Double-system all-solid-state marine radar

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of radar systems, and discloses a dual-system all-solid-state marine radar. The system comprises an antenna pedestal rotary table, a low-profile waveguide slot antenna, a servo unit, a power supply unit, a radio frequency switching unit, a pulse transceiving unit, a continuous wave transceiving unit, a main control unit and a display control terminal. According to the invention, the design of an all-solid-state and all-coherent dual-system radar system is utilized, the inherent technical defects of a traditional magnetron monopulse system and a single solid-state system marine radar are made up, the technical advantages of a pulse compression system and a linear frequency modulation continuous wave system are integrated, the radar performance is improved, and more abundant functions are integrated at the same time; and the use requirements of modern ships in application scenes such as open sea navigation, narrow water channel passing, port entering and leaving, search and rescue, collision early warning, panoramic blind compensation and the like can be met.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention mainly relates to the technical field of radar systems, and in particular to a dual-system all-solid-state marine radar. Background Art

[0002] Marine radars are installed on various types of vessels. They operate by leveraging the properties of ultra-high frequency radio waves, which propagate at a constant speed and in straight lines across space, and reflect well from objects. Therefore, they are not restricted by darkness, nor are they significantly affected by rain or fog. Their long range makes them essential electronic devices, guiding ships through safe navigation. Marine radars are primarily used to detect objects around a vessel that could affect navigation safety, such as ships, beacons, bridge piers, embankments, ice floes, islands, icebergs, and coastlines. They are crucial instruments for mariners in collision avoidance, navigation, positioning, observation, and search and rescue operations. They are also a key means of ensuring ship safety in special scenarios, such as at night, in narrow waterways, while entering and leaving ports, and at anchor.

[0003] The prototype of marine radar was born in the early 20th century. In 1904, German engineers invented a device that used radio waves to detect echoes, with the aim of preventing collisions between ships at sea. In 1935, the French first used radar to detect other ships and icebergs when sailing in fog and at night. In 1943, the United States officially launched shipborne radar. In 1949, Liverpool, England first installed a formal shipborne radar system. Since then, shipborne radar has become an indispensable navigation equipment on ships, officially used for ship positioning, channel avoidance, buoy observation, and entering and leaving ports. It is also used to ensure the navigation safety of ships under complex climatic conditions.

[0004] Traditional marine radars are either X-band single-pulse magnetron radars with rod antennas or linear frequency-modulated continuous-wave (LFMCCW) radars with disk antennas. Single-pulse magnetron radars can only transmit a pulse modulated signal of a single frequency and width at a time, requiring manual pulse width adjustment to adjust radar resolution and range. However, while using a wide pulse improves range, it also reduces range resolution and increases the transmission blind spot. While narrow pulses offer better range resolution and a smaller transmission blind spot, the range also decreases due to reduced radiated energy, making it difficult to achieve a balance between range and resolution. Furthermore, the transmitting system of these radars uses a magnetron as a power amplifier, resulting in long warm-up times, short lifespans, and poor stability and maintainability. The processing system often employs relatively primitive analog signal processing, providing limited information to the crew. LFMCCW radars with disk antennas offer the advantages of small size and low power consumption, and are primarily deployed on small vessels and yachts. However, due to the small antenna size, beamwidth and transmit / receive isolation are limited, making it difficult to improve azimuth resolution and detection power.

[0005] With the continuous development of electronic technology, domestic and foreign marine radar technology has developed from the magnetron system to the all-solid-state, low-power, multi-band, and multi-functional directions. The all-solid-state pulse system marine radar has gradually become popular, but the pulse compression processing of the all-solid-state pulse radar has introduced a new problem of range sidelobes, which in turn limits the further improvement of the radar's range resolution. At the same time, there is also the problem of a large blind spot at close range.

[0006] In summary, single-system radars still have their inherent limitations and disadvantages. There is an urgent need for a new radar system that combines the advantages of both solid-state pulse and continuous wave radars to further improve the usability of marine radars in different scenarios. Summary of the Invention

[0007] In response to the inherent technical drawbacks of existing single-system marine radars, the present invention provides a dual-system all-solid-state marine radar. This radar is designed to seamlessly switch between the pulse compression system and the linear frequency modulation continuous wave system according to different application scenarios. It combines the technical advantages of the two-system radars to provide richer and more accurate navigation and collision avoidance information during ship navigation and docking.

[0008] To achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a dual-system all-solid-state marine radar, comprising an antenna base turntable, a low-profile waveguide slot antenna, a radio frequency switching unit, a pulse transceiver unit, a continuous wave transceiver unit, a main control unit, and a display and control terminal; The low-profile waveguide slot antenna is mounted on the antenna pedestal and connected to the pulse transceiver unit and the continuous wave transceiver unit through the radio frequency switching unit. The main control unit controls the radio frequency switching unit and is connected to the display and control terminal to complete information processing, target display, and dual-system all-solid-state navigation radar control. The low-profile waveguide slot antenna is a bi-directional antenna for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves. The pulse transceiver unit and the continuous wave transceiver unit are connected to the low-profile waveguide slot antenna through the radio frequency switching unit, and the pulse and continuous wave systems work in time-sharing mode. The RF switching unit consists of two sets of two-choose-one RF switches, which respectively realize the RF switching of the transmit path and the receive path, thereby realizing the switching between the pulse and continuous wave systems; The main control unit is connected to the pulse transceiver unit, continuous wave transceiver unit, radio frequency switching unit and display and control terminal respectively, receives control commands from the display and control terminal, and completes the working control of the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar; The display and control terminal connects the pulse transceiver unit, the continuous wave transceiver unit and the main control unit, completes the processing and display of the original data of the signals received by the pulse and continuous wave transceiver units, and sends the control commands to the main control unit.

[0009] Furthermore, the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar also includes a servo unit, which includes a backpack-type integrated motor and a photoelectric encoder. The servo unit is connected to the main control unit and drives the low-profile waveguide slot antenna to rotate and return the azimuth signal according to the control command.

[0010] Furthermore, the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar also includes a power supply unit, which is a high-reliability power supply module that provides stable and reliable DC power supply for the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar.

[0011] Furthermore, the pulse transceiver unit and the continuous wave transceiver unit both include transmitters and receivers of corresponding systems; The transmitters are all solid-state transmitters, connected to the low-profile waveguide slot antenna through the RF switching unit; The receivers are all digital receivers, which generate the transmitting excitation signal and mix the RF echo signal to the intermediate frequency, and then output it to the display and control terminal after intermediate frequency sampling, digital orthogonality and pulse compression.

[0012] Furthermore, the main control unit controls the radio frequency switching unit according to the current working mode of the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar and generates the timing signal required by the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar, thereby completing the working control of the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar.

[0013] Furthermore, the servo unit, power supply unit, pulse transceiver unit, continuous wave transceiver unit and main control unit can be integrated inside the antenna base turntable.

[0014] The present invention provides a dual-system all-solid-state marine radar, which has the following beneficial effects: (1) The low-profile waveguide slot antenna of the present invention is a dispersive antenna and adopts a separate transmit and receive design, which provides a higher transmit and receive isolation in the continuous wave working mode. Combined with the SFC technology, the system can accept a larger transmission power, effectively improving the power coverage range in this mode; in the pulse working mode, the dispersion characteristics of the dispersive antenna for electromagnetic waves of different frequencies are utilized, combined with the frequency diversity technology, to effectively improve the sea clutter suppression degree; (2) The two-system transceiver units of the present invention both adopt a fully solid-state, fully coherent design, which has higher reliability, longer service life and faster startup speed than the traditional magnetron system, and can realize rapid switching of the two-system working modes; the fully coherent transceiver system combined with the MTD technology can effectively improve the complex clutter suppression. The dual-system design of the present invention effectively combines the technical advantages of the two radar systems. In scenarios such as open sea navigation, search and rescue, and collision warning, it can fully utilize the characteristics of the pulse system's large power coverage, strong clutter suppression capability, and high flexibility in working mode design. In complex navigation environments such as narrow waterway passage and port entry and exit, it can quickly switch to the continuous wave working mode, and use the technical advantages of the continuous wave system's small transmission blind spot and high distance resolution to ensure navigation safety. (4) The display and control terminal of the present invention can be connected to multiple radar heads to achieve collaborative work of multiple radar heads, mutual blind spot compensation, and panoramic fusion of echo signals to meet the use needs of medium and large ships. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the principle of a dual-system all-solid-state marine radar involved in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0016] The preferred structure and implementation method of the present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0017] Moving target detection technology (MTD technology) is a technology that uses a Doppler filter bank to suppress various clutters to improve the radar's ability to detect moving targets in a clutter background.

[0018] Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) is a chromatographic process that uses supercritical fluid as the mobile phase and relies on the melting agent ability of the mobile phase to perform separation and analysis. Example 1

