Phased array radar antenna with two-stage time delay units
First Claim
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1. A phased array antenna comprising:
- a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays;
means in each of said radiating elements for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy;
means in each of said radiating elements coupled to said phase steering means for providing a time delay at each of said elements for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays;
means coupled to each of said subarrays for collimating said electromagnetic energy of transmit output signals or receive input signals of said radiating elements;
means coupled to each of said collimating means for providing a predetermined subarray time delay for optimum range resolution at a predetermined scan angle; and
means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said subarray time delay means to and from said phased array antenna.
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Abstract
A phased array antenna having two stages of time steering control that achieve system performance requirements at minimum cost. The first-stage which is traditionally located at the subarray level, is a multi-bit time delay unit that has a sufficient number of bits to meet the system'"'"'s range resolution requirements. The second-stage located at the radiating element level, is a single-bit time delay unit that meets the system'"'"'s two-way instantaneous bandwidth requirements. This combination of first-stage and second-stage time steering control minimizes the number of subarrays required to achieve the system performance requirements.
63 Citations
35 Claims
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1. A phased array antenna comprising:
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a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; means in each of said radiating elements for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy;
means in each of said radiating elements coupled to said phase steering means for providing a time delay at each of said elements for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays;means coupled to each of said subarrays for collimating said electromagnetic energy of transmit output signals or receive input signals of said radiating elements; means coupled to each of said collimating means for providing a predetermined subarray time delay for optimum range resolution at a predetermined scan angle; and means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said subarray time delay means to and from said phased array antenna. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A phased array radar system comprising:
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a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; means in each of said radiating elements for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy; means in each of said radiating elements coupled to said steering means for providing a time delay at each of said elements for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays; means coupled to each of said subarrays for collimating said electromagnetic energy of transmit output signals or receive input signals of said radiating elements; means coupled to each of said collimating means for providing a predetermined subarray time delay for optimum range resolution at a predetermined scan angle; beamformer means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said subarray time delay means to and from said phased array antenna; means coupled to said beamformer means for generating a transmit signal; means coupled to said beamformer means for receiving and processing said collimated electromagnetic energy; and means for generating a signal to said transmit signal generating means and for providing a synthesized signal for said receiving and processing means. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A phased array antenna comprising:
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a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; each of said radiating elements comprises a radiator; each of said radiating elements comprises a transmit/receive (T/R) means coupled to said radiator for generating a transmit output signal or a receive input signal; said T/R means comprises a phase shifter means for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy; said T/R means comprises an element time delay unit means coupled to said phase shifter means for providing a minimal time delay for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays, said partial compensation increasing the instantaneous bandwidth of said phased array antenna; a plurality of power combiner means for collimating the electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signal or said receive input signal, each one of said power combiner means being coupled to said element time delay unit means of a corresponding one of said subarrays; a plurality of subarray time delay unit means for providing a predetermined time delay at a predetermined scan angle for optimum range resolution, each of said plurality of subarray time delay unit means being coupled to a corresponding one of said plurality of power combiner means; and beamformer means coupled to each of said plurality of subarray time delay unit means for collimating said electromagnetic energy. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of directing a beam of electromagnetic energy in a phased array antenna comprising the steps of:
- providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy with a plurality of antenna radiating elements, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays;
phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy with means in each of said radiating elements;providing a time delay at each of said radiating elements with means coupled to said phase steering means for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays; collimating said electromagnetic energy of transmit output signals or receive input signals of said radiating elements with means coupled to each of said subarrays; providing a predetermined subarray time delay for optimum range resolution at a predetermined scan angle with means coupled to each of said collimating means; and collimating said electromagnetic energy of said subarray time delay to and from said phased array antenna with means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
- providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy with a plurality of antenna radiating elements, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays;
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29. A method of directing a beam of electromagnetic energy in a phased array antenna comprising the steps of:
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providing a plurality of antenna radiating elements, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; generating a transmit output signal or a receive input signal in said radiating elements, each of said radiating 8 elements comprising a radiator coupled to a transmit/receive (T/R) means; phase-steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy with phase shifter means in said T/R means; providing a time delay with an element time delay unit means coupled to said phase shifter means in said T/R means for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time-steered subarrays, said partial compensation increasing the instantaneous bandwidth of said phased array antenna; collimating the electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signal or said receive input signal with a plurality of power combiner means, each one of said power combiner means being coupled to said element time delay unit means of a corresponding one of said subarrays; providing a predetermined time delay at a predetermined scan angle for optimum range resolution with a plurality of subarray time delay unit means, each of said plurality of subarray time delay unit means being coupled to a corresponding one of said plurality of power combiner means; and collimating said electromagnetic energy of said radiating elements to and from said subarray time delay unit means with a beamformer means. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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Specification