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Fiber optic feed network for radar

  • US 4,814,773 A
  • Filed: 05/11/1983
  • Issued: 03/21/1989
  • Est. Priority Date: 05/11/1983
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. In a radar having electrical transmitting and receiving circuitry and a phased array antenna having a plurality of radiating elements for the radiation of microwave signals, a feed system coupling the antenna with the transmitting and receiving circuitry, the feed system comprising:

  • beamforming means for processing microwave signals to steer the antenna beam and making those signals available at a plurality of input/output ports;

    a plurality of optical fibers, each of which is for exclusively coupling signals between a particular input/output port of the beamforming means and a particular radiating element of the antenna;

    multiplexing means at opposite ends of each of said fibers for two-way communication of optical signals;

    a plurality of electro-optic modulating means one each coupled to input terminals of said multiplexing means for applying optical signals modulated by an electric waveform;

    a plurality of photoelectric detecting means one each coupled to output ports of said multiplexing means for detecting electric waveforms in an optical signal applied to the multiplexing means; and

    sources of optical radiation, said sources differing in frequency and being coupled to respective input ports of said modulating means to permit separation of respective ones of optical signals applied to said optical fibers by said multiplexing means, and wherein said modulating means connecting with said input/output ports of said beamforming means for modulating optical radiation with transmit signals, said photoelectric detecting means connecting with elements of said antenna for exciting said elements with electric signals having the transmit waveform.

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