Beam Steering and Nulling for Differential Segmented Aperture Antennas.

Abstract

Providing a beam steering system for a differential segmented aperture antenna. [Solution] The beam steering system includes a DSA antenna, which is a differential segmented aperture antenna including a plurality of pyramidal structures arranged in an array, and a plurality of elements formed in an array, each element being defined between two adjacent pyramidal structures; a phase conversion circuit for determining a phase conversion for each element, where the phase conversion for each element is based on an angle of the target relative to the element and the operating frequency of the DSA antenna; a transmit phase shift circuit for applying a phase difference for each element based on the phase conversion, where the phase difference steers a signal to the target so that the signals constructively interfere; and a receive phase shift circuit for applying a phase difference for each element based on the phase conversion, where the phase difference causes the signals to constructively interfere for the signal of interest and suppresses unwanted signals by steering the signals to a null.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 273,346, filed October 29, 2021, the entire teachings of which are incorporated by reference herein.

[0002] STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

[0002] This invention was made with Federal support under SC-BATTELLE-CIOSP3-2018 awarded by the United States Special Operations Command. The Federal Government has certain rights in this invention.

[0003] Technical Field This disclosure relates to beam steering and nulling for differentially segmented aperture (DSA) antennas. [Background technology]

[0004] background

[0004] Beam steering is a technique for changing the direction of the main lobe of a radiation pattern. Beam steering changes the phase of the input signal on all radiating elements. This allows the signal to be targeted to a specific receiver. An antenna can employ radiating elements with a common frequency to steer a single beam in a specific direction, or beams of different frequencies can be steered in different directions to serve different users.

[0005] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0005] Reference should be made to the following detailed description which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numbers represent like parts and in which: [Brief description of the drawings]

[0006] [Figure 1A]

[0006] FIG. 1A illustrates various views of a differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 1B]

[0006] FIG. 1B illustrates various views of a differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 1C]

[0006] FIG. 1C illustrates various views of a differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2]

[0007] FIG. 2 illustrates a transmission of a signal of interest (SOI) from a point in space that is received by a DSA antenna in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3]

[0008] FIG. 3 illustrates a triangle used to determine the angle at which a wave propagates, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4]

[0009] FIG. 4 shows a beam pattern plot visualizing nulls in accordance with the present disclosure. [Diagram 5]

[0010] FIG. 5 shows the frequency response of a 5800.1 MHz signal located at 60 degrees azimuth as measured with a DSA antenna in accordance with the present disclosure. [Figure 6]

[0011] FIG. 6 illustrates a beam pattern for the DSA antenna of FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 1C in accordance with the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0007] Detailed Description

[0013] The present disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of the configuration and arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The examples described herein may be subject to other embodiments and to implementation or execution in various ways. It will also be understood that the terminology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be considered limiting, as can be understood by those skilled in the art. Throughout this description, similar reference numerals may refer to similar structures throughout the several figures, and such structures may not be described separately. Furthermore, any particular feature of a particular exemplary embodiment may be equally applicable as suitable to any other exemplary embodiment herein. In other words, features between the various exemplary embodiments described herein are interchangeable and not exclusive.

[0008]

[0014] Beam steering is the process of positioning the beams of a transmit and / or receive phased array at an angle relative to the boresight that maximizes signal magnitude through constructive interference. Beam steering allows a host radio system to maximize signals transmitted and received from peer radios positioned at any arbitrary azimuth angle relative to the host radio system. Similarly, in the case of transmission, radios outside the beam of the transmitting radio will receive an attenuated version of the transmitted signal. This may be desirable for applications that require transmission to a single target radio while suppressing broadcasts to non-targeted radios.

[0009]

[0015] Nulling is the process of steering unwanted interfering signals emanating from any arbitrary azimuth into a null that minimizes the signal magnitude. This is desirable for applications where intentional or unintentional jamming signals impede the ability of a radio to receive a signal of interest.

[0010]

[0016] Direction finding is the process of determining the azimuth angle of an SOI from the measured signal phase difference sensed by multiple receiving elements spaced some distance apart. Beamsteering, direction finding, and nulling are made possible by using multiple sensing and transmitting elements that, at any one time, receive or transmit equal but phase offset signals from one another.

[0011]

[0017] 1A, 1B, and 1C show various views of a DSA antenna array 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 1A shows a top-down view of an exemplary DSA antenna array 100. The DSA antenna array 100 includes a number of protrusions, generally pyramidal structures, arranged in an array in the example herein, with one exemplary pyramidal structure labeled 102. In the example of FIG. 1A, the antenna 100 has five rows and five columns (5×5) of pyramidal structures. At least one face of each pyramidal structure faces an adjacent pyramidal structure, as shown. The opposing faces of two adjacent pyramidal structures form a horizontal element 104 or a vertical element 106. The element 104 is designated the horizontal element, and the element 106 is designated the vertical element. Given that there are five rows and five columns (5×5) of pyramidal structures in this example, there are five rows of horizontal elements 104, each row containing four columns of horizontal elements 104. The horizontal elements 104 therefore form a (5×4) array totaling 20 horizontal elements. Given that there are five rows and five columns (5×5) of pyramidal structures in this example, there are five columns of vertical elements 106, each row containing four rows of vertical elements 106. The vertical elements 106 therefore form a (4×5) array totaling 20 vertical elements. The vertical and horizontal elements 104, 106 are therefore arranged in an (m×n) array, having m number of rows and n number of columns of elements. In the example of FIG. 1A, the vertical elements 106 are formed in columns along the X-axis, and the horizontal elements 104 are formed in rows along the Y-axis. In some embodiments, the pyramidal structures are generally identical to one another and generally equidistant from one another, e.g., each element is 1" away from an adjacent element. The electromagnetic location of an element 104, 106 is the phase center for that element. Each phase center represents the transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) point for signals transmitted by or received by the element.

[0012]

[0018] FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional view of the DSA antenna array 100, showing the pyramidal structures 102 formed on the base dielectric layer 108. FIG. 1B also shows the DSA antenna array 100 in position for communication (RX and / or TX) with a target 110. The target 110 is positioned at an elevation angle ("El.Ang.") and an azimuth angle ("Az.Ang.") with respect to the XY plane of the DSA antenna array 100. In this example, Az.Ang. is the angle of the target 110 with respect to an axis 112 perpendicular to the front of the array in the X direction. FIG. 1C also shows a cross-sectional view of the DSA antenna array 100 in position for communication (RX and / or TX) with a target 110. In this example, El.Ang. is the angle of the target 110 with respect to an axis 114 perpendicular to the front of the array in the Y direction. As described in more detail below, the horizontal elements 104 and vertical elements 106 of the DSA antenna array 100 can be controlled to provide a phase shift for Rx and / or Tx communications with the target 110 to optimize signal gain between the DSA antenna array 100 and the target 110.

[0013]

[0019] In some embodiments, the system of the present disclosure includes a beam steering circuit. As a general matter, and with continued reference to Figures 1A, 1B, and 1C, the azimuth and / or elevation angle of the target 110 relative to the orientation of the array 100 generally serves to affect the gain of signals in both Rx and Tx operations in the direction of the target 110. For example, the peak gain of the array generally resides where the beam pattern of the array 100, specifically the main lobe of the beam pattern, is directed toward the target 110. Thus, the beam steering circuit is generally configured to provide a phase angle on each of the elements (104, 106) such that the array is substantially directed toward the target 110 directly (and without physical movement of the array 110) to maximize the communication gain between the array 100 and the target 110.

[0014]

[0020] In some embodiments, the beam steering circuitry generally includes a phase transformation circuit configured to determine a phase gradient across the array (in both X and Y dimensions) to maximize signal strength between the array and the target. The phase gradient is based on the azimuth and elevation angles of the target relative to the array, the operating frequency (f), and the orientation of the DSA array relative to the target. The system applies a phase transformation to each element in the DSA array based on the phase gradient.

[0015]

[0021] In some embodiments, the beam steering circuitry also includes a transmit phase shift circuit for applying a transmit phase difference per element based on a phase transformation to steer the signal emanating from each element to a target such that the signals from each element interfere constructively. In addition, the beam steering circuitry also includes a receive phase shift circuit for applying a receive phase difference per element based on a phase transformation to cause the signal received by each element to interfere constructively for the signal of interest and to suppress unwanted signals from the element by steering the unwanted signals to a null.

[0016]

[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates a transmission 200 of an SOI from a point in space that is received by a DSA antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 2 includes a signal of interest SOI 202 that emits an electromagnetic wave in free space that propagates at the speed of light (c=3e8m / s). As the SOI wave propagates, it is sensed by a DSA sensing element (segment) at some phase angle for a given time. The location in space where the wave is sensed is called the phase center of the segment. In the example of FIG. 2, the first location in space where the wave is sensed is represented as phase center 204. As the wave continues to propagate, it is sensed by the next closest segment at the same phase angle at some later point in time by phase center 206. The time difference is equal to the propagation distance (dr), which is the distance the wave traveled in free space from the first element to the next, divided by the speed of light according to equation (1).

number

[0017]

[0023] Similarly, at any one time, the phase difference θ measured by the two elements is expressed as a function of time (t dr ) and the frequency (f) of the SOI. θ(degrees)=360(degrees / cycle)*f(Hz)*t dr (s) (2)

[0018]

[0024] From this relationship, the measured phase can be used to calculate the propagation distance between the two elements, as shown in equation (3).

number

[0019]

[0025] As the distance between the SOI source and the receiving element becomes larger compared to the wavelength of the signal, the triangle formed by the propagating wave in Figure 2 approaches a right triangle. Therefore, the angle at which the wave propagates (the azimuth angle) can then be determined by solving the right triangle in Figure 3 for α using the propagation distance along the known fixed distance between the two elements, as shown in equation (4).

number

[0020]

[0026] By measuring the phase angle between the DSA aperture segments, the system of the present disclosure determines the azimuth angle of the SOI. This is essentially a process of direction finding. Similarly, the phase of the transmit signal between the DSA aperture segments can be manipulated to correspond to the azimuth angle of the distant receiving radio. This allows the signals transmitted by the DSA aperture segments to combine constructively in the far field at the azimuth angle of the receiving radio, thereby resulting in a high signal level.

[0021]

[0027] As mentioned above, DSA consists of multiple transmit / sense segments in the form of an array. According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the receive signal is ultimately generated by the combination (sum) of the signals sensed at each segment. Similarly, the transmit signals applied to each segment combine in the far field as a single propagating wave that can be sensed by a distant receiver. The phase angle of each segment relative to each other affects the amplitude of the combined signal by constructive and destructive interference. Two waves with exactly the same frequency are said to be phase coherent because the phase difference between the two waves is constant. Phase coherent waves with a phase difference equal to 0 are said to be in phase. Two in-phase waves, when combined, create a total wave with twice the amplitude. This is known as constructive interference. Conversely, when the phase difference between two phase coherent waves is 180 degrees, the second wave completely cancels the first, creating a total wave with an amplitude of 0. This is known as destructive interference, the resulting signal is called a null, the angle is called the null angle, and the shift required to create the null is called the null phase shift. Nulls, e.g., null 402, are visualized in the beam pattern plot of Figure 4 as abrupt lower magnitude deviations on either side of the main lobe for higher frequency signals. The extent of the main lobe is known as the First Null Beam Width (FNBW). Also shown in Figure 4 is the expected magnitude decrease as multiple signals go from constructive to destructive interference.

[0022]

[0028] In some embodiments, the DSA performs beam steering by manipulating the phase difference between the aperture segments so that signals radiating to / from these segments interfere constructively. This phase difference is related to the azimuth angle of the received signal or the receiving radio. If the azimuth angle of the SOI or the receiving radio is known, a single phase shift of each aperture segment relative to each other will maximize the signal at the desired azimuth angle. If the azimuth angle is unknown, a scan over a range of angles for the received signal can be used to determine the azimuth angle at which the composite signal is maximized. For the communication link, this same azimuth angle can now be used for transmission.

[0023]

[0029] FIG. 5 shows an example frequency response 500 of a 5800.1 MHz signal located at 60 degrees azimuth as measured using a DSA in accordance with the present disclosure. This illustrates an example of beam steering and direction finding. The first trace 502 shows the response of the "unsteered" signal, which is simply the raw, unprocessed signal after the signals from the four DSA columns are combined. The second trace 504 shows the "steered" signal, which is the sum of the four DSA column signals with a phase shift applied so that they benefit from maximum constructive interference at a steering angle of 60 degrees. The difference in amplitude between the steered and unsteered signals, or the "steering gain", is 12.193 dB.

[0024]

[0030] Without beamsteering, the magnitude of the off-boresight SOI signal is expected to be reduced due to destructive interference. Beamsteering is a technique to bring the segmented signals back in phase so that they interfere constructively, resulting in maximum signal response.

[0025]

[0031] In some embodiments, the degree to which beam steering is effective is determined by the signal beamwidth, which in turn is determined by the wavelength of the signal being steered and the geometry of the aperture. As the frequency of the signal increases, the signal wavelength decreases, causing a larger shift in the phase difference between the aperture elements for angles off boresight. As the phase shift between the aperture elements approaches 90 degrees, the magnitude of the combined signal from all aperture elements is reduced. At this point, it falls into a null, theoretically 0. Note that a 90 degree phase shift between elements is equivalent to a phase reference of (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°) for four elements in one dimension. Signals at 0° and 180° destructively interfere, while signals at 90° and 270° destructively interfere, creating a null. Figure 4 shows an example beam pattern for a 5"x5" 4x4 element DSA versus frequency. The plot shows that at low frequencies, the beam pattern is almost perfectly flat across the face of the aperture. For example, at 500 MHz, there is no discernible signal reduction as the signal azimuth angle is rotated off-boresight. As frequency increases, lobes form and show a decrease in magnitude at angles off-boresight. At approximately 3.6 GHz, 90 degrees off-boresight in either direction corresponds to a 45 degree phase shift between the aperture elements creating nulls on either side of the main lobe. As frequency increases beyond 3.6 GHz, the main lobe becomes narrower as the nulls move closer to the center. Subsequent phase shifts create less destructive interference, so secondary lobes are generated. The beam pattern for larger geometry apertures will scale such that lobes will begin to appear at lower frequencies.

[0026]

[0032] In some embodiments, the same method employed in beam steering can be used to suppress signals from unwanted interferers, e.g., radio jammers. The objective in this case is to steer these interferers into a null. This occurs when the phase shift between the two segments causes the phase of the interfering signal received in one segment to be 180 degrees out of phase with respect to that of the other segment. SOI received from any other azimuth angle will experience a different phase offset between the two segments that will be outside the null. From FIG. 4, it can be seen that the null is narrow and that just a few degrees outside the null can cause a signal magnitude difference of more than 50 dB.

[0027]

[0033] In some embodiments, the nulling process can be automated by performing a scan over a range of phase angles and calculating the combined magnitude of all the aperture segments. The phase angle at which this magnitude is minimum will be the null. If the interfering signal is the dominant signal, such that it accounts for most of the energy in the band, then the phase angle associated with the minimum magnitude across the band will be very close to the null. Further nulling accuracy can be achieved by isolating the interfering signal in frequency and finding the null for the isolated signal.

[0028]

[0034] FIG. 6 illustrates a beam pattern for the DSA antenna of FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, and FIG. 1C according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates a three-dimensional graph of the beam pattern of the DSA antenna for a given frequency. As illustrated, the beam pattern includes a main lobe 602 directly in front of the DSA antenna, and several side lobes, one labeled 604. The gain characteristic is maximized for Tx and Rx occurring within the main lobe 602 (e.g., when the DSA antenna is steered so that the main lobe 602 faces the target (as described above)), and reduced gain when the Tx and Rx occur within the side lobe 604. Between the main lobe 602 and the side lobe 604 is a null location 606. The null location 606 corresponds to an azimuth angle and an elevation angle (referred to herein as "Null-Az.Ang" and "Null-El.Ang"). The gain characteristic is minimized for Tx and Rx occurring within the main lobe (e.g., when the DSA antenna is steered so that the null location 606 faces the target (as described above). As shown, there are typically multiple side lobes 604 and multiple null locations 606. As described above, the beam pattern is generally based on the design of the DSA antenna (e.g., number of elements (m×n)) and the operating frequency. The beam pattern shown in FIG. 6 assumes a beam pattern for a DSA antenna having 4×4 elements and operating at 8.000 GHz.

