RF interconnects based on electromagnetic coupling for the transition between components in highly integrated SAR-systems

In this paper a new lightweight RF interconnect using electromagnetic coupl ing through an aperture is presented. To show the improvement in comparison to a coaxial interconnect in both electrical and mechanical performance, t wo demonstrators, one with the new connector and one for reference, have be en built at 9.6 GHz. Both demonstrators consist each of two parts, a T/R-mo dule and the antenna, respectively. The reference setup is connected in a t raditional way by SMA-type connectors, the second demonstrator uses the new aperture coupled interconnection. From the measured data it is clear that the electrical performance of this new transition in terms of attenuation i s nearly 1 dB better than a conventional transition. The aperture coupled t ransition is more reliable, smaller and has lower cost.