Wideband antenna pattern
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to the field of Wideband array antennas.
BACKGROUND ART
It is often desired to control the direction and shape of one or several main lobe/lobes, the side lobe level in different directions and cancellation directions of an array antenna. This can be accomplished with phase shifters which allow narrow band control of the main lobe, side lobe level and also to control the positions of several narrow band cancellation directions in the antenna pattern of the array antenna. A cancellation direction is a direction in the antenna diagram where the radiated or received power has a minimum. True time delay solutions are also used today. In these solutions each antenna element has a fixed time delay for all frequencies. The fixed time delay can be different for different antenna elements. These solutions make it possible to control a wideband main iobe but it is oniy possible to create narrow band cancellation directions in the antenna pattern. In order to create a cancellation direction over a wide frequency range several narrow band cancellation directions have to be designed around the desired wideband cancellation direction. This leads to the unwanted side effect that the level of side lobes is increased. In many applications such as radar antennas it is desirable to achieve a wideband lobe forming while keeping the side lobes at a low level.
In prior art solutions today methods thus exist to control an antenna pattern of an array antenna connected to an electronic system and comprising at least two antenna elements. The antenna pattern control comprises control of the directions of one or several main lobe/s and/or cancellation directions in the antenna pattern. The control is achieved by affecting waveforms between
the antenna elements and the electronic system with phase shifts or time delays being individual for each antenna element. The electronic system can be a radar or communications system. The connection between the array antenna and the electronic system can be made directly or indirectly via e.g. phase shifters. The drawbacks however being that the antenna pattern control only allow narrow band control of the main lobe, side lobe level and also only allow creation of narrow band cancellation directions in the antenna pattern.
There is thus a need for an improved solution to control the antenna pattern of a wideband array antenna or antenna system by being able to control the antenna pattern over a wide bandwidth by controlling characteristics such as the shape, direction and width of one or several main lobe/lobes and the side lobe levels in different directions as well as being able to create a number of wideband cancellation directions in the antenna pattern.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is to remove the above mentioned deficiencies with prior art solutions and to provide:
• a method to control an antenna pattern of a wideband array antenna
• a wideband array antenna unit arranged to control an antenna pattern of a wideband array antenna
• a transforming means arranged to control an antenna pattern of an antenna system
• a wideband array antenna arranged to control an antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna
to solve the problem to achieve an improved solution to control the antenna pattern of a wideband array antenna or antenna system over a wide bandwidth. The antenna pattern control comprising controlling characteristics
such as the shape, direction and width of one or several main lobe/lobes and the side lobe levels in different directions as well as being able to create a number of wideband cancellation directions in the antenna pattern.
This object is achieved by providing a method to control an antenna pattern of a wideband array antenna connected to an electronic system and comprising at least two antenna elements. The antenna pattern control comprises control of the directions of one or several main lobe/s and/or cancellation directions in the antenna pattern. The control is achieved by affecting waveforms between the antenna elements and the electronic system with phase shifts or time delays being individual for each antenna element wherein a wideband array antenna unit, comprising the wideband array antenna and transforming means, the wideband array antenna being operational over a system bandwidth and operating with an instantaneous bandwidth B, is accomplished by:
• the transforming means being inserted between each antenna element or sub array in the wideband array antenna and the electronic system (303), a sub array comprising at least two antenna elements, or the transforming means being integrated in the antenna element/ sub array or the electronic system,
• a weighting function W(w) being calculated for Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in q components, q being an integer index ranging from 0 to Q-\, for each antenna element or sub array using standard methods taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency fq of each spectral component and
• the transforming means affecting the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) and the electronic system (303), the waveforms being continuous or pulsed, by use of one or several parameters calculated from the weighting function W(w) at discrete angular frequencies coq
thus achieving extended control of the antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna over the instantaneous bandwidth B.
The object is further achieved by providing a wideband array antenna unit arranged to control an antenna pattern of a wideband array antenna connected to an electronic system and comprising at least two antenna elements. The antenna pattern control comprises control of the directions of one or several main lobe/s and/or cancellation directions in the antenna pattern. The antenna pattern control being arranged to be achieved by affecting waveforms between the antenna elements and the electronic system with phase shifts or time delays being individual for each antenna element wherein the wideband array antenna unit, comprising the wideband array antenna and transforming means, the wideband array antenna being arranged to be operational over a system bandwidth and being arranged to operate with an instantaneous bandwidth B, is accomplished by:
• the transforming means being arranged to be inserted between each antenna element or sub array in the wideband array antenna and the electronic system, a sub array comprising at least two antenna elements, or the transforming means being integrated in the antenna element/ sub array or the electronic system,
• a weighting function W{) being arranged to be calculated for Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in Q components numbered q, q being an integer index ranging from 0 to Q-1, for each antenna element or sub array using standard methods taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency fq of each spectral component and
• the transforming means being arranged to affect the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array and the electronic system (303), the waveforms being continuous or pulsed, by use of one or several parameters calculated from the weighting function W() at discrete angular frequencies q
thus achieving extended control of the antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna over the instantaneous bandwidth B.
The object is further achieved by providing a transforming means arranged to control an antenna pattern of an antenna system connected to an electronic system, the antenna system comprising at least two antenna elements, the antenna pattern control comprising control of the directions of one or several main lobe/s and/or cancellation directions in the antenna pattern, the control being arranged to be achieved by affecting waveforms between the antenna elements and the electronic system with phase shifts or time delays being individual for each antenna element wherein an extended control of the antenna pattern arranged to occupy an instantaneous bandwidth B is accomplished by:
• the transforming means being arranged to be inserted between at least all but one of the antenna elements or sub arrays {E\-EN) in the antenna system and the electronic system, a sub array comprising at least two antenna elements, or the transforming means being integrated in the antenna element/ sub array or the electronic system,
• a weighting function W() arranged to be calculated for Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in Q components q, q being an integer index ranging from 0 to Q-\, for each antenna element or sub array {E1-EN) using standard methods taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency fq of each spectral component and
• the transforming means arranged to affect the waveforms beiween at least all but one of the antenna elements or sub arrays {E1-EN) and the electronic system, the waveforms being continuous or pulsed, by use of one or several parameters calculated from the weighting function W() at discrete angular frequencies q
thus achieving the extended control of the antenna pattern of the antenna system over the instantaneous bandwidth B.
The object is further achieved by providing a wideband array antenna arranged to be operational over a system bandwidth and comprising at least two antenna elements. The wideband array antenna is arranged to control an antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna and is connected to an electronic system. The antenna pattern control is arranged to be achieved by affecting waveforms between the wideband array antenna and the electronic system with parameters being individual for each antenna element wherein the wideband array antenna is arranged to operate with a waveform having an instantaneous bandwidth B by a separation between the antenna elements in the wideband array antenna being increased compared to conventional array antenna designs to above one half wavelength of a maximum frequency within the system bandwidth when the wideband array antenna is arranged to operate with an instantaneously wideband waveform. This results in a substantially reduced number of antenna elements without the appearance of grating lobes in the antenna pattern.
Further advantages are achieved by implementing one or several of the features of the dependent claims which will be explained in the detailed description. Some of these advantages are:
• The invention provides an extended control of the antenna pattern comprising control of characteristics such as the shape, direction and width of one or several main lobe/lobes and the side lobe levels in different directions as well as creation of a number of wideband cancellation directions in the antenna pattern.
• The invention can be implemented with either an analogue or a digital realization of the transforming means.
• The invention is applicable to both continuous and pulsed waveforms which is a further advantage.
Additional advantages are achieved if features of one or several of the dependent claims not mentioned above are implemented.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1a schematically shows a digital solution of a realization of the transforming means in the frequency domain.
Figure 1b schematically shows an analogue solution of a realization of the transforming means in the frequency domain.
Figure 2a schematically shows a realization of the transforming means in the time domain.
Figure 2b schematically shows a realization in the time domain for an embodiment of the transforming means including also a dominating non frequency dependent "true time delay".
Figure 2c shows a diagram of attenuation/amplification and time delays as a function of angular frequency (2πf).
rigure 3 schematically shows a block diagram of one embodiment of how the nvention can be implemented.
-igure 4 shows the definition of angles φ and used in the definition of the videband antenna pattern.
:igure 5 schematically shows power as a function of antenna element lumber and frequency.
:igure 6a schematically shows delay as a function of antenna element umber and frequency.
igure 6b schematically shows an incident wave front in a main lobe irection.
Figure 7 schematically shows deviations from frequency independent true time delay ("delta delays") as a function of antenna element number and frequency.
Figure 8 shows the Array factor with wideband cancellation directions and main lobe resulting from the invention.
Figure 9 shows antenna patterns of a wideband cancellation direction at 20° for different FFT length.
Figure 10 shows antenna patterns of a main lobe at 30° for different FFT length.
Figure 11 shows antenna patterns of a wideband cancellation direction at 40° for different FFT length.
Figure 12 shows antenna patterns of a wideband cancellation direction at 50° for different FFT length.
Figure 13 schematically shows power as a function of element number and frequency with fixed width of one main lobe.
Figure 14 schematically shows time delays as a function of element number and frequency with fixed width of one main lobe.
Figure 15 shows the Array factor with frequency independent position and fixed width of one main lobe resulting from the invention.
Figure 16 shows antenna patterns of one main lobe at 30° with adjacent wideband cancellation directions for different FFT length.
Figure 17 shows an example of a pulsed waveform.
Figure 18 shows a resulting waveform for a pulsed waveform as a function of time at a number of angles.
Figure 19 schematically shows a flow chart for digital realizations of the inventive method.
Figure 20 shows antenna pattern for a linear array.
Figure 21 shows antenna pattern for a circular array.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
The invention will now be described in detail with reference to the enclosed drawings. The invention will be explained by describing a number of examples of how the antenna pattern can be shaped over a wide bandwidth. This is accomplished by affecting waveforms to the antenna elements in the transmit mode or from the antenna elements in the receive mode with certain parameters as will be explained further.
A wideband cancellation direction is henceforth in the description used as a direction in the antenna pattern where the radiated power/sensitivity has a minimum being substantially below the radiated power/sensitivity in the direction having the maximum radiation/sensitivity.
An antenna pattern is defined as radiated power as a function of direction when the antenna is operated in transmit mode and as sensitivity as a function of directions when the antenna is operated in receive mode.
Figure 1a schematically shows an example of a practical realization of a frequency dependent "true time delay" solution for a wideband array antenna. A wideband array antenna is defined as an array antenna having a bandwidth greater than or equal to an instantaneous operating bandwidth B. The instantaneous bandwidth B is the instantaneous operating bandwidth which will be described further in association with figure 3. In this example a time delay is used as a parameter being frequency dependent. The wideband array antenna comprises at least two antenna elements. The realization also
includes an optional frequency dependent attenuation/amplification, i.e. the amplitudes of the waveforms are attenuated or amplified. In this optional embodiment two frequency dependent parameters are used; time delay and attenuation/amplification. Due to the reciprocity principle of antennas the inventive solution is applicable both for transmission and reception if not otherwise stated. Henceforth in the description the invention will be described for the receive mode if not otherwise stated. An input waveform sin(t), 101, from an antenna element n in the wideband array antenna is fed to a Fourier Transformation (FT) unit 102 using for example a Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT), but other methods for calculation of the spectrum could be used. The FT unit transforms the instantaneous bandwidth B of the input waveform sin(t), 101, into Q spectral components 0 to 0-1, in this example into 8 spectral components 110-117, each spectral component having a centre frequency fq. However the transformation can be made into more or less spectral components. The time delay τq, (120-127) and the optional frequency dependent attenuation/amplification αq (130-137) are affecting each spectral component q through any suitable time delay and/or attenuation/amplification means well known to the skilled person. The spectral component 110 thus has a time delay τ0, 120, and an attenuation/amplification α0,130, the spectral component 111a time delay τ1, 121, and an attenuation/amplification α1 131, and so on until the spectral component 117 having a time delay T7, 127, and an attenuation/amplification alt 137. All spectral components are fed to an Inverse Fourier Transformation (IFT) unit, 103, using Inverse Fast Fourier Transformation (IFFT) or any other method, as for example IDFT (Inverse Discrete Fourier Transformation), transforming from the frequency domain to the time domain thus transforming all the spectral components back into the time domain and producing an output waveform sout(t), 104.
The time delay τq and the attenuation/amplification αq are examples of parameters for antenna element n affecting each spectral component q where the parameters are frequency dependent. The general designation for
these frequency dependent parameters are τn.q and αn.q where n ranges from 1 to N and q from 0 to Q-1.
The FT unit, the time delay and attenuation/amplification means and the IFT unit are parts of a first control element 100.
The invention can be implemented using only the frequency depending time delay τ(). This solution is simpler to realize as the frequency depending attenuation/amplification is not required. However it heavily reduces the control of the main lobe width.
The function of the implementation with both the frequency dependent time delay and the attenuation/amplification according to figure 1a will now be described.
Parameters calculated from a frequency dependent weighting function W() = A().e'J-τ() is affecting the waveforms between each antenna element n and the electronic system where A(), accounts for the frequency dependency of the attenuation/amplification and τ() account for the frequency dependency of the time delay. As an alternative the weighting function could be defined as W(w) = A().e-j-() where A(), still accounts for the frequency dependency of the attenuation/amplification and () account for the frequency dependency of the phase shift. Each antenna element is connected to one first control element 100. The output waveform sout(t) 104 emitted from each first control element 100 as a function of the input waveform sin(t) 101 entering the first control element can be calculated with the aid of equation (1). sin(t) is the video-, intermediate frequency- (IF) or radio frequency (RF)-waveform from each antenna element when the antenna is working as a receiving antenna, but can also be the waveform on video, intermediate frequency (IF) or radio frequency (RF) level from a waveform generator in an electronic system when the wideband array antenna is working as a transmitting antenna.
(Equation Removed)
In equation (1) the symbol® symbolize convolution. The principle of convolution is well known to the skilled person and can be further studied e.g. in "The Fourier Transform and its Applications", McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 1965 written by Ronald N. Bracewell.
The symbols used above and henceforth in the description have the following
meaning:
= angular frequency {2.πf)
w(t) = time domain weighting function
w(t-τ) = time delayed time domain weighting function
W() = frequency domain weighting function
being the Fourier Transform of w(t) A() = absolute value of W{) αq=A(q) absolute value of W{) at = q for antenna element n, generally
designated αn,q τ = time delay and integration variable τq = time delay of τ() at = q for antenna element n, generally designated
τn.q = time delay for spectral component q in antenna element n z() = time delay as a function of ) = phase shift as a function of
q = phase shift of () at = q for antenna element n, generally designated n,q = phase shift for spectral component q in antenna element n
As mentioned above τn.q and αn,q are examples of frequency dependent parameters for antenna element n affecting each spectral component q. The phase shift n,q is another example of a frequency dependent parameter for antenna element n affecting each spectral component.
Figure 1a describes a digital realization of the first control element. Figure 1b shows a corresponding analogue realization with the input waveform sin(t) 101 entering a third control element 150. The input waveform 101 coming from each antenna element n is fed to Q band pass filters Fq having a centre frequency fq where q assumes integer values from 0 to Q-1 The input waveform 101 is thus split in Q spectral components and a time delay xq or alternatively a phase shift q and the optional frequency dependent attenuation/amplification αq are affecting each spectral component through any suitable time delay or phase shift and attenuation/amplification means well known to the skilled person. All spectral components are connected to a summation network 151 producing the output waveform -Sout(t). 104. The centre frequency fq of each spectral component can be calculated according to:
(Equation Removed)
for a case with equividistant spectral component division .where fc is the centre frequency in the frequency band with an instantaneous bandwidth B. The instantaneous bandwidth B is the instantaneous operating bandwidth. The third control element 150 comprises Q band pass filters Fq, means for time delay and amplification/attenuation as well as the summation network 151.
A further digital realization will now be described with reference to figures 2a and 2b. In many situations a time discrete realization, with discrete steps Tin time, might be preferable. An output waveform soul(m-T) emitted from a second control element (200) can then be calculated with the aid of equation (2) as a function of an input waveform sin{m-T) entering the second
control element. The index m is an integer value increasing linearly as a function of time. W{q) represents the time delay and attenuation/amplification at the centre frequency of spectral component q, see figure 1. The FFT and the IFFT described in association with figure 1a, both requiring Q.log2(Q) operations, are computational efficient methods for calculation of DFT (Discrete Fourier Transform) and IDFT (Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform), both requiring Q2 operations. Q is as mentioned above the total number of spectral components. The output waveform is calculated as:
(Equation Removed)
mod[x,y] = remainder after division of x by y q = 2-π-fq= discrete angular frequency Q = Number of spectral components k = integer raising variable used in the DFT and the IDFT m = integer raising variable for discrete time steps
q = integer raising variable for spectral components and integer raising variable used in the DFT.
As can be seen in equation (2) the desired functionality in a time discrete realization can be achieved with Q operations.
FFT and DFT are different methods for Fourier Transformation (FT). IFFT and IDFT are corresponding methods for Inverse Fourier Transformation (IFT). As described above these methods have different advantages and the
method most suitable for the application is selected. However any of the methods can be used when FT and/or IFT are/is required in the different embodiments of the invention.
Figure 2a shows the input waveform sin(m-T) 201, coming from an antenna element in the wideband array antenna. The input waveform 201 is successively time delayed in Q-\ time steps T, 203, numbered from 1 to Q-\ and being time delayed copies of the input waveform sin(m-T). The input waveform is thus successively time delayed with time steps T as illustrated in the upper part, 204, of Figure 2a. Q parameters comprising weighting coefficients wn,0 to wn,Q-1, for antenna element n is identified with two indexes, the first representing antenna element number and the second a consecutive number q representing a spectral component and ranging from 0 to Q-\. The weighting coefficients are calculated as the IDFT of W(q) or alternatively as the IFFT of W(q) for the Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in q components, the calculation being performed for each antenna element or sub array (E1-EN) using standard methods and taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency fq of each spectral component. The weighting coefficients wn,0 to wn,Q-1 thus is the weighting coefficient for antenna element n. The arrows 211 illustrate that the input waveform sin(m-T) is multiplied with the first weighting coefficient wn,0 and each time delayed copy of the input waveform is successively multiplied with the weighting coefficient having the same second index as the number of time step delays T included in the in the time delayed copy of the input waveform as illustrated in the middle part, 205, of Figure 2a. The result of each multiplication is schematically illustrated to be moved, indicated with arrows 212, to the bottom part, 206, of Figure 2a, where each multiplication result is summarized to the output waveform 207, soul(m-T).
As will be described in association with figure 6 and 7 the dominating part of the time delay is not frequency dependent, resulting in many very small consecutive weighting coefficients, approximately equal to zero, at the
beginning and end of the series of weighting coefficient wnfi to W„,Q.\ for each antenna element. Assume that the first x weighting coefficients and the last y weighting coefficients in the series of weighting coefficients w„>0 to w„iQ.x are approximately equal to zero. It could then be suitable in a hardware realization, to set the first x weighting coefficients and the last y weighting coefficients to zero and to integrate the first x time delays T into a time delay D, 202, equal to x-T as illustrated in figure 2b, and to exclude the last y multiplications to reduce the number of required operations to less than Q operations. Figure 2b otherwise corresponds to figure 2a. The time delay D, 202, corresponds to the non frequency dependent time delay, for each antenna element, which is illustrated in figure 6a. The remaining frequency dependent time delay will onwards be called "delta time delay" as illustrated in figure 7. Figure 2b is an example of a computational efficient convolution, for calculation of the "delta time delay", preceded of the frequency independent time delay D, 202, used mainly for control of the main lobe direction.
The means for realizing the frequency independent time delay D and the means for frequency dependent time delays and attenuations/amplifications for each time delay T, are parts of the second control element 200.
Figure 2c shows the frequency dependency of the time delay T and attenuation A(w) on the vertical axis 215 as a function of co (i.e. 2-n-f) on the horizontal axis 216. The weighting function is calculated for each antenna element n and for a number of &>-values, m, co\, a>2 .. COQA through classical realization at each frequency using well known method as e.g the Schelkunoffs method. This results in a number of values W„j0, WnA, W„i2 .... for each antenna element n. The time delay as a function of co then forms a curve 217 and the attenuation/amplification a curve 218. The weighting coefficients w„i0, w„.\, wn2 ... are calculated as the IDFT or IFFT of W„i0, Wn,\, W„tl ... for each antenna element n.
Figure 2a and 2b thus shows a realization of a frequency dependent time delay and attenuation/amplification in the time domain and figure 1a and 1b shows a corresponding realization in the frequency domain. An advantage with the realization in the time domain is that only Q operations are required while the realization in the frequency domain requires Q.1og2{Q) operations as described above.
A fourth control element applicable in the transmit mode can be realized by calculating the waveform in advance for each antenna element/sub array and for each spectral component q, q ranging from 0 to Q-\ using the intended waveform and the weighting function W{) for affecting the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array {E1-EN) and the electronic system 303. The result is converted in a DDS (Direct Digital Synthesis) unit to an analogue waveform which is fed to each antenna element/sub array. The means for calculating the waveform and the DDS unit are parts of the fourth control element.
All four control elements could as mentioned earlier be inserted either at video, intermediate frequency (IF) or directly on radio frequency (RF) level. It is easier to realize the control element at lower frequency but all hardware needed between the control element and the antenna element/sub array need to be multiplied with the number of antenna elements/sub arrays. In the description the invention is henceforth described as being realized at the RF level.
The four control elements are examples of transforming means, transforming an input waveform to an output waveform. The transforming means all have two ends, an input end receiving the input waveform and an output end producing the output waveform.
Figure 3 schematically shows a block diagram of one embodiment of how the invention can be implemented. Figure 3a shows the situation when the
wideband array antenna 301 is working in receive mode. A wideband array antenna is defined as an array antenna having a bandwidth greater than or equal to the instantaneous operating bandwidth B. This bandwidth of the wideband array antenna is called the system bandwidth of an electronic system ES, 303 using the wideband array antenna. The instantaneous bandwidth B is the instantaneous operating bandwidth of the electronic system. The wideband array antenna can optionally comprise of one or several sub-arrays, each sub-array comprising two or more antenna elements. There are a total of N antenna elements or combinations of antenna elements and sub arrays, E1 to EN, and a corresponding number of transforming means Tr1 to TrN. One transforming means is inserted between each antenna element or sub arrays and the electronic system ES, 303, which e.g. can be a radar system or a communication system. Tr{ is inserted between E\ and the electronic system, Tr2 between E2 and the electronic system and so on until TrN being inserted between EN and the electronic system ES, i.e. 7V„ is inserted between corresponding antenna element or sub array En and the electronic system ES. A wideband array antenna unit is defined as the wideband array antenna and the transforming means. In figure 3a and 3b E2 is a sub array comprising three antenna elements e. The input waveform in figure 3a sin(t) or sin{m-T), 306, is emitted from each antenna element or sub array and fed to the corresponding transforming means. The output waveform sou,(t) or sout(m-T), 307, is fed to the electronic system 303. The waveforms 306 and 307 are individual for each antenna element or sub array.
Figure 3b shows a corresponding block diagram when the wideband array antenna 301 is working in the transmit mode. The difference from figure 3a being that the input waveform sin{t) or sin(m-T), 306, now is emitted from a waveform generator in the electronic system and fed to the transforming means, Tr1, to TrN, and the output waveform sou,(i) or s0lll(m-T), 307, is fed to the antenna elements or sub arrays E\ to EN.
As mentioned above the transforming means are inserted between each antenna element or sub array and an electronic system ES. The transforming means are connected either directly or indirectly to an antenna element or sub array at one end and either directly or indirectly to the electronic system at the other end. In one embodiment when the transforming means are inserted at video level, one end of the transforming means can be directly connected to the electronic system and the other end indirectly connected to an antenna element or sub array via electronic hardware such as mixers. In another embodiment when the transforming means are inserted at RF-level one end of the transforming means can be directly connected to an antenna element or sub array and the other end directly to the electronic system. The required mixer hardware in this embodiment is included in the electronic system. In yet another embodiment when the transforming means are inserted at IF-level one end of the transforming means can be indirectly connected to an antenna element or sub array via electronic hardware such as mixers and the other end indirectly connected via electronic hardware such as mixers to the electronic system.
The transforming means can be separate units or integrated in the antenna elements or sub arrays or in the electronic system.
The transforming means can be arranged to achieve an extended control of an antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna or also of an antenna system. The antenna system is connected to the electronic system 303 and comprises at least two antenna elements. The extended antenna pattern control achieved comprises controlling characteristics such as the shape, direction and width of one or several main lobe/lobes and the side lobe levels in different directions as well as being able to create a number of wideband cancellation directions in the antenna pattern. The antenna system can comprise an array antenna with at least two antenna elements or a main antenna and an auxiliary antenna, each comprising of at least one antenna element. The main antenna of the antenna system can be any type of
antenna comprising one or several antenna elements, e.g. a radar antenna. The auxiliary antenna of the antenna system can be a single antenna element or an array of antenna elements. Each antenna element can also be a sub array comprising at least two antenna elements. An extended wideband control of the antenna pattern occupying the instantaneous bandwidth B is accomplished by the transforming means 100, 200, 150, Tr{-TrN being arranged to be inserted between at least all but one of the antenna elements or sub arrays (E\-EN) in the antenna system and the electronic system (303), or the transforming means being integrated in the antenna element/sub array or the electronic system. This means that all waveforms, or all waveforms but one, from antenna elements or sub arrays have to pass through the transforming means when the transforming means are implemented in the antenna system. The weighting function W(w) = A(coyeJ(°
T(W) or W(w) = A(w)-eMco) can be performed at any convenient location, e.g. in a calculation unit integrated in the array antenna, the transforming means, the electronic system or a separate calculation unit, and then transferred to the transforming means.
Array thin out
The invention also has the added advantage that for a wideband array antenna the number of antenna elements required for instantaneous wideband operation can be reduced. This "array thin out" feature of the invention will now be described. The element separation in an antenna operating with an instantaneously wideband waveform having an instantaneous bandwidth B can be increased to above A/2 without the appearance of grating lobes, X being the wavelength corresponding to a maximum frequency within the system bandwidth of e.g. a radar system. The system bandwidth is greater or equal to the instantaneous bandwidth B. This results in a reduced number of antenna elements needed compared to conventional array antenna design using an element separation of half a wavelength.
The antenna element reduction feature or "array thin out" feature for the wideband array antenna will be described with two examples, one for a linear array and one for a circular array.
In the examples to follow a simple antenna element diagram according to equation (27) and identical waveform in all antenna elements is assumed.
(Equation Removed)
For a one dimensional linear array the time delays of the waveform from/to element n can be calculated according to equation (28).
(Equation Removed)
L =Antenna length N =Number of antenna elements
An example with white bandwidth limited Gaussian noise is shown in figure 20, calculated according to equation (8), in the transmit mode. Figure 20 shows radiated power on the vertical axis 2001 as a function of the angle 9 on the horizontal axis 2002. Curve 2003 visualizes the case with 64 elements, the angle for the first grating lobe at maximum frequency is clearly visible at the angles ±31.6° marked with arrows 2010. Curve 2004 visualizes the case with 32 elements, the angles for the two first grating lobes at maximum frequency is clearly visible at the angles ±15.0° marked with arrows 2011 and ±31.1° marked with arrows 2012 respectively. The angles for these narrow band grating lobes are calculated by conventional methods well known to the skilled person. Curve 2005 visualizes the case with 16 elements and several grating lobe angles are clearly visible. With 4 or less than 4 elements, curves 2006 and 2007, illustrates the result. With 128 or more elements, see curve 2008, no grating lobe angles appear in the case with a boar sight main lobe. A bore sight main lobe has a direction perpendicular to the surface of the antenna aperture.