[0029]

[0035] According to one aspect of the disclosure, there is therefore provided a beam steering system including: a differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna including a plurality of pyramidal structures arranged in an array, and a plurality of elements formed in the array, each element being defined between two adjacent pyramidal structures; a phase transformation circuit for determining a phase transformation per element of the plurality of elements, the phase transformation per element being based on an angle of a target relative to the element and an operating frequency of the DSA antenna; a transmit phase shift circuit for applying a phase difference per element based on the phase transformation, the phase difference steering a signal radiating from each element to the target such that the signals from each element constructively interfere; and a receive phase shift circuit for applying a phase difference per element based on the phase transformation, the phase difference causing signals received by each element to constructively interfere for a signal of interest and suppressing unwanted signals from the elements by steering the unwanted signals to a null.

[0030]

[0036] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, therefore, there is provided a beam steering system, the system including: a differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna including a plurality of pyramidal structures arranged in an array; and a plurality of elements formed in the array, each element being defined between two adjacent pyramidal structures, the DSA antenna having a beam pattern having a main lobe and at least one side lobe and a null location between the main lobe and the at least one side lobe, the null location corresponding to a null angle, the beam pattern being based on a number of elements and an operating frequency of the DSA antenna; and a non-transitory storage device including machine-readable instructions, the machine-readable instructions, when executed by one or more processors, for steering the one or more processors. In one embodiment, a beam steering system is provided that causes a beam steering controller to perform operations including: determining a phase transformation for each of a plurality of elements, the phase transformation for each element being based on an angle of a target relative to the element and an operating frequency of the DSA antenna; determining a transmit phase difference for each element based on the phase transformation, the transmit phase difference steering a signal radiating from each element to the target such that signals from each element constructively interfere; and determining a receive phase difference for each element based on the phase transformation, the receive phase difference causing signals received by each element to constructively interfere for a signal of interest and suppressing unwanted signals from the elements by steering the unwanted signals to a null angle.

[0031]

[0037] According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, therefore, there is provided a method for beam steering for an antenna, the method comprising: determining an element-by-element phase transformation of a plurality of elements, the element-by-element phase transformation being based on an angle of a target relative to the elements and an operating frequency of a differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna; the DSA antenna includes a plurality of elements formed in an array including a plurality of pyramidal structures arranged in an array and a set of directional elements, each element being defined between two adjacent pyramidal structures, the position of each element being spaced a distance from a common origin of the elements of the array; the DSA antenna has a beam pattern having a main lobe and at least one side lobe and a null position between the main lobe and the at least one side lobe, the null position corresponding to a null angle, and the beam pattern is determined by a number of elements of the DSA antenna. and an operating frequency, determining a phase transformation for each of a plurality of elements, the phase transformation for each element being based on an angle of the target relative to the DSA antenna and the operating frequency of the DSA antenna; determining a transmit phase difference for each element based on the phase transformation, the transmit phase difference steering signals radiating from each element to the target such that signals from each element constructively interfere; and determining a receive phase difference for each element based on the phase transformation, the receive phase difference causing signals received by each element to constructively interfere for the signal of interest and suppressing unwanted signals from the elements by steering the unwanted signals to a null angle.

[0032]

[0038] As used in this application and claims, a sequence of items connected by the term "and / or" can mean any combination of the listed items. For example, the phrase "A, B, and / or C" can mean A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C. As used in this application and claims, a sequence of items connected by the term "at least one of" can mean any combination of the listed terms. For example, the phrase "at least one of A, B, or C" can mean A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C.

[0033]

[0039] "Circuitry," as used in any embodiment herein, may include, for example, alone or in any combination, hardwired circuitry, programmable circuitry such as one or more computer processors including one or more individual instruction processing cores, state machine circuitry, and / or firmware that stores instructions executed by the programmable circuitry, and / or future computing circuitry including, for example, hardware embodiments of accelerators such as massively parallel processing, analog or quantum computing, neural net processors, and non-silicon implementations of the above. Circuitry may be embodied collectively or individually as circuits that form part of a larger system, such as an integrated circuit (IC), a system on-chip (SoC), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), logic gates, registers, semiconductor devices, chips, microchips, chipsets, and the like.

