Beam steering in sub-arrayed antennae
First Claim
1. A method for operating a phased array antenna, itself comprising a plurality of sub-arrays, said method comprising:
- for each sub-array, introducing phase offsets into signals received from/transmitted to each element in the sub-array, to provide directional transmit or receive sensitivity in a first direction, thereby providing the sub-arrays with a variety of directional sensitivities, and defining a sensitivity envelope for the antenna as a whole;
for each sub-array, summing signals received from each element thereof to provide respective sub-array signals; and
for each sub-array, introducing respective phase offsets into the respective sub-array signal, wherein, at least two different combinations of sub-array signals are each summed, to provide an antenna response comprising a corresponding at least two response maximum representing a combination of the individual responses of such sums, each of such maxima representing an antenna response corresponding to a combination of the responses of the sub-arrays whose outputs are summed.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method is presented for operating a phased array antenna comprising a number of sub-arrays. The method comprises the steps of introducing phase offsets into signals received from/transmitted to each element in the antenna, to provide directional transmit or receive sensitivity in a first direction; summing signals received from each element in each sub-array to provide respective sub-array signals; introducing respective phase offsets into the respective sub-array signals to adjust the direction of maximum sensitivity within a sensitivity envelope defined by the phase offsets applied to each element of the antenna as a whole. The method further comprises the step of adjusting the phase offset of each element of each respective sub-array by a respective amount, thereby to alter the directional sensitivity of each respective sub-array, respective sub-arrays having the phase offset of their elements adjusted by differing amounts thereby providing the sub-arrays with a variety of directional sensitivities diverging from the first direction.
36 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method for operating a phased array antenna, itself comprising a plurality of sub-arrays, said method comprising:
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for each sub-array, introducing phase offsets into signals received from/transmitted to each element in the sub-array, to provide directional transmit or receive sensitivity in a first direction, thereby providing the sub-arrays with a variety of directional sensitivities, and defining a sensitivity envelope for the antenna as a whole;
for each sub-array, summing signals received from each element thereof to provide respective sub-array signals; and
for each sub-array, introducing respective phase offsets into the respective sub-array signal, wherein, at least two different combinations of sub-array signals are each summed, to provide an antenna response comprising a corresponding at least two response maximum representing a combination of the individual responses of such sums, each of such maxima representing an antenna response corresponding to a combination of the responses of the sub-arrays whose outputs are summed. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A phased array antenna comprising:
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a matrix of sub-arrays, each sub-array having a corresponding plurality of antenna elements, each antenna element having an associated phase shifting element applying a phase shift to a signal received by the phase shifting element for transmission by, or in response to reception by, a corresponding antenna element, and sub-array summing unit, providing a respective sub-array signal, having directional transmit or receive sensitivity in a respective first direction for each sub-array;
a respective sub-array phase delay applied to the respective sub-array signal; and
a further summing unit arranged to sum the phase delayed sub-array signals to produce a received antenna signal having a response equivalent to a combination of the responses of each sub-array;
wherein,the sub-arrays have different respective phase delays applied to the respective sub-array signals; and
at least two different combinations of sub-array signals are each summed to provide an antenna response comprising a corresponding at least two response maxima representing a combination of the individual responses of such sums, each of such maxima representing an antenna response corresponding to a combination of the responses of the sub-arrays whose output is summed. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
a first sub-array has a first value of a phase shift applied to the corresponding sub-array signal; and
each antenna element of a second sub-array has a second value of a phase shift applied to the corresponding sub-array signal.
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15. A phased array antenna according to claim 14 wherein the resultant antenna response comprises a plurality of relatively high gain responses in first directions separated by a corresponding plurality of relatively low gain responses in second directions, each of said first directions lying between a pair of second directions.
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16. A phased array antenna according to claim 15 wherein all of first and second directions lie substantially in a first plane and wherein the first plane is swept through an angle, itself in a plane substantially orthogonal to the first plane.
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17. A phased antenna according to claim 16 wherein the antenna is arranged to perform sweeping by adjustment of phase shifts applied to individual antenna elements, and/or to sub-array signals.
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18. A phased array antenna according to claim 10 wherein the antenna comprises a face divided into regions, each region containing the antenna elements of a respective sub-array.
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19. A phased array antenna according to claim 18 wherein the boundaries between the regions are randomised.
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20. A phased array antenna according to claim 10 further comprising a digital converter associated with each sub-array signal for providing a digital representation of the sub-array signal.
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21. A phased array antenna according to claim 20 wherein the digital representation of the sub-array signals are provided to at least one digital summing unit to provide a digital representation of the sum of the corresponding sub-array signals.
Specification