SHARED PHASED ARRAY CLUSTER BEAMFORMER
First Claim
1. A phased array antenna system, comprising:
- a first beamformer configured to produce one or more first antenna beams from at least two electromagnetic signals that are respectively received by at least two phased array antenna elements; and
a selector configured to select the one or more first antenna beams to output to a second beamformer that is configured to produce one or more second antenna beams, wherein coverage provided by the one or more second antenna beams is at least partially constrained by the coverage provided by the one or more first antenna beams.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A shared beamformer flexibly allocates beams among clusters of beams produced by phased array antenna apertures that are deployed on a satellite (or other type of platform). By sharing the beamformer among the beam clusters, if one beam cluster is not providing useful coverage, the beams may be reallocated to one or more other beam clusters that are providing useful coverage. To share the beamformer among the beam clusters, a selector network is used to select which particular beam cluster (or clusters) is used for producing one or more narrow beams that are constrained to the coverage area of the beam cluster (or clusters).
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A phased array antenna system, comprising:
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a first beamformer configured to produce one or more first antenna beams from at least two electromagnetic signals that are respectively received by at least two phased array antenna elements; and a selector configured to select the one or more first antenna beams to output to a second beamformer that is configured to produce one or more second antenna beams, wherein coverage provided by the one or more second antenna beams is at least partially constrained by the coverage provided by the one or more first antenna beams. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A phased array antenna system comprising a plurality of sets of antenna elements configured to transmit, receive, or both, a set of signals, the phased array antenna system comprising:
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a first set of antenna elements associated with a first aperture and coupled to a first beamforming stage configured to produce one or more first antenna beams; a second set of antenna elements associated with a second aperture and coupled to a second beamforming stage configured to produce one or more second antenna beams; a selector coupled to the first beamforming stage and the second beamforming stage and configured to allocate antenna beams from the one or more first antenna beams and the one or more second antenna beams to a third beamforming stage; and the third beamforming stage configured to generate at least one or more third antenna beams, wherein coverage provided by the one or more third antenna beams is at least partially constrained by the coverage provided by the one or more first antenna beams, or by the one or more second antenna beams or both. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of producing electromagnetic beams, comprising:
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receiving electromagnetic signals from a first and second phased array antenna element; beamforming the electromagnetic signals to produce one or more first antenna beams; and selecting to beamform the one or more first antenna beams to produce one or more second antenna beams, wherein coverage provided by the one or more second antenna beams is at least partially constrained by the coverage provided by the one or more first antenna beams. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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25. A method of producing electromagnetic beams, comprising:
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receiving electromagnetic signals from a first and second phased array antenna element; beamforming the electromagnetic signals to produce one or more first antenna beams; beamforming the one or more first antenna beams to produce one or more second antenna beams, wherein coverage provided by the one or more second antenna beams is at least partially constrained by the coverage provided by the one or more first antenna beams; and selecting the one or more first antenna beams from other produced beams. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A method of receiving, transmitting, or both, electromagnetic beams in a phased array antenna comprising a plurality of sets of antenna elements configured to transmit, receive, or both, a set of signals, the method comprising:
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generating one or more first antenna beams from a first beamforming stage configured for coupling to a first set of antenna elements and a second set of antenna elements; allocating by a selector the one or more first antenna beams to inputs of a second beamforming stage; and generating one or more second antenna beams from the second beamforming stage, wherein coverage provided by the one or more second antenna beams is at least partially constrained by the coverage provided by the one or more first antenna beams.
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28. A phased array antenna system comprising a plurality of sets of antenna elements configured to transmit, receive, or both, a set of signals, the phased array antenna system comprising:
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a first set of antenna elements associated with a first aperture and coupled to a first beamformer configured to produce one or more first antenna beams; a first selector coupled to the first beamformer and coupled to a second beamformer, the second beamformer configured to produce one or more second antenna beams that is partially constrained by the one or more first antenna beams; a second set of antenna elements associated with a second aperture and coupled to a third beamformer configured to produce one or more third antenna beams; a second selector coupled to the third beamformer and coupled to a fourth beamformer, the fourth beamformer configured to produce one or more fourth antenna beams that are partially constrained by the one or more third antenna beams; a final selector coupled to the second beamformer and the fourth beamformer and configured to allocate antenna beams from the one or more second antenna beams and the one or more fourth antenna beams; and a final beamforming stage coupled to the final selector and configured to generate one or more final antenna beams, wherein coverage provided by the one or more final antenna beams is at least partially constrained by the coverage provided by the one or more second antenna beams, or by the one or more fourth antenna beams or both.
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29. A phased array antenna comprising a plurality of sets of antenna elements configured to transmit, receive, or both, a set of signals, the phased array antenna comprising:
a plurality of beamformers and at least one selector configured to couple to a first set of radiating elements and a second set of radiating elements to generate one or more first antenna beams and to generate there from one or more second antenna beams, wherein coverage provided by the one or more second antenna beams is at least partially constrained by the coverage provided by the one or more first antenna beams.
Specification