[0034]

[0040] Any of the operations described herein may be implemented within a system that includes one or more non-transitory storage devices, including one or more computer-readable storage media having stored therein instructions that, individually or in combination, when executed by circuitry, perform the operations. Storage devices include any type of tangible media, such as hard disks, floppy disks, optical disks, any type of disk including compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk rewritable (CD-RW), and magneto-optical disks, read-only memory (ROM), dynamic and static RAM such as random access memory (RAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state disks (SSD), semiconductor devices such as embedded multimedia cards (eMMC), secure digital input / output (SDIO) cards, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions. The instructions may be in the form of firmware executable code, software executable code, embedded instruction sets, application software, etc. Other embodiments may be implemented as software executed by a programmable control device. It is also contemplated that the operations described herein may be distributed across multiple physical devices, such as processing structures in more than one different physical locations.

[0035]

[0041] The terms and expressions employed in this specification are used as terms of description, not of limitation, and in the use of such terms and expressions, there is no intention to exclude equivalents of the illustrated and described features (or portions thereof), recognizing that various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. The claims are therefore intended to cover all such equivalents. Various features, aspects, and embodiments have been described herein. The features, aspects, and embodiments are susceptible to combination with each other, as well as modifications and alterations, as would be understood by one skilled in the art. The present disclosure should therefore be considered to encompass such combinations, modifications, and alterations.

[0036]

[0042] References throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

Claims

1. A differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna comprising a plurality of pyramidal structures arranged in an array, and a plurality of elements formed in an array, wherein each element is defined between two adjacent pyramidal structures, A phase conversion circuit for determining the phase conversion of each of the aforementioned plurality of elements, wherein the phase conversion for each element is based on the angle of the target relative to the element and the operating frequency of the DSA antenna, A transmit phase shift circuit for applying a transmit phase difference to each element based on the aforementioned phase conversion, wherein the transmit phase difference manipulates the signals radiated from each element toward the target such that the signals from each element constructively interfere with each other. A receiving phase shift circuit for applying the received phase difference for each element based on the phase conversion, wherein the receiving phase difference constructively interferes with the signal of interest received by each element, and suppresses unwanted signals from the elements by manipulating them to null, A beam steering system equipped with this system.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein each of the obtained transmit phase difference and receive phase difference is applied to each of the elements in order to cause a change in the signal gain of the DSA antenna with respect to the target.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the transmit phase difference and the receive phase difference are increased and / or decreased in order to produce a selected decrease in the signal gain from the target.

4. The phase difference θ, which is the transmission phase difference and the reception phase difference for each element, is given by the first equation: θ (degrees) = 360 (degrees / cycle) * f (Hz) * t dr (s) Determined by, where f is the frequency of the signal of interest, and t dr The system according to claim 1, wherein is the propagation time between the element and the adjacent element.

5. The propagation time between the element and the adjacent element is given by the second equation: [Math 1] The system according to claim 4, wherein the frequency of the signal of interest is determined by the frequency of

6. Manipulating the aforementioned unnecessary signal to the aforementioned null, Determining a first phase shift for the unwanted signal from the first element, To produce a first shifted signal, the first phase shift is applied to the unwanted signal from the first element. Determining a second phase shift for the unwanted signal from the second element, wherein the second phase shift is determined to interfere with the first shifted signal in a canceling manner, and Applying the second phase shift to the second element to produce a second shifted signal, wherein the second shifted signal interferes with the first shifted signal in a canceling manner. The system according to claim 1, further comprising:

7. The system according to claim 1, further comprising determining the location of the target by increasing and / or decreasing the phase conversion and increasing and / or decreasing the operating frequency.

