DIGITAL BEAMFORMING ANTENNA AND DATALINK ARRAY

• US 20140340260A1
• Filed: 04/07/2014
• Published: 11/20/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Cubic Corporation
• Original Assignee: Cubic Corporation
• Inventors: Richards, Wayne Edward
• Application Number:
  US14/247,122
• Publication Number:
  US 20140340260A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 342/377
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/26 varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture H01Q3/12, H01Q3/22, H01Q3/24 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/2605 Array of radiating elements provided with a feedback control over the element weights, e.g. adaptive arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/267 Phased-array testing or checking devices
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/2682 Time delay steered arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/34 by electrical means active lenses or reflecting arrays H01Q3/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming

Abstract

A method and system for beamforming a multi-element array using time delays is provided. The array includes transmit array elements and receive array elements. Each of the array elements includes a processor. Modulation and demodulation functions are performed at the processors of each array element. The modulation and demodulation functions utilize receive time offsets and phase shifts, and transmit time offsets and phase shifts, respectively. The receive time offsets and phase shifts, and the transmit time offsets and phase shifts are determined by a central processing unit in order to beamform received signals and transmitted signals, respectively. The array elements are arranged in a daisy chain fashion in order to facilitate communication of control parameters, communication of bits to be transmitted and distributed combining of demodulated baseband samples from one array element to another and communicating the combined samples to the central processing unit.

Claims

1. A multi-element transceiver for beamforming, the multi-element transceiver comprising:

a plurality of transmit antennas;

a corresponding plurality of transmit logic modules, wherein each of the plurality of transmit logic modules is electrically coupled with a corresponding transmit antenna and is electrically coupled in series with at least one other of the plurality of transmit logic modules, wherein each transmit logic module is configured to;

receive bits to be transmitted,

receive transmit control information,

generate a modulated waveform from the received bits and the transmit control information, and

send the modulated waveform to the corresponding transmit antenna;

a plurality of receive antennas configured to receive a signal; and

a plurality of receive logic modules, wherein each of the plurality of receive logic modules is electrically coupled with a corresponding receive antenna, is electrically coupled in series with at least one other of the plurality of receive logic modules, and is configured to receive the receive signal from the corresponding receive antenna and demodulate the receive signal to generate baseband samples, wherein the demodulation is at least partially based on receive control information.