Approach radar with array antenna having rows and columns skewed relative to the horizontal
First Claim
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1. A land-based approach radar arrangement comprising:
- an array antenna for at least receiving target signals, said array antenna comprising a plurality of antenna elements arranged in an array of rows and columns;
beamforming means coupled to said plurality of antenna elements, for controlling at least one electrical parameter of signals traversing said antenna elements, for forming at least a sum beam, and for forming a difference beam;
array antenna mounting means, for mounting said array of antenna elements with both said rows and said columns skewed relative to a horizontal plane; and
angle determining means coupled to said beamforming means, for converting a target position in the antenna coordinates to a target position in horizontal and vertical coordinates.
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Abstract
A monopulse precision landing or other land-based radar system uses an array antenna and a beamformer to produce sum, azimuth difference and elevation difference beams relative to the array. The rows and columns of the array are skewed relative to the horizontal for tending to reduce the effects of multipath propagation on altitude estimates. A coordinate converter converts target information from the skewed antenna coordinates to ordinary vertical and horizontal coordinates.
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Citations
13 Claims
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1. A land-based approach radar arrangement comprising:
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an array antenna for at least receiving target signals, said array antenna comprising a plurality of antenna elements arranged in an array of rows and columns;
beamforming means coupled to said plurality of antenna elements, for controlling at least one electrical parameter of signals traversing said antenna elements, for forming at least a sum beam, and for forming a difference beam;
array antenna mounting means, for mounting said array of antenna elements with both said rows and said columns skewed relative to a horizontal plane; and
angle determining means coupled to said beamforming means, for converting a target position in the antenna coordinates to a target position in horizontal and vertical coordinates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13)
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12. A method for providing land-based precision approach radar services, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing an array antenna for at least receiving target signals, said array antenna comprising a plurality of antenna elements arranged in an array of rows and columns to thereby define a planar array plane;
beamforming said target signals for forming at least a sum beam generally orthogonal to said array plane, and for forming a difference beam, also generally orthogonal to said array plane;
mounting said array of antenna elements with both said rows and said columns skewed relative to a horizontal plane; and
converting a target position in the antenna coordinates to a target position in horizontal and vertical coordinates.
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Specification