Electronically steered weather radar
First Claim
1. An electronically steered weather radar system comprising:
- a plurality of transmit/receive modules, each transmit/receive module configured to adjust a phase characteristic of a radio frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted and received;
a plurality of antenna modules, each antenna module in communication with one transmit/receive module, the antenna modules forming an antenna array configured to transmit a system beam having a beamwidth in a direction determined by the phase of the RF signal from each transmit/receive module and to generate the RF signal from the received system beam; and
a system signal processor configured to perform a first scan to detect meteorological formations wherein the system signal processor communicates with each transmit/receive module to adjust a phase characteristic of the RF signals such that the antenna array transmits and receives the system beam through a plurality of azimuth angles with a first azimuth step value and a plurality of elevation angles with a first elevation step value, the first azimuth step value and the first elevation step value being larger than the beamwidth of the system beam.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An electronically steered weather radar system comprises a plurality of transmit/receive modules, a plurality of antenna modules, and a system signal processor. Each transmit/receive module may be configured to adjust a phase characteristic of a radio frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted and received. Antenna modules may be in communication with transmit/receive modules and may form an antenna array configured to transmit a system beam in a direction determined by the phase of the RF signal from each transmit/receive module and to generate the RF signal from the received system beam. The system signal processor may be configured to perform a first scan to detect meteorological formations wherein the system signal processor communicates with each transmit/receive module to adjust a phase characteristic of the RF signals such that the antenna array transmits and receives the system beam through a plurality of azimuth angles and a plurality of elevation angles.
328 Citations
33 Claims
-
1. An electronically steered weather radar system comprising:
-
a plurality of transmit/receive modules, each transmit/receive module configured to adjust a phase characteristic of a radio frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted and received; a plurality of antenna modules, each antenna module in communication with one transmit/receive module, the antenna modules forming an antenna array configured to transmit a system beam having a beamwidth in a direction determined by the phase of the RF signal from each transmit/receive module and to generate the RF signal from the received system beam; and a system signal processor configured to perform a first scan to detect meteorological formations wherein the system signal processor communicates with each transmit/receive module to adjust a phase characteristic of the RF signals such that the antenna array transmits and receives the system beam through a plurality of azimuth angles with a first azimuth step value and a plurality of elevation angles with a first elevation step value, the first azimuth step value and the first elevation step value being larger than the beamwidth of the system beam. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. An electronically steered weather radar system comprising:
-
a plurality of transmit/receive modules, each transmit/receive module configured to adjust a phase characteristic of a radio frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted and received; a plurality of antenna modules, each antenna module in communication with one transmit/receive module, the antenna modules forming an antenna array configured to transmit a system beam having a beamwidth in a direction determined by the phase of the RF signal from each transmit/receive module and to generate the RF signal from the received system beam; and a system signal processor configured to perform a first scan to detect meteorological formations wherein the system signal processor communicates with each transmit/receive module to adjust a phase characteristic of the RF signals such that the antenna array transmits and receives the system beam through a plurality of azimuth angles with a first azimuth step value, a plurality of elevation angles with a first elevation step value, the first azimuth step value and the first elevation step value being integer multiples of the beamwidth of the system beam, and at a first range, and to perform additional scans wherein the range is changed by at least a first value. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
-
-
24. An electronically steered weather radar system comprising:
-
a plurality of transmit/receive modules, each transmit/receive module configured to adjust a phase characteristic of a radio frequency (RF) signal to be transmitted and received; a plurality of antenna modules, each antenna module in communication with one transmit/receive module and including a horizontally polarized antenna and a vertically polarized antenna, the antenna modules forming an antenna array configured to transmit a system beam having a beamwidth in a direction determined by the phase of the RF signal from each transmit/receive module and to generate the RF signal from the received system beam and to transmit and receive a horizontally polarized system beam and a vertically polarized system beam; and a system signal processor configured to perform a first scan to detect meteorological formations wherein the system signal processor communicates with each transmit/receive module to adjust a phase characteristic of the RF signals such that the antenna array transmits and receives the system beam through a plurality of azimuth angles with a first azimuth step value, a plurality of elevation angles with a first elevation step value, the first azimuth step value and the first elevation step value being larger than the beamwidth of the system beam, and at a first range, and to perform additional scans wherein the range is changed by at least a first value. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
-
Specification