Joint STARS phased array radar antenna

The Joint STARS phased array radar system is capable of performing long range airborne surveillance and was used during the Persian Gulf war on two E8-A aircraft to fly many around-the-clock missions to monitor the Kuwait and Iraq battlefield from a safe distance behind the front lines. This paper is a follow-on to previous publications on the subject of the Joint STARS antenna and deals mainly with mission performance and technical aspects not previously covered. Radar data of troop movements and armament installations are presented, a brief review of the antenna design is given, followed by technical discussions concerning the three-port interferometry, gain and sidelobe design approach, cost control, range test implementation and future improvements     

弹载共形相控阵天线拓扑结构分析

以弹载多模复合制导雷达导引头为应用背景,在未考虑极化的情况下,首先建立了任意有向阵列的方向图函数;然后,采用同心圆等角度、同心圆等间距以及矩形栅格 3种不同配置方式,建立了锥面共形相控阵天线模型,推导了不同配置方式下天线阵列方向图函数;通过比较其方位面及俯仰面的副瓣电平,得出结论:同心圆等间距配置方式是锥面共形相控阵雷达导引头天线单元的最优配置方式。     

相控阵雷达天线模型及仿真

阐述了相控阵天线仿真的重要性,指出了相控阵天线仿真的主要困难。提出了一种利用阵因子、方向性因子和旁瓣抑制因子分别解决仿真波束形状、天线增益、方向图旁瓣及其变化等3大问题,并进行综合建模和仿真,给出了综合后的仿真模型。该仿真模型保证了理论方面的精度,优化和减少了仿真计算步骤和计算量。利用该仿真模型,给出了宙斯盾系统的AN／SPY-1D雷达天线的仿真计算实例。     

Small Ku-band phased array antenna system

A four-element phased array antenna prototype with varactor tuning has been constructed. The design employs aperture-fed quarter-wave patch elements and loaded-line phase shifters, having a phase adjustment range of about 50/spl deg/, which enables beam steering up to 13/spl deg/ from the array boresight. The system is suitable as a building block for larger arrays and shows as such a maximum gain of 7.7 dBi and an impedance bandwidth of 1 GHz. The sidelobe level is better than -13 dB. Problems encountered include parasitic resonances which disturb matching, and partially deteriorate the radiation pattern. Additionally, mechanical manufacturing tolerances of the microstrip boards were not always adequate, whereby a 6% shift in the center frequency, some impedance errors, and phasing inaccuracies were observed.     

The IRIDIUMR main mission antenna concept

The design of a novel phased array panel that provides the L-band satellite to ground links for the IRIDIUM global communications system is presented. Key components and aspects of this phased array antenna are discussed, including the beamforming architecture, radiated intermodulation products, the patch radiators, and the T/R module. The strategy for minimizing DC power consumption over a large range of multicarrier rf output power is described. Finally, test results showing compliant array operation are summarized     

Dispersion Effects in a Circular Phased Array

The dispersion effects that are produced when wideband linear frequency modulation (FM) signals are transmitted through a circular phased array are considered for both one-way and two-way transmissions through the array. The distortions resulting at the output of a matched fi'lter which is matched to the undistorted linear FM signal are studied. These distortions are 1) loss in peak pulse amplitude, 2) widening of the pulse, and 3) reduction in sidelobe level.     

Performance of phased-array antennas with mechanical errors

The performance of planar phase-array antennas with mechanical errors is investigated. Errors in array element positions as a result of structural distortions are considered as deterministic and predictable. Detailed calculations for two assumed modes of distortion reveal that their effects on antenna performance are the loss of peak response in the scan direction and the broadening of the mainlobe, while the far-out sidelobe structure remains relatively intact. For large antennas, performance improvement can be expected by suitable phase compensation. Performance of antennas with random errors in their element positions must be treated statistically. Expressions of average directivity and sidelobe level corresponding to arbitrary error magnitudes in element position, amplitude and phase of excitation as well as finite rate of failure of element modules were derived and verified by direct numerical calculations from the antenna directivity patterns. For a planar phased-array antenna typical for space-based radars, the standard deviation of element position errors must not exceed 1% of the operating wavelength in order to maintain a -10 dBi sidelobe level     

基于相控阵雷达天线俯仰多波位相扫的设计与应用

分析研究了如何设计平面相控阵雷达天线多波位相扫的基本原理,提出了36行平面相控阵雷达天线在俯仰上实现多波位发射波束、接收波束形成与展宽方法.通过微波暗室的测试,天线技术指标完全达到了平面相控阵雷达天线多波位相扫的技术要求,实现了一维相控阵面高增益、高灵敏度、低噪声、大动态范围技术指标.     