8. It is a beam steering system, A differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna comprising a plurality of pyramidal structures arranged in an array, and a plurality of elements formed in an array, wherein each element is defined between two adjacent pyramidal structures, and the DSA antenna has a beam pattern having a main lobe and at least one side lobe, and a null position between the main lobe and at least one side lobe, wherein the null position corresponds to a null angle, and the beam pattern is based on the number of elements and operating frequency of the DSA antenna. A non-temporary storage device that includes machine-readable instructions, wherein when the machine-readable instructions are executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors are instructed to: The process involves determining the phase transformation for each of the aforementioned plurality of elements, wherein the phase transformation for each element is determined based on the angle of the target relative to the element and the operating frequency of the DSA antenna. The process involves determining the transmission phase difference for each element based on the aforementioned phase transformation, wherein the transmission phase difference determines how the signals radiated from each element are directed toward the target such that the signals from each element constructively interfere with each other. The process involves determining the received phase difference for each element based on the phase transformation, constructively interfering with the signal of interest with respect to the signal received by each element based on the received phase difference, and suppressing unwanted signals from the elements by manipulating them to the null angle. A beam steering system that enables the execution of operations including [specific actions].

9. When the machine-readable instruction is executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors: The system according to claim 8, which performs an operation that includes determining a null phase shift by multiplying the phase transformation by the position of each element relative to the array and subtracting or adding the null angle.

10. When the machine-readable instruction is executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors: The system according to claim 9, wherein the operation is performed to cause a change in the signal gain of the DSA antenna with respect to the target, the operation being performed which includes applying the respective obtained null phase shift to each respective element.

11. When the machine-readable instruction is executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors: The system according to claim 8, which performs an operation that includes applying each of the obtained transmit phase differences and receive phase differences to each of the elements in order to cause a change in the signal gain of the DSA antenna with respect to the target.

12. When the machine-readable instruction is executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors: First equation: θ (degrees) = 360 (degrees / cycle) * f (Hz) * t dr (s) This performs an operation that includes determining the phase difference θ, which is the transmission phase difference and the reception phase difference for each element, where f is the frequency of the signal of interest, and t dr The system according to claim 8, wherein is the propagation time between the element and the adjacent element.

13. When the machine-readable instruction is executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors: The second equation: [Math 2] The system according to claim 12, wherein the system performs an operation including determining the propagation time between the element and an adjacent element, where f is the frequency of the signal of interest.

14. When the machine-readable instruction is executed by one or more processors, the one or more processors: The system according to claim 8, which performs an operation including determining the location of the target by increasing and / or decreasing the phase conversion and increasing and / or decreasing the operating frequency.

15. A method for a beam steering antenna, The determination of the phase transformation for each element of a plurality of elements, wherein the phase transformation for each element is determined based on the angle of the target with respect to the element and the operating frequency of the differential segmented aperture (DSA) antenna, wherein the DSA antenna includes a plurality of elements formed in an array, each element being defined between two adjacent pyramidal structures, and the position of each element being located at a distance from the common origin of the elements of the array, and the DSA antenna having a beam pattern having a main lobe and at least one side lobe, and a null position between the main lobe and at least one side lobe, wherein the null position corresponds to a null angle, and the beam pattern is determined based on the number of elements and operating frequency of the DSA antenna, and the phase transformation is determined based on the angle of the target with respect to the DSA antenna and the operating frequency of the DSA antenna. The process involves determining the transmission phase difference for each element based on the aforementioned phase transformation, wherein the transmission phase difference determines how the signals radiated from each element are directed toward the target such that the signals from each element constructively interfere with each other. The process involves determining the received phase difference for each element based on the phase transformation, constructively interfering with the signal of interest with respect to the signal received by each element based on the received phase difference, and suppressing unwanted signals from the elements by manipulating the unwanted signals to the null angle. A method that includes this.

16. The method according to claim 15, further comprising applying each of the obtained null phase shifts to each of the elements in order to cause a change in the signal gain of the DSA antenna with respect to the target.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising increasing and / or decreasing the obtained null phase shift in order to produce a selected decrease in the signal gain from the target.

18. The method according to claim 16, further comprising determining the obtained null phase shift by multiplying the phase transformation by the position of the element relative to the array and subtracting or adding the null angle.

19. First equation: θ (degrees) = 360 (degrees / cycle) * f (Hz) * t dr (s) This further includes determining the phase difference θ, which is the transmission phase difference and the reception phase difference for each element, where f is the frequency of the signal of interest and t dr The method according to claim 15, wherein is the propagation time between the element and the adjacent element.

20. The second equation: [Math 3] The method according to claim 19, further comprising determining the propagation time between the element and an adjacent element, where f is the frequency of the signal of interest.

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