Aircraft phased array antenna structure including adjacently supported equipment
First Claim
1. A method for operably applying a phased array antenna system for a mobile platform, the method comprising:
- disposing a transmit antenna within a first antenna housing;
locating a receive antenna within a second antenna housing independently positioned on the mobile platform with respect to the first housing;
converting a receive antenna signal to an aircraft communication frequency signal within the second antenna housing;
changing the aircraft communication frequency signal into a transmit antenna signal within the first antenna housing; and
transmitting the transmit antenna signal from the transmit antenna.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An aircraft phased array antenna system has transmit and receive antenna structures externally mounted on the aircraft fuselage. Each antenna comprises a plurality of phased array elements and antenna power and support equipment. Aerodynamically shaping antenna structure to enclose an antenna element grid provides additional antenna structure volume, which is efficiently utilized by locating antenna support equipment within the antenna structure. To control signal attenuation a receive antenna internal converter converts receive frequency signals to L-band frequency signals for aircraft use, and a similar transmit antenna converter converts L-band frequency signals to transmit frequency signals, thus unconstraining antenna to internal aircraft equipment spacing. To reduce power loss and cabling weight, antenna operating power is first generated in the 28 to 270 volts DC range within the aircraft, and locally converted in each antenna to the 3 to 6 volt DC power to operate each antenna'"'"'s phased array elements.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. A method for operably applying a phased array antenna system for a mobile platform, the method comprising:
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disposing a transmit antenna within a first antenna housing; locating a receive antenna within a second antenna housing independently positioned on the mobile platform with respect to the first housing; converting a receive antenna signal to an aircraft communication frequency signal within the second antenna housing; changing the aircraft communication frequency signal into a transmit antenna signal within the first antenna housing; and transmitting the transmit antenna signal from the transmit antenna. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for forming a phased array antenna communication system for external mounting on a mobile platform, the method comprising:
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separably mounting a transmit antenna and a receive antenna to an external surface of the mobile platform; housing the transmit antenna together with a transmit antenna equipment group in a first housing; enclosing the receive antenna together with a receive antenna equipment group in a second housing independent of the first housing; and communicating an aircraft communication signal with each equipment group. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for adapting an aircraft phased array antenna communication system providing antennas and conversion equipment in aircraft mounted structure, the method comprising:
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externally mounting at least two antenna discs on an aircraft fuselage, each disc including one of a transmit antenna and a receive antenna; separately locating each of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna in one of a transmit antenna and receive antenna housing, the transmit and receive antenna housings oriented in a fore-aft configuration with respect to each other; arranging a plurality of phased array antenna elements in both the transmit antenna and the receive antenna; and converting an antenna power transfer voltage to a phased array antenna operating voltage within each housing. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification