Subarray pattern control and null steering for subarray antenna systems
First Claim
1. In a subarray antenna system having an array of radiation elements, a Fourier transform feed circuit and an array of feed elements fed by said Fourier transform feed circuit and feeding said array of radiation elements, the improvement residing in a subarray pattern control means, said subarray pattern control means comprising illumination intensity control means controlling the outputs of said feed elements, said illumination intensity control means comprising a variable attenuator controlling each feed element, said variable attenuators in combination effecting a tapered illumination intensity distribution at the output of said array of feed elements.
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Abstract
Improved performance of an electronically scanned subarray antenna system is realized by tailoring the subarray pattern in a manner that reduces the undesirable effects of illumination truncation at the edge of the main array. This is accomplished by introducing variable attenuators into individual feed elements to effect an illumination intensity taper of the feed element array output. The improvement permits effective utilization of deterministic and adaptive nulling at both the main array and the subarray levels and further provides a system ability to scan over wide spatial angles with wide bandwidths and low sidelobes. The technique is adaptable to both space fed and constrained subarray antenna systems.
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9 Claims
- 1. In a subarray antenna system having an array of radiation elements, a Fourier transform feed circuit and an array of feed elements fed by said Fourier transform feed circuit and feeding said array of radiation elements, the improvement residing in a subarray pattern control means, said subarray pattern control means comprising illumination intensity control means controlling the outputs of said feed elements, said illumination intensity control means comprising a variable attenuator controlling each feed element, said variable attenuators in combination effecting a tapered illumination intensity distribution at the output of said array of feed elements.
Specification