Scalable and/or reconfigurable beamformer systems
First Claim
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1. A scalable analog beamforming system, comprising:
- a plurality of time delay unit (TDU) modules, each of the TDU modules comprising TDU controller circuitry and each given one of the TDU modules being configured for coupling to at least one different array element of a phased array apparatus to receive and change at least one of the phase, amplitude, or combination of phase and amplitude of a signal received from or transmitted to the array element by the given TDU module under the control of the TDU controller circuitry; and
master control circuitry coupled to control the TDU controller circuitry of each of the TDU modules, the master control circuitry being configured to digitally control the TDU controller circuitry of each of the TDU modules to change the phase of a signal received from or transmitted to the array element.
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Abstract
A scalable and/or reconfigurable true-time-delay analog beamformer system having a hierarchical distributed control architecture composed of an arbitrary number of reconfigurable and scalable units. The beamformer system may be applied to an antenna array with an arbitrary number of elements in a scalable manner and the configuration of the beamformer system may be implemented so that it is capable of reconfiguration by changing its beam-position mapping, either dynamically or at install-time. The number of beams or beam positions that are desired advantageously do not need to be known prior to the design or selection of the beamformer system.
287 Citations
29 Claims
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1. A scalable analog beamforming system, comprising:
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a plurality of time delay unit (TDU) modules, each of the TDU modules comprising TDU controller circuitry and each given one of the TDU modules being configured for coupling to at least one different array element of a phased array apparatus to receive and change at least one of the phase, amplitude, or combination of phase and amplitude of a signal received from or transmitted to the array element by the given TDU module under the control of the TDU controller circuitry; and master control circuitry coupled to control the TDU controller circuitry of each of the TDU modules, the master control circuitry being configured to digitally control the TDU controller circuitry of each of the TDU modules to change the phase of a signal received from or transmitted to the array element. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for operating an analog beamforming system, comprising:
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providing a plurality of time delay unit (TDU) modules of a beamforming system, each of the TDU modules comprising TDU controller circuitry and each given one of the TDU modules being coupled to at least one different array element of a phased array apparatus; and digitally controlling the TDU controller circuitry of each given one of the TDU modules to change at least one of the phase, amplitude, or combination of phase and amplitude of a signal received from or transmitted to the array element by the given TDU module. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A phased array apparatus, comprising:
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a plurality of array elements; a plurality of time delay unit (TDU) modules, each of the TDU modules comprising TDU controller circuitry and each given one of the TDU modules being coupled to at least one different array element to receive and change the phase of a signal received from or transmitted to the array element by the given TDU module under the control of the TDU controller circuitry; and master control circuitry coupled to the TDU controller circuitry of each of the TDU modules, the master control circuitry being configured to digitally control the TDU controller circuitry of each of the TDU modules to change the phase of a signal received from or transmitted to the array element. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification