{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,10]],"date-time":"2026-07-10T16:34:06Z","timestamp":1783701246581,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,26]],"date-time":"2025-07-26T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753488000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Thales Alenia Space"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this paper, we present a system-level model of a digital multibeam antenna designed for Low Earth Orbit satellite communications operating in the Ka-band. We initially develop a suitable array topology, which is based on a thinned lattice, then adopt it as the foundation for evaluating its performance within a digital beamforming architecture. This architecture is implemented in a system-level simulator to evaluate the performance of the transmitter and receiver chains. This study advances the analysis of the digital antennas by incorporating both the RF front-end and digital sections non-idealities into a digital-twin framework. This approach enhances the designer\u2019s ability to optimize the system with a holistic approach and provides insights into how various impairments affect the transmitter and receiver performance, identifying the subsystems\u2019 parameter limits. To achieve this, we analyze several subsystems\u2019 parameters and impairments, assessing their effects on both the antenna radiation and quality of the transmitted and received signals in a real applicative context. The results of this study reveal the sensitivity of the system to the impairments and suggest strategies to trade them off, emphasizing the importance of selecting appropriate subsystem features to optimize overall system performance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s25154645","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,28]],"date-time":"2025-07-28T09:53:02Z","timestamp":1753696382000},"page":"4645","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["System-Level Assessment of Ka-Band Digital Beamforming Receivers and Transmitters Implementing Large Thinned Antenna Array for Low Earth Orbit Satellite Communications"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-4032-6221","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Giovanni","family":"Lasagni","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta, 3, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9835-1209","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Calcaterra","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Thales Alenia Space\u2014Italy, Via Saccomuro 24, 00131 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5418-4704","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monica","family":"Righini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta, 3, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanni","family":"Gasparro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Thales Alenia Space\u2014Italy, Via Saccomuro 24, 00131 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4481-1791","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Maddio","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta, 3, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9243-8311","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vincenzo","family":"Pascale","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Thales Alenia Space\u2014Italy, Via Saccomuro 24, 00131 Rome, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1064-7305","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alessandro","family":"Cidronali","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta, 3, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3090-1451","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Stefano","family":"Selleri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Information Engineering, University of Florence, Via di Santa Marta, 3, 50139 Florence, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,26]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Worka, C.E., Khan, F.A., Ahmed, Q.Z., Sureephong, P., and Alade, T. 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