Radar optical fiber antenna based on metal coating optical fiber

Abstract

The invention discloses a radar optical fiber antenna based on a metal coating optical fiber, the metal coating optical fiber is used as the radar optical fiber antenna, function integration of the antenna and the optical fiber is achieved, and therefore radar long-distance detection and radar short-distance detection can be achieved at the same time. The radar optical fiber antenna based on the metal coating optical fiber is provided for solving the problem that an existing traditional radar has a short-distance detection blind area, the antenna and the optical fiber function are integrated, and the short-distance radar detection blind area is improved while the radar conducts long-distance detection; the surface coating metal can be used as the antenna, the sensing function can be realized by using the optical fiber, and a material basis is provided for designing a high-integration-level radar.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the field of radar technology, and in particular relates to a radar antenna combined with optical fiber. Background Art

[0002] In the continuous evolution of radar technology, the improvement of close-range detection capabilities has always been the focus of scientific researchers. Although traditional radar systems have made remarkable achievements in long-range target detection, they still have problems such as close-range detection blind spots, which are mainly attributed to the physical characteristics of radar beams and signal attenuation and interference in complex environments.

[0003] Traditional radar system design mainly optimizes the detection accuracy and coverage of long-range targets, which is not conducive to the detection of close-range targets. The beam and directivity of the radar antenna are not effective for close-range targets, and the reflection signal of close-range targets is weak, and the environmental interference is serious, resulting in a significant reduction in the recognition rate and positioning accuracy of close-range detection. In recent years, with the rapid development of fiber-optic communication technology and distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) technology, new possibilities have been provided for the innovation of radar technology. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the problem that current traditional radars have blind spots in close-range detection, the present invention proposes a radar fiber optic antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber, which improves the problem of blind spots in close-range radar detection by integrating the antenna and optical fiber functions into the radar for long-range detection.

[0005] The technical solution of the present invention:

[0006] A radar fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber uses the metal-coated optical fiber as a radar fiber antenna. The functions of the antenna and the optical fiber are integrated, so that both long-range radar detection and short-range radar detection can be realized. The surface-coated metal is used as a long-range radar antenna to realize the function of long-range radar detection, and the optical fiber structure is used to detect information such as short-range sound and tiny vibrations to realize the function of short-range radar detection.

[0007] Metal-coated optical fiber is a solid core optical fiber with a metal layer coated on the outer surface or a hollow core optical fiber with a metal layer coated on the inner wall.

[0008] The metal coated on the metal-plated optical fiber is a metal with excellent electrical conductivity, including but not limited to metal materials such as Cu and Ag.

[0009] The cladding diameter of the metal-coated optical fiber is 125-660 μm, the core diameter of the metal-coated optical fiber is 9-600 μm, and the thickness of the metal coating is less than 80 μm.

[0010] The radar fiber optic antenna is wound into different geometric shapes as required, including but not limited to spiral shapes, fan shapes, etc., so as to optimize its antenna characteristics within a specific microwave frequency range.

[0011] Multiple radar fiber antennas are configured into an antenna array of a certain shape. By arranging multiple radar fiber antenna units with a specific shape and adjusting the relative position and spacing between the units, the directional gain within the target microwave frequency range is further enhanced.

[0012] Distributed fiber optic acoustic wave sensing technology is used to enable radar fiber optic antennas to detect close-range sound, tiny vibrations and other information.

[0013] One end of the radar fiber optic antenna is connected to the distributed fiber optic acoustic wave sensing system and the signal demodulation system in sequence through a single-mode optical fiber, and the other end of the radar fiber optic antenna is connected to the transceiver system and the signal processing system in sequence through wires.

[0014] The principle of the present invention is:

[0015] As a new type of optical fiber, metal-coated optical fiber not only has excellent electromagnetic wave transmission characteristics, but is also suitable as a high-performance antenna material to realize the function of long-range detection in radar systems. It can also be combined with DAS technology to achieve high-sensitivity detection of short-range sound waves and tiny vibration signals. This characteristic makes metal-coated optical fiber show unique application prospects in radar technology. Therefore, the present invention proposes a radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber. The metal-coated optical fiber is used as a radar optical fiber antenna, which can be used not only for long-range radar detection, but also for short-range radar detection. The functional integration of the antenna and the optical fiber also helps to achieve compact and lightweight system design.

[0016] The surface of metal-coated optical fiber is coated with a highly conductive metal coating, so the metal-coated optical fiber can be wound to form radar optical fiber antennas of different shapes to match different application scenarios. At the same time, using distributed optical fiber acoustic wave sensing technology, radar optical fiber antennas can also detect information such as short-range acoustic waves and tiny vibrations, thereby improving the problem of radar blind spots in radar systems during short-range detection.

[0017] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0018] 1. The present invention creatively integrates the functions of optical fiber and antenna. It can use the surface-plated metal as an antenna and use the optical fiber to realize the sensing function, providing a material basis for designing highly integrated radar.

[0019] 2. The radar fiber optic antenna provided by the present invention can utilize distributed fiber optic acoustic sensing technology (DAS) to detect acoustic signals and tiny vibration signals, thereby improving the problem of radar close-range detection blind spots to a certain extent.

[0020] 3. Compared with traditional metal antennas, the present invention has the advantages of light weight and low price. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of radar and DAS integrated system.

[0022] Figure 2 This is the front view of the grid parabola antenna.

[0023] Figure 3 This is the left view of the grid parabola antenna.

[0024] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the metal-coated optical fiber structure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] Embodiment 1:

[0026] like Figure 4 The metal-coated optical fiber is composed of a metal coating 10, a quartz cladding 11 and a doped quartz core 12. In this embodiment, the metal-coated optical fiber is a copper-coated single-mode optical fiber with a core diameter of 9 μm, a cladding diameter of 125 μm and a coating thickness of 20 μm.

[0027] refer to Figure 1 The radar and distributed optical acoustic sensor (DAS) integrated system includes a DAS system 1, a common single-mode optical fiber 2, a signal demodulation system 3, a radar optical fiber antenna 4, a wire 5, a transceiver system 6, and a signal processing system 7. One end of the DAS system 1 is connected to the signal demodulation system 3 through the common single-mode optical fiber 2, and the other end is connected to one end of the radar optical fiber antenna 4 made of metal-plated optical fiber. The other end of the radar optical fiber antenna 4 is connected to one end of the transceiver system 6 through the wire 5, and the other end of the transceiver system 6 is connected to the signal processing system 7 through the wire 5.

[0028] Embodiment 2:

[0029] This embodiment uses a single metal-coated optical fiber to wind up to form an antenna with a grid parabola structure. Figure 2 and Figure 3 , Figure 2 , Figure 3The grid parabola antenna unit in this embodiment is illustrated from the front and left view angles, respectively, and is composed of an antenna body 8 and an antenna feed horn 9. In this embodiment, the grid parabola antenna operates in the X-band (center frequency is 10GHz), and the X-band is a commonly used band for radar systems. The antenna feed horn selects a rectangular horn antenna with vertical linear polarization in the x-band, because the design of the rectangular horn feed can provide a good radiation pattern in the x-band, its geometric structure and polarization configuration can optimize the gain and directivity of the antenna, and its structure is simple and the production process is mature. The antenna feed horn is located at the focus and adopts a coaxial feeding method. The antenna feed horn is located at the focus, which can provide balanced electromagnetic radiation, form a high-quality parallel beam, enhance directivity and gain, and the coaxial feeding can effectively reduce reflection loss, and its structure is also relatively simple. Since the strength of the radar fiber optic antenna is relatively weak, in the actual installation process, high-strength materials can be used to support and fix the radar fiber optic antenna body. In this embodiment, the grid parabola antenna has a major axis of 1 m, a minor axis of 0.5 m, an aperture diameter D of 1 m, a grid spacing of half the wavelength of 1.5 cm, a focal length of 0.35 m, and a parabola depth of 0.18 m.

Claims

1. A radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber, characterized in that: Metal-coated optical fibers are used as radar fiber antennas.

2. The radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber according to claim 1, characterized in that: Metal-coated optical fiber is a solid core optical fiber with a metal layer coated on the outer surface or a hollow core optical fiber with a metal layer coated on the inner wall.

3. The radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber according to claim 2, characterized in that: The metal coated on the metal-plated optical fiber is a metal with excellent electrical conductivity.

4. The radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber according to claim 2, characterized in that: The cladding diameter of the metal-plated optical fiber is 125-660 μm, the core diameter is 9-600 μm, and the thickness of the metal plating layer is less than 80 μm.

5. The radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber according to claim 2, characterized in that: The radar fiber antenna can be wound into different geometric shapes as required.

6. The radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber according to claim 5, characterized in that: Multiple radar fiber optic antennas are configured into an antenna array of a certain shape.

7. The radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: Distributed fiber optic acoustic wave sensing technology is used to enable radar fiber optic antennas to detect close-range sound, tiny vibrations and other information.

8. The radar optical fiber antenna based on metal-coated optical fiber according to claim 7, characterized in that: One end of the radar fiber optic antenna is connected to the distributed fiber optic acoustic wave sensing system and the signal demodulation system in sequence through a single-mode optical fiber, and the other end of the radar fiber optic antenna is connected to the transceiver system and the signal processing system in sequence through wires.

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