[0019] like Figure 1As shown, the present invention discloses a dual-system all-solid-state marine radar. A low-profile waveguide slot antenna is used for radiating and receiving electromagnetic waves. It is connected to a pulse transceiver unit and a continuous wave transceiver unit through a radio frequency switching unit. The main control unit controls the radio frequency switching unit to achieve rapid switching between the two system operating modes. The display and control terminal receives, processes, and displays radar head data, as well as controls the radar. The low-profile waveguide slot antenna uses a dispersive antenna with separate transmit and receive locations, providing high transmit and receive isolation in continuous wave mode. Combined with SFC technology, the system can accept higher transmit power, effectively improving the power coverage in this mode. In pulse mode, the dispersive antenna's dispersion characteristics for electromagnetic waves of different frequencies, combined with frequency diversity technology, effectively improves sea clutter suppression. The pulse transceiver unit and the continuous wave transceiver unit are composed of all-solid-state transmitters and digital receivers of the corresponding systems. They are connected to the low-profile waveguide slot antenna through the RF switching unit and controlled by the main control unit. The two systems work in time-sharing mode. The RF switching unit consists of two sets of two-choose-one RF switches, which respectively realize the RF switching of the transmitting path and the receiving path, thereby realizing the switching between the pulse and continuous wave systems. The main control unit is the control core of the radar, which is connected to the pulse transceiver unit, continuous wave transceiver unit, radio frequency switching unit and display and control terminal respectively. It receives control commands from the display and control terminal, generates timing signals for the entire machine, and completes the operation control of the radar. Among them, the display and control terminal is an integrated terminal device for processing, display and control. It is connected to the pulse transceiver unit, continuous wave transceiver unit and main control unit to complete the processing and display of the original data of the signals received by the two systems of transceiver units, and send the control commands to the main control unit.

[0020] like Figure 1 As shown, the low-profile waveguide slot antenna is fixedly installed on the antenna base turntable, which integrates the servo unit, power supply unit, dual-system transceiver unit, and main control unit. The servo unit includes a backpack-type integrated motor and a photoelectric encoder. It has a simple structure and high reliability. It is connected to the main control unit, drives the antenna to rotate according to the control signal, and returns the azimuth signal. Among them, the power supply unit is a high-reliability power supply module that provides stable and reliable DC power supply for the equipment.

[0021] The present invention provides a dual-system all-solid-state marine radar, which mainly utilizes an all-solid-state, fully coherent dual-system radar system design to make up for the inherent technical disadvantages of traditional magnetron single-pulse system and single solid-state system marine radars, and combines the technical advantages of pulse compression system and linear frequency modulation continuous wave system. While improving radar performance, it integrates more abundant functions to meet the use needs of modern ships in application scenarios such as open sea navigation, narrow waterway passage, port entry and exit, search and rescue, collision warning, and panoramic blind spot filling.

[0022] Finally, it should be noted that the above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the embodiments, those skilled in the art can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included in the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A dual-system all-solid-state marine radar, characterized in that: It includes antenna base turntable, low-profile waveguide slot antenna, radio frequency switching unit, pulse transceiver unit, continuous wave transceiver unit, main control unit, and display and control terminal; The low-profile waveguide slot antenna is mounted on the antenna pedestal and connected to the pulse transceiver unit and the continuous wave transceiver unit through the radio frequency switching unit. The main control unit controls the radio frequency switching unit and is connected to the display and control terminal to complete information processing, target display, and dual-system all-solid-state navigation radar control. The low-profile waveguide slot antenna is a bi-directional antenna for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves. The pulse transceiver unit and the continuous wave transceiver unit are connected to the low-profile waveguide slot antenna through the radio frequency switching unit, and the pulse and continuous wave systems work in time-sharing mode. The RF switching unit consists of two sets of two-choose-one RF switches, which respectively realize the RF switching of the transmit path and the receive path, thereby realizing the switching between the pulse and continuous wave systems; The main control unit is connected to the pulse transceiver unit, continuous wave transceiver unit, radio frequency switching unit and display and control terminal respectively, receives control commands from the display and control terminal, and completes the working control of the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar; The display and control terminal connects the pulse transceiver unit, the continuous wave transceiver unit and the main control unit, completes the processing and display of the original data of the signals received by the pulse and continuous wave transceiver units, and sends the control commands to the main control unit.

2. The dual-system all-solid-state marine radar according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dual-system all-solid-state marine radar also includes a servo unit, which includes a backpack-type integrated motor and a photoelectric encoder. The servo unit is connected to the main control unit and drives the low-profile waveguide slot antenna to rotate and return the azimuth signal according to the control command.

3. The dual-system all-solid-state marine radar according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dual-system all-solid-state marine radar also includes a power supply unit, which is a high-reliability power supply module that provides stable and reliable DC power supply for the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar.

4. The dual-system all-solid-state marine radar according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pulse transceiver unit and the continuous wave transceiver unit both include transmitters and receivers of corresponding systems; The transmitters are all solid-state transmitters, which are connected to the low-profile waveguide slot antenna through a radio frequency switching unit; The receivers are all digital receivers, which generate transmission excitation signals, mix radio frequency echo signals to intermediate frequencies, and output them to display and control terminals after intermediate frequency sampling, digital quadrature, and pulse compression.

5. The dual-system all-solid-state marine radar according to claim 1, characterized in that: The main control unit controls the radio frequency switching unit according to the current working mode of the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar and generates the timing signal required by the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar, thereby completing the working control of the dual-system all-solid-state marine radar.

6. The dual-system all-solid-state marine radar according to claims 1-5, characterized in that: The servo unit, power supply unit, pulse transceiver unit, continuous wave transceiver unit and main control unit can be integrated inside the antenna base turntable.

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