Ku-Band High Pass Filters, And The Decisive Roles They Play

Ku-Band high pass filter can be found in many Ku-band satellite receivers.

Like the other bands in the radiofrequency spectrum that are used by satellites and radars, the Ku-band is used for television transmission, as well as digital data transmission through satellites, and for voice and audio transmissions as well. The Ku-band refers to the 12-18 gigahertz (GHz) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the IEEE standard, and is actually called “K-under” (which is derived from the German term “kurtz-unter”).  Let’s take a brief, but crucial look at how high pass filters for the Ku-band operate in this environment.

The Ku-band’s Primary Uses or Functions

The Ku-band is utilized for fixed and broadcast satellite communications services, including the specific applications of agencies like NASA’s Tracking Data Relay Satellite system in the United States. And of course, these systems also require the use of Ku-band high pass filters.

The Ku-band is split or divided into different segments, which vary according to the geographical region that’s covered by the ITU, or the International Telecommunication Union. A couple of frequencies of the Ku-band are also utilized for detecting vehicle speed, especially by law-enforcement officials in Europe.

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AWG Tech has extensive practical experience in designing Ku-Band communication systems for the satellite and military sector. Our RF engineers have more than 10 years of design and manufacturing experience and will be able to assist you should you have any queries regarding the right filter to choose for your system application.

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The Perks/Disadvantages Of The Ku-Band

When compared to other radio frequency bands like the C-band, the Ku-band does not have restrictions in terms of power usage, so it will not interfere with terrestrial microwave systems, which also means that the power of its uplinks and downlinks can also be increased.

Flexibility is the other advantage of the Ku-band, as a smaller dish size, and the band’s freedom from terrestrial operations makes it quite simple to find a suitable dish site. The Ku-band is also much cheaper (especially for end users), and it’s less-vulnerable to rain fade too, as compared to the Ka-band spectrum.

The downside however, is that frequencies higher than 10 GHz are often prone to heavy rainfall, and there will certainly be very noticeable degradations, as this is  brought about (and proportional) by the amount of rainfall. This radio frequency spectrum or band is also prone to major signal distortion or degradation, which includes “snow fade”, or where ice and snow heavily accumulates, and alters or distorts the satellite dish’ focal point.

To considerably reduce signal degradation, engineers now use super-hydrophobic Lotus Effect coatings, to prevent both snow and ice accumulation in the antenna, and the attenuation caused by airborne snow along the Ku-band’s radio frequency signal path.

How High Pass Filters For The Ku-Band Operate

The main function of high-pass filters is that they pass signals with a frequency higher than certain cutoff frequencies, while at the same time attenuating or blocking signals with frequencies lower than the cutoff frequency.

Some Ku-band filters are designed to reduce the levels of spurious signals or noise from nearby transmitter signals, or those from the transmitter in the receive frequency band.

Most Ku-band high pass filters also feature high rejection of the transmit band signal, in order to prevent damage to the sending and/or receiving band, due to signal degradation caused by inclement weather conditions or static noise from nearby satellites or transmitters.

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