Electronic beam steering of active arrays with phase-locked loops
First Claim
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1. Electronic beam steering apparatus comprising:
- first and second spaced active antennas;
a first, reference oscillator having a first phase and driving said first antenna to produce a first transmitted RF beam at a first, fixed frequency and phase;
a second, tuning-voltage controlled, variable frequency oscillator having a second phase and driving said second antenna to produce a second transmitted RF beam at a frequency and phase determined by a tuning voltage supplied to said second oscillator;
a first, variable control voltage source; and
a first phase-locked loop responsive to said first and second oscillators and to said control voltage source to produce a tuning voltage for varying the frequency of said second oscillator, said phase-locked loop responding to a variation in the frequency of said second oscillator to change the phase of said second oscillator with respect to the phase of said first oscillator to thereby change the phase relationship of said first and second RF beams for beam steering by varying said control voltage.
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Abstract
An electronic beam steering technique for active arrays uses a single balanced diode mixer phase-locked loop connected between adjacent oscillators. Each oscillator has its own antenna that radiates energy into free space so the phase difference between oscillators determines the direction of the main radiating beam. An offset voltage added to the phase-locked loop controls the phase difference and thus the beam direction, providing over 100° of adjustable phase difference between adjacent oscillators.
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Citations
14 Claims
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1. Electronic beam steering apparatus comprising:
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first and second spaced active antennas; a first, reference oscillator having a first phase and driving said first antenna to produce a first transmitted RF beam at a first, fixed frequency and phase; a second, tuning-voltage controlled, variable frequency oscillator having a second phase and driving said second antenna to produce a second transmitted RF beam at a frequency and phase determined by a tuning voltage supplied to said second oscillator; a first, variable control voltage source; and a first phase-locked loop responsive to said first and second oscillators and to said control voltage source to produce a tuning voltage for varying the frequency of said second oscillator, said phase-locked loop responding to a variation in the frequency of said second oscillator to change the phase of said second oscillator with respect to the phase of said first oscillator to thereby change the phase relationship of said first and second RF beams for beam steering by varying said control voltage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification