Antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting device

• US 6,288,683 B1
• Filed: 09/27/2000
• Issued: 09/11/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Japan Represented By Director-General National Astronomical Observatory, Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Japan Represented By Director-General National Astronomical Observatory, Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha (Mitsubishi Electric Corporation)
• Inventors: Miyahara, Norio, Deguchi, Hiroyuki, Ishiguro, Masato, Mizuno, Tomohiro, Urasaki, Shuji, Makino, Shigeru, Matsumoto, Soichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Ho, Tan
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HOANG V
• Application Number:
  US09/530,395
• Time in Patent Office: 349 Days
• Field of Search: 343/703, 343/781.CA, 343/840, 342/360
• US Class Current: 343/703
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/14 Reflecting surfaces; Equivalent structures electromagnetic shields H01Q1/526
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/18 having two or more spaced reflecting surfaces H01Q19/20 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/19 comprising one main concave reflecting surface associated with an auxiliary reflecting surface
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/191 wherein the primary active element uses one or more deflecting surfaces, e.g. beam waveguide feeds
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/20 wherein the primary active element is fixed and the reflecting device is movable

Abstract

An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus has a plane mirror larger than an aperture surface of said principal reflection mirror and set in parallel with the aperture surface, an actuator for driving a group of mirror surface panels of the principal reflection mirror, and a receiving electric field arithmetic processor for measuring, each time the actuator shifts a position of the mirror surface panel from an initial state of the mirror surface panel of the principal reflection mirror, radio wave signals of radio waves radiated by a transmitter/receiver and reflected back from the plane mirror, obtaining an aperture surface phase distribution in an initial state of the principal reflection mirror by executing an arithmetic process on these measured signals, then gaining configurations of the mirror surface on the basis of the aperture surface phase distribution, and adjusting the mirror surface by the actuator in accordance with the obtained mirror surface configurations. Accordingly, a measurement frequency is freely selected, and the measurement can be carried out in an ideal measurement environment of not being influenced by changes in wind, sunlight and temperature, whereby the mirror surface can be adjusted with high accuracy.

Claims

1. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus for measuring a mirror surface of a principal reflection mirror constructed of a group of a plurality of mirror surface panels, and adjusting the mirror panel, said apparatus comprising:

a plane mirror larger than an aperture surface of said principal reflection mirror and set in parallel with the aperture surface;

transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving radio waves between said principal reflection mirror and said plane mirror;

actuator means for driving said group of mirror surface panels of said principal reflection mirror; and

an arithmetic processor for measuring, each time said actuator means shifts a position of said mirror surface panel from an initial state of said mirror surface panel of said principal reflection mirror, radio wave signals of radio waves which are radiated by said transmitting/receiving means and reflected back from said plane mirror, obtaining an aperture surface phase distribution in an initial state of said principal reflection mirror by executing an arithmetic process on these measured signals, then gaining configurations of the mirror surface on the basis of the aperture surface phase distribution, and adjusting the mirror surface by use of said actuator means in accordance with the thus obtained mirror surface configurations.

2. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said arithmetic processor obtains a phase difference between the measured electric fields by developing an amplitude and a phase of the measured electric field in complex Fourier series with respect to a driven quantity of said mirror surface panel, and thus obtains the aperture surface phase distribution.

3. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said arithmetic processor obtains the phase difference between the measured electric fields by developing only electric power of the measured electric field in the complex Fourier series with respect to the driven quantity of said mirror surface panel, and thus obtains the aperture surface phase distribution.

4. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said arithmetic processor obtains the phase difference between the measured electric fields by developing only a phase of the measured electric field in the complex Fourier series with respect to the driven quantity of said mirror surface panel, and thus obtains the aperture surface phase distribution.

5. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plane mirror is constructed of a first plane mirror orthogonal to a direction of the gravity, and a second plane mirror parallel to a plane including the direction of the gravity, and wherein

said arithmetic processor performs the measurement arithmetic process while the aperture surface of said principal reflection mirror is disposed in parallel to said first plane mirror, and next performs the measurement arithmetic process while the aperture surface of said principal reflection mirror is disposed in parallel to said second plane mirror.

6. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a high-order mode generator capable of exciting the radio waves radiated from said transmitting/receiving means in a specified high-order mode.

7. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a high-order mode synthesizer capable of exciting the radio waves radiated from said transmitting/receiving means by synthesizing a plurality of modes.

8. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an electric supply device capable of independently exciting the radio waves radiated from said transmitting/receiving means respectively in a base mode and in a specified high-order mode.

9. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said arithmetic processor receives, each time said actuator means shifts a position of said single mirror surface panel or shifts simultaneously positions of said plurality of mirror surface panels so that the electric power with which the mirror surface of said principal reflection mirror is irradiated becomes uniform, the radio waves radiated from said transmitting/receiving means and reflected back to said transmitting/receiving means from said plane mirror, then obtains the aperture surface phase distribution in the initial state of said principal reflection mirror by executing the arithmetic process on the received radio waves, and gains the mirror surface configurations therefrom.

10. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus for measuring a mirror surface of a principal reflection mirror constructed of a group of a plurality of mirror surface panels, and adjusting the mirror panel, said apparatus comprising:

a plane mirror larger than an aperture surface of said principal reflection mirror and set in parallel with the aperture surface;

transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving radio waves between said principal reflection mirror and said plane mirror;

phase shifting means for changing a phase of the radio wave, provided between said plane mirror and said transmitting/receiving means;

actuator means for driving said group of mirror surface panels of said principal reflection mirror; and

an arithmetic processor for measuring, each time said phase shifting means changes the phase from an initial state of said mirror surface panel of said principal reflection mirror, radio wave signals of radio waves which are radiated by said transmitting/receiving means and reflected back from said plane mirror, obtaining a phase difference between the measured electric fields by developing the electric power of these measured electric fields in complex Fourier series with respect to a quantity of the phase change by said phase shifting means, obtaining an aperture surface phase distribution in an initial state of said principal reflection mirror therefrom, then gaining configurations of the mirror surface on the basis of the aperture surface phase distribution, and adjusting the mirror surface by use of said actuator means in accordance with the thus obtained mirror surface configurations.

11. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus for measuring a mirror surface of a principal reflection mirror constructed of a group of a plurality of mirror surface panels, and adjusting the mirror panel, said apparatus comprising:

a plane mirror larger than an aperture surface of said principal reflection mirror, set in parallel with the aperture surface, and constructed of a group of a plurality of segmented plane panels;

transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving radio waves between said principal reflection mirror and said plane mirror;

actuator means for driving said group of mirror surface panels of said principal reflection mirror, and said group of segmented plane panels of said plane mirror; and

an arithmetic processor for measuring, each time said actuator means shifts a position of said segmented plane panel from an initial state of said mirror surface panel of said principal reflection mirror, radio wave signals of radio waves which are radiated by said transmitting/receiving means and reflected back from said plane mirror, obtaining an aperture surface phase distribution in an initial state of said principal reflection mirror by executing an arithmetic process on these measured signals, then gaining configurations of the mirror surface on the basis of the aperture surface phase distribution, and adjusting the mirror surface by use of said actuator means in accordance with the thus obtained mirror surface configurations.

12. An antenna mirror surface measuring/adjusting apparatus for measuring a mirror surface of a principal reflection mirror constructed of a group of a plurality of mirror surface panels, and adjusting the mirror panel, said apparatus comprising:

a plane mirror larger than an aperture surface of said principal reflection mirror;

transmitting/receiving means for transmitting and receiving radio waves between said principal reflection mirror and said plane mirror;

actuator means for driving said group of mirror surface panels of said principal reflection mirror; and

an arithmetic processor for measuring, each time said actuator means shifts a position of said mirror surface panel from an initial state of said mirror surface panel of said principal reflection mirror, radio wave signals of radio waves which are radiated by said transmitting/receiving means and reflected back from said plane mirror, obtaining an aperture surface phase distribution in an initial state of said principal reflection mirror by executing an arithmetic process on these measured signals, then gaining configurations of the mirror surface on the basis of the aperture surface phase distribution, and adjusting the mirror surface by use of said actuator means in accordance with the thus obtained mirror surface configurations,

wherein an aperture surface of said principal reflection mirror is set at an angle orthogonal to an arbitrary side lobe direction with respect to said plane mirror.