Array antenna

• US 6,144,339 A
• Filed: 07/30/1999
• Issued: 11/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Matsumoto, Kunio, Yamazaki, Tsugio
• Primary Examiner(s): Blum, Theodore M.
• Application Number:
  US09/364,510
• Time in Patent Office: 466 Days
• Field of Search: 342/361
• US Class Current: 342/361
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/0025 Modular arrays
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/24 Combinations of antenna units polarised in different directions for transmitting or receiving circularly and elliptically polarised waves or waves linearly polarised in any direction circularly polarised patch antennas H01Q9/0428; circularly polarised horns H01Q13/0241; cross-polarised horns H01Q13/0258; polarisation converters H01Q15/242; cross-polarised rear feeds H01Q19/136; crossed polarisation dual antenna H01Q25/001
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0615 of weighted versions of same signal
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/086 using weights depending on external parameters, e.g. direction of arrival [DOA], predetermined weights or beamforming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/10 Polarisation diversity; Directional diversity

Abstract

An array antenna for use in, e.g., a radar includes a plurality of pairs of vertical polarization antenna elements and horizontal polarization antenna elements. A particular transmission/receipt module is connected to each pair of vertical and horizontal polarization antenna elements. A beam controller forms a transmission/receipt digital beam while a local signal generator controls a transmission/receipt frequency. The beam controller is connected to the transmission/receipt modules via a data bus and I/O (Input/Output) sections included in the modules.

Claims

1. An array antenna comprising:

a plurality of antenna elements for generating orthogonal polarization;

a plurality of transmission/receipt circuits each being connected to said plurality of antenna elements and including a digital-to-analog converter and an analog-to-digital converter in a transmitting section and a receiving section, respectively;

a digital I/O (Input/Output) section for inputting or outputting a transmission/receipt digital signal for forming a transmission/receipt beam to or from said plurality of transmission/receipt circuits;

a transmission/receipt module comprising said digital I/O section and said plurality of transmission/receipt circuits;

a beam controller connected to said transmission/receipt module via a data bus for generate digital data for forming a desired transmission beam and for forming a plurality of receipt beams at the same time with a complex product sum calculator which is use to form a received beam; and

transmission amplitude control means for controlling transmission amplitudes of said plurality of antenna elements.

2. An array antenna as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a local signal distributor and a local signal generator for feeding a local signal having a particular frequency for each of the orthogonal polarizations to said plurality of transmission/receipt circuits and controlling a transmission/receipt frequency polarization by polarization.

3. An array antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein said transmission amplitude control means comprises a plurality of C class amplifiers arranged in said plurality of transmission/receipt circuits, and a plurality of switches for selectively changing a number of said C class amplifiers to be used during transmission.

4. An array antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein said beam controller functions as said transmission amplitude control means for generating for each of said antenna elements particular transmission digital data weighted in amplitude for transmission amplitude control, and wherein said transmission/receipt module converts said transmission digital data to analog signals and then amplifies power of said analog signals with A class amplifiers.

5. An array antenna as claimed in claim 1, wherein said complex product sum calculator executes, polarization by polarization, receipt digital beam formation with signals received via said plurality of antenna elements, and then combines results of polarization-by-polarization digital beam formation to thereby output three different receipt signals respectively corresponding to the orthogonal polarizations and a composite polarization thereof.