Strapdown inertial measurement units for motion compensation forsynthetic aperture radars

It is shown that synthetic-aperture radar (SAR) motion can be compensated by using an antenna-mounted strapdown inertial measurement unit (IMU) as the motion sensing system, but sensor and system errors affect SAR image quality. A strapdown IMU consists of three accelerator channels and three gyro channels. Strapdown IMU errors include gyro-scale and accelerometer-scale factor and bias errors, velocity error, platform tilt, and errors induced by limited inertial sensor bandwidth. The effects of these errors on the SAR image quality are presented in terms of the SAR impulse response. IMU errors that cause low-frequency phase errors (less than one cycle per array time) are categorized in terms of quadratic and cubic phase errors. IMU errors that cause high-frequency phase errors (greater than one cycle per array time) are categorized in terms of the integrated sidelobe ratio and peak sidelobe ratio. A motion compensation system conceptualization is described wherein a strapdown IMU is attached to an antenna and transfer-aligns to the aircraft's master navigator     

Two low-cost phased arrays

In a phased array antenna, the phase shifters (or T/R modules in an active aperture phased array) with their beam-steering control circuitry along with the feed network account for the major hardware cost. This paper presents two antenna array configurations that use simpler feed, simpler phase-shifting and simpler beam-steering control circuitry for realizing low-cost phased arrays. Both are lens configurations. The first one uses a Radant lens, which provides a medium that is loaded with diodes and provides the needed phase shift by switching the diodes on and off. The other configuration employs a ferroelectric dielectric material whose dielectric constant can be varied with an applied DC bias voltage. It is shown that the ferroelectric lens may have further advantages of smaller thickness, simpler beam-steering controls and lower cost     

基于天线安装的菱形翼无人机翼型优化设计

以菱形翼布局高空长航时(HALE)传感器无人机研究为背景,分析了翼型内部安装平面相控阵雷达天线的基本原理。通过推导雷达探测性能的估算方程,建立了在翼型中安装平面相控阵雷达天线的数学模型。采用数值模拟的方法,对典型雷诺数下的RAE2822翼型的气动特性进行了研究并与试验数据进行了对比,验证了使用有限体积法k-ωSST(Shear Stress Transport)湍流模型求解雷诺平均Navier-Stokes方程在这一状态下的可靠性和适用性;同时对不同厚度的NACA 64A系列翼型的流场结构和流动机理进行了分析,在此基础上提出了一种满足平面相控阵雷达天线安装情况下翼型的优化设计思想。优化结果验证了这一设计思想的可行性。     

相控阵天线方向图仿真与分析

相控阵天线目前广泛应用于雷达中,促进了多目标、多任务雷达的发展。但随着电扫描角度的变化,其诸多指标也随之变化,对雷达的性能产生直接影响,因而对相控阵天线方向图进行实时定量分析具有重要意义。文章基于相控阵天线的基本原理,利用LabVIEW语言开发了相控阵天线方向图仿真软件。软件设置了相控阵天线各影响参数的输入控件,通过图形和数值2种方式进行仿真结果的显示,并以表格文件存储。通过不同条件下的仿真结果对比分析,软件可合理有效地对相控阵天线方向图进行实时定量的仿真分析,可应用于相控阵雷达的性能分析和评估中。     

机载共形阵天线阵列信号处理的关键技术分析

机载共形阵是机载有源相控阵天线发展的下一个目标。共形阵天线的阵元具有不同的方向性,空间分辨率算法必须考虑来波的极化问题。本文研究了空间信号波达方向(Direction of Arrival,DOA)估计算法的现状,分析了一种适用于共形阵天线空域自适应波束形成的高速滤波算法。     

Active transmitting phased antenna arrays

The benefits of using transmitting phased array antennas for radar systems are examined. Accurate performance prediction for the transmitting phased array antennas requires theories describing both the antenna system and the power generation devices. These theories were created and applied to the design and performance evaluation of the Russian 3-D mobile solid-state surveillance radar 67N6E (GAMMA-DE), a PAA designed for long-range air defense.     

