Electronically-steered Ku-band phased array antenna comprising an integrated photonic beamformer

摘要

A phased-array antenna that includes a photonic beamformer is disclosed. In some embodiments, a front stage of electrical-domain processing applies a 16-to-1 signal-combination ratio, a single stage of photonic beamforming applies a 4-to-1 signal-combination ratio, and a passive, electrical-domain, signal combiner applies a 32-to-1 signal-combination ratio.

主权项

1. A phased-array antenna comprising:
a plurality of antenna elements for receiving an EM signal and each generating a signal in response thereto, wherein the antenna elements are grouped for signal processing in successively larger groupings, including a block, a sub-tile composed of plural blocks, and a tile composed of plural sub-tiles; a first stage of processing via electrical-domain processing elements that process the signals generated by the plurality of antenna elements, wherein the processing comprises combining the signals to generate a first group of combined electrical signals and imparting first signal delays that compensate for different times at which the antenna elements within the blocks of a given sub-tile receive the EM signal due to spatially disparate locations thereof with respect to one another; a second stage of processing via optical-domain processing elements including a plurality of photonic beamformers operating in parallel to one another defining a single stage of photonic beam forming, wherein each of the photonic beamformers receives a portion of the first group of combined signals, and wherein the photonic beam formers are configured to: (a) convert the first group of combined electrical signals to a first group of optical signals; (b) impart second signal delays that compensate for different times at which the antenna elements within sub-tiles of a given tile receive the EM signal due to spatially disparate locations thereof with respect to one another; (c) impart third signal delays that compensate for different times at which the antenna elements within different tiles receive the EM signal due to spatially disparate locations thereof with respect to one another; (d) combine the first group of optical signals to generate a second group of optical signals; means for converting the second group of optical signals to a second group of electrical signals; and means for combining the second group of electrical signals to a first output signal having a first polarity and a second output signal having a second polarity.