Nonlinear beam forming and beam shaping aperture system

US7109918B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Air Force · US

Inventors

• Brian K. Meadows · Fayetteville, US
• Ted H. Heath · Marietta, US
• Joseph D. Neff · Atlanta, US
• Edgar A. Brown · Decatur, US
• David W. Fogliatti · Carlsbad, US
• Visarath In · Chula Vista, US
• Paul Hasler · Atlanta, US
• Steve P. DeWeerth · Marietta, US
• William L. Ditto · Woodstock, US
• Robert A. York · Lompoc, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 23, 2003
• Grant date: Sep 19, 2006
• Expiry date: May 23, 2023

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H01Q3/36
• WIPO field: Telecommunications
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

This invention exploits the synchronization properties of coupled, nonlinear oscillators arrays to perform power combining, beam steering, and beam shaping. This architecture utilizes interactions between nonlinear active elements to generate beam patterns. A nonlinear array integrates the signal processing concurrently with the transduction of the signal. This architecture differs fundamentally from passive transducer arrays in three ways: 1) the unit cells are nonlinear, 2) the array purposely couples the unit cells together, and 3) the signal processing (beam steering and shaping) is done via dynamic interactions between unit cells. The architecture extends to both 1- and 2-dimensional arrays.