Properties of Dolph-Chebyshev Weighting Functions

Dolph-Chebyshev amplitude weighting is used with FFT signal processors and array antennas when a low sidelobe response is required. This particular weighting minimizes the width of the mainlobe response while forcing all of the sidelobes to a specified sidelobe level. As the specified sidelobe level is reduced, the mainlobe width increases, as does the loss in signal-to-noise ratio. This correspondence describes how the Dolph-Chebyshev weights may be easily calculated, and gives design data showing how signal-to-noise loss and mainlobe width vary with the specified sidelobe level.     

Sidelobe blanking with integration and target fluctuation

In radar systems, sidelobe blanking (SLB) is used to mitigate impulsive interference that enters the radar through sidelobes of the main antenna. SLB employs an auxiliary antenna channel with the output being compared with that of the main antenna channel and a decision is then made as to whether or not to blank the main channel output. SLB performance determination involves the evaluation of several probability functions. Based on the classical Maisel SLB architecture, this work extends previous performance results, in which detection was limited to the case of a single radar pulse with either Marcum or Swerling I target fluctuation. Probability expressions have been generalized to include both an arbitrary number of integrated pulses and target fluctuation models based on the gamma distribution. The Swerling fluctuation models are all special cases of the gamma distribution. Results are derived in terms of two generalized probability functions, one for detection and the other for blanking. With these generalized probability functions, the SLB design and performance results can be determined. Examples are presented and discussed.     

Adaptive array transient sidelobe levels and remedies

The transient sidelobe level of a sidelobe canceler (SLC) is a function of the external noise environment, the number of adaptive auxiliary antennas, the adaptive algorithm used, auxiliary antenna gain margins, and the number of samples used to calculate the adaptive weights. An analytical result for the adaptive sidelobe level is formulated for the case when the adaptive algorithm is the open-loop, sampled matrix inversion (SMI) algorithm. The result is independent of whether concurrent or nonconcurrent data processing is used in the SMI algorithm's implementation. It is shown that the transient sidelobe level is eigenvalue dependent and increases proportionally to the gain margin of the auxiliary antenna elements with respect to the quiescent main antenna sidelobe level. Techniques that reduce this transient sidelobe level are discussed, and it is theoretically shown that injection independent noise into the auxiliary channels significantly reduces the transient sidelobe level. It is demonstrated that using this same technique reduces the SMI noise power residue settling time     

Performance analysis of conformal conical arrays for airborne vehicles

Conformal array apertures have great potential for providing high performance, low weight systems with little or no impact to the aerodynamic design of the air vehicle. A performance analysis of conformal conical arrays for a national airborne radar application is presented. The conical array geometry is chosen for its similarity to an aircraft or missile nosecone. Performance capabilities are analyzed for a number of antenna performance parameters including scan volume, sidelobe levels, grating lobes, beamwidth, directivity, element count, and cross-polarization     

Maritime Communications via Satellites Employing Phased Arrays

This paper examines the feasibility of providing maritime mobile telecommunications as a new service via satellites. A global system with a capacity of 10 duplex voice/data channels (plus an interrogation/reply channel) per satellite is described. The capability is achieved with a 0-dB gain UHF antenna in the ship and a UHF phased array in the satellite, which produces 11 steerable beams, each with 30-dB peak gain. The links between satellite and shore are assumed to be at SHF. A dedicated satellite weighs 320 kg, which can be launched with an up-rated Thor-Delta. The prime power requirement of 730 watts is provided by an oriented solar array.     

Performance of Sidelobe Blanking Systems

Sidelobe blanking systems are useful in preventing acquisition of strong targets in the antenna sidelobes and also in rejecting pulsed interference originating in the sidelobes. The analysis of a common two-channel system is presented in which the relationship between the probability of main-lobe detection and the probability of sidelobe detection are given in terms of false-alarm probability, signal-to-noise ratio, and the ratio of sidelobe levels of the two channels. The numerical results given provide a basis for the selection of the sidelobe blanking channel antenna gain and threshold levels.