Reactive combiner for active array radar system
US5977911A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Dec 30, 1996 |
| Grant date | Nov 2, 1999 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Dec 30, 2016 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01Q3/2682
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An active array radar system is controlled by photonic signals. The array of N antenna elements is divided into M subarrays, each having N/M antenna elements. Tunable lasers provide M optical wavelengths within non-overlapping bands. For reception, the microwave signals are optically modulated onto a single fiber for each subarray. Time delays are introduced for an offset between elements in a subarray and for an offset between subarrays. By using wavelength division multiplexing, a true time delay is attributed to each antenna element on the array. A non-coherent optical combiner having an array of N photodetectors demodulates the receive signals and recovers the coherent sum of the RF signals.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.