Corona, M. J. Lancaster, "A High-temperature
Superconducting Butler Matrix," IEEE Trans. On Applied
includes a separate coupler for testing purposes and different Superconductivity, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 3867-3872, December
calibration structures. Due to the larger substrate dimensions, 2003.
the line connection from the Butler matrix to the measurement [4] M. Bona, L. Manholm, J.P. Starski, B. Svensson "Low-Loss
system ads additional losses to the overall Matrix Compact Butler Matrix for a Microstrip Antenna," IEEE Trans.
performance. Microwave Theory & Tech., vol. 50, no. 9, pp. 2069-2075,
September 2002.
The efficiency of the transmission from the input jth port to
the output ports is defined by (4). It is the ratio of the output

Fig. 10 LTCC structure on the measurement support.

4