Adaptive Shared Aperture Beamforming for ESA Mass Reduction
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Electronically steered array antenna systems face limitations in the number of components, mass, size, and power, which restrict the number of beams they can accommodate, and fail to provide optimal signal-to-noise ratios for overlapping beams tracking independent signals.
Innovation Solution
The antenna system employs shared apertures with sub-arrays and variable attenuators to reduce component count, allowing multiple beams to share a single aperture adaptively, with overlapping beams achieving improved signal-to-noise ratios by aligning phase centers and using attenuators to optimize signal allocation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple beams are accommodated in ESA antenna systems, then the number of beams increases, but the number of components (variable phase shifters, amplifiers) and mass, size, and power requirements increase proportionally
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple beams share a common aperture and beamforming network, combining the functionality of what would traditionally require separate components for each beam. The single aperture serves multiple beams simultaneously, and the shared beamforming network processes signals for multiple beams through common hardware paths.
Solution Approach 2:
The common aperture and beamforming network components serve multiple functions by supporting multiple beams simultaneously. Each variable phase shifter and amplifier in the shared network can be dynamically configured to serve different beamforming requirements, making the hardware universal rather than dedicated to a single beam.
2Reliability
If traditional ESA antenna systems are used, then beam independence is maintained, but mass, size, and power requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges the physical aperture and beamforming network into a shared infrastructure that supports multiple independent beams. By combining the hardware resources while maintaining logical beam independence through electronic control, the mass is reduced while beam independence is preserved through software-defined beamforming.
3Adaptability or versatility
If overlapping beams track independent signals, then signal coverage is improved, but signal-to-noise ratio deteriorates without adaptive sharing
Solution Approach 1:
The beamforming network implements dynamic, adaptive signal allocation where the contribution of each sub-array to each beam can be adjusted in real-time based on signal conditions. This dynamic control allows overlapping beams to share the aperture adaptively, improving signal-to-noise ratio by optimizing the weight and phase of each sub-array's contribution to each beam based on current operational requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
An adaptive shared aperture and cluster beamforming antenna system includes an aperture with first and second sub-arrays, each having a plurality of antenna elements. The antenna system further includes first and second dividers configured to receive first and second signals from the first and second sub-arrays, respectively, and to provide a first and second plurality of divided signals to a corresponding first and second plurality of variable attenuators. The antenna system further includes a first combiner configured to receive a first attenuated signal from a first one of the first plurality of variable attenuators and a second attenuated signal from a first one of the second plurality of variable attenuators, and a second combiner configured to receive a third attenuated signal from a second one of the first plurality of variable attenuators and a fourth attenuated signal from a second one of the second plurality of variable attenuators.