Scalable digital polarization phased array radar and its application

Abstract

A radar system, method, or use comprising a mechanically and electrically scalable, fully digital phased array radar (PAR) system, for example, in the context of meteorological observation. The system can be mobile and enables high-speed (volume scanning in seconds) and adaptive scanning. The PAR system is highly modular, and most of its components can be easily replaced even while the PAR system is in operation.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This PCT application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 489,640, filed on March 10, 2023, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 555,849, filed on February 20, 2024, the entire contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.

[0002] Description of Research and Development Financed by the Federal Government This invention was made with government support under Contract Nos. NA16OAR4320115 and NA21OAR4320204 awarded by the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Contract No. N00014-19-1-2326 awarded by the Naval Research Laboratory. The government has certain rights in this invention.

Background Art

[0003] Weather radar is one of the most important tools in the observation and issuance of warnings for increasingly frequent severe weather events. Severe weather disrupts local communities, affects commerce, affects public services, and causes billions of dollars in damage annually around the world. Unfortunately, currently operating weather dish radars are not designed to capture the rapidly evolving processes leading to extreme events. A significant improvement in the prediction of impactful weather requires a new radar design that achieves the necessary spatial and temporal resolutions in addition to the scanning capabilities provided by PAR technology.

[0004] Next, for a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is made to the following brief description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and detailed description, in which like reference numerals represent like components. This patent or the file of this application includes at least one color drawing. Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawings will be provided by the Patent Office upon request and payment of the necessary fees.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0005] [Figure 1]Perspective view of a mobile radar system that constitutes a PAR system, embodied in the present disclosure. [Figure 2A] Diagram showing dense vertical sampling using imaging in RHI mode. [Figure 2B] Diagram of adaptive nulling for interference mitigation, including non-stationary clutter. [Figure 2C] Symbolic drawing of the reconfigurability of software towards future requirements or missions. [Figure 3] Block diagram of an array panel assembly including an antenna panel, a transceiver-processor assembly, a monitoring device assembly, a power backplane, and a digital bridging assembly. The antenna panel includes an antenna sub-panel having 8 rows of dual-polarization radiating elements. Each radiating element includes a horizontal (H) polarization component and a vertical (V) polarization component. [Figure 4A] Perspective view of a transceiver-processor assembly (referred to herein as the "TRP assembly" or "OctoBlade") with the cover removed. As used herein, the term "OctoBlade" refers to a specific TRP assembly linked to 8 dual-polarization antenna elements via antenna ports. [Figure 4B] Perspective view facing the front of an antenna panel including (right) 8 vertical antenna sub-panels, each antenna panel having 8 radiating elements and supported on an array frame. (Left) View facing the rear of an array frame showing a card cage with 9 card guides for 8 TRP assemblies and monitoring device assemblies. Overall, this antenna panel includes 64 dual-polarization radiating elements in an 8×8 configuration. [Figure 4C] Perspective view of a PAR system mounted on a truck with the radome removed, exposing the radar array. [Figure 4D] Perspective view showing the upper structure of a PAR system with the ground plane exposed. [Figure 5A] Figure 4B shows a schematic diagram of an experimental setup of an array panel assembly, as set up for testing in a far-field anechoic chamber. [Figure 5B] This figure shows a graph of the S-parameters of an antenna with an internal circuit. [Figure 5C] This graph shows the measured active reflection coefficients as a function of the scan angle for H-polarization and V-polarization. [Figure 5D] This is a diagram showing the stacked configuration of an antenna. [Figure 6] This is a schematic diagram demonstrating polarization far-field calibration and antenna pattern characteristic evaluation of a PAR system in bird-bath mode using UAS. [Figure 7A] This is a schematic diagram of a near-field scanner setup used to characterize the H and V antenna patterns of a fully active array panel assembly. [Figure 7B] This graph shows the far-field patterns of normalized H with identical and cross-polarizations, derived from near-field measurements. [Figure 7C] This graph shows the far-field patterns of normalized V with same polarization and cross-polarization, derived from near-field measurements. [Figure 8] Figures 7A and 7B show graphs of the experimental results. [Figure 9] This graph shows data collected at Z20:35:06 by the KTLX WSR-88D operating in Twin Lakes, Oklahoma. [Figure 10] This is a graph of the polarization field acquired in the field using the PAR system's 5x1 radar array. [Figure 11] This graph shows the Doppler spectrum from a location with a high SNR weather return signal. [Figure 12] This is a histogram quantifying the quality of polarization data from the PAR system. [Figure 13] This is a rear perspective view of the PAR system, showing the 25 array panel assemblies of the radar array. [Figure 14] This is a rear perspective view of one array panel assembly, with the network shelf assembly lowered to reveal the electronics of the array panel assembly. [Figure 15] Figure 1 is a perspective view of the backend assembly of the PAR system, with one or more covers removed to reveal the interior. [Figure 16] Figure 13 is a rear perspective view of the PAR system, where the electronic components of the array panel assembly are not mounted in a card cage, thus allowing the power backplane to be seen. [Figure 17] This is a magnified view of one of the card cages in Figure 16, showing the power supply backplane. [Figure 18A] (Left) is a plan view of the PAR system's radar array, showing that all 25 antenna panels are arranged in a 5x5 configuration. (Center) is a top plan view of a single antenna panel with eight vertical antenna subpanels to provide 64 radiating elements. (Right) is a diagram showing a single radiating element with H-polarization and V-polarization components. [Figure 18B] This is a plan view of an antenna port panel showing 128 antenna ports feeding 64 radiating elements on each antenna panel. The vertical set of 16 antenna ports includes a single antenna support set that receives 16 connectors from a single TRP assembly. [Figure 18C] This is a cross-sectional view along line 18C-18C, passing through a vertical subset of the eight antenna ports. [Figure 18D] This is a plan view of the radiating element circuit panel used in conjunction with the antenna port panel shown in Figure 18B. [Figure 18E] This is a cross-sectional view through an assembly of an antenna panel, a radiating element circuit panel, and an antenna port panel, mounted on a ground plane module sized to support a single antenna panel. [Figure 19A] Figure 14 is a vertical rear perspective view of the TRP assembly. [Figure 19B]Figure 14 is a vertical front perspective view of the TRP assembly. [Figure 20A] Figure 14 is a horizontal rear perspective view of the TRP assembly. [Figure 20B] Figure 20A is an exploded view of the TRP assembly. [Figure 21] This is a top plan view of one of the RF boards / digital boards in a TRP assembly RF board / digital board pair. The terms "Octo-Quad" and "Octo-FPGA" may be used herein as substitutes for the terms RF board and digital board, respectively. [Figure 22] Figure 21 is a perspective view of the digital board portion of the RF board / digital board pair. [Figure 23] Figure 21 is a perspective view of the RF substrate portion of the RF substrate / digital substrate pair. [Figure 24A] Figures 20A and 20B are upper plan views of the heat transfer / support plate (also referred to herein as the cooling plate) shown. [Figure 24B] Figure 24A is a perspective view of the heat transfer / support plate, showing the meandering conduits inside the heat transfer / support plate indicated by dashed lines. [Figure 25A] Figure 14 is a top perspective view of the digital bridging subassembly (also referred to herein as the "digital bridge") shown here. [Figure 25B] Figure 25A is a bottom perspective view of the digital bridging subassembly. [Figure 25C] Figures 25A and 25B show exploded views of the digital bridging subassembly. [Figure 26A] Figure 14 is a perspective view of the monitoring device assembly (also referred to herein as "SuperBlade"). [Figure 26B] Figure 26A is an exploded view of the monitoring device assembly. [Figure 27] Figure 16 shows the power supply backplane (also referred to as the "analog bridge" in this specification). [Figure 28]Figure 4D includes a plan view of the ground plane. In the center, the entire ground plane, including 25 ground plane modules, is shown. On the left, an entire ground plane module is shown, surrounded by five adjacent ground plane module sections and their joints. On the right, a single ground plane module mounted on an array frame is shown. [Figure 29] This is a perspective view of the superstructure of the PAR system. [Figure 30] Figure 15 is a top plan view of the synchronous circuit board. [Figure 31] This is a rear perspective view of an array panel assembly, including a pair of TRP assemblies, one monitoring device assembly, a power supply backplane, and a digital bridging subassembly (also known as "OctoPod"). [Figure 32] Figure 31 is a logic diagram of the array panel assembly. [Figure 33] This is a perspective view of the testing system. [Figure 34] Figure 33 is a logical diagram of the test system. [Figure 35A] Figure 1 is a simplified schematic front view of a portion of the PAR system. [Figure 35B] This is a partial lateral cross-sectional view in Figure 35A. [Figure 36] This is a schematic diagram of the RFE according to the first embodiment. [Figure 37] This is a schematic diagram of the RFE according to the second embodiment. [Figure 38] This flowchart shows how to initialize and operate the PAR system shown in Figure 1. [Figure 39] This is a flowchart showing how to operate the PAR system in Figure 1. [Figure 40] This flowchart shows how to synchronize the PAR system in Figure 1. [Figure 41] Figure 1 is a flowchart showing how to test the components used in the PAR system. [Figure 42] Figure 20A is a flowchart showing the method for manufacturing the heat transfer / support plate. The term "cooling plate" is sometimes used instead of the term "heat transfer / support plate." [Figure 43] This flowchart shows the installation, operation, and maintenance methods for the PAR system. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0006] The first point to understand is that, although one or more exemplary implementations of embodiments are given below, the disclosed systems and / or methods can be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or existing. This disclosure is not in any way limited to the exemplary implementations, drawings, and techniques illustrated below, including the exemplary designs and implementations illustrated and described herein, and may be modified in the entirety of the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0007] Before further detailing various embodiments of the apparatus, components, and methods of this disclosure through illustrative descriptions, examples, and results, it should be understood that the embodiments of this disclosure are not limited to the applications of the apparatus, components, and methods described below. The embodiments of the apparatus, components, and methods of this disclosure can be practiced or carried out in various ways not expressly described herein. For example, various apparatuses and devices of the various embodiments described herein can be constructed using various commercially available components such as PCBs, as well as other mechanical and electrical components that perform the same function as certain components described herein. Therefore, the language used herein is intended to give the broadest possible scope and meaning, and the embodiments are intended to be illustrative, not exhaustive. Furthermore, it should be understood that the language and terminology used herein are for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered limiting unless otherwise indicated. In addition, numerous specific details are given in the following detailed description to give a better understanding of this disclosure. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments of this disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, features well known to those skilled in the art are not described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicating the explanation. While the apparatus, components, and methods of this disclosure are described in relation to specific embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variations may be applied to the apparatus, components, and / or methods, as well as to the steps or sequences of steps of the methods described herein, without departing from the concept, idea, and scope of the inventive concept described herein. All such similar substitutions and modifications, which are obvious to those skilled in the art, are considered to be within the idea and scope of the inventive concept disclosed herein.

[0008] All patents, published patent applications, and non-patent literature cited or referenced in any part of this Specification represent the state of the art for those skilled in the art relating to this Disclosure, and are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety to the same extent that the content of each individual patent or publication is specifically and individually incorporated herein. In particular, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 489,640, filed on 10 March 2023, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 555,849, filed on 20 February 2024, are expressly incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

[0009] Unless otherwise defined herein, scientific and technical terms used in conjunction with this disclosure shall have the meanings commonly understood by those skilled in the art. Furthermore, unless otherwise required by context, singular terms shall include plural forms, and plural terms shall include singular forms.

[0010] When used in accordance with the methods and components of this disclosure, unless otherwise indicated, the following terms and expressions shall be understood to have the following meanings: In the claims and / or specifications, the phrases “a” or “an” used in conjunction with the term “comprising” may mean “one,” but are also consistent with the meanings of “one or more,” “at least one,” and “one or more.” The use of the term “or” in the claims shall be used to mean “and / or” unless explicitly indicated to mean only the alternatives, or unless the alternatives are mutually exclusive; however, this disclosure supports both the definition of "alternatives only" and the definition of "and / or." The use of the term "at least one" is understood to include any number greater than one, including but not limited to 1, as well as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 100, or any integer within that range. The expression "at least one" may extend up to 100, 1000, or more, depending on the term it is attached to, and furthermore, the quantity 100 / 1000 should not be considered a limit, as higher upper limits may also produce satisfactory results. In addition, the use of the term "at least one of X, Y, and Z" is understood to include X only, Y only, and Z only, as well as any combination of X, Y, and Z.

[0011] As used herein and in patent claims, the words “comprising” (and any form of “comprising,” such as “comprise” or “comprises”), “having” (and any form of “having,” such as “have” or “has”), “including” (and any form of “including,” such as “includes” or “include”), or “containing” (and any form of “containing,” such as “contains” or “contain”) are inclusive or open-ended and do not preclude additional, undescribed elements or method steps.

[0012] Where used herein, the term “or any combination thereof” refers to all permutations and combinations of the items listed before that term. For example, “A, B, C, or any combination thereof” is intended to include at least one of A, B, C, AB, AC, BC, or ABC, and, where the order is important in a particular context, further, BA, CA, CB, CBA, BCA, ACB, BAC, or CAB. Continuing this example, explicitly included are combinations that involve repetitions of one or more items or terms, such as BB, AAA, AAB, BBC, AAABCCCC, CBBAAA, CABABB, etc. A fellow professional will understand that, unless it is clearly evident from the context, there is generally no limit to the number of items or terms in any combination.

[0013] Throughout this application, the terms “about” or “approximately” are used to indicate that a value includes variations in errors inherent in the apparatus, composition, or method, or variations existing between objects or subjects of study. Where used herein, the modifiers “about” or “approximately” are intended not only to include exact values, quantities, degrees, orientations, or other modified characteristics or values, but also to include some variation due to, for example, measurement errors, manufacturing tolerances, stresses acting on various parts or components, observer errors, wear and tear, and combinations thereof. Where used herein to refer to measurable values ​​such as quantities, percentages, or temporal durations, the terms “about” or “approximately” are intended to include variations of, for example, ±20%, ±10%, ±5%, ±1%, or ±0.1% from a specified value, so that such variations are appropriate for carrying out the disclosed method and for being understood by those skilled in the art. As used herein, the term “substantially” means that the event or situation described thereafter occurs completely, or that the event or situation described thereafter occurs to a large extent or degree. For example, “substantially” means that something possesses or occurs to the extent of 90 to 99 percent of the quantity, duration, degree, or other measured or parameter value of something being compared to it.

[0014] Where used herein, a reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that the specific elements, features, structures, or properties described in conjunction with that embodiment are included in at least one embodiment. The appearance of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various parts of this specification does not necessarily refer to all identical embodiments.

[0015] Where used herein, all numbers or ranges shall include decimal and integer values ​​within such ranges, as well as decimal integers within such ranges, unless the context clearly states otherwise. Therefore, a reference to a numerical range such as 1–10 includes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, as well as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, etc. Similarly, a reference to the range 1–50 includes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, etc., up to and including 50, and similarly including 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, etc., as well as 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 2.5, etc. A reference to a range in a series includes a range that combines the boundary values ​​of different ranges within the series. Therefore, to indicate a range in a series, for example, the range 1 to 1,000 includes, for example, 1 to 10, 10 to 20, 20 to 30, 30 to 40, 40 to 50, 50 to 60, 60 to 75, 75 to 100, 100 to 150, 150 to 200, 200 to 250, 250 to 300, 300 to 400, 400 to 500, 500 to 750, 750 to 1,000, and also includes the ranges 1 to 20, 10 to 50, 50 to 100, 100 to 500, and 500 to 1,000. Therefore, the range of 100 units to 2000 units refers to and includes all values ​​or ranges of values ​​of that unit, as well as decimals and integers of that unit within that range, including, for example, 100 units to 1000 units, 100 units to 500 units, 200 units to 1000 units, 300 units to 1500 units, 400 units to 2000 units, 500 units to 2000 units, 500 units to 1000 units, 250 units to 1750 units, 250 units to 1200 units, 750 units to 2000 units, 150 units to 1500 units, 100 units to 1250 units, and 800 units to 1200 units. Thus, using any two values ​​within the range of approximately 100 units to approximately 2000 units, a lower and upper boundary of a range can be set according to the embodiments of this disclosure.More specifically, the range of 10 to 12 units includes, for example, 10, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9, 11.0, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 11.6, 11.7, 11.8, 11.9, and 12.0, as well as the range of all values ​​or values ​​of those units, the decimal and integer values ​​of those units within that range, and the range of combined boundary values ​​of different ranges within a series, for example, 10.1 to 11.5.

[0016] The following abbreviations and definitions apply: AC: Alternating current ADC: Analog-to-Digital Converter AI: Artificial intelligence Analog Bridge: Power Backplane ARC: Active Reflectance Coefficient ARRC: Advanced Radar Research Center ASIC: Application-Specific Integrated Circuit ATD: Advanced Technology Demonstrator ASTR: Roadside Scanning Radiometer AWG: Arbitrary Waveform Generator az: azimuth angle BEER: Backend Electronic Rack C: Celsius CAPE: Convective Potential Energy Cooling plate: Heat transfer plate CPI: Coherent Processing Interval CPPAR: Cylindrical Polarization Phased Array Radar DAC: Digital-to-Analog Converter dB: Decibels dBZ: Decibels related to Z DC: Direct current DDR4 RAM: Double Data Rate 4 Random Access Memory DGPS: Differential GPS Digital Bridge: Digital Bridging Assembly DO: Control Oscillator DPD: Digital Pre-distortion DPS: Digital Signal Processing EarthCARE: Cloud Aerosol Radiation Mission el: elevation angle EMI: Electromagnetic interference F: Fahrenheit FORJ: Fiber Optic Rotary Joint FPGA: Field-Programmable Gate Array GaN: Gallium Nitride Gb / s: Gigabits per second GHz: Gigahertz GPIO: General-purpose input / output GPS: Global Positioning System H:Horizontal HPA: High-Power Amplifier HTD: Heat Transport Duct I: In phase IC: Integrated Circuit IF: Intermediate frequency INCUS: Convective Updraft Survey I2C: Interconnection between integrated circuits J / kg: Joules per kilogram JPOLE: Collaborative Polarization Experiment JTAG: Joint Test Action Group K DP :Specific phase difference km: kilometers kW: kilowatt LFM: Linear Frequency Modulation LHCP: Left-hand circular polarization LNA: Low Noise Amplifier LO: Local Oscillator LRU: Line Replacement Unit m: meter mb: millibar MC: Mutual coupling MHz: Megahertz ML: Machine Learning ms: milliseconds m / s: meters per second MSPS: Megasamples per second MVDR: Minimum Variance Undistorted Response m 2 : square meters NEXRAD: Next-generation radar NLEQ: Nonlinear Equalization NLFM: Nonlinear Frequency Modulation NOAA: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NSSL:NOAA National Storm Laboratory NWS: U.S. Weather Service Octoblade: Transmitter-Receiver-Processor Assembly Octo-FPGA: Octoblade Digital Board Octo-Quad: Octoblade RF board ODL: Optical Delay Line OEWP: Open-end rectangular waveguide probe PAIR: Polarization Atmospheric Imaging Radar PAR: Phased Array Radar PCB: Printed circuit board PCIe: Peripheral Interconnection Express PPI: Planar Position Indicator PRT: Pulse Repetition Time PTO: Power Take-Off Q: Orthogonal QPE: Quantitative Precipitation Estimation RAM: Random Access Memory RBE: Radar Backend RF: Radio frequency RFE: Wireless Frontend RHCP: Right-hand circular polarization RHI: Range Altitude Indicator RPM: Revolutions per minute Rx: Receive s: second SMP-MAX: Ultra-compact push-on maximum NR: Signal-to-Noise Ratio SoC: System-on-a-Chip SoM: System-on-a-Module SPI: Serial Peripheral Interface STAP: Spatial-Time Adaptive Processing STSR: Simultaneous transmission, simultaneous reception Superblade: Monitoring device assembly synch: Sync TB / s: Terabytes per second TR: Send / Receive TRP Assembly: Transmitter-Receiver-Processor Assembly Tx: Send UART: Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter UAS: Unmanned Aircraft System V: Vertical V: Bolt VDC: Volt DC W: Watts WSR-88D: Weather Surveillance Radar - 1988 Doppler XPC: Cross-polarization canceller Z DR :Differential reflectance μs: microsecond ρ hv : Isopolar correlation coefficient Φ DP :Difference phase 3D: three-dimensional 4D: Four dimensions °: degrees %:percent

[0017] I. Introduction Polarized PARs are emerging as a promising technology for next-generation weather radar due to their superior ability to capture the microphysics and dynamics of rapidly changing and diverse atmospheric phenomena at all scales. Planar PAR antennas that electronically scan only in the elevation direction (mechanically in the azimuth direction) avoid the problem of the intended polarization axis being tilted. In other words, modulation on only one axis of the Poincaré sphere is required. This strategy has been widely implemented in Japan, China, and the United States, where early PAIRs were used. ATDs are two-dimensional scanning planar PARs that require polarization calibration for each beam steering position. Unique CPPAR designs have also been considered. This is based on theoretical studies demonstrating the effectiveness of such designs in maintaining the polarization orthogonality necessary for accurate polarized PAR observations.

[0018] In a non-limiting embodiment of the radar system of this disclosure, Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a mobile radar system 100, which includes a phased array radar (PAR) system 110 mounted on a truck 120. The PAR system 110 includes a plurality of array panel assemblies (described later) covered by a radome 130. The PAR system further includes a backend assembly 140 (described in more detail below) and a controller 150. Figure 1 shows the controller 150 as a notebook computer, but the controller 150 may be any computer or other device that communicates, processes, and displays data. The controller 150 may be an integral part of the backend assembly 140 or a separate part from the backend assembly 140.

[0019] The mobile radar system 100 is referred to herein, in certain embodiments, as "Horus," after the Egyptian god with the all-seeing eye. In at least one embodiment, the PAR system 110 is a meteorological S-band PAR system.

[0020] The PAR system's fully digital architecture enables high-speed (second-by-second volume scanning) and adaptive scanning. By uniquely obtaining nearly continuous vertical sampling, PAR system observations accurately capture 4D microphysical and dynamical processes, including processes crucial for understanding and predicting the formation of serious disasters such as tornadoes, hail, and floods. Pure dual-polarization data, realized by leveraging the all-digital architecture, improves the understanding of microphysical processes, along with operational quantitative precipitation estimation. In one non-limiting embodiment, the PAR system operates with minimal attenuation and outstanding sensitivity in the 2.7–3.1 GHz S-band, which is ideal for atmospheric observations due to its well-understood scattering physics and wide observation range.

[0021] II. Motivation for Meteorological Observation A. High temporal resolution and spatial sampling Due to the scattering properties of atmospheric and hydrological phenomena, operational weather radars in the United States operate in the S-band, providing observations that minimize attenuation and typically fall within the Rayleigh scattering region. The radar system currently used in this network is called WSR-88D, sometimes informally referred to as "NEXRAD." In the United States, approximately 160 WSR-88D radar units make up the operational network. The radar is designed to provide high-quality observations of a wide range of weather phenomena, from localized severe storms / tornadoes to precipitation events that could cause flooding. The radar has also improved decision-making in activities such as transportation, aviation, hydrology, and hazardous weather forecasting and warning issuance.

[0022] Severe storms develop rapidly on a timescale of minutes, and tornadoes on a timescale of seconds. However, given the infrequent nature of tornadoes and other similar phenomena, it is understandable that the WSR-88D network was not designed to provide the temporal resolution necessary to resolve these rapidly developing storms. The PAR systems disclosed herein offer significantly higher temporal resolution while maintaining the required data quality (i.e., bias and deviation of radar variables). This capability is realized through the diverse, novel, and advanced scanning tools described herein.

[0023] To achieve sufficient angular resolution using a pencil beam, the WSR-88D uses an 8.5-meter parabolic reflector antenna to continuously scan a 360° azimuth angle at continuous elevation angles. Typically, the number of elevation angles is limited to provide reasonable volume coverage every few minutes. The WSR-88D attempts to cover the entire volume by rearranging the dish to a limited set of elevation angles, usually 5 to 15. This imposes an inherent trade-off between temporal resolution, spatial coverage, and data quality. In particular, this limited elevation sampling can leave large unobserved gaps in the measurement, especially at more distant ranges.

[0024] Figures 2A and 2C are diagrams illustrating the exemplary capabilities of the PAR system of this disclosure. Figure 2A shows dense vertical sampling using imaging in RHI mode. Figure 2A illustrates how the PAR system of this disclosure can be used for extremely high-density sampling in the elevation direction, i.e., to minimize the aforementioned observational gap. Figure 2B illustrates how the PAR system of this disclosure can be used for adaptive nulling for interference mitigation, including non-stationary clutter. Figure 2C is a symbolic drawing of how software can be reconfigured in the PAR system of this disclosure to address future requirements or missions.

[0025] B. Beam agility and interference mitigation A key capability of the PAR system in this disclosure is beamforming flexibility. Since beamforming weights per element (and polarization) are implemented using a software-based DSP, in contrast to the hardware dependency of analog beamforming systems, it is possible to form multiple arbitrary beams. An example is a spread transmit beam with potentially hundreds of simultaneously received beams, as shown in Figure 2A. This mode of operation is called "imaging" in the weather radar community and can significantly increase temporal resolution and vertical coverage at the expense of sensitivity and sidelobe performance. The sensitivity loss is proportional to the spreading coefficient. For example, if the transmit beam is spread with a coefficient of 2, there is a corresponding 3 dB loss in sensitivity. Sensitivity is not a problem in high SNR environments (e.g., heavy rain, hail) and can be mitigated by using phase-only transmit weighting. The bidirectional sidelobe performance challenge can be addressed by using a spread transmit beam with multiple lobe spaces in the angular direction, rather than a single broad transmit beam. This transmit beam design allows for a more efficient path to satisfy the bidirectional sidelobe requirement because the receive beams are not adjacent in the angular direction.

[0026] Of all PAR architectures, the fully digital architecture of the PAR system in this disclosure offers the greatest degree of freedom for adaptive beamforming in reception using methods such as MVDR, as shown in Figure 2B. These methods are extremely powerful in mitigating interference, ground clutter, and even non-stationary clutter such as reflections from wind turbines, where the implementation of conventional clutter filters is limited.

[0027] Further generalization of adaptive sensing can be employed through the use of STAP, which incorporates adaptive waveforms into beamforming construction. Such adaptive methods inherently depend on the data received at each element, thus necessitating the aggregation of data into a single processing unit for covariance matrix estimation, matrix inversion, etc.

[0028] C. Software-Defined Radar Since each radiating element in the disclosed PAR system does not have hardware-based phase shifters and attenuators, such a system is, by definition, a software-defined radar. In addition to the aforementioned advantages, as shown in Figure 2C, software-defined radars can be more easily reconfigured for new missions. Examples include array partitioning schemes for multiple missions (e.g., weather radar, air traffic control, communications), implementation of sidelobe-canceling channels for improved clutter removal, or new beam shaping for improved temporal resolution. The operational weather radar community cannot predict all future uses or configurations that a radar may have over the next few decades. Therefore, the software reconfigurability enabled by the disclosed PAR system is fundamentally important and results in significant savings in maintenance and operational costs over the radar's lifespan.

[0029] III. Challenges and Solutions A. Calibration-polarization requirements in meteorological observations In the early 2000s, dual polarization was investigated to improve meteorological observations. Following the success of the JPOLE experiment, led by NSSL, the WSR-88D radar network was upgraded with dual polarization capability. This capability has become essential to the meteorological community, producing important radar components such as atmospheric and hydrological classification and improving the accuracy of precipitation estimation, a process known as QPE.

[0030] Useful dual-polarization observations heavily depend on precise calibration. While challenging, this level of calibration has been achieved using the WSR-88D radar. However, in the case of dual polarization in PAR, the challenge is more complex because the array needs to satisfy calibration requirements for hundreds of beams, potentially with different characteristics. While dish radar requires this calibration for only a single boresight beam, PAR requires beam-steering-dependent calibration. In the PAR system of this disclosure, calibration is performed in three steps. First, a novel, recursive far-field calibration is applied using a unique element-level digital architecture. In this scheme, array panels are calibrated independently over short ranges, for example, using standard-gain horn antennas, thereby improving the SNR and reducing multipath contamination, resulting in an initial calibrated array with uniform amplitude and phase excitations. Second, mutual coupling calibration is applied to compensate for any element-level amplitude / phase differences that may have occurred since the recursive calibration was applied during radar deployment. Thirdly, after boresite array calibration is performed, scan loss corrections for the same polarization H and same polarization V antenna gains are applied as a function of the steering angle. In one embodiment, these corrections are derived from element pattern measurements collected in an anechoic chamber, such as the anechoic chamber installed at ARRC in Norman, Oklahoma. The calibration parameters from the combination of these steps are generated in situ and applied in real time. Equivalently, it is also possible to pre-calculate a calibration table for each electronically steered beam position and apply that calibration table in real time. Since the Doppler measurement depends only on the relative phase change per pulse, the Doppler estimate is not affected by the bias induced by the PAR antenna, and the standard error of the Doppler velocity estimate depends only on the radar frequency and dwell time. Near-field data that would be ground truth are not currently available, but the measurements suggest that this technique has achieved an acceptable level of polarization array calibration. A more advanced discussion is given below.

[0031] The meteorological derivation component that affects the accuracy requirements of polarization measurement is Z DR, ρ hv , and K DP is Z. DR Z is the logarithm of the return signal power ratio of H with respect to V, ρ hv is the correlation coefficient between the return signals of H and V, K DP is the derivative of Φ with respect to the range. Here, Φ DP is the phase difference between the return signals of the H polarization wave and the V polarization wave up to the specified range in the radial direction. To perform precise measurement of the polarization variable, that is, it is extremely important that the beams for transmitting the H polarization wave and the V polarization wave have well-matched gains and shapes in all scanning directions. To achieve accurate estimation of the rainfall intensity, the bias of the Z DP estimate should be within ±0.1 dB for the inherent Z DR of 0 to 1 dB, and within 0.1×Z DR for larger Z DR values. It is recommended to keep it below. For the Z DR estimate, maintaining the bias within ±0.1 dB is extremely difficult even in a radar equipped with a parabolic antenna (e.g., the WSR-88D network). For this reason, for Z DR less than 1 dB, a bias accuracy within ±0.2 dB (up to a maximum of 0.2×Z DR for larger Z DR values) is widely adopted as a calibration target. Note that for the ρ DR estimate, a bias within ±0.006 dB is considered sufficient for quantitatively detecting mixed-phase precipitation and sizing hail. hv

[0032] Conventional large-scale PAR systems are typically calibrated (e.g., phase / amplitude alignment) using a near-field scanner before system deployment. Unfortunately, changes in array performance after field deployment often result in the need for radar dismantling and recalibration in laboratory settings. The PAR system of this disclosure, in certain embodiments, realigns the array after deployment using the inherent interconnections of individual elements. This solution to the calibration challenge is a key advantage of this fully digital PAR. Further consideration of the use of this technique is discussed below. Using the XPC technique, improved polarization measurement performance can be achieved with a fully digital array. This method attempts to mitigate cross-polarization interference by assigning a small number of elements from the entire array to transmit a phase opposite to the original signal.

[0033] B. Power consumption At high levels, the main power consumption of a PAR system can be divided into (1) TR modules including HPAs, LNAs, and optional phase shifters and attenuators, (2) digital transceivers, (3) backend processors, and (4) off-array computing needs. In a fully digital PAR, all elements (and polarizations) are digitized and processed, meaning that digital transceivers and optional onboard processing (e.g., FPGAs) dominate the power demand. Of course, as a result of onboard processing, power consumption for off-array computing decreases. Furthermore, a fully digital array does not require phase shifters / attenuators within the TR modules. Nevertheless, the main power demand of a fully digital PAR is greater than that of a PAR based on analog beamforming. For example, the power required for a current PAR system, assuming 1600 radiating elements, is approximately 50 kW of DC mains power for the array alone. This figure does not include radar infrastructure (e.g., chillers, backend servers, pedestals), which can be significant but are independent of the PAR architecture. Fortunately, ASICs for digital radar are sometimes available. In addition to providing the flexibility inherent in digital arrays, ASICs may have the ability to reduce overall power consumption.

[0034] C. Intraband interference Interference is a critical issue for any radar or communications system. Mitigation measures include filtering aimed at blocking sources outside the operating frequency band. Intraband interference can also be a problem, with sources ranging from intentional jamming devices in defense applications to unintentional interference in space for all applications. A major concern with interference is that the ADC or mixer in digital transceivers may become saturated, resulting in unusable data. Analog beamforming, either at the array or sub-array level, allows for some degree of angular directivity because the array (or sub-array) pattern is relatively narrower compared to the radiation pattern of a single element. In fully digital systems, each element is digitized, and the element pattern is approximately 40-60° wide, resulting in little spatial directivity.

[0035] There are at least two potential solutions for in-band interference in fully digital PARs. In the non-limiting embodiments described below, the PAR system of this disclosure is based on the Analog Devices AD9371 digital transceiver IC. Other similar devices may be used instead. The AD9371 is a direct-conversion receiver, and therefore this zero-IF down-conversion plan provides baseband I and Q digital signals with 16-bit sampling. The dynamic range enabled by this sampling is sufficient to adequately accommodate signals with moderate interference levels. Moreover, the overall dynamic range of this digital beamforming radar is 10 log compared to analog beamforming radar using the same receiver. 10The effect increases by (N) times. In a non-limiting embodiment of the PAR system 110, N > 1000, which is particularly useful in civilian applications such as meteorological observation, where the echo intensity can extend over a power range of 80 dB. In another embodiment, a miniaturized frequency-adjustable filter can be embedded in the antenna array with little impact on antenna performance. Other, more specific mitigation measures are possible, such as element-level angle selectivity based on adjustable mutually coupled resonant circuits.

[0036] D. Data Calculations based on digitizing each element and polarization of an array made up of thousands of antenna elements present a challenge in processing large amounts of data. For example, one embodiment of a PAR system 110 containing 1600 antenna elements, when recording data at each element and polarization and assuming a reasonable receiving duty cycle, produces approximately 1.5 TB / s across the entire bandwidth. More specifically, each of the 1600 antenna elements has two radiating elements, namely an independent vertical (V) polarization channel and an independent horizontal (H) polarization channel, and each radiating element has its own digital receiver (located within the RF board of the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly). The AD9371 digital receiver is set to sample at a maximum rate of 125 MSPS, and each 16-bit sample is mapped to a 2-byte word. Each receiver produces a unique 2-byte in-phase signal and a unique 2-byte quadrature signal. Overall, as described above, it produces more than 1 terabyte of data across the entire bandwidth. The sampling rates of the common-mode and quadrature signals exiting the digital receiver are controlled by designing a decimation filter by changing the decimation coefficient, thereby creating the output data rate corresponding to the following items in the digital chain.

[0037] On the other hand, analog beamforming systems and sub-array systems reduce the number of channels digitized at the expense of flexibility and advanced capabilities. Data reduction in digital arrays can be achieved through digital coherent beamforming, which has the advantage of reducing a massive amount of data for both transmission and processing, while improving the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) due to the low correlation of noise from different channels. Various real-time beamforming topologies include systolic and other methods discussed below.

[0038] IV.PAR System Overview The PAR system 110 is an integrated radar system that demonstrates the power, versatility, and effectiveness of a fully digital radar system. As previously mentioned, in a non-limiting embodiment, the PAR system 110 includes 1600 dual-polarization S-band elements. Each active element is driven by two completely independent radar chains. The following table lists the high-level specifications of the PAR system 110 in a non-limiting embodiment. [Table 1]

[0039] To elaborate on the table, conservative loss estimates were considered during the design process, so the resulting hardware system operates as expected. For example, the total transmitter loss is estimated at 2 dB, the aperture efficiency at 50%, and the Tx waveform taper loss at 1 dB. Therefore, the transmission loss was estimated at 6 dB. During reception, experimental data revealed a receiver noise figure of 3 dB, receiving antenna losses (elevation scanning angle loss 1.5 dB, elevation beamwidth taper loss 1.4 dB, azimuthal scanning angle loss 1.5 dB, azimuthal beamwidth taper loss 1.4 dB), and Rx waveform taper loss at 1 dB. The maximum pulse compression gain is determined by the extreme value of the system's time-bandwidth product, which is 100e-6 × 100e6 = 10e4, or 40 dB. The following paragraphs and sections continue based on the data seen in the table.

[0040] In non-limiting embodiments, as shown herein, the PAR system 110 is built on a truck 120 (in this case, an International HV607 medium-duty truck). As previously mentioned, one of the challenges associated with a fully digital array is high power consumption. A PTO generator, powered by the engine of the truck 120 and capable of providing 150 kW, is integrated into the truck 120 at the bottom of the chiller on the driver's side. The system is liquid-cooled by a 16.7-ton chiller located behind the truck's cab. A pedestal provides mechanical pointing of the array in both azimuth and elevation directions. The pedestal can rotate 360° continuously at 12 RPM in the azimuth direction. Elevation positioning is intended to deploy the array of the PAR system 110 to a configurable elevation tilt and maintain that angle during operation. A rotating assembly is integrated into the pedestal and has an electrical slip ring, a rotating fluid union, and a FORJ. The platform is positioned on top of the lifting platform, which raises the bottom of the PAR system 110 array above the chiller when the array is deployed to its operational position. Telescopic outriggers are integrated into the platform for stability and leveling.

[0041] The array and supporting electronics of the backend assembly 140 are mounted on a pedestal arm within a weatherproof enclosure. The electronics of the backend assembly 140 include the array AC-DC power supply, data processing and storage servers, network equipment, and centralized timing and synchronization electronics. Co-locating the digital array with the electronics of the backend assembly 140 simplifies connections made by rotary joints and slip rings.

[0042] A. High-level architecture System scalability was a critical design consideration for the array's electronics. In addition, during the design phase of the array's electronics, maintainability and modularity were important considerations to ensure that the PAR system could be supported for many years, while also providing opportunities to upgrade various aspects of the system in future use, whether in the field or in research.

[0043] Figure 3 is a block diagram 300 of an array panel (shown in a perspective view in Figure 4B) in which multiple dual-polarization radiating elements 310 (hereinafter referred to as radiating elements 310) are mounted in rows (or columns) on the antenna panel 320 in the PAR system 110. Block diagram 300 shows only a partial array panel because it does not include the array frame on which the array components are mounted. Each of the eight radiating elements 310 of the antenna panel 320 includes a horizontal (H) component 312 and a vertical (V) component 314. In this embodiment, the antenna panel 320 has eight radiating elements 310, but in other embodiments, the number of radiating elements 310 may be less than eight or more than eight. The power backplane 330 is positioned adjacent to the antenna panel 320. Each H component 312 and V component 314 of each radiating element 310 is connected to a transmitter-receiver-processor assembly (TRP assembly) 340 via an antenna port 465 (Figure 18B). The TRP assembly 340 transmits signals to the radiating elements 310 via an RF board 350, receives signals from the radiating elements 310, and processes the signals via a digital board 360 (FPGA-based processing board). The TRP assembly 340 is connected to the antenna port 465 of the antenna panel 320 via a number of connectors 365 (see Figure 4A). Each H component and V component of the radiating element 310 has a separate signal path 370 through the corresponding RF board 350 and digital board 360 of the corresponding TRP assembly 340. Each pair of TRP assemblies 340 is connected to a digital bridging subassembly 380 used for distribution of synchronization and timing references. The monitoring device assembly 390 provides power to the power backplane 330, and the power backplane 330 provides power to the TRP assembly 340 to synchronize the TRP assembly 340 via the clutter and digital bridging sub-assembly 380.

[0044] The modular panel electronics within the array panel provide scalable building blocks for a fully digital array. In the PAR system 110, the array panel assembly 400 includes eight antenna panels 320, and for a total of 64 radiating elements 310 in the array panel assembly 400, each antenna panel contains eight radiating elements 310 (Figure 4B). The radiating elements 310 are connected to the RF electronics of the RF board 350 via connectors 365, such as SMP-MAX connectors, as an example. The antenna panels 320 of the array panel assembly 400 are mounted on a continuous ground plane module at the front of the PAR system 110, while other electronics, such as the TRP assembly 340, are installed at the rear for accessibility during system maintenance, as will be described in more detail below (see, for example, Figure 4A). The controller 150 (Figure 1) is configured to provide operational commands to the TRP assembly 340, thereby enabling the TRP assembly 340 to obtain radar data, receive radar data from the array panel assembly 400, process the radar data to obtain processed radar data, and display the processed radar data. The electronics of the PAR system of this disclosure utilize a block architecture to provide high serviceability and a modular hardware platform. As a ground-type system, there is space for the depth of the block architecture rather than being constrained to panelize the electronics into tiles. Because the electronics are not tightly integrated as required by a tile architecture, the material lamination and manufacturing design rules for each PCB within the panel are individually tailored, improving manufacturability and minimizing manufacturing costs.

[0045] Figure 4A is a perspective view of the assembled TRP assembly 340 (uncovered). Sixteen connectors 365 for connecting to the antenna port 465 (Figure 18B) are visible on the right end of the TRP assembly 340.

[0046] Figure 4B shows rear (left) and front (right) perspective views of the array panel assembly 400, which can house various digital electronic components, including a TRP assembly 340, a digital bridging sub-assembly 380, a monitoring device assembly 390, a power backplane 330, and various connection cables. The array panel assembly 400 in Figure 4B (right) shows eight vertically oriented antenna panels 320, each panel comprising eight radiating elements 310. Each antenna panel 320, consisting of eight radiating elements 310 (arranged in a row), is operably connected to one TRP assembly 340 via sixteen connectors 365 and sixteen antenna ports 465. The TRP assembly 340 is supported on an array frame 410, which includes a card cage 412. The card cage 412 includes multiple card guides 414 into which the TRP assembly 340 is slotted. Therefore, in its fully assembled state, the array panel assembly 400 includes one antenna panel 320 (with eight vertically oriented antenna subpanels 316), eight TRP assemblies 340 in a card cage 412, four digital bridging subassemblies 380, one monitoring device assembly 390, and one power backplane 330 supported on the array frame 410. The card guides 414 include one card guide 414 configured to receive and position the monitoring device assembly 390, and eight card guides 414 configured to receive and position the eight TRP assemblies 340. In other embodiments, the card guides 414 can be made extendable, thereby enabling scalability of the monitoring device assembly 390 and the TRP assemblies 340.

[0047] Figure 4C is a rear perspective view of the mobile radar system 100 of Figure 1, with the radome 130 of the PAR system 110 removed, exposing the complete radar array 450, which includes 25 array panel assemblies 400 (in a 5x5 configuration) mounted on the superstructure 420. One antenna panel 320 is highlighted with a dashed line to show how the array panel assemblies 400 are arranged in a 5x5 array to form the radar array 450. The scalability of the mobile radar system 100 is demonstrated in Figures 4A to 4C. The array panel assemblies 400 can be added to or removed from the PAR system 110, thus allowing the system to be scaled up or down. As shown in Figure 4B, a passive backplane for power distribution is installed inside the array panel assemblies 400. Eight TRP assemblies 340 and one monitoring assembly 390 are located within the array panel assemblies 400. The TRP assembly 340 includes a complete radar chain for each of the eight radiating elements 310 of the antenna subpanel 316, from the analog RF RFE (RF board 350) to the digital transceiver and processor (digital board 360). The monitoring assembly 390 is responsible for converting the system-level 400VDC power to 50VDC and 12VDC used by the array panel electronics, and for centralized monitoring, control, and signal distribution to each array panel assembly 400. One digital bridging subassembly 380 connects the two TRP assemblies 340 and assists the monitoring assembly 390 in distributing timing signals, synchronization signals, and control signals to the digital boards 360 within the TRP assemblies 340. In Figure 4C, only the front "radiating element" surface of each antenna panel 320 is shown. As previously mentioned, the superstructure 420 supports 25 array panel assemblies 400. Referring to Figure 4D, it can be seen that the superstructure 420 supports the ground plane 422, which in turn supports the individual antenna panels 320 that form the exposed front portion of the array panel assembly 400. The ground plane 430 is also sometimes referred to as containing the ground plane module.The ground plane 422 is shown to have multiple holes 424 through which the antenna ports 465 of the antenna panel 320 extend. It should be understood that the PAR system 110 is only one non-limiting embodiment of the PAR systems described and made possible in this disclosure. The PAR systems of this disclosure can be scaled up to include more than 1,600 radiating elements 310 or scaled down to include fewer than 1,600 radiating elements 310. In certain non-limiting embodiments, the PAR system may include, for example, a radar array of 36 array panel assemblies 400 (6x6 configuration), 49 array panel assemblies 400 (7x7 configuration), 64 array panel assemblies 400 (8x8 configuration), or 81 array panel assemblies 400 (9x9 configuration), provided that a sufficiently large and appropriate support structure can be constructed to accommodate the array panel assemblies 400. Furthermore, it will be understood that the radar arrays described above may use array panel assemblies containing more or fewer than 64 radiating elements.

[0048] B. Transmitter-receiver-processor assembly (also known as "Octoblade") The Transmitter-Receiver-Processor (TRP) assembly is the LRU and the basic building block of the disclosed PAR system. A single TRP assembly 340 feeds eight dual-polarization radiating elements 310 and 16 channels of radar electronics. As with other aspects of the system, the TRP assembly 340 is also modular, which is primarily to facilitate system upgrades, scalability, and design reuse in future projects. Modularity is also beneficial to PCB yield during mass production, as it reduces the number of electronics that have to be discarded if there are PCBs that do not pass quality assurance testing and cannot be repaired. As shown in Figures 3 and 4A, the TRP assembly 340 has three main components: the RF board 350 ("Octo-Quad"), the digital board 355 ("Octo-FPGA"), and the heat transfer board 395 (see Figure 20A). The heat transfer plate 395 is sandwiched between RF board / digital board pairs 360 mounted and mated on both sides of the heat transfer plate 395. These components are enclosed by a pair of metal TRP assembly covers 342 (see Figures 19A-19B) when the TRP assembly 340 is fully assembled. Each RF board / digital board pair 360 on either surface of the heat transfer plate 395 feeds eight RF ports for a single polarization (H-component or V-component). By feeding the H-components and V-components of the eight corresponding radiating elements 310 in this manner, the TRP assembly 340 has the advantage of physically separating the H-polarization and V-polarization circuits, thereby maintaining the inherent polarization separation provided by the radiating elements by minimizing parasitic coupling. The TRP assembly 340 is hot-swappable and symmetrical even when rotated 180°, so the TRP assembly 340 is not affected by orientation when installed in the array panel assembly 400.

[0049] The RF board 350 is responsible for the analog RF circuitry and the conversion between the RF and digital domains. Each of the eight channels on the RF board 350 has an independent radar chain with a 10W GaN HPA, T / R switch, limiter, and LNA. Since the PAR system 110 is a fully digital radar, digitally controlled stepped attenuators and phase shifters are not required, and their functionality is implemented in the FPGA digital signal processing fabric on the digital board 355. Attenuated bypass paths are implemented around the LNA to enable highly linear measurements of interconnection while transmitting full power from nearby elements to assist system calibration. The AD9371 (Analog Devices) is a dual-channel RF transceiver that can be fine-tuned from 300MHz to 6GHz and has a maximum instantaneous bandwidth of 100MHz. This highly integrated transceiver is used on the RF board 350 to implement the conversion layer between the RF RFE and the digital interface between the RF board 350 and the digital board 355. The RF board 350 also incorporates several support circuits, such as multiple RF calibration paths between the AD9371 and the RFE, an external LO distribution circuit to the AD9371, and a hot-swap power controller to protect the RF board 350 in the event of a power problem.

[0050] The primary processing on the digital board 355 is implemented by a pair of Intel Arria 10GX FPGAs that perform array signal processing and digital waveform generation. Each Arria 10 is supported by a bank of DDR4 RAM for storing arbitrary waveforms and buffering received samples prior to digital beamforming. In modern FPGA-based radar, the use of DDR4 RAM is one of the best ways to achieve real-time beamforming and other radar functions at reasonable power and cost. An Intel Cyclone V SoC FPGA-based daughter card runs Linux® on an enhanced ARM processor core, configures and manages the Arria 10, configures and manages the AD9371 transceiver, performs online diagnostics, and ensures the proper operation of the electronics. Four Samtec QRM8-RA connectors provide JESD20B, SPI, and GPIO interfaces for controlling the AD9371 transceiver and RFE. External LO for the AD9371 is fed from the digital bridging subassembly 380 through the digital board 355 to the RF board 350. The data network on the PAR system 110 is implemented within the Arria 10 FPGA and exposed via six Samtec ARC6 connectors located at the rear of the PCB. These connectors are directly routed to four high-speed serial transceivers per port on the Arria 10 FPGA. In addition to the external ports, there are internal network ports between the two Arria 10s that are routed through the PCB. This implementation is protocol agnostic, allowing exploration of various network protocols and architectures. Additional diagnostic interfaces, such as JTAG, I2C, and a serial UART console for the Cyclone V SoC, are available to the monitoring unit assembly 390 via the digital bridging subassembly 380, supporting the management and debugging of the TRP assembly 340 while it is installed in the PAR system 110.

[0051] The heat transfer plate 395 is a metal plate constructed of a thermally conductive metal, such as aluminum or copper. In certain embodiments, the heat transfer plate 395 includes an internal meandering fluid path for guiding a cooling fluid ("coolant"). The heat transfer plate 395 "blind-fits" to a fluid distribution manifold integrated into the mechanical structure (array frame 410) of the array panel assembly 400. The internal meandering fluid path navigates each of the major heat-generating components on the TRP assembly 340, transferring heat to the coolant. The heat transfer plate 395 is designed to allow the TRP assembly 340 to be inserted into and removed from the array panel assembly 400 without leakage, even while the fluid is circulating elsewhere in the system, for example, using a dripless connector from Staubli.

[0052] C. Cooling and structural systems To ensure the reliability and calibration performance of the phased array system, it is crucial to maintain stable thermal characteristics across the aperture and minimize temperature gradients. While the heat transfer plate 395 is responsible for transferring heat from the TRP assembly 340 to the outside, the PAR system 110 is designed to appropriately distribute and recover the coolant fluid throughout the entire array panel assembly 400 in a practical and scalable manner.

[0053] The array frame 410 is configured to distribute cooling fluid for cooling the monitoring device assembly 390 and the TRP assembly 340. Fluid distribution for the array panel assembly 400 is incorporated into the array frame 410. The grid of the electronics is intentionally reduced compared to the grid spacing of the elements in the array panel assembly 400 to create space for the supporting array frame 410 and the fluid distribution within it. Figure 4B shows rectangular aluminum columns on one side of the array panel assembly 400. Horizontal fluid distribution manifolds are welded between the vertical columns at the top and bottom of the array panel assembly 400. Each horizontal manifold can open into only one of the vertical columns, allowing the fluid to flow through the heat transfer plates 395 of the TRP assembly 340 and the monitoring assembly 390 within the array panel assembly 400, and allowing the discharged fluid to pass through the other horizontal manifold and vertical column. Each horizontal manifold is shared vertically between adjacent array panel assemblies 400, alternating the direction of fluid flow through each array panel assembly 400. Similarly, each vertical column is shared horizontally between adjacent array panel assemblies 400 throughout the array. This method of fluid distribution ensures that all HTDs in the system are in parallel, and that coolant does not flow out of one HTD and into another (in an embodiment of array panel assemblies 400 having heat transfer plates 395 with fluid paths). As a result, a nearly uniform temperature is obtained throughout the array, minimizing the thermal impact on array calibration.

[0054] D. Antenna design and verification The antenna design of the PAR system 110 improves performance compared to the performance of the WSR-88D parabolic reflector antenna. These design specifications are important given that meteorological missions present more challenging polarization requirements than aircraft surveillance missions in terms of estimation accuracy. The array panel assembly 400 can include 64 radiating elements 310 in an 8x8 array and be configured in a two-dimensional square grid with 0.5λ spacing. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, the array panel may include fewer or more than 64 radiating elements 310. In non-limiting embodiments, the radiating elements 310 may be aperture-coupled microstrip cross-patch radiating elements with separate feed layers for H-polarization and V-polarization, employed for high cross-polarization isolation of more than 40 dB over a 90° scanning range in the main plane. Parasitic microstrip patch layers are incorporated to have frequency operation in the 2.7–3.1 GHz range. Taconic circuit boards were used for the drive and parasitic cross-patch antennas, and Rogers 4350B laminates were used for the feeding network.

[0055] Figure 5A shows the experimental setup 500 of the array panel assembly 400 in a far-field anechoic chamber. The array panel assembly 400 under test is supported on a panel support structure 510 and scanned using a probe 520. Figures 5B to 5C show the results measured from the experimental setup 500. Specifically, Figure 5B shows the graph results of the antenna-integrated S-parameters. Figure 5C shows the graph results of the ARC measured as a function of the scanning angle for H-polarization and V-polarization. Figure 5D shows an antenna stack configuration 530 of a non-limiting embodiment of the antenna elements used in the PAR system 110. During the design and manufacturing process of the 8x8 array, several factors within the radiating elements were investigated, including edge diffraction suppression, manufacturing tolerances including bandwidth exceeding 15.4% at a center frequency of 2.8 GHz, element port isolation of approximately -50 dB, cross-polarization levels below -40 dB and same-polarization mismatch below 0.1 dB in the scanning ranges of ±45° and ±10° in the azimuth and elevation planes, and an active reflectance coefficient of at least -10 dB in the scanning range of ±40° in any plane.

[0056] E. Software Architecture The PAR System 110 is a software-defined radar, which presents many opportunities to develop novel capabilities, but also comes with risks and pitfalls in managing system complexity and ease of use. The PAR System 110 is intended not only as a test platform for advanced, fully digital experiments, but also as a field-ready system for routine collection of polarimetric meteorological data. Significant effort was spent identifying the most promising deployment scenarios to enable many unique capabilities while identifying acceptable constraints and assumptions to incorporate into the software. As a result, the system's ease of use has been greatly improved, allowing operators to focus on radar applications rather than radar technology. Because the PAR System 110 is software-defined, the system can be constantly upgraded to enable new capabilities.

[0057] The software is divided into four main layers: deterministic radar signal processing and control on the Arria 10 FPGA, embedded software managing the TRP assembly 340 on the Cyclone V SoC, backend data processing on the server, and an operator interface running on a desktop or laptop computer.

[0058] The Arria 10 FPGA defines the low-level capability of the PAR system 110 and implements the radar processing chain within the fabric. The transmit processing chain within the FPGA includes parametric or arbitrary waveform generation, transmit beamforming which applies spatial weighting to the generated waveform, transmit alignment calibration which corrects amplitude and phase offsets between elements, and transmit predistortion to improve the linearity of the system. All of these coefficients may be non-adaptive. For example, the predistortion coefficient can be calculated offline. Upon reception, the sample passes through a receive alignment calibration block, undergoes down-conversion and decimation to select the desired bandwidth, and is then buffered into RAM prior to beamforming. The Arria 10 FPGA manages scan scheduling, configuration of appropriate settings for each pulse, and deterministic triggering and control of the functions of the RF hardware on the RF board 350 as well as within the FPGA.

[0059] To manage the massive amount of data generated across the entire array, a typical operating mode of the PAR system 110 involves digitally beamforming on the array so that data processing servers receive fully formed beams. This allows for the reuse of algorithms and processing software. The PAR system 110 implements a systolic beamforming architecture on a RapidIO network that interconnects all TRP assemblies 340 within the array panel assembly 400. RapidIO is a commercial, open-standard interface that supports high-bandwidth, low-latency, packet-switched interconnects between multiple DSP processing elements and between DSP processing elements and bulk memory. The PAR system 110 uses RapidIO to transfer high-speed data between FPGAs for scan setup and receive beamforming. RapidIO assists in forming the distributed backend of the radar. When an Arria 10 FPGA receives a packet containing beam data, it retrieves the relevant sample from memory, locally beamforms a directly mounted channel, and combines it with the received data. Simply put, each of the four Arria 10 FPGAs forms a weighted sum of the I and Q baseband data produced by the four digitizers preceding each FPGA, and the partially completed beam from the upstream FPGA. This enables partial beamforming to reduce the amount of raw I and Q data that needs to be routed. Once an FPGA has fed its data into a partial beam, the packet is sent to the next FPGA, and this process is repeated until the beam is fully formed and captured by the server via a PCIe FPGA card connected to the RapidIO network.

[0060] Overall, the PAR system 110 is controlled by a scheduler that can switch scanning strategies based on CPI. Generally, scanning strategies refer to pulse waveform, polarization state, transmit / receive beam weights, PRT, CPI, number of beams, etc. Therefore, the volume update rate can easily be traded off with data quality. From a system design perspective, the software architecture of the PAR system 110 is designed to give users maximum flexibility with the overarching goal of producing the highest possible temporal resolution while maintaining high-quality polarization weather radar observations.

[0061] V. Calibration As emphasized in Section III above, the technological environment supporting modern digital arrays, as a close and inevitable consequence of its inherent challenges and opportunities, possesses constantly maturing tools for establishing and maintaining calibration and alignment. The PAR system 110 focuses on techniques for maintaining proper alignment, sufficiently low sidelobes, and correction of polarization measurement errors. Phased array antenna alignment is described as the process of ensuring all radiating elements are phase-aligned so that radiated power is coherently added in a given direction. The development of the PAR system 110 enables the exploration of practical limits in digital array calibration. This includes quantifying and extending other performance metrics, such as dynamic range and spectral interoperability, using digital NLEQ, DPD, or intentional decorrelation of spurious components to maximize dynamic range. For example, such relatively low-power spurious components include third harmonics and intermodulation terms.

[0062] The PAR system 110 has multiple tools, including built-in or auxiliary measurements, that can evaluate or estimate the element-level amplitude and phase of signals on the ADC and DAC against the ideal state when the array is scanned (transmitting or receiving) towards or from a specific angle. The PAR system 110 achieves this using a specific overall aperture window or taper that takes all physical influences into account. All techniques used and explored aim to evaluate the ground truth relationship between the element-specific and polarization-specific amplitude and phase of digital waveforms and the actual field present in clear air.

[0063] A. Remote field calibration and UAS-based measurement Far-field phased array calibration methods extend classical far-field measurements to element-level amplitude and phase alignment, or to evaluate dual-polarization performance. High-precision characterization of antenna patterns typically requires the use of specialized indoor or outdoor antenna range facilities. In both cases, an essential characteristic of antenna pattern measurements is the exclusion of undesirable reflections, diffractions, and other external contamination sources that could affect the overall measurement. When a radar system is deployed, the antenna array is mounted on a mechanical pedestal and surrounded by other elements such as radomes, towers, lightning protection, and RF equipment. Ground inhomogeneities created by varying topography, morphology, and environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity at each site have also proven to adversely affect the overall radar performance. Nevertheless, far-field measurements have been utilized for array alignment and calibration. For large arrays, such techniques require isolation of approximately 2D2 / λ between the radar and the measurement antenna with an aperture diameter D, which is impractical in indoor environments for S-band weather radar systems.

[0064] As an alternative to this far-field measurement, a method for characterizing the antenna pattern of the PAR system 110 and far-field calibration using a UAS can be used. The UAS RF test system uses a commercially available hexacopter UAS platform equipped with a customized RF transceiver and antenna probe that provides excellent dynamic range polarization performance. The dimensions and features of the UAS platform were selected to support RF measurement missions with long endurance, positional accuracy, stability, and sufficient payload to implement the RF transceiver, DGPS system, and RF probe.

[0065] Figure 6 illustrates how polarization far-field calibration and antenna pattern characterization of the PAR system 110 can be performed in vertical observation mode using a UAS. A 30.48 cm (12 inch) diameter metal sphere, tethered to the UAS platform in hover mode, is used for far-field calibration exceeding 80 m. In this example, a 20 m isolation was used between the UAS and the metal sphere to minimize backscatter interference from the drone. The UAS in spherical scanning mode is used to characterize the antenna pattern in the far field. To minimize the scattering field induced within the UAS for antenna pattern characterization, an antenna probe with high polarization separation of less than 50 dB and a beamwidth of less than 40° was designed. By orienting the PAR system 110 upwards, the antenna pattern of the PAR system 110 can be obtained using spherical scanning mode. This test procedure reduces interference from the ground and clutter.

[0066] B. Near-range field calibration For most large arrays, near-field measurements provide a standard mechanism for carefully evaluating array characteristics. This is especially true when determining sidelobe level and poiting accuracy, among other important characteristics. When performed carefully, near-field measurements can provide an understanding of the root causes of any antenna limitations.

[0067] Figure 7A shows the near-field scanner setup used to characterize the H and V antenna patterns of a fully active array panel assembly 400. The array panel assembly 400 is completely filled with electronics that make up the transmit and receive signal paths. The upper panel of Figure 7A shows the front side of the array panel assembly 400, and the lower panel of Figure 7A shows the open rear side of the array panel assembly 400 with the various internal array electronics exposed. For testing, the complete subsystem was mounted in the near-field chamber. The near-field scanner consists of two motorized Velmex BiSlide assemblies, one Velmex VXM Stepper Motor Controller, an S-band OEWP, a Newport optical breadboard base, and an RF absorber. These features enable the measurement of H-polarization and V-polarization antenna patterns.

[0068] The current process for Horus near-field calibration uses the park-and-probe technique to measure the amplitude and phase in each channel. Alignment weights are then generated, applied digitally, and verified. Measuring a complete, dual-polarization transmit or receive pattern requires four separate data acquisitions, one for each combination of array polarization and 0° or 90° OEWP orientation. The array panel assembly 400 hardware can receive both polarizations simultaneously, and the data can be fed back separately. Multiple beam angles can be acquired simultaneously during reception. Up to 16 beams can be formed sequentially. After applying the park / probe method and back-projection calibration method to the array panel 400, the near-field pattern was measured and converted to the far-field pattern.

[0069] Figure 7B shows the graph results of the far-field patterns of normalized H-polarization and cross-polarization derived from near-field measurements. Figure 7C shows the graph results of the far-field patterns of normalized V-polarization and cross-polarization derived from near-field measurements. The left column in Figures 7B and 7C shows measurements of the broadside beam, and the right column in Figures 7B and 7C shows the beam scanned at an elevation angle of 36°. The dotted contour lines on the same-polarization H and V patterns indicate a beam width at half maximum of -3 dB, and the dotted contour lines on the cross-polarization pattern indicate a level of -40 dB. A qualitative comparison of the broadside patterns shows an extremely good main lobe agreement between the H-polarization and V-polarization. The side lobe structure of each polarization appears symmetrical around the main lobe in horizontal and vertical sections. The cross-polarization level is below -50 dB at the peak of the corresponding polarization pattern and generally between -55 dB and -45 dB across all angles. Given that minimizing this interference is crucial for accurate polarization measurements, achieving a cross-polarization level below -45 dB was one of the key goals in the design of the PAR system 110.

[0070] C. Mutual connection Highly digital arrays can be used to leverage unique inter-element coupling measurements and provide a feedback path that encompasses individual phase and magnitude errors of the electronic components of the transmitting and receiving elements. This concept is useful for initial calibration and alignment when near-field or far-field test equipment is not available, and for on-site realignment and reweighting in digital array systems.

[0071] An experiment was designed to measure the relative performance of a reference-based interconnection. A calibration horn was placed in the near-field of an array panel assembly 400 and connected to an ODL repeater. Relative alignment was established by transmitting from a single array element to the horn and receiving time-delayed return signals from all array elements. Aligning the array using this test setup provides a repeatable calibration target that can be used to effectively focus the array towards a fixed point in space at a constant distance from the array plane and return it for verification.

[0072] Figure 8 shows the graph results from the experiment. The upper and lower panels show the array magnitude and phase, respectively, for a 5x1 array panel (320 independent dual-polarization radiating elements) filled with electronics during the experiment. True magnitude gives the magnitude of the ground truth alignment weights from the experiment. The regular pattern seen in the magnitude data is due to the actual antenna pattern of the horn. MC magnitude gives the weights estimated based on inter-element mutual coupling. Using an uncalibrated array, mutual coupling calibration was applied to the focused array state, which produced accurate estimates of the true weights. The difference between truth and estimated magnitude is provided in the right panel, with a standard deviation of 0.012 dB across the entire array. The lower panel is equivalent except that it is for phase across 320 channels. In this case, the standard deviation is 0.395°.

[0073] The results in Figure 8 are just one example, but they illustrate how mutual coupling can be used to realign an array to any desired array state.

[0074] VI. Early weather observation using mobile radar system 100 A. Meteorological conditions

[0075] On an afternoon in 2023, a mesoscale convective system formed along a cold front moving from west to east across the Great Plains in the southern United States. Predicted soundings suggested deep shear favorable for supercells (i.e., tornado-forming storms), with strong winds (25-35 m / s) at the 400 hPa (400 mb) layer contributing to effective shear ranging in size from 30 m / s. Temperatures varied throughout the day from approximately 10°C to 20°C, with similarly varying dew points, creating a CAPE of approximately 2,000 J / kg in central Oklahoma. This environment resulted in multiple storms, according to the US NWS, producing damaging winds, lightning, hail, and heavy rain from northwestern Texas to central Oklahoma. Throughout this event, NWS forecasters issued numerous warnings for severe thunderstorms and flash floods.

[0076] Figure 9 shows graph data collected at 20:35:06Z by the KTLX WSR-88D in operation in Twin Lakes, Oklahoma. The upper left graph 900 shows radar reflectance, the upper center graph 900 shows Doppler velocity, the upper right graph 900 shows spectral width, the lower left graph 900 shows differential reflectance, the lower center graph 900 shows differential phase, and the lower right graph 900 shows correlation coefficient. The data is from a PPI scan at an elevation angle of 0.5°. Polarimetric meteorological data was simultaneously collected using PAR system 110 to evaluate initial polarization calibration and system performance. The radar was deployed at the Radar Innovation Laboratory in Norman, Oklahoma, from approximately 17:06:22Z to 21:12:40Z. In the graph of Figure 9, the black circles represent the locations of KTLX and PAR system 110. KTLX is located at the origin of the polar coordinate system and is shown in the lower right graph. The black dotted line in the lower right graph indicates the azimuth direction corresponding to the RHI of PAR system 110 in Figure 10.

[0077] B. Experimental Radar Configuration These initial meteorological observations were performed using only a portion of one complete vertical column of 400 array panel assemblies of five, forming a 5×1 radar array containing 320 independent dual-polarization radiating elements. The beam width at half maximum of this configuration was approximately 13° in azimuth and 3.1° in elevation. The radar was configured to scan in RHI mode with 0.5° sampling in the range of 0.5° to 32.5°. 64 samples per dwell time, a 1 ms PRT was used, resulting in a scan time of 4.096 seconds. A pulse-compressed waveform with nonlinear frequency modulation was used, with a pulse width of 80 μs and a bandwidth of 5 MHz, achieving a distance resolution of 30 m. To mitigate the blind range of pulse compression, a stepwise pulse compression technique was employed. Range-time samples were produced at a rate of 15.625 MSPS, resulting in a range sampling interval of approximately 10 m. The antenna broadside was pointed at an azimuth of 205°, and data was collected over a range of approximately 0.5 to 100 km for about 10 minutes while scanning for developing storm cells moving toward the radar.

[0078] A single beam was formed by a real-time digital beamforming network, and time-series I / Q data was processed. The weather signal processor included several methods to improve data quality, such as spectrum-based noise estimation, electromagnetic interference filtering, ground clutter filtering, and multi-lag estimation.

[0079] Figure 10 shows the polarization field graph results obtained in 2023 at approximately 20:35:03Z using the aforementioned 5×1 radar array. RHI scanning was performed with a sampling rate of 0.5° and elevation angles from 0.5° to 32.5°. The graph 1000 in the upper left shows Z, the graph 1000 in the upper right shows v, and the graph 1000 in the center left shows σ v The graph in the center right, 1000, is Z DR The graph in the lower left, 1000, is φ DP The graph in the lower right, 1000, represents ρ. hv This indicates.

[0080] Data quality review The qualitative assessment of the field shown in Figure 10 indicates that the data was received and processed coherently, as the data has relatively smooth and realistic values. First, Z h The field shows a smooth transition from a low reflectivity of about 20 dBZ around the edge of the storm to a maximum reflectivity of about 55-60 dBZ in a specific convective core within the storm. This follows a conceptual model of storm physics, which states that stronger updrafts near the core create larger atmospheric hydrological concentrations and sizes, increasing the overall reflectivity. Next, v r The field shows smooth fluctuations associated with outward velocity near the ground surface in red, and relatively high inward velocity higher above the ground in green. The transition of Doppler velocity estimates from outward to inward, passing through the iso-Doppler level (shown in gray) at approximately 500m, indicates a smooth change in the wind direction field. This is typical of convective storms and represents a change in the direction of storm advection.

[0081] Figure 11 shows a graph of the Doppler spectrum at a location with a high SNR weather return signal. The results show an approximate Gaussian shape for the H and V spectra. Furthermore, the similar shapes of the spectra suggest a good agreement between the H / V beam patterns, indicating a valid polarization calibration.

[0082] Returning to Figure 10, Z DR and ρ hv The field shows relatively smooth changes and plausible values. Specifically, Z DR The values ​​are mostly between 0 and 3.5 dB. Upper layers of the storm and Z h In low-temperature regions, low values ​​close to 0 dB are expected, which indicates that above the atmospheric melt layer, there are small, nearly spherical raindrops, or small, randomly oriented ice particles such as crystals or snow. At low altitudes, the size of raindrops increases due to collision / combination processes, and the falling raindrops become flattened due to air resistance, so Z DR This makes Z larger. DRThis increases, which explains the larger values ​​of 1-3.5 dB at low altitudes. DR Certain regions typically have larger, flatter raindrops, for example, along a range of 30 km and an altitude of 3 km, where high Z is observed in the updraft region of the storm. h It matches the region.

[0083] The magnitude of the correlation coefficient ρ between the horizontally polarized return signal and the vertically polarized return signal. hv ρ is an important parameter that defines the quality of polarization radar measurements. ρ is shown in the lower right graph of Figure 10. hv The field shows relatively high values ​​of 0.9 to 1, as expected from atmospheric and hydrological phenomena. Most values ​​are approximately 0.99, representing pure water raindrops. Maximum ρ of the weather signal hv When ρ exceeds 0.99, the standard error of the polarization variable estimate is significantly reduced, which is a fundamental requirement for polarization weather radar. hv A region with low ρ was observed, and here ρ hv A vertical column of approximately 0.92 is present. This suggests the presence of mixed-phase precipitation, possibly a combination of raindrops and hailstones, coupled with some signal attenuation, which may be greater in H polarization as the beam passed through a strong precipitation core. Although not confirmed by field instruments, this is consistent with a conceptual model of a deep convective storm cell. Several hail reports have been received by the NWS and are available online.

[0084] ρ hv |R| is defined as the normalized absolute lag 0 cross-correlation estimate, i.e., |R| ^ hv (0)| / S ^ h S ^ v Therefore, in the low SNR region, the estimates have a high standard deviation, and thus the geometric mean of the signal power estimates may be greater than the lag-0 cross-correlation. That is, S ^ h S ^ v >|R ^hv (0)| and as a result ρ hv >1. S^ h and S^ v This is also an estimate that depends on the noise power estimate. Estimates with a correlation coefficient greater than 1 are usually found at the edge of precipitation, in areas away from radars with low SNR, and are considered invalid. This includes estimates from all polarization weather radars, including WSR-88D in operation. hv This is commonly observed in estimates.

[0085] ρ hv Accurate measurement of ρ is essential for detecting the polarization of the dissolved layer and determining its height, and is also crucial for identifying areas with hail and quantifying hail size. Therefore, ρ is important in the design of meteorological radar. hv The measurement requirements are extremely strict and important.

[0086] Data from a series of 352 scans were analyzed, demonstrating the smooth development of the field under consideration. The scan time series showed meteorological features consistent with storm development and advection, indicating that the PAR system 110 data appears accurate, thus demonstrating that fully digital PAR technology is usable for polarimetric meteorological observations.

[0087] Figure 12 shows a histogram graph quantifying the quality of polarization data collected by the PAR system 110. The histogram in the upper left shows Z h The values ​​are shown. The histogram in the upper right is ρ hv The values ​​are shown. The histogram in the lower left is Z h This shows the difference between fields. The histogram in the lower right shows the difference ρ between fields. hv This indicates.

[0088] A qualitative analysis of the upper left histogram in Figure 12 shows that the measured reflectance values ​​ranged from approximately -2 dBZ to a maximum of 55 dBZ. The upper left histogram appears smooth, reflecting the expected dependence of the return signal from the precipitation system, which typically does not have a steep slope. The upper right histogram shows that most values ​​are clustered between approximately 0.97 and 1, with a peak at approximately 0.994. This is an important indicator of the quality of polarization calibration and beam matching, demonstrating that the PAR system 110 can measure the raindrop correlation coefficient with accuracy exceeding the requirements. The upper left and upper right histograms were calculated using data from the first 60 scans, which lasted approximately 4 minutes, and contain 10 million points. To reduce the impact of measurement noise on the polarization variable estimator, Z h 5dB, ρ hv Data censorship was applied using a 15 dB SNR threshold. The lower left and lower right histograms were derived using the first 10 scans, averaging the meteorological data from the first 5 scans and subtracting this from the averaged meteorological data from the last 5 scans. Data censorship was applied using a 15 dB SNR threshold. The lower left and lower right histograms, as expected, have a roughly zero-mean Gaussian distribution with a relatively narrow standard deviation. The standard deviation of the lower left histogram is 0.7824 dBZ, and the standard deviation of the lower right histogram is 0.0057. The standard deviations are within the NOAA / NWS functional requirements for future operational US weather radars, which meet the requirements of Z h So, 1 dBZ, ρ hv Therefore, it is 0.006 dBZ.

[0089] VII. Conclusion A. Considerations regarding a fully digital PAR system This disclosure generally conveys the usefulness of fully digital PARs, particularly for meteorological observations. The high temporal resolution enabled by phased arrays is necessary to elucidate processes in severe storms, tornadoes, and other high-impact events. In addition to high-speed beam steering, fully digital arrays are highly agile in angular sampling and overall beam shaping. For example, these advanced radars have the potential to create adaptive nulls at reception, providing unprecedented degrees of freedom in interference and clutter mitigation. This is particularly important with respect to moving clutter, such as that caused by wind turbines. Fully digital arrays are uniquely designed as software-defined radars, thus minimizing concerns about obsolescence with the ability to reconfigure the array for future undefined missions. This "future-oriented" nature is expected to result in significant reductions in overall operational and maintenance costs throughout the lifespan of these advanced instruments. While an architecture with digitized elements per component offers extremely high flexibility, it comes with significant power consumption for each ADC, the enormous amount of digital data that needs to be routed, the need to carefully maintain clock synchronization at each data converter, and high costs that can sometimes be mitigated by sub-arraying.

[0090] This document presents a fully digital PAR system. Meteorological observations have a strict requirement that the polarization quality be similar to that of the WSR-88D dish-type weather radar operated by the NWS. It is well understood that the combination of radar polarization measurement and phased arrays has been one of the most challenging problems presented by the technology. Fortunately, the PAR system disclosed herein has been shown to satisfy this challenge through an advanced interconnection-based calibration method unique to fully digital arrays. When PAR system 110 was deployed near Norman, Oklahoma, it provided the first-ever data from a fully digital phased array weather radar. In addition to general meteorological observations, the PAR system of this disclosure can be used to observe a variety of meteorological conditions, including winter precipitation and deep convection during the spring storm season. Other areas of interest beyond meteorological use include observations of wind farms, wildfires, space debris, airborne biota, and aircraft. The inherent panel-level scalability of the disclosed PAR technology can be explored by using larger array superstructures, towers, power supplies, etc., and a fully digital S-band, phased array, thereby creating a weather radar with an angular resolution of approximately 1 degree. Such a system would have, for example, approximately 10,000 radiating elements. Since the total transmit power increases or decreases depending on the array size, the sensitivity of the system would be comparable to that of the WSR-88D radar, but with all the advantages of the fully digital PAR system disclosed herein.

[0091] Returning to the drawings, Figure 14A shows a rear perspective view of the 25 array panel assemblies 400 of the radar array 450 of the PAR system 110. The rear side of the 25 array panel assemblies 400 in a 5x5 arrangement is shown. Four network shelf subassemblies 440 of the array panel assemblies 400 are lowered to show the internal components of the four array panel assemblies 400.

[0092] Figure 14B shows an enlarged view to illustrate a subcomponent of one array panel assembly 400 from Figure 14A, which includes various components schematically represented in the component block diagram 300 of Figure 3, including eight TRP assemblies 340, two digital bridging subassemblies 380, and one monitoring device assembly 390. The array panel assembly 400 may be configured to include any number and arrangement of TRP assemblies 340, digital bridging subassemblies 380, and monitoring device assemblies 390 required for the proper operation of the PAR system 110. Various cables interconnecting the various components of the array panel assembly 400 with the backend assembly 140 are also shown. TRP assembly network cables 430 interconnect each TRP assembly 340 with the monitoring device assembly 390. The monitoring device network cable 432 and the array panel synchronization cable 434 interconnect the monitoring device assembly 390 to the backend assembly 140. The array panel network cable 436 interconnects the network shelf subassembly 440 to the backend assembly 140. The digital bridging assembly synchronization / control cable 438 connects each digital bridging subassembly 380 to the monitoring device assembly 390. In certain non-limiting embodiments, the synchronization / control cable 438 is the only cable connecting the monitoring device assembly 390 to the digital bridging subassembly 380. The monitoring device assembly 390, the TRP assembly 340, and the digital bridging subassembly 380 are modular and can be independently removed and replaced. As previously described, each array panel assembly 400 is electrically and mechanically scalable.

[0093] Returning to the drawings, Figure 14A shows a rear perspective view of the 25 array panel assemblies 400 of the radar array 450 of the PAR system 110. The rear side of the 25 array panel assemblies 400 in a 5x5 arrangement is shown. Four network shelf subassemblies 440 of the array panel assemblies 400 are open to show the internal components of the four panel assemblies 400.

[0094] Figure 14B shows an enlarged view to illustrate a subcomponent of one array panel assembly 400 from Figure 14A, which includes various components schematically represented in the component block diagram 300 of Figure 3, including eight TRP assemblies 340, two digital bridging subassemblies 380, and one monitoring device assembly 390. The array panel 400 may be configured to include any number and arrangement of TRP assemblies 340, digital bridging subassemblies 380, and monitoring device assemblies 390 required for the proper operation of the PAR system 110. Various cables interconnecting the various components of the array panel assembly 400 with the backend assembly 140 are also shown. TRP assembly network cables 430 interconnect each TRP assembly 340 with the monitoring device assembly 390. The monitoring device network cable 432 and the array panel synchronization cable 434 interconnect the monitoring device assembly 390 to the backend assembly 140.

[0095] The synchronous / control cable 438 of the digital bridging assembly connects each digital bridging subassembly 380 to the monitoring device assembly 390. In certain non-limiting embodiments, the synchronous / control cable 438 is the only cable connecting the monitoring device assembly 390 to the digital bridging subassembly 380. The monitoring device assembly 390, the TRP assembly 340, and the digital bridging subassembly 380 are modular and can be independently removed and replaced. As previously described, each array panel assembly 400 is electrically and mechanically scalable.

[0096] Figure 15 is a front view of the interior of the backend assembly 140 in Figure 1, with one or more covers removed for viewing. The backend assembly 140 includes the origins of network cables 430, 432, 436, 440 and synchronous cables 434, 438, a network switch 600, a synchronous subsystem 610, and a clock generator 620. In one embodiment, network cables 430, 432, 436, and 440 connect the network switch 600 to the rest of the backend assembly. Alternatively, a single network switch cable connects the backend assembly 140 to the network switch 600. The synchronous subsystem 610 may also be referred to as the synchronous sub-assembly. The synchronous subsystem 610 includes a GPS module 630 and a synchronous board 640. The clock generator 620 may also be referred to as the timing device.

[0097] Figure 16 shows a rear view of the radar array 450 in Figure 14 after the array panel rear cover 460, TRP assembly 340, digital bridging sub-assembly 380, and monitoring device assembly 390 of each array panel 400 have been removed to show the rearmost components of the array panel assembly 400. Figure 17 shows a magnified view of a single array panel assembly 400 of the radar array 450 in Figure 16, showing the rear of the card cage 412 and the power backplane 330 (also known as the “passive power backplane” or “analog bridge”). In this non-limiting embodiment, the card cage 412 includes nine card guides 414.

[0098] Figure 18 (left) is a front view of the radar array 450 of Figure 4C, showing all 1600 radiating elements 320 of 25 array panel assemblies 400. A single array panel assembly 400 is enlarged (center) to show in more detail the 64 radiating elements 310 of eight antenna subpanels 316 on one antenna panel 320. A single antenna panel 320 is shown within a dashed rectangle. A single radiating element 310 is enlarged (right) to show the H component 312 and V component 314 of the radiating element 310. In the illustrated embodiment, adjacent array panel assemblies 400 are isolated from about less than about 0.05 cm to about 5 cm. The radiating elements 310 are operably connected to the corresponding TRP assembly 340 via antenna ports 465 that penetrate the ground plane 430 (Figure 4D). There is substantially equal spacing between adjacent radiating elements 310 within the array panel assembly 400. However, "adjacent" means immediately to the left, immediately to the right, immediately above, or immediately below. There is an equal gap between the radiating elements 310 on the periphery of one array panel assembly 400 and the radiating elements 310 on the periphery of an adjacent array panel assembly 400. The space is approximately less than 0.05 cm to approximately 5 cm. Each antenna panel 320 is passive and detachable from the array panel assembly 400. Similarly, the antenna port 465 is passive.

[0099] Figures 19A and 19B are vertical rear and vertical front perspective views of the TRP assembly 340, respectively, and are as shown in Figure 4A (see Figure 4A), except that they are shown covered by a pair of covers 342 that cover and protect the RF board 350 and the digital board 360. As shown in Figure 4A, sixteen connectors 365 extend outward and operably engage with the antenna ports 465 of the radiating elements 310 of the corresponding antenna panel 320. As previously described, the TRP assembly 340 is electrically and mechanically symmetrical so that it maintains full functionality regardless of whether it is engaged with the array frame 410 and the corresponding antenna panel 320 in either a first orientation (top face up, bottom face down) or a second orientation (top face down, bottom face up). In this configuration, as shown in Figures 19A and 19B, the TRP assembly 340 maintains full functionality when rotated 180° along axis A so that the top surface is facing down and the bottom surface is facing up. The TRP assembly 340 is configured to transmit an independent transmit signal to the radiating element 310 via the antenna port 465 in the corresponding antenna panel 320; to receive an independent receive signal from the radiating element 310 via the antenna port 465 in the antenna panel 320; to process and sample the independent receive signal; and to maintain full functionality when disconnected from the antenna port 465 of the antenna panel 320, rotated 180°, and reconnected to the antenna port 465 of the antenna panel 320.

[0100] Figure 20A is a horizontal rear perspective view of the TRP assembly 340 of Figure 18. The TRP assembly 340 comprises a heat transfer / support plate 395, RF board / digital board pairs 360 mounted on both sides of the heat transfer / support plate 395, and a TRP assembly cover 342 detachably mounted on each of the RF board / digital board pairs 360. Each of the RF board / digital board pairs 360 is detachable from the antenna port 465 of the antenna panel 320 and maintains full functionality in the first or second orientation as described above (see Figures 19A to 19B). The circuits of each RF board / digital board pair 360 are substantially identical. Therefore, either one of the RF board / digital board pairs 360 can be connected to and supported by either the H component 312 or the V component 314. Each of the RF boards / digital boards in the RF board / digital board pair 360 is responsible for the conversion between RF analog signals and digital signals and digital signal processing through its individual circuits. To minimize parasitic coupling between circuits, the circuits of the first RF board / digital board pair 360 and the circuits of the second RF board / digital board pair 360 are physically isolated. The heat transfer / support plate 395 may also be referred to herein as a cooling plate, HTD, or support plate. Figure 20B is an exploded view of the TRP assembly 340 of Figure 20A.

[0101] Figure 21 is a top plan view of an RF board / digital board pair 360. The RF board / digital board pair 360 includes a digital board 355, a power spine 362, and an RF board 350. Each RF board 350 includes eight connectors 365, each connector constructed to engage with eight (i.e., half) of the antenna ports 465 of the corresponding antenna panel 320. Figure 22 is a top plan view of the digital board 355 of Figure 21. The digital board 355 includes a cable port 700, memory 710, a controller 720, and a processing unit 730. The cable port 700 accepts a cable connecting to the processing unit 730. The memory 710 stores hardcoded parameters. The controller 720 may be, for example, an SoM. The SoM may include an FPGA, which may include an integrated processor configured to run an operating system. The controller 720 is positioned at or near the center of the digital board 355 and is configured to monitor the performance of the TRP assembly 340 in a non-deterministic manner, power on and off the TRP assembly 340, receive commands from the monitoring device assembly 390, and execute those commands. "Non-deterministic manner" means at a time interval not based on the synchronization signal of the PAR system 110. The controller 720 and processing unit 730 include counters and registers. The processing unit 730 may be an FPGA. The processing unit 730 is positioned symmetrically with respect to the center of the digital board 355 and is configured to perform beamforming in a deterministic and dedicated manner, power on and off in response to commands from the controller 720, operate independently of each other, do not share processing resources, and achieve high throughput exceeding approximately 10 Gb / s. "Deterministic manner" means automatically at a specified time interval based on the synchronization signal of the PAR system 110.

[0102] Figure 23 provides a more detailed top plan view of the RF board 350 in Figure 21. The lower left RF board 350 replicates the RF board 350 in Figure 21 and includes four transceivers 740. A first enlarged section 742 of the RF board 350 shows a channel 744 including an intermediate layer 746 and an RFE 748. A second enlarged section 750 shows that each of the connectors 365 has a receiving path 752 to an individual transceiver 740.

[0103] Figure 24A is a diagram of the heat transfer / support plate 395 shown in Figures 20A and 20B. Figure 24A shows that the heat transfer / support plate 395 includes a first side surface 2140 and a second side surface 2160 opposite to the first side surface 2140. Figure 24B shows an optional, non-limiting embodiment of the heat transfer / support plate 395, including a meandering cooling path 2180. In Figure 24B, the meandering cooling path 2180 is shown by a dashed line. In this embodiment, the heat transfer / support plate 395 is configured to remove heat from the RF substrate / digital substrate pair 360 and transfer the heat to a cooling fluid distributed within the array frame 410 flowing through the meandering cooling path 2180. The RF substrate / digital substrate pair 360 is mounted on the first side surface 2140 and the second side surface 2160. The meandering cooling path 2180 may be referred to as a conduit.

[0104] Figure 25A shows a top perspective view of the digital bridging subassembly 380 in Figure 14B. Figure 25B shows a bottom perspective view of the digital bridging assembly 380 in Figure 25A. Figure 25C is an exploded view of the digital bridging assembly 380. Figure 25C shows that the digital bridging assembly 380 includes a debug and control board 2510, an LO distribution board 2520, and a primary synchronization board 2530. The digital bridging assembly 380 is configured to receive synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals from the monitoring device assembly 390, and is also configured to distribute the synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals to a pair of TRP assemblies 340.

[0105] Figure 26A is a diagram of the monitoring device assembly 390 of Figure 14B. Figure 26B is an exploded view of the monitoring device assembly 390 of Figure 26A. Figure 26B shows that the monitoring device assembly 390 includes a power supply board 2610, a fiber board 2620, a control board 2630, and a cover 2640. The monitoring device assembly 390 is configured to receive high-voltage, low-current power; to convert high-voltage, low-current power to low-voltage, high-current power; to distribute low-voltage, high-current power to the power supply backplane 330 to supply high-current power to the TRP assembly 340; to monitor the TRP assembly 340; and to distribute synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals to the TRP assembly 340. The monitoring device assembly 390 includes conduits for conducting cooling fluid. The monitoring device assembly 390 includes at least one heat conduction element configured to contact the cooling fluid in the array frame 410.

[0106] Figure 27 is a top plan view of the power backplane 330 shown in Figure 17. The power backplane 330 includes a DIP switch 2710, a pin set 2720, and a slot 2730. The power backplane 330 1620 is connected to the rear surface of the card cage 412 or another suitable surface and is configured to receive power from the monitoring device assembly 390 without using cables and to distribute power to the TRP assembly 340 without using cables.

[0107] Figure 28 includes a plan view of the ground plane 422 of Figure 4D. A view of the entire ground plane 422 supported by the superstructure 420 is shown in the center. The ground plane 422 is modular and is fixed with a power backplane 330 (not shown) and configured to reflect radio waves. The first enlarged view (left) shows multiple ground plane modules 2810. The ground plane 422 is formed by 25 such ground plane modules 2810, all of which are substantially identical. Each ground plane module 2810 includes a joint 2820 connecting adjacent ground plane modules 2810. The second enlarged view (right) focuses on a single ground plane module 2810 mounted on an array frame module 2840 from the array frame 410 of Figure 4B. Although the array frame module 2840 is shown to accommodate only one ground plane module 2810, the array frame module 2840 is configured to accommodate five ground plane modules 2810. The array frame module 2840 has a ladder shape. The array frame 410 is formed by the array frame module 2840 and four other substantially identical array frame modules 2840, all of which are directly coupled to form a single array frame 410. Although the ground plane 422 is described as being formed by 25 ground plane modules 2810 and the array frame 410 as being formed by 5 array frame modules 2840, the modular nature of the ground plane modules 2810 and array frame modules 2840 means that the ground plane 422 may have any suitable number of ground plane modules 2810, and the array frame 410 may have any suitable number of array frame modules 2840 as described and illustrated elsewhere in this specification.

[0108] Figure 29 is a more detailed view of the superstructure 420 in Figure 4C. The superstructure 420 mounts and supports the array frame 410, which mounts the array panel assembly 400. Specifically, the array frame 410 supports the array panel assembly 400, the monitoring device assembly 390, the TRP assembly 340, and the digital bridging sub-assembly 380.

[0109] Figure 30 is a photograph of the synchronization board 640 of the synchronization subsystem 610 in Figure 15. The synchronization board 640 is configured to distribute the reference clock signal to the synchronization point. The synchronization point can be the monitoring device assembly 390, the TRP assembly 340, and other components of the PAR system 110.

[0110] Figure 31 is a photograph of a dual TRP assembly module 3100, which includes a pair of TRP assemblies 340, a monitoring device assembly 390, a digital bridging subassembly 380, and a power backplane submodule 332. Figure 32 is a logical diagram of the dual TRP assembly module 3100 in Figure 31, schematically showing the pair of TRP assemblies 340, the monitoring device assembly 390, the digital bridging subassembly 380, and the power backplane submodule 332. The dual TRP assembly module 3100 can be used independently to communicate and process radar signals.

[0111] Figure 33 is a perspective view of the radar test system 3300. Figure 34 is a logic diagram of the radar test system 3300 in Figure 33. The test system 3300 includes a mobile radar system 100 with a PAR system 110, a near-field scanner 3310, a mechanical controller 3340, and a test PAR system 3350. The near-field scanner 3310 is sometimes also referred to as the scanner. The near-field scanner 3310 includes an XY positioning device 3320 and a probe 3330. The probe 3330 is sometimes also referred to as the RF probe.

[0112] Figure 35A is a simplified schematic front view showing a portion 3500 of the PAR system 110 of Figure 1. Figure 35B is a side view of portion 3500 of Figure 35A. Portion 3500 includes electronics 3510, a portion 3520 of the array frame 410, a portion 3530 of the ground plane 422 including a subset of the ground plane module 2810, and a subset 3540 of the antenna panel 320. Electronics 3510 includes the power backplane 330, the monitoring equipment assembly 390, the TRP assembly 340, the digital bridging portion assembly 380, and the cables for the array panel assembly 400. The antenna panel 320 includes an edge 322 that overlaps with the joint 2820 of the ground plane module 2810, thereby forming an electrically continuous ground plane 422. The edge 3222 and joint 2820 can be achieved without gaskets or EMI treatment.

[0113] As can be seen from Figures 35A and 35B, each antenna panel 320 has a first footprint defined by the antenna panel edge 322 of the antenna panel 320 (see Figure 18A), which together give the outer perimeter. The first footprint is substantially rectangular or substantially square. The antenna panel 320 corresponding to the first footprint can be divided into a first part and a second part. The first part is configured to provide mounting for the array panel assembly 400 and liquid cooling thereto, for example, via the array frame 3520. The electronics 3510 is configured to generate and communicate radar signals. The electronics 3510 has a second footprint defined by the outer perimeter of the electronics 3510. The second footprint is substantially rectangular or substantially square. The first footprint is larger than the second footprint. For example, the first footprint is approximately 40.64 cm (16 inches) x 40.64 cm (16 inches), and the second footprint is approximately 35.56 cm (14 inches) x 35.56 cm (14 inches). The first difference between the first footprint and the second footprint defines the first portion. Other antenna panels 320 and their corresponding array panel assemblies 400 have approximately the same first footprint, and other electronic equipment 3510 have approximately the same second footprint.

[0114] Figure 36 is a schematic diagram of the RFE3600 according to the first embodiment. The RFE3600 can implement the RFE748 in Figure 23. The RFE3600 includes a transmit path 3610, a transmit / receive path 3620, and a receive path 3605. The transmit path 3610 includes an HPA 3615. The transmit / receive path 3620 includes a switch 3625. The receive path 3605 includes a high-gain path 3635 and a low-gain path 3640. The high-gain path 3635 may also be referred to as an amplification branch. The low-gain path 3640 may also be referred to as an attenuation branch. The low-gain path 3640 is a straight path configured to allow high-power signals to pass through. The low-gain path 3640 includes a switch 3630, an attenuator 3645, and a switch 3650. Switches 3625, 3630, and 3650 may instead be circulators.

[0115] The processing unit 730 within the digital board 355 of the TRP assembly 340 is configured to allow the TRP assembly 340 to selectively switch between a high-gain path 3635 and a low-gain path 3640 based on commands from the controller 150. Specifically, in the first example, the transmit / receive path 3620 and the receive path 3605 are associated with a second antenna and are configured to receive a portion of the first radar signal from the first antenna based on the mutual coupling between the second antenna and the first antenna. The RFE 3600 is configured to pass the portion along the low-gain path 3640. In the second example, the second antenna is configured to receive a second radar signal from a source outside the PAR system 110. The RFE 3600 is configured to pass the second radar signal along the high-gain path 3635.

[0116] Figure 37 is a schematic diagram of the RFE3700 according to a second embodiment. The RFE3700 can implement the RFE748 in Figure 23. Similar to the RFE3600, the RFE3700 includes a transmit path 3710, a transmit / receive path 3740, and a receive path 3770. In addition, similar to the receive path 3605, the receive path 3770 includes a high-gain path 3760 and a low-gain path 3750. However, unlike the transmit path 3605, the transmit path 3710 includes a circulator 3720. Unlike the transmit / receive path 3620, the transmit / receive path 3740 includes a directional coupler 3730.

[0117] Figure 38 is a flowchart of method 3800 for initializing and operating the PAR system 110 of Figure 1. The controller 150 performs method 3800. In step 3810, a power sequence is initiated to fully configure the TRP assembly 340 and the monitoring device assembly 390 for operation. In step 3820, after the power sequence has been initiated, a first synchronization event is initiated from the monitoring device assembly 390 via the synchronization subsystem 610 and the clock generator 620. In this method, the RBE 140 is configured to provide the monitoring device assembly 390 with a timing mechanism and synchronization signals. In step 3830, based on the first synchronization event and based on the clock generator 620, a second synchronization of the TRP assembly 340 is received via the monitoring device assembly 390, thereby bringing the PAR system 110 into an initial synchronization state. In step 3840, a coupling scan is performed in the initial synchronization state to acquire the current calibration data. In step 3850, the current calibration data is compared with a previously determined calibrated alignment state. In step 3860, a correction coefficient is applied to the current calibration data to achieve the previously determined calibrated alignment state, thereby enabling the TRP assembly 340 and the monitoring device assembly 390 to achieve a fully configured operating state. In step 3870, a radar scan is performed, thereby acquiring transmitted and received data. In step 3880, the transmitted and received data are processed via the TRP assembly 340 to acquire processed radar data.

[0118] Figure 39 is a flowchart showing a method 3900 for operating the PAR system 110 of Figure 1. In step 3910, the PAR system 110 is prepared. In step 3920, a power sequence is performed to fully configure at least one TRP assembly 340 and a monitoring device assembly 390 for operation. In step 3930, a timing device is used to synchronize the monitoring device assembly 390 and the TRP assembly 340, thereby bringing the PAR system 110 into an initial synchronized state. In step 3940, a coupled scan is performed in the initial synchronized state to acquire the current calibration data. In step 3950, the current calibration data is compared to the baseline calibrated alignment state. In step 3960, correction coefficients are applied to the current calibration data to achieve the baseline calibrated alignment state, causing the TRP assembly 340 and the monitoring device assembly 390 to achieve a fully configured operating state. In step 3970, while in the fully configured operating state, a radar scan is performed to acquire the transmit and receive data. In step 3980, the TRP assembly 340 is used to process the transmitted and received data, and the processed radar data is obtained.

[0119] Method 3900 can be implemented in additional embodiments. For example, processed radar data is displayed on a screen or monitor. The screen or monitor may be on the controller 150. Performing a power sequence includes powering on and booting up the backend assembly 140 and the monitoring device assembly 390 so that the monitoring device assembly 390 powers on and boots up the TRP assembly 340. The controller 140 controls the RBE 130 and the monitoring device assembly 390. The baseline calibrated alignment state is obtained by acquiring a scanner 3310 including an RF probe 3330 and an RF transceiver; acquiring a scanner controller; using the scanner controller to send a command to perform an initial alignment calibration on at least one TRP assembly 340, thereby acquiring initial alignment calibration data; using the scanner controller to transmit the initial alignment calibration data from the TRP assembly 340 to the scanner controller; using the scanner controller and the initial alignment calibration data to determine element alignment weights for a plurality of radiating elements 310; and transmitting the element alignment weights from the scanner controller to at least one TRP assembly 340. Method 3900 further includes locally storing the element alignment weights by at least one TRP assembly 340, and calculating the baseline calibrated alignment state using the element alignment weights. The scanner 3310 is a near-field scanner including an XY positioning device 3320.

[0120] Figure 40 is a flowchart of method 4000 for synchronizing the PAR system 110 of Figure 1. In step 4005, a reference clock signal is generated using the clock generator 620. In step 4010, the reference clock signal is distributed to a first synchronization point via the synchronization board 640. In step 4015, the reference clock signal is distributed to a second synchronization point via the synchronization board 640. In step 4020, a first synchronization signal is generated using the first synchronization point based on the reference clock signal. In step 4025, the first synchronization signal is transmitted to the synchronization board 640 via the first synchronization point. In step 4030, the synchronization board 640 is used to obtain a first master synchronization signal by combining the first synchronization signal with a first optional synchronization source that is instructed not to transmit. In step 4035, the synchronization board 640 is used to distribute the first master synchronization signal to the first and second synchronization points. In step 4040, a first counter is acquired based on the reference clock signal of the first synchronization point. In step 4045, a second counter is acquired based on the reference clock signal of the second synchronization point. In step 4050, the first counter is reset using the first synchronization point based on the first master synchronization signal, and the first reset counter is acquired. In step 4055, the second counter is reset using the second synchronization point based on the first master synchronization signal, and the second reset counter is acquired.

[0121] Method 4000 can be implemented in additional embodiments. For example, Method 4000 further includes receiving a GPS DO signal from a GPS module 630 by a clock generator 620, and generating a reference clock signal based on the GPS DO signal by the clock generator 620. The GPS DO signal includes a first frequency of about 10 MHz. The reference clock signal includes a second frequency of about 25 MHz. The TRP assembly 340 includes an internal clock including a third frequency in the range of about 25 MHz to about 200 MHz.

[0122] Method 4000 further includes distributing a reference clock signal to a first synchronization point via a first synchronization cable through a synchronization board 640; distributing a reference clock signal to a second synchronization point via a second synchronization cable through the synchronization board 640; transmitting a first synchronization signal to the synchronization board 640 via the first synchronization cable through the first synchronization point; distributing a first master synchronization signal to the first synchronization point via the first synchronization cable through the synchronization board 640; and distributing a first master synchronization signal to a second synchronization point via the second synchronization cable through the synchronization board 640. The first and second synchronization cables are substantially similar to each other and have matching phases. The first and second synchronization cables are substantially similar in type and produce substantially similar latencies.

[0123] Method 4000 further includes generating a first synchronization signal in response to an instruction from the controller 150 through a first synchronization point. The instruction designates only the first synchronization point as the synchronization master. Combining the first synchronization signal with a first optional synchronization source involves using an OR logic gate.

[0124] The first synchronization point is the first monitoring device assembly 390 or the first host card of the PAR system 110. The second synchronization point is the second monitoring device assembly 390 or the second host card of the PAR system 110. Method 4000 further includes distributing the first master synchronization signal to the first TRP assembly 340 of the PAR system 110 via the first monitoring device assembly 390, and distributing the first master synchronization signal to the second TRP assembly 340 of the PAR system 110 via the monitoring device assembly 390. Method 4000 further includes distributing the first master synchronization signal to a first plurality of chips in the first TRP assembly 340, and distributing the first master synchronization signal to a second plurality of chips in the second TRP assembly 340. The first plurality of chips and the second plurality of chips are FPGAs. Method 4000 further includes resetting a third counter of the first TRP assembly 340 based on a first master synchronization signal in order to obtain a third reset counter, and resetting a fourth counter of the second TRP assembly 340 based on a first master synchronization signal in order to obtain a fourth reset counter. Method 4000 further includes transmitting a transmit command to the first TRP assembly 340 and the second TRP assembly 340 via the monitoring device assembly 390, transmitting a first transmit signal via the TRP assembly 340 at a first time based on the third reset counter in response to the transmit command, and transmitting a second transmit signal via the second TRP assembly 340 at a second time based on the fourth reset counter in response to the transmit command. Method 4000 further includes executing the transmit command by the first TRP assembly 340 and the second TRP assembly 340 without handshake with other components of the PAR system 110.

[0125] Method 4000 further includes using a second synchronization point to generate a second synchronization signal based on a reference clock signal; transmitting the second synchronization signal to a synchronization board 640 via the second synchronization point; using the synchronization board 640 to obtain a second master synchronization signal by combining the second synchronization signal with a second optional synchronization source that is instructed not to transmit; distributing the second master synchronization signal to a first synchronization point via the synchronization board 640; distributing the second master synchronization signal to a second synchronization point via the synchronization board 640; using the first synchronization point to reset a first reset counter based on the second master synchronization signal and obtain a third reset counter; and using the second synchronization point to reset a second reset counter based on the second master synchronization signal and obtain a fourth reset counter.

[0126] Figure 41 is a flowchart of a method 4100 for testing components for use in the PAR system 110 of Figure 1. In step 4110, a first component is acquired. The first component includes a first TRP assembly 340. In step 4120, the first component is tested to verify that it is functioning properly. In step 4130, the test parameters of the first TRP assembly 340 are measured while the first TRP assembly 340 is functioning properly, thereby obtaining baseline values ​​for the test parameters. In step 4140, a second component is acquired. The second component includes a second TRP assembly 340 which is substantially identical to the first TRP assembly 340. In step 4150, the second component is tested by passing the signal through a first path in the second TRP assembly 340, then through a feedback panel outside the first and second components, and then through a second path in the second TRP assembly 340. In step 4160, the test parameters within the second TRP assembly 340 are measured as the signal passes through the second path, thereby obtaining test values ​​of the test parameters from the second TRP assembly 340. In step 4170, the test values ​​are compared to a predetermined range of acceptable test values ​​for a baseline value. In step 4180, if the test values ​​are outside the predetermined range, the second component is determined to be faulty; if the test values ​​are within the predetermined range, the second component is determined to be operational.

[0127] Method 4100 can be implemented in additional embodiments. For example, the first and second paths are identical. The first and / or second paths pass through the transceiver 740, the intermediate layer 746, and the RFE 748 of the second TRP assembly 340. The tests are selected from the group consisting of high-power transmission tests, low-power transmission tests, high-gain reception tests, and low-gain reception tests. Method 4100 further includes performing the tests automatically. Method 4100 further includes performing the tests while the PAR system 110 is operating. Method 4100 further includes removing the second component from the PAR system 110 if the second component has failed. Method 4100 further includes replacing the second component with a replacement component while the PAR system 110 is operating.

[0128] Figure 42 is a flowchart of method 4200 for manufacturing the heat transfer / support plate 395 shown in Figure 20A. The heat transfer / support plate 395 in Figure 20A is a non-limiting embodiment of the TRP assembly 340. In other embodiments, the heat transfer / support plate does not include a tube as described herein. In step 4210, a hollow, substantially straight tube is obtained. In step 4220, the tube is precisely bent to obtain a bent tube. In step 4230, the cross section of the bent tube is tube hydroforming to reduce the width of the bent tube to obtain a hydroformed tube. In step 4240, fittings are orbitally welded at each end of the hydroformed tube to obtain a fitted tube. In step 4250, the fitted tube is constrained. In step 4260, while constraining the fitted tube, material is precisely cast around the fitted tube to obtain a blank heat transfer / support plate. In step 4270, a blank heat transfer / support plate is machined to obtain a machined heat transfer / support plate. In step 4280, the machined heat transfer / support plate is plated to improve conductivity to obtain a heat transfer / support plate.

[0129] Method 4200 can be carried out in additional embodiments. For example, the tube may include a metal, and the metal may include stainless steel or copper. The tube may include a substantially circular cross-section. The bent tube may include a meandering shape. The hydroformed tube may include a substantially oval cross-section. The material may include a metal, and the metal may include stainless steel or copper. The feature may include a hollow base for removing heat from the mounted component. Method 4200 further includes further processing features on both sides of the blank cooling plate. Method 4200 further includes further plating the processed cooling plate with a metal, and the metal may include nickel.

[0130] Alternatively, the printed cooling plate may be 3D printed to include a tube and features made of a first metal. The tube is hollow and has a substantially oval cross-section. The features include a base. The printed cooling plate is plated to obtain the cooling plate. In additional embodiments, the first metal includes aluminum. The mounted cooling plate is plated with a second metal. The first and second metals are identical. The second metal includes nickel.

[0131] Figure 43 is a flowchart of the installation, operation, and maintenance method 4300 of the PAR system 110. In step 4310, the PAR system 110 is transported and installed. In step 4320, the PAR system 110 is activated. The radar system may be operated for a predetermined period of time. In step 4330, it is determined that the current components of the PAR system 110 require replacement. Alternatively, it is determined that several current components of the PAR system 110 require replacement. In step 4340, replacement components are transported. In step 4350, the replacement components are tested. The replacement components can be debugged and repaired. In step 4360, the current components are replaced with replacement components. Alternatively, the current components may be moved within the PAR system 110.

[0132] In summary, the following describes the various problems addressed and solved by the Horus PAR system of this disclosure (referred to as Horus in one embodiment herein).

[0133] The cost of digital arrays: The combination of using COTS components in Horus, along with proprietary hardware and low-cost manufacturing, makes the system (in our opinion) the world's most cost-effective, fully digital array radar system. Even comparable analog and sub-array digital architectures are equally or more expensive when considering the overall system cost.

[0134] The massive increase in data: During the operation of the PAR system described in this disclosure, a massive amount of data is accumulated. The Horus architecture solves this problem with a unique high-speed data network that runs in series and can limit the growth of data, thereby realizing many of the advantages of a digital array with little burden. The flexible network can also operate in parallel, thereby maximizing the data bandwidth from the array (second-stage beamformer).

[0135] Channel synchronization: The Horus synchronization system is robust and highly scalable.

[0136] Dual polarization performance: This may be the most challenging problem associated with the application of phased arrays to weather radar. Much due to the difficulties in weather radar applications, Horus is the most advanced and high-performance dual-polarization S-band phased array radar ever built. Combining the world-class dual-polarization performance of its antenna panels with Horus's powerful digital calibration techniques, the system is absolutely unparalleled in this respect.

[0137] Array calibration: The Horus architecture is designed to leverage the advantages of several novel and conventional phased array calibration techniques. Digital arrays generally offer calibration advantages due to (1) extremely high effective amplitude / phase resolution (16-bit samples in Horus, rather than 6-bit attenuators and phase shifters), and (2) the ability to limit calibration issues to individual, independent channels. Horus combines high-precision initial calibration with periodic calibration maintenance based on interconnection. We have demonstrated the use of the same park-and-probe calibration standard over several months, and calibration retention after a complete HW (Octoblade) swap.

[0138] System maintainability: Horus is designed for extremely high serviceability. Its architecture is highly modular, making it easy to build and maintain. For example, swapping Octoblades can be completed in 10-15 minutes without shutting down the system. The overall cabling is minimized (which can be a major problem in complex arrays), avoiding massive cable clusters.

[0139] Array power density and cooling: Digital arrays, by their very nature, need to pack more heat into a given volume than other architectures. The thermal management system in Horus solves this problem by using frame-integrated liquid cooling, bringing the fluid paths within the system extremely close to the heat source (approximately 0.3175 cm (1 / 8 inch)). This effectively moves the problem to a higher level within the system where there are more options for dissipating the heat.

[0140] Array heat distribution: The Horus architecture employs a unique reverse fluid distribution system, where all electronic blades are virtually parallel. This prevents uneven heat / temperature buildup within the array, minimizing the overall gradient and significantly contributing to true graceful degradation.

[0141] Further aspects of the PAR system are described below.

[0142] Horus utilizes high-performance radiating elements. A high level of integration within the Octoblade enables a dual-polarization digital system within the element. The technology enabling this is the AD9371 direct-conversion RF transceiver. Other suitable RF transceivers can be substituted. Modularity and scalability are achieved through the skillful use of hierarchical subassemblies. Digital processing and beamforming are performed within the Octoblade on a powerful FPGA. A partial beam is formed at each FPGA and passed through to be added to other partial beams at other nodes in the system. The final output to the host is typically beamformed data (element data is also possible).

[0143] The flexible high-speed network architecture provides direct, serial transceiver access to the primary FPGA. This allows for the addition of a high-speed, second-stage beamformer (SSB) without hardware modifications to the Octoblade. The full system I / Q bandwidth can be transmitted to the SSB with only one cable per FPGA (32 cables per panel / SSB). At this time, the entire panel bandwidth or large parallel partial beams are carried from the array via high-bandwidth fiber optic links. The clock distribution system ensures phase alignment at all endpoints throughout the system. The modular hierarchical structure embeds the system REF clock with other critical signals, minimizing the number of cables required. Both bulk timing skew measurement and correction are performed at multiple points within the hardware system. The system clock is derived from a 10MHz GPSDO. A modular clock distribution system takes into account the required long path lengths. A jitter cleaner is used to reacquire the clock after long periods of operation. The system is designed to be highly scalable, up to hundreds of panels and physically large array sizes. Phase noise performance verified at the system / RF level.

[0144] Combined with an in-phase REF clock, the SYNC logic signal is used to establish an absolute time reference at all system endpoints. It is easiest to think of it as a single pulse (even if this is not 100% accurate). SYNC generation occurs at the panel level, usually on the Superblade control board. Any SYNC endpoint in the system (but only one at a time) can be assigned as the "SYNC Master" and generate the sync for the system. Once the SYNC signal is generated, it is sent to the RBE-SYNC via the same phase-matched cable used for REF distribution. Within the RBE-SYNC subsystem (which can be one or more subassemblies), all potential SYNC sources are coupled via OR gates until they reach a single common point. This "Master SYNC" signal is then retransmitted to all endpoints in the system, including the "SYNC Master". After the SYNC signal is generated and aggregated on the Master RBE-SYNC board, it is retransmitted to all endpoints in the system (including the "SYNC Master," which is the original source of the SYNC signal). The SYNC distribution system uses the same cable (different shielded actuate pair cable) as the REF clock distribution system. The SYNC signal is distributed across the superblade to all FPGAs. Upon arrival of the SYNC signal at each endpoint, each FPGA can "reset its own counter." This establishes a common time base across the entire system, enabling highly complex local operations without the need for costly coordination and interaction between parallel system resources.

[0145] The Horus power system is designed for massive scalability. High-voltage, high-power DC power supplies operate in parallel, typically 400V. Each circuit is used to power one or more array rows. The high voltage allows for "tapping" the row feeds with negligible voltage drop across the panel. All panel power is routed and distributed via an analog bridge (power backplane). A bus converter module (BCM) is used within the Superblade power board to generate 50V and 12.5V rails from 400V with very high power and efficiency. The Superblade control board is used to control panel power. This board is powered by an AUX power supply as long as 400V is present. Octoblade power control is routed through a digital bridge. Hot-swap controllers are used for power monitoring and circuit protection. The Octoblade uses a central "power spine." Power is tapped from the center of each board toward local devices. This configuration is one of the elements that achieves the symmetry of the Octoblade.

[0146] The Horus system uses an external LO. Operating the AD9371 with an external LO improves the system's phase noise performance, simplifies several aspects of phase calibration, and makes the system immune to injection sync issues that can be problematic at certain frequency and power levels. However, there are drawbacks, including a slight decrease in I / Q spurious performance and LO leakage. The Horus external LO generation and distribution system is designed to minimize M&O effects. The existing REF clock in SUPER-CTL-1 is used in conjunction with the frequency synthesizer to generate LOs (currently one LO for TX and one for RX). The LO signals are distributed to the digital bridge via a few coaxial cables, and then further distributed to the octablades within the DBTG assembly. The LO signals pass from the FPGA board (digital board) to the QUAD board (RF board). The LO signals are then distributed to each AD9371 within the QUAD board. A separate RX / TX LO network is maintained outside of SUPER-CTL1. The SUPER-CTL1 (one per panel) can be modified to introduce better frequency hopping support.

[0147] Commands and controls are performed over an Ethernet® network (these are relatively low-bandwidth and non-time-sensitive communications, allowing the Horus system to leverage existing network equipment and simplifying SW development). The network shelf on each array panel assembly minimizes cabling that would hinder maintenance. A low-level communications bus (I2C) is used for direct control of the entire Superblade and all Octoblade devices (through the Digital Bridging Assembly "DRBG"). SUPER-CTL1 monitors and controls the power / status of SUPERPWR1 and Octoblade.

[0148] Critical radar timing for Octoblade's MitySOM. Signaling and control limited to the A10 FPGA, synchronized with Tx, Rx, and beamforming. An incredible in-system HW / SW debugging tool is integrated, including multi-master IC communication, remote JTAG access to all single FPGAs in the entire system, and a UART debug interface.

[0149] A system-level write protection network for all devices with non-volatile memory, enabling hardware-based write-through limiting. The chip-to-chip (C2C) interface allows the A10 FPGA to seamlessly integrate with MitySOM. Efficient SPI communication using the AD9371, supporting simultaneous configuration.

[0150] Octoblades are a crucial component in terms of system maintenance. Octoblades are easy to swap; they are hot-swappable even with fluid flowing, and removal requires only simple tools. Removal does not affect calibration standards. The system automatically detects the changes.

[0151] Regarding the repairability of the Octoblade, the system uses a 100% SMT / TH structure (without wiring, bare dies, or other irreversible manufacturing processes). The Octoblade can be disassembled, and PCB removal, repair, and reassembly take less than 2 hours. There is a strong reason to avoid conformal coating. Quad board (RF board) failures are highly localizable using the FGA board (digital board). The majority of the debugging process is performed before reaching the bench. Each Octoblade is essentially an independent radar system and is powered up at the bench. Estimated replacement times are as follows: (1) Octoblade: 15 minutes (hot-swappable), (2) Superblade: 10 minutes (400V power cutoff required), (3) Digital Bridge: 10 minutes (hot-swappable), (4) Analog Bridge: 1 hour (400V power cutoff required), and (5) Antenna Panel: 1 hour (not including radome removal).

[0152] The Horus system features automatic blade position recognition. Blades can automatically read their slot position, orientation, and array panel position from pins on the analog bridge (power backplane). With X / Y DIP switches for panel position setting, this feature supports radar arrays up to approximately 4,096 panels (64x64). This allows the software to automatically assign element positions within the radar array, enabling detection of blade replacement, swapping, etc. The system allows for gradual, non-catastrophic degradation, minimizing the impact on overall system performance while tolerating inevitable component failures. Operating temperature is crucial for long-term electronic reliability. The liquid cooling system minimizes temperature gradients across the entire radar array, effectively operating in parallel. This reduces temperature rises to the level of a single blade's temperature rise. Even this residual rise can be mitigated through periodic blade rotation or array flow reversal.

[0153] In terms of monitoring health / status, each Octoblade is a complex and intelligent system. Each blade has a wealth of status, debugging, health, fault, and other measurements, which are continuously recorded. This includes temperature, voltage, current, power consumption, etc., from all of the blade's sensors. This data can be continuously displayed and stored. Critical parameters have hardware setpoints, allowing the Octoblade to self-protect without software intervention. Other operating limits can be set by software, allowing the system to intervene if parameters exceeding the limits are measured.

[0154] The system uses the passive coupling between antenna elements to return to a known state (and offset variations in electronics). While primarily used to maintain system calibration, this coupling is also useful for system maintenance. Each time the system is started, a "coupling scan" is performed to calibrate the radar array. This scan generates a table of "corrections" applied to each element. By tracking these corrections, Tx / Rx failures can be detected, even gradual degradation, with extremely high accuracy. It may even be possible to recognize "precursors to failure," thus predicting certain types of failures and triggering preventative maintenance.

[0155] While several embodiments are provided in this disclosure, it should be understood that the disclosed systems and methods can be embodied in many other specific forms without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. These examples are descriptive and not restrictive, and their intent is not limited to the details given herein. For example, various elements or components may be combined with other systems, integrated into other systems, or certain features may be omitted or not implemented.

[0156] In addition, techniques, systems, subsystems, and methods described and illustrated as distinct or separate in various embodiments may be combined with or integrated with other systems, components, techniques, or methods without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Other items shown or considered as combined may be directly combined, or indirectly combined or communicated through some interface, device, or intermediate component, electrically, mechanically, or otherwise. Other examples of modifications, substitutions, and alterations can be seen by those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the idea and scope disclosed herein.

[0157] In at least the non-limiting embodiments described below, this disclosure covers a phased array radar (PAR) system including the following devices, components, and methods of use.

[0158] Clause 1. Phased array radar (PAR) system, (1) at least one array panel assembly, (a) At least one antenna panel comprising multiple dual-polarization radiating elements and multiple antenna ports, wherein at least one antenna panel is passive and removable, each of the dual-polarization radiating elements comprises a horizontal (H) component and a vertical (V) component, each H component and each V component is operably connected to a corresponding antenna port, and the multiple antenna ports are passive, (b) At least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly connected to multiple antenna ports, (1) At least one first radio frequency (RF) board / digital board pair operably connected to the H component, (2) At least one second RF board / digital board pair operably connected to the V component, wherein each RF board of at least one first RF board / digital board pair and at least one second RF board / digital board pair is responsible for converting between RF analog signals and digital signals, and each digital board of at least one first RF board / digital board pair and at least one second RF board / digital board pair is responsible for digital signal processing, and at least one first RF board / digital board pair is physically isolated from at least one second RF board / digital board pair so as to minimize parasitic coupling between at least one first RF board / digital board pair and at least one second RF board / digital board pair, (3) A heat transfer plate comprising a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, configured to remove and isolate heat from at least one first RF board / digital board pair and at least one second RF board / digital board pair, wherein at least one first RF board / digital board pair is attached to the first side and at least one second RF board / digital board pair is attached to the second side A transmitter-receiver-processor assembly comprising, (i) To transmit independent transmission signals to multiple antenna ports, (ii) To receive independent received signals from multiple antenna ports, (iii) to process and sample independent received signals A configured transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (c) A passive power supply backplane configured to provide power to at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly, (d) (1) To receive high voltage low current power, (2) To convert high-voltage, low-current power into low-voltage, high-current power, (3) To supply high current power to at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, low voltage high current power is distributed to the passive power backplane. (4) To monitor at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (5) Distributing synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals to at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly The configured monitoring device assembly, (e) an array frame having at least one antenna panel, at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly, and a monitoring device assembly, wherein the array frame is configured to distribute cooling fluid for cooling the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly. an array panel assembly comprising, (2) A backend assembly including a destination for data processed from at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly A phased array radar (PAR) system equipped with [specific features / features].

[0159] Clause 2. The PAR system described in Clause 1, further comprising a controller configured to operate a plurality of dual-polarization radiating elements via at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly.

[0160] Clause 3. Further comprising a synchronization subsystem and timing devices, the controller, (a) To initiate a power sequence to fully configure at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and monitoring device assembly to operate, (b) After the power sequence has started, the monitoring device assembly initiates a first synchronization event via the synchronization subsystem and timing device. (c) Based on the first synchronization event and based on the timing device, receive a second synchronization of at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly via the monitoring device assembly, thereby bringing the PAR system into an initial synchronized state. (d) Perform a mutual coupling scan in the initial synchronization state to obtain the current calibration data. (e) Compare the current calibration data with the previously determined calibrated alignment state. (f) Apply the correction coefficient to the current calibration data to achieve the previously determined calibrated alignment state, thereby causing at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and monitoring device assembly to achieve a fully configured operating state. (g) Perform a radar scan to acquire transmitted and received data. (h) Process the transmitted and received data via the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly to obtain processed radar data. The PAR system according to claim 2, further comprising the configuration described in claim 2.

[0161] Clause 4. The controller To provide operational commands to at least one array panel assembly so that at least one array panel assembly can obtain radar data, To receive radar data from at least one array panel assembly, To process radar data and obtain processed radar data. A further configured PAR system according to claim 2 or 3.

[0162] Clause 5. A PAR system as described in any one of Clauses 2 through 4, wherein the controller is a computer and the controller is further configured to display processed radar data.

[0163] Clause 6. A PAR system as described in any one of Clauses 2 to 5, wherein the controller is an integral component of the backend assembly.

[0164] Clause 7. The PAR system according to any one of Clauses 2 to 5, wherein the controller is separate from the back-end assembly.

[0165] Clause 8. The PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 7, wherein at least one transceiver-processor assembly and monitoring device assembly are modular, removable independently from the array panel assembly, and replaceable independently in the array panel assembly.

[0166] Clause 9. The PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 8, wherein the back-end assembly is configured to provide a timing mechanism and a synchronization signal to the monitoring device assembly.

[0167] Clause 10. The PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 9, further comprising an upper structure on which at least one array panel assembly is mounted.

[0168] Clause 11. The PAR system according to Clause 10, wherein the back-end assembly is mounted on the upper structure.

[0169] Clause 12. The PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 11, wherein the heat transfer plate includes conduits configured to carry a cooling fluid within the heat transfer plate.

[0170] Clause 13. The PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 12, wherein the heat transfer plate includes at least one heat conduction element configured to contact the cooling fluid within the array frame.

[0171] Clause 14. The PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 13, wherein the monitoring device assembly includes conduits for guiding a cooling fluid therein.

[0172] Clause 15. A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 14, wherein the monitoring device assembly comprises at least one heat conduction element configured to come into contact with the cooling fluid within the array frame.

[0173] Clause 16. A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 15, wherein at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly comprises a plurality of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies.

[0174] Clause 17. A PAR system as described in any one of Clauses 1 to 16, comprising multiple array panel assemblies.

[0175] A PAR system as described in any one of Clauses 1 to 17, comprising 64 array panel assemblies as described in Clause 18.2.

[0176] A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 18, comprising five array panel assemblies arranged in a 5x5 configuration, with each array panel comprising 64 dual-polarization radiating elements.

[0177] Clause 20. A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 19, wherein at least one array panel assembly is removable, electrically scalable, and mechanically scalable.

[0178] Clause 21. A PAR system as described in any one of Clauses 1 to 20, wherein at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly is further configured to maintain functionality if at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly is disconnected from the antenna port, rotated 180°, and reconnected to the antenna port.

[0179] Clause 22. A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 21, wherein each digital board of at least one first RF board / digital board pair and at least one second RF board / digital board pair comprises a plurality of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) interconnected to form a beamforming network.

[0180] Clause 23. A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 22, wherein the heat transfer plate is further configured to transfer heat to a cooling fluid distributed within the array frame.

[0181] Clause 24. A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 23, wherein the heat transfer plate further includes an internal conduit configured to distribute a cooling fluid.

[0182] Clause 25. Array frames, A first card guide configured to accept at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, A second card guide and configured to accept the monitoring device assembly. Equipped with a card cage including, A PAR system as described in any one of Clauses 1 to 24, wherein the first and second card guides are optionally extendable, each enabling scalability of at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and monitoring device assembly.

[0183] Clause 26. A PAR system as described in any one of Clauses 1 to 25, wherein the array frame comprises a card cage including a plurality of card guides configured to accept at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and a monitoring device assembly, and optionally the card guides are extendable to enable scalability of at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and a monitoring device assembly.

[0184] Clause 27. A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 26, comprising a card cage including a plurality of card guides configured to receive one or more pairs of transceiver-processor assemblies and a single monitoring device assembly, and optionally, the card guides being extensible to enable scalability of one or more pairs of transceiver-processor assemblies and the monitoring device assembly.

[0185] Clause 28. Further comprising a modular ground plane on which a passive power backplane is mounted and fixed, the modular ground plane including a joint, at least one panel assembly further including an edge, the edge overlapping the joint to form an electrically continuous ground plane, coupled to the modular ground plane, and the modular ground plane being configured to reflect radio waves, a PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 27.

[0186] Clause 29. At least one array panel assembly includes (1) at least one pair of antenna panels, (2) at least one pair of transceiver-processor assemblies, and (3) a digital bridging sub-assembly electrically connected to each transceiver-processor assembly of at least one pair of transceiver-processor assemblies, the digital bridging sub-assembly being configured to receive synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals from a monitoring device assembly, and configured to distribute synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals to each transceiver-processor assembly of at least one pair of transceiver-processor assemblies A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 28, comprising the digital bridging sub-assembly.

[0187] Clause 30. The PAR system as described in Clause 29, wherein at least one pair of each transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, digital bridging sub-assembly, and monitoring device assembly are modular and independently removable and replaceable.

[0188] Clause 31. A PAR system as described in Clause 29 or 30, comprising multiple array panel assemblies.

[0189] Clause 32. A PAR system according to any one of Clauses 29 to 31, wherein at least one array panel assembly comprises multiple pairs of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies and multiple pairs of antenna panels.

[0190] Clause 33. A PAR system as described in any one of Clauses 29 to 32, comprising at least one array panel assembly comprising eight antenna panels, eight transmit-receiver-processor assemblies, four digital bridging assemblies, and one monitoring device assembly.

[0191] Clause 34. The PAR system described in Clause 33, comprising multiple array panel assemblies.

[0192] Clause 35. At least one array panel assembly, (a) A network switch coupled with multiple pairs of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, (d) A single network switch cable connecting the backend assembly to the network switch, (b) A single synchronization cable connecting the backend assembly to the monitoring device assembly, (c) A single monitoring device assembly network cable that connects the backend assembly to the monitoring device assembly, (e) Multiple synchronization and control cables and The PAR system according to any one of Clauses 1 to 34, further comprising a digital bridging subassembly coupled to a monitoring device assembly by one of a plurality of synchronization and control cables.

[0193] Clause 36. Phased array radar (PAR) system, (1) at least one array panel assembly, (a) A pair of antenna panels, each of which comprises multiple dual-polarization radiating elements and multiple antenna ports, each of which is passive, and each of the dual-polarization radiating elements includes a horizontal (H) component and a vertical (V) component, each H component and each V component being operably connected to a corresponding antenna port, and the antenna ports being passive; (b) A pair of transmit-receiver-processor assemblies, each corresponding to one of the antenna panels and connected to multiple antenna ports of the corresponding antenna panel, each transmit-receiver-processor assemblies, (i) If disconnected from the antenna port of the corresponding antenna panel, rotated 180°, and reconnected to the antenna port of the corresponding antenna panel, in order to maintain full functionality, (ii) To transmit an independent transmission signal to the antenna port of the corresponding antenna panel, (iii) To receive independent receiving signals from the antenna port of the corresponding antenna panel, (iv) Process and sample independent received signals A set of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, (c) A passive power supply backplane configured to provide power to a pair of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, (d) (1) To receive high voltage low current power, (2) To convert high-voltage, low-current power into low-voltage, high-current power, (3) To supply high current power to the transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, low voltage high current power is distributed to the passive power supply backplane. (4) To monitor the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly pair, (5) Distributing synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals The configured monitoring device assembly, (e) A digital bridging subassembly electrically connected to a monitoring device assembly and a transmitter-receiver-processor assembly pair, wherein the digital bridging subassembly is (1) To receive synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals from the monitoring device assembly, (2) Distributing synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals to the transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies. The configured digital bridging subassembly, (f) An array frame on which pairs of antenna panels, pairs of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, a monitoring device assembly and a digital bridging subassembly are mounted, wherein the array frame is configured to distribute cooling fluid for cooling the pairs of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies and the monitoring device assembly. at least one array panel assembly comprising A phased array radar (PAR) system equipped with [specific features / features].

[0194] Article 37. A controller configured to operate multiple dual-polarization radiating elements in each of the pair of antenna panels via a transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, A backend assembly containing the destination for the data processed from the transmit-receiver-processor assembly pair and The PAR system described in Clause 36 further comprises the following:

[0195] Clause 38. Each of the transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies shall (1) A first radio frequency (RF) board / digital board pair operably connected to the H component, (2) A second RF board / digital board pair operably connected to the V component, wherein each RF board of the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair is responsible for converting between RF analog signals and digital signals, each digital board of the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair is responsible for digital signal processing, and the first RF board / digital board pair is physically isolated from the second RF board / digital board pair so as to minimize parasitic coupling between the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair, (3) A heat transfer plate comprising a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, configured to remove and isolate heat from the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair, wherein the first RF board / digital board pair is attached to the first side and the second RF board / digital board pair is attached to the second side A PAR system as described in Clause 36 or 37, comprising:

[0196] Clause 39. A method for operating a digital phased array radar (PAR) system, the method being (a) Prepare a PAR system, and the PAR system is (1) In at least one array panel assembly, (i) In at least one array panel, (a) Multiple dual-polarization radiating elements, (b) Multiple antenna ports operably connected to multiple dual-polarization radiating elements and including at least one array panel, (ii) At least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly connected to multiple antenna ports, (iii) A monitoring device assembly, (a) To distribute high-current power to at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (b) To monitor at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (c) Distributing synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals to at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly The configured monitoring device assembly, (iv) an array frame having at least one antenna panel, at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly, and a monitoring device assembly, wherein the array frame is configured to distribute cooling fluid for cooling the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly. an array panel assembly comprising, (2) A backend assembly including a destination for data processed from at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly, (3) Timing devices and To provide a PAR system equipped with, (b) Perform a power sequence to ensure that at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and monitoring device assembly is fully configured to operate, (c) Using a timing device to synchronize the monitoring device assembly and at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, thereby bringing the PAR system into an initial synchronized state, (d) Perform a mutual coupling scan in the initial synchronization state to obtain the current calibration data, (e) Compare the current calibration data with the baseline calibrated alignment status, (f) Apply the correction coefficient to the current calibration data to achieve a baseline calibrated alignment state and to achieve a fully configured operating state for at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and monitoring device assembly. (g) While in a fully configured operating state, perform radar scanning to acquire transmitted and received data, (h) Using a transmitter-receiver-processor assembly to process transmitted and received data and to obtain processed radar data. Methods that include...

[0197] Clause 40. The method according to Clause 39, further comprising displaying the processed radar data on a screen or monitor.

[0198] Clause 41. The method of Clause 39 or 40, wherein the power sequence is performed by powering on and booting up the backend assembly and the monitoring assembly so that the monitoring assembly powers on and boots up the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly.

[0199] The method described in any one of the clauses 39 to 41, further comprising controlling the backend assembly and the monitoring device assembly by the controller of the PAR system.

[0200] Article 43. To acquire a scanner including an RF probe and RF transceiver, To obtain a scanner controller, Using a scanner controller to send a command to perform an initial alignment calibration to at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly, thereby acquiring initial alignment calibration data, Transmitting initial alignment calibration data from the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly to the scanner controller, To determine the element alignment weights for multiple radiating elements, a scanner controller and initial alignment calibration data are used, The element alignment weights are transmitted from the scanner controller to at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. The method according to any one of the clauses 39 to 42, further comprising obtaining a baseline calibrated alignment state by means of...

[0201] Article 44. At least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly locally stores element alignment weights and uses element alignment weights to calculate the baseline calibrated alignment state. The method described in Clause 43, further including the method described in Clause 43.

[0202] Clause 45. The method according to Clause 43 or 44, wherein the scanner is a near-field scanner including an xy positioning device.

[0203] Clause 46. The method according to Clause 43 or 44, wherein the scanner is a far-field scanner.

[0204] Article 47. Methods implemented by a radar system, the method is Using a clock generator to generate a reference clock signal, The reference clock signal is distributed to the first synchronization point via the synchronization board, The reference clock signal is distributed to a second synchronization point via a synchronization board, Using a first synchronization point, a first synchronization signal is generated based on a reference clock signal, The first synchronization signal is transmitted to the synchronization board via the first synchronization point, The first master synchronization signal is obtained by using a synchronization board to combine the first synchronization signal with a first optional synchronization source that is instructed not to transmit, Using a synchronization board, the first master synchronization signal is distributed to the first synchronization point and the second synchronization point. To obtain a first counter based on the reference clock signal of the first synchronization point, To obtain a second counter based on the reference clock signal of the second synchronization point, Using the first synchronization point, reset the first counter based on the first master synchronization signal and obtain the first reset counter, Using the second synchronization point, the second counter is reset based on the first master synchronization signal, and the second reset counter is obtained. Methods that include...

[0205] Article 48. The clock generator receives the Global Positioning System (GPS) control oscillator (DO) signal from the GPS module, The clock generator generates a reference clock signal based on the GPS DO signal. The method described in Clause 47, further including the method described in Clause 47.

[0206] Clause 49. The method according to Clause 48, wherein the GPS DO signal includes a first frequency of about 10 megahertz (MHz), the reference clock signal includes a second frequency of about 25 MHz, and the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly of the radar system includes an internal clock with a third frequency in the range of about 25 MHz to about 200 MHz.

[0207] Clause 50. The method according to Clause 48 or 49, wherein the clock generator is located inside the backend assembly of the radar system, and the synchronization board and GPS module are located inside the synchronization sub-assembly of the backend assembly.

[0208] Article 51. The synchronization board distributes the reference clock signal to the first synchronization point via the first cable, The reference clock signal is distributed to the second synchronization point via a second cable through the synchronization board, Transmitting a first synchronization signal to a synchronization board via a first cable through a first synchronization point, The first master synchronization signal is distributed to the first synchronization point via the synchronization board and the first cable. The first master synchronization signal is distributed to the second synchronization point via a second cable through a synchronization board. The method described in any one of the clauses 47 to 50, further including the method described in any one of the clauses 47 to 50.

[0209] Clause 52. The method according to Clause 51, wherein the first cable and the second cable are substantially similar to each other and have matching phases.

[0210] Clause 53. The method of Clause 51 or 52, wherein the first cable and the second cable are substantially similar in type and produce substantially similar latency.

[0211] Clause 54. The method of any one of Clauses 47 to 53, further comprising generating a first synchronization signal in response to a command from the controller of the radar system through a first synchronization point, wherein the command designates only the first synchronization point as the synchronization master.

[0212] Clause 55. The method described in any one of Clauses 47 to 54, wherein combining a first synchronization signal with a first optional synchronization source involves using an OR logic gate.

[0213] Clause 56. The method according to any one of Clauses 47 to 55, wherein the first synchronization point is the first monitoring device assembly of the radar system or the first host card of the radar system, and the second synchronization point is the second monitoring device assembly of the radar system or the second host card of the radar system.

[0214] Article 57. The first master synchronization signal is distributed to the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly of the radar system via the first monitoring device assembly, The first master synchronization signal is distributed to the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly of the radar system via the first monitoring device assembly. The method described in Article 56, further including the method described in Article 56.

[0215] Article 58. The first master synchronization signal is distributed to a first set of chips within the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, The first master synchronization signal is distributed to a second set of chips within the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. The method described in Article 57, further including the method described in Article 57.

[0216] Clause 59. The method according to Clause 58, wherein the first plurality of chips and the second plurality of chips are field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

[0217] Article 60. In order to obtain a third reset counter, the third counter of the first transmit-receiver-processor assembly is reset based on the first master synchronization signal, To obtain the fourth reset counter, reset the fourth counter of the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly based on the first master synchronization signal. The method described in any one of the clauses 47 to 59, further including the method described in any one of the clauses 47 to 59.

[0218] Article 61. Transmitting a transmission command to the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly via the first monitoring device assembly, In response to a transmit command, transmit a first transmit signal via a first transmit-receiver-processor assembly at a first time based on a third reset counter, In response to a transmit command, transmit a second transmit signal via the second transmit-receiver-processor assembly at a second time based on a fourth reset counter. The method described in Clause 60, further including the method described in Clause 60.

[0219] Clause 62. The method according to Clause 61, further comprising executing a transmit command by a first transmit-receiver-processor assembly and by a second transmit-receiver-processor assembly without handshake with other components of the radar system.

[0220] Article 63. Using a second synchronization point, a second synchronization signal is generated based on the reference clock signal, The second synchronization signal is transmitted to the synchronization board via the second synchronization point, By using a synchronization board, a second master synchronization signal is obtained by combining the second synchronization signal with a second optional synchronization source that is instructed not to transmit, Distributing the second master synchronization signal to the first synchronization point via the synchronization board, The second master synchronization signal is distributed to the second synchronization point via the synchronization board, Using the first synchronization point, the first reset counter is reset based on the second master synchronization signal, and the third reset counter is obtained. Using the second synchronization point, the second reset counter is reset based on the second master synchronization signal, and the fourth reset counter is obtained. The method described in any one of the clauses 47 to 62, further including the method described in any one of the clauses 47 to 62.

[0221] Article 64. A method for testing components for use in a radar system, the method being: (1) Obtaining a first component, the first component includes a first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, and the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly is (a) Support plate and (b) at least one first radio frequency (RF) board / digital board pair that is detachable to a first plurality of antenna ports operably connected to a first plurality of dual-polarization radiating element components, (c) At least one second RF board / digital board pair detachable to a second plurality of antenna ports operably connected to a second plurality of dual-polarization radiating element components, wherein the first circuit of at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the second circuit of at least one second RF board / digital board pair are substantially identical, the first and second circuits enable conversion between RF analog signals and digital signals, enable digital signal processing, the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and at least one second RF board / digital board pair are mounted on both sides of a support plate, the at least one first RF board / digital board pair is physically isolated from at least one second RF board / digital board pair by the support plate, the first circuit is isolated from the second circuit so as to substantially minimize parasitic coupling between at least one first RF board / digital board pair and at least one second RF board / digital board pair, and the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly (i) To transmit independent transmission signals to a first set of antenna ports and a second set of antenna ports, (ii) To receive independent received signals from a first set of antenna ports and a second set of antenna ports, (iii) to process and sample independent received signals A configuration comprising at least one second RF board / digital board pair and To obtain a first component that includes, (2) Test the first component to confirm that it is functioning properly, (3) While the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly is functioning properly, measure the test parameters of the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and thereby obtain baseline values ​​for the test parameters, (4) Obtaining a second component, which includes a second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly that is substantially identical to the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (5) Testing the second component by passing the signal through the first path of the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, then through the feedback panel located outside the first and second components, and then through the second path of the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. (6) When the signal passes through the second path, the test parameters within the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly are measured, thereby obtaining the test values ​​of the test parameters from the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. (7) Compare the test value with a predetermined range of acceptable test values ​​for the baseline value, (8) If the test value falls outside the specified range, it is determined that the second component is malfunctioning, and if the test value falls within the specified range, it is determined that the second component is operational. Methods that include...

[0222] Clause 65. The method according to Clause 64, wherein a first plurality of radiating element components implement horizontal (H) polarization and a second plurality of radiating element components implement vertical (V) polarization.

[0223] Clause 66. The method according to Clause 64, wherein a first plurality of radiating element components implement vertical (V) polarization and a second plurality of radiating element components implement horizontal (H) polarization.

[0224] Article 67. The method described in any one of Articles 64 to 66, wherein the first route and the second route are the same.

[0225] Clause 68. The method according to any one of Clauses 64 to 67, wherein the first path and / or the second path passes through the transceiver, the intermediate layer, and the radio front end (RFE) of the second transmit-receiver-processor assembly.

[0226] Clause 69. The method according to any one of Clauses 64 to 68, wherein the test is selected from the group consisting of high-power transmission tests, low-power transmission tests, high-gain reception tests, and low-gain reception tests.

[0227] Clause 70. The method described in any one of Clauses 64 to 69, further comprising conducting the test automatically.

[0228] Clause 71. The method of any one of Clauses 64 to 70, further comprising conducting tests while the radar system is in operation.

[0229] Clause 72. The method of any one of Clauses 64 to 71, further comprising removing the second component from the radar system if the second component is malfunctioning.

[0230] Clause 73. The method of any one of Clauses 64 to 72, further comprising replacing the second component with a replacement component while the radar system is in operation.

[0231] Article 74. Radar systems, It is an array panel assembly, (1) Array frame and, (2) In at least one array panel, (a) Multiple dual-polarization radiating elements, each of which includes a horizontal (H) component and a vertical (V) component, (b) A first set of antenna ports connected to the H component, (c) A second set of antenna ports connected to the V component and including at least one array panel, (3) At least one electrically and mechanically symmetrical transmit-receiver-processor assembly that can engage with the array frame in either the first or second orientation, and can engage with the first and second sets of antenna ports, and can maintain full functionality, wherein at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly (a) Support plate and (b) A first radio frequency (RF) board / digital board pair including the first circuit, (c) A second RF board / digital board pair including a second circuit including at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and Equipped with, (1) In a first orientation of at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, a first RF board / digital board pair is connectable to a first set of antenna ports, a second RF board / digital board pair is connectable to a second set of antenna ports, and in a second orientation of at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, a first RF board / digital board pair is connectable to a second set of antenna ports, and a second RF board / digital board pair is connectable to a first set of antenna ports. (2) The first circuit and the second circuit enable conversion between RF analog signals and digital signals, enable digital signal processing, the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair are mounted on both sides of a support plate, the first RF board / digital board pair is physically isolated from the second RF board / digital board pair by the support plate, the parasitic coupling between the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair is substantially minimized, the first circuit is isolated from the second circuit, and at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly (i) To transmit an independent transmission signal to the antenna port, (ii) To receive an independent receiving signal from the antenna port, (iii) to process and sample independent received signals Consists of, (3) At least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly maintains full functionality in the first and second orientations. Array panel assembly A radar system equipped with [a specific feature].

Claims

1. A phased array radar (PAR) system, (1) At least one array panel assembly, (a) At least one antenna panel comprising a plurality of dual-polarization radiating elements and a plurality of antenna ports, wherein the at least one antenna panel is passive and removable, and each of the dual-polarization radiating elements comprises a horizontal (H) component and a vertical (V) component, and each H component and each V component is operably connected to a corresponding antenna port, and the plurality of antenna ports are passive, (b) At least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly connected to the plurality of antenna ports, (1) At least one first radio frequency (RF) board / digital board pair operably connected to the H component, (2) At least one second RF board / digital board pair operably connected to the V component, wherein each RF board of the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the at least one second RF board / digital board pair is responsible for converting between RF analog signals and digital signals, each digital board of the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the at least one second RF board / digital board pair is responsible for digital signal processing, and the at least one first RF board / digital board pair is physically isolated from the at least one second RF board / digital board pair so as to minimize parasitic coupling between the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the at least one second RF board / digital board pair, (3) A heat transfer plate having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, configured to remove and isolate heat from the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the at least one second RF board / digital board pair, wherein the at least one first RF board / digital board pair is attached to the first side and the at least one second RF board / digital board pair is attached to the second side The at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly comprises, (i) To transmit independent transmission signals to the plurality of antenna ports, (ii) to receive independent receiving signals from the plurality of antenna ports, and (iii) Process and sample the independent received signals. A configured transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (c) A passive power supply backplane configured to provide power to the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (d) A monitoring device assembly, wherein the monitoring device assembly is (1) To receive high voltage low current power, (2) To convert the high-voltage, low-current power into low-voltage, high-current power, (3) To supply high current power to the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, the low voltage high current power is distributed to the passive power backplane. (4) to monitor the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, and (5) Distributing synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals to the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly The configured monitoring device assembly, (e) an array frame on which the at least one antenna panel, the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly, and the monitoring device assembly are mounted, wherein the array frame is configured to distribute cooling fluid for cooling the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly. an array panel assembly comprising, (2) A backend assembly including a destination for data processed from the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly A phased array radar (PAR) system equipped with [the specified feature].

2. The PAR system according to claim 1, further comprising a controller configured to operate the plurality of dual-polarization radiating elements via the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly.

3. The controller further comprises a synchronization subsystem and a timing device, (a) To initiate a power sequence for fully configuring the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly to operate, (b) After the power sequence has started, the monitoring device assembly initiates a first synchronization event via the synchronization subsystem and the timing device. (c) Based on the first synchronization event and based on the timing device, receive a second synchronization of the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly via the monitoring device assembly, thereby bringing the PAR system into an initial synchronized state. (d) Perform a mutual coupling scan in the initial synchronization state to obtain the current calibration data, (e) Compare the current calibration data with a previously determined calibrated alignment state. (f) Apply the correction coefficient to the current calibration data to achieve the previously determined calibrated alignment state, thereby causing the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly to achieve a fully configured operating state. (g) Perform radar scanning to acquire transmitted and received data, (h) Process the transmitted data and the received data via the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly to obtain processed radar data. The PAR system according to claim 2, further comprising the configuration described in claim 2.

4. The aforementioned controller To provide an operation command to the at least one array panel assembly so that the at least one array panel assembly can obtain radar data, To receive the radar data from at least one array panel assembly, The radar data is processed to obtain processed radar data. The PAR system according to claim 2, further comprising the configuration described in claim 2.

5. The PAR system according to claim 4, wherein the controller is a computer and is further configured to display the processed radar data.

6. The PAR system according to claim 2, wherein the controller is an integral component of the backend assembly.

7. The PAR system according to claim 2, wherein the controller is separate from the backend assembly.

8. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly are modular, independently detachable from the array panel assembly, and independently replaceable within the array panel assembly.

9. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the backend assembly is configured to provide the monitoring device assembly with a timing mechanism and the synchronization signal.

10. The PAR system according to claim 1, further comprising a superstructure on which the at least one array panel assembly is mounted.

11. The PAR system according to claim 10, wherein the backend assembly is mounted on the superstructure.

12. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer plate comprises a conduit configured to transport the cooling fluid within the heat transfer plate.

13. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer plate comprises at least one heat conduction element configured to contact the cooling fluid in the array frame.

14. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device assembly comprises a conduit for guiding the cooling fluid inside it.

15. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device assembly comprises at least one heat conduction element configured to contact the cooling fluid in the array frame.

16. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly comprises a plurality of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies.

17. The PAR system according to claim 1, comprising a plurality of array panel assemblies.

18. The PAR system according to claim 1, comprising 2 to 64 array panel assemblies.

19. The PAR system according to claim 1, comprising 25 array panel assemblies arranged in a 5x5 configuration, with each array panel comprising 64 dual-polarization radiating elements.

20. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one array panel assembly is removable, electrically scalable, and mechanically scalable.

21. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly is further configured to maintain functionality when the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly is disconnected from the antenna port, rotated 180°, and reconnected to the antenna port.

22. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein each digital board of the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the at least one second RF board / digital board pair is interconnected to form a plurality of field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) that form a beamforming network.

23. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the heat transfer plate is further configured to transfer heat to the cooling fluid distributed within the array frame.

24. The PAR system according to claim 23, wherein the heat transfer plate further includes an internal conduit configured to distribute the cooling fluid.

25. The aforementioned array frame, A first card guide configured to accept at least one of the aforementioned transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, A second card guide and configured to receive the aforementioned monitoring device assembly Equipped with a card cage including, The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the first card guide and the second card guide are optionally extendable, each enabling scalability of the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly.

26. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the array frame comprises a card cage including a plurality of card guides configured to accept the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly, and optionally the card guides are extendable to enable scalability of the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly.

27. The PAR system according to claim 1, wherein the array frame comprises a card cage including a plurality of card guides configured to accept one or more pairs of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies and a single monitoring device assembly, and optionally the card guides are extendable to enable scalability of the one or more pairs of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies and the monitoring device assembly.

28. The PAR system according to claim 1, further comprising a modular ground plane on which the passive power backplane is mounted and fixed, wherein the modular ground plane includes a seam, and the at least one panel assembly further includes an edge, the edge overlapping with the seam to form an electrically continuous ground plane, and the modular ground plane is configured to reflect radio waves.

29. The at least one array panel assembly comprises (1) at least one pair of antenna panels, (2) at least one pair of transmit-receiver-processor assemblies, and (3) a digital bridging subassembly electrically connected to each of the at least pair of transmit-receiver-processor assemblies of the transmit-receiver-processor assembly, wherein the digital bridging subassembly is The monitoring device assembly receives the synchronization signal, the control signal, and the monitoring signal. Distributing the synchronization signal, the control signal, and the monitoring signal to each of the at least pair of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies of the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. The digital bridging subassemblies that are composed of The PAR system according to claim 1, comprising:

30. The PAR system according to claim 29, wherein each of the at least pair of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, the digital bridging subassembly, and the monitoring device assembly are modular and independently removable and replaceable.

31. The PAR system according to claim 29, comprising a plurality of the array panel assemblies.

32. The PAR system according to claim 29, wherein the at least one array panel assembly comprises a plurality of pairs of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies and a plurality of pairs of antenna panels.

33. The PAR system according to claim 29, wherein the at least one array panel assembly comprises eight antenna panels, eight transmit-receiver-processor assemblies, four digital bridging assemblies, and one monitoring device assembly.

34. The PAR system according to claim 33, comprising a plurality of array panel assemblies.

35. The at least one array panel assembly, (a) Network switches coupled to the plurality of pairs of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, (d) A single network switch cable connecting the backend assembly to the network switch, (b) A single synchronization cable connecting the backend assembly to the monitoring device assembly, (c) A single monitoring device assembly network cable connecting the backend assembly to the monitoring device assembly, (e) Multiple synchronization and control cables and The PAR system according to claim 32, further comprising the digital bridging subassembly being coupled to the monitoring device assembly by one of the plurality of synchronization and control cables.

36. A phased array radar (PAR) system, (1) At least one array panel assembly, (a) A pair of antenna panels, each of which comprises a plurality of dual-polarization radiating elements and a plurality of antenna ports, each of which is passive, and each of which comprises a horizontal (H) component and a vertical (V) component, and each H component and each V component is operably connected to a corresponding antenna port, the antenna port being passive; (b) A pair of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, each corresponding to one of the antenna panels and connected to the plurality of antenna ports of the corresponding antenna panel, wherein each of the transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies is (i) When disconnected from the antenna port of the corresponding antenna panel, rotated 180°, and reconnected to the antenna port of the corresponding antenna panel, in order to maintain full functionality, (ii) To transmit an independent transmission signal to the antenna port of the corresponding antenna panel, (iii) To receive an independent receiving signal from the antenna port of the corresponding antenna panel, (iv) Process and sample the independent received signals. A set of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, (c) A passive power supply backplane configured to provide power to the aforementioned pair of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, (d) (1) To receive high voltage low current power, (2) To convert the high-voltage, low-current power into low-voltage, high-current power, (3) To supply high current power to the pair of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies, the low voltage high current power is distributed to the passive power backplane. (4) To monitor the pair of the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (5) Distribute synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals The configured monitoring device assembly, (e) A digital bridging subassembly electrically connected to the pair of the monitoring device assembly and the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, wherein the digital bridging subassembly is (1) The monitoring device assembly receives the synchronization signal, the control signal, and the monitoring signal, (2) Distributing the synchronization signal, the control signal, and the monitoring signal to the pair of the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly The configured digital bridging subassembly, (f) an array frame on which the pair of antenna panels, the pair of transmit-receiver-processor assemblies, the monitoring device assembly and the digital bridging subassembly are mounted, wherein the array frame is configured to distribute cooling fluid for cooling the pair of transmit-receiver-processor assemblies and the monitoring device assembly. an array panel assembly comprising A phased array radar (PAR) system equipped with [the specified feature].

37. A controller configured to operate each of the plurality of dual-polarization radiating elements of the pair of antenna panels via the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, A backend assembly including a destination for the data processed from the aforementioned pair of transmitter-receiver-processor assemblies and The PAR system according to claim 36, further comprising the above.

38. Each of the aforementioned transmitter-receiver-processor assembly is, (1) A first radio frequency (RF) board / digital board pair operably connected to the H component, (2) A second RF board / digital board pair operably connected to the V component, wherein each RF board of the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair is responsible for converting between RF analog signals and digital signals, each digital board of the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair is responsible for digital signal processing, and the first RF board / digital board pair is physically isolated from the second RF board / digital board pair so as to minimize parasitic coupling between the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair, (3) A heat transfer plate having a first side and a second side opposite to the first side, configured to remove and isolate heat from the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair, wherein the first RF board / digital board pair is attached to the first side and the second RF board / digital board pair is attached to the second side The PAR system according to claim 36, comprising:

39. A method for operating a digital phased array radar (PAR) system, wherein the method is (a) Provide a PAR system, and the PAR system is (1) At least one array panel assembly, (i) In at least one array panel, (a) Multiple dual-polarization radiating elements, (b) Multiple antenna ports operably connected to the multiple dual-polarization radiating elements and including at least one array panel, (ii) At least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly connected to the plurality of antenna ports, (iii) Monitoring device assembly, (a) To distribute high-current power to at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (b) To monitor the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (c) Distributing synchronization signals, control signals, and monitoring signals to the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly The configured monitoring device assembly, (iv) an array frame on which the at least one antenna panel, the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly, and the monitoring device assembly are mounted, wherein the array frame is configured to distribute cooling fluid for cooling the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly. an array panel assembly comprising, (2) A backend assembly including a destination for data processed from the at least one transmit-receiver-processor assembly, (3) Timing devices and To provide a PAR system equipped with, (b) Performing a power sequence to fully configure the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly to operate, (c) Using the timing device to synchronize the monitoring device assembly and the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, thereby bringing the PAR system into an initial synchronized state, (d) Perform a mutual coupling scan in the initial synchronization state to obtain the current calibration data, (e) Comparing the current calibration data with the baseline calibrated alignment state, (f) Applying the correction coefficient to the current calibration data to achieve the baseline calibrated alignment state and causing the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and the monitoring device assembly to achieve a fully configured operating state, (g) While in the fully configured operating state, perform radar scanning to acquire transmitted and received data, (h) Using the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, process the transmitted data and the received data to obtain processed radar data. Methods that include...

40. The method according to claim 39, further comprising displaying the processed radar data on a screen or monitor.

41. The method according to claim 39, wherein performing the power sequence includes powering on and booting up the backend assembly and the monitoring device assembly so that the monitoring device assembly powers on and boots up the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly.

42. The method according to claim 41, further comprising controlling the backend assembly and the monitoring device assembly with the controller of the PAR system.

43. To acquire a scanner including an RF probe and RF transceiver, Obtaining a scanner controller, The scanner controller is used to transmit an instruction to perform an initial alignment calibration to at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, thereby acquiring initial alignment calibration data. Transmitting the initial alignment calibration data from the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly to the scanner controller, The scanner controller and the initial alignment calibration data are used to determine the element alignment weights for the plurality of radiating elements. The element alignment weights are transmitted from the scanner controller to the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. The method according to claim 39, wherein the baseline calibrated alignment state is obtained by means of the above.

44. The element alignment weights are stored locally by the aforementioned at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, The baseline calibrated alignment state is calculated using the element alignment weights. The method according to claim 43, further comprising:

45. The method according to claim 43, wherein the scanner is a near-field scanner including an x-y positioning device.

46. The method according to claim 43, wherein the scanner is a far-field scanner.

47. A method carried out by a radar system, wherein the method is Using a clock generator to generate a reference clock signal, The aforementioned reference clock signal is distributed to the first synchronization point via a synchronization board, The aforementioned reference clock signal is distributed to a second synchronization point via the synchronization board, Using the first synchronization point, a first synchronization signal is generated based on the reference clock signal, The first synchronization signal is transmitted to the synchronization board via the first synchronization point, By using the aforementioned synchronization board, the first synchronization signal is combined with a first optional synchronization source that is commanded not to transmit, thereby obtaining a first master synchronization signal. The synchronization board is used to distribute the first master synchronization signal to the first synchronization point and the second synchronization point, To acquire a first counter based on the reference clock signal of the first synchronization point, To acquire a second counter based on the reference clock signal of the second synchronization point, Using the first synchronization point, the first counter is reset based on the first master synchronization signal, and the first reset counter is obtained. Using the second synchronization point, the second counter is reset based on the first master synchronization signal, and the second reset counter is obtained. Methods that include...

48. The aforementioned clock generator receives the Global Positioning System (GPS) control oscillator (DO) signal from the GPS module, The clock generator generates the reference clock signal based on the GPS DO signal. The method according to claim 47, further comprising:

49. The method according to claim 48, wherein the GPS DO signal includes a first frequency of about 10 megahertz (MHz), the reference clock signal includes a second frequency of about 25 MHz, and the transmitter-receiver-processor assembly of the radar system includes an internal clock including a third frequency in the range of about 25 MHz to about 200 MHz.

50. The method according to claim 48, wherein the clock generator is located inside the backend assembly of the radar system, and the synchronization board and the GPS module are located inside the synchronization sub-assembly of the backend assembly.

51. The reference clock signal is distributed to the first synchronization point via the first cable through the synchronization board, The reference clock signal is distributed to the second synchronization point via the second cable through the synchronization board, Transmitting the first synchronization signal to the synchronization board via the first cable through the first synchronization point, The first master synchronization signal is distributed to the first synchronization point via the synchronization board and the first cable. The first master synchronization signal is distributed to the second synchronization point via the second cable through the synchronization board. The method according to claim 47, further comprising:

52. The method according to claim 51, wherein the first cable and the second cable are substantially similar to each other and have matching phases.

53. The method according to claim 51, wherein the first cable and the second cable are substantially similar in type and produce substantially similar latency.

54. The method according to claim 47, further comprising generating the first synchronization signal in response to a command from the controller of the radar system through the first synchronization point, wherein the command designates only the first synchronization point as the synchronization master.

55. The method according to claim 47, wherein combining the first synchronization signal and the first optional synchronization source includes using an OR logic gate.

56. The method according to claim 47, wherein the first synchronization point is the first monitoring device assembly of the radar system or the first host card of the radar system, and the second synchronization point is the second monitoring device assembly of the radar system or the second host card of the radar system.

57. The first master synchronization signal is distributed to the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly of the radar system via the first monitoring device assembly, The first master synchronization signal is distributed to the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly of the radar system via the first monitoring device assembly. The method according to claim 56, further comprising:

58. The first master synchronization signal is distributed to a first plurality of chips within the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, The first master synchronization signal is distributed to a second set of chips within the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. The method according to claim 57, further comprising:

59. The method according to claim 58, wherein the first plurality of chips and the second plurality of chips are field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs).

60. In order to obtain a third reset counter, the third counter of the first transmit-receiver-processor assembly is reset based on the first master synchronization signal, In order to obtain a fourth reset counter, the fourth counter of the second transmit-receiver-processor assembly is reset based on the first master synchronization signal. The method according to claim 47, further comprising:

61. Transmitting a transmission command to the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly via the first monitoring device assembly, In response to the transmission command, a first transmission signal is transmitted via the first transmit-receiver-processor assembly at a first time based on the third reset counter, In response to the transmission command, the second transmission signal is transmitted via the second transmit-receiver-processor assembly at a second time based on the fourth reset counter. The method according to claim 60, further comprising:

62. The method according to claim 61, further comprising executing the transmit command by the first transmit-receiver-processor assembly and by the second transmit-receiver-processor assembly without handshake with other components of the radar system.

63. Using the second synchronization point, a second synchronization signal is generated based on the reference clock signal, The second synchronization signal is transmitted to the synchronization board via the second synchronization point, The second master synchronization signal is obtained by using the synchronization board to combine the second synchronization signal with a second optional synchronization source that is commanded not to transmit, The second master synchronization signal is distributed to the first synchronization point via the synchronization board, The second master synchronization signal is distributed to the second synchronization point via the synchronization board, Using the first synchronization point, the first reset counter is reset based on the second master synchronization signal, and the third reset counter is obtained. Using the second synchronization point, the second reset counter is reset based on the second master synchronization signal, and the fourth reset counter is obtained. The method according to claim 47, further comprising:

64. A method for testing components for use in a radar system, wherein the method is (1) To obtain a first component, wherein the first component includes a first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, (a) Support plate and (b) At least one first radio frequency (RF) board / digital board pair that is detachable from a first plurality of antenna ports operably connected to a first plurality of dual-polarization radiating element components, (c) At least one second RF board / digital board pair detachable from a second plurality of antenna ports operably connected to a second plurality of dual-polarization radiating element components, wherein the first circuit of the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the second circuit of the at least one second RF board / digital board pair are substantially identical, the first circuit and the second circuit enable conversion between RF analog signals and digital signals, enable digital signal processing, the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the at least one second RF board / digital board pair are mounted on both sides of the support plate, the at least one first RF board / digital board pair is physically isolated from the at least one second RF board / digital board pair by the support plate, the first circuit is isolated from the second circuit so as to substantially minimize parasitic coupling between the at least one first RF board / digital board pair and the at least one second RF board / digital board pair, and the first transmit-receiver-processor assembly (i) To transmit independent transmission signals to the first and second antenna ports, (ii) To receive independent receiving signals from the first plurality of antenna ports and the second plurality of antenna ports, (iii) Process and sample the independent received signals. A configuration comprising at least one second RF board / digital board pair and To obtain a first component that includes, (2) Test the first component in order to confirm that it is functioning properly, (3) While the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly is functioning properly, measure the test parameters of the first transmitter-receiver-processor assembly and thereby obtain baseline values ​​of the test parameters, (4) Obtaining a second component, which includes a second transmit-receiver-processor assembly that is substantially identical to the first transmit-receiver-processor assembly, (5) Testing the second component by passing the signal through the first path of the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, then through the feedback panel located outside the first and second components, and then through the second path of the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. (6) When the signal passes through the second path, the test parameters within the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly are measured, thereby obtaining the test values ​​of the test parameters from the second transmitter-receiver-processor assembly. (7) Comparing the test value with a predetermined range of acceptable test values ​​for the baseline value, (8) If the test value falls outside the predetermined range, it is determined that the second component is malfunctioning, and if the test value falls within the predetermined range, it is determined that the second component is operational. Methods that include...

65. The method according to claim 64, wherein the first plurality of radiating element components implement horizontal (H) polarization, and the second plurality of radiating element components implement vertical (V) polarization.

66. The method according to claim 64, wherein the first plurality of radiating element components implement vertical (V) polarization, and the second plurality of radiating element components implement horizontal (H) polarization.

67. The method according to claim 64, wherein the first route and the second route are the same.

68. The method according to claim 65, wherein the first path and / or the second path passes through a transceiver, an intermediate layer, and a wireless front end (RFE) of the second transmit-receiver-processor assembly.

69. The method according to claim 64, wherein the test is selected from the group consisting of a high-power transmission test, a low-power transmission test, a high-gain reception test, and a low-gain reception test.

70. The method according to claim 64, further comprising automatically performing the aforementioned test.

71. The method according to claim 64, further comprising performing the test while the radar system is in operation.

72. The method according to claim 71, further comprising removing the second component from the radar system if the second component is malfunctioning.

73. The method according to claim 72, further comprising replacing the second component with a replacement component while the radar system is in operation.

74. It is a radar system, It is an array panel assembly, (1) Array frame and, (2) In at least one array panel, (a) A plurality of dual-polarization radiating elements, each of which includes a horizontal (H) component and a vertical (V) component, (b) A first set of antenna ports connected to the H component, (c) A second set of antenna ports connected to the V component and including at least one array panel, (3) At least one electrically and mechanically symmetrical transmitter-receiver-processor assembly that can engage with the array frame in either the first or second orientation, and can engage with the first and second sets of antenna ports, and can maintain full functionality, wherein the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly (a) Support plate and (b) A first radio frequency (RF) board / digital board pair including the first circuit, (c) A second RF board / digital board pair including a second circuit A transmitter-receiver-processor assembly including at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly Equipped with, (1) In a first orientation of the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, the first RF board / digital board pair is connectable to the first set of antenna ports, and the second RF board / digital board pair is connectable to the second set of antenna ports; In a second orientation of the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly, the first RF board / digital board pair is connectable to the second set of antenna ports, and the second RF board / digital board pair is connectable to the first set of antenna ports; (2) The first circuit and the second circuit enable conversion between RF analog signals and digital signals, enable digital signal processing, the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair are mounted on both sides of the support plate, the first RF board / digital board pair is physically isolated from the second RF board / digital board pair by the support plate, the parasitic coupling between the first RF board / digital board pair and the second RF board / digital board pair is substantially minimized, the first circuit is separated from the second circuit, and the at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly is (i) To transmit an independent transmission signal to the antenna port, (ii) To receive an independent receiving signal from the antenna port, (iii) Process and sample the independent received signals. Consists of, (3) The at least one transmitter-receiver-processor assembly maintains full functionality in the first and second orientations. Array panel assembly A radar system equipped with [a specific feature / feature].

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