For a circular array the time delays of the waveform from/to element n can be calculated according to equation (29).
(Equation Removed)
D = Antenna diameter N = Number of antenna elements
An example with white bandwidth limited Gaussian noise is shown in figure 21, calculated according to equation (8), in the transmit mode. Figure 21 shows radiated power on the vertical axis 2101 as a function of the angle 0 on the horizontal axis 2102. Curve 2103 includes 4 antenna elements, curve 2104 16 antenna elements, curve 2105 64 antenna elements, curve 2106 128 antenna elements, curve 2107 256 antenna elements and curve 2108 2048 antenna elements.
In figures 20 and 21 no grating lobes are created as they are located at different angles for different parts of the used spectrum. The side lobe level for a fixed frequency, or narrow band antenna, with equal distribution of power is, as is well known to the skilled person, -13 dB. The same level for the wideband array antenna as described above corresponds to about 32 elements for the linear array as can be seen in figure 20. This means a separation between antenna elements of approximately 65 mm. To achieve electronic control of an array antenna the antenna elements are normally separated one half wavelength of the maximum frequency within the system bandwidth, in this example equal to the instantaneous bandwidth B In this example with a maximum frequency of 18 GHz this means a separation of 8.3 mm. The number of antenna elements then becomes 240. This "array thin out" feature is only valid when the wideband array antenna is operated with an instantaneously wideband waveform.
A wideband array antenna 301 according to prior art, operational over a system bandwidth, and comprising at least two antenna elements (E\-EN), can thus be arranged to control an antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna when connected to an electronic system 303. The antenna pattern control is then arranged to be achieved by affecting waveforms between the array antenna and the electronic system with parameters being individual for each antenna element. The parameters can in one embodiment be:
• non frequency dependent attenuations and/or phase shifts
• non frequency dependent attenuations and/or time delays. In another embodiment the parameters can be:
• frequency dependent attenuations and/or phase shifts
• frequency dependent attenuations and/or time delays.
According to this "array thin out" embodiment of the invention a wideband array antenna instantaneously occupying the instantaneous bandwidth B is accomplished by a separation between antenna elements in the array
antenna being increased to above one half wavelength of a maximum frequency within the system bandwidth when the wideband array antenna is arranged to operate with an instantaneously wideband waveform, thus resulting in a substantially reduced number of antenna elements {E\-EN) needed compared to conventional array antenna designs without the appearance of grating lobes in the antenna pattern.
In all embodiments of the invention, except the "array thin out" embodiment, the instantaneous bandwidth B can be both wide and narrow. The "array thin out" embodiment requires a wide instantaneous bandwidth.
For a wideband array antenna arranged to operate with an instantaneously wideband waveform the separation between antenna elements in the array antenna can as described be increased to above one half wavelength of a maximum frequency within the system bandwidth, in this example equal to the instantaneous bandwidth B. In the described example only 13% of the antenna elements are required compared to the fixed frequency or narrow band antenna solution. In a two or three dimension wideband array antenna even greater reduction of required number of antenna elements are possible. A wideband array antenna instantaneously occupying an instantaneous bandwidth B thus can be accomplished with a drastically reduced number of antenna elements in any wideband array antenna when operating with a waveform with high instantaneous bandwidth. This has the obvious advantage of reducing costs for the wideband array antenna. The connection of the wideband array antenna to the electronic system can be made either directly or indirectly via transforming means or other electronic components.
The invention is not limited to the embodiments of the description, but may vary freely within the scope of the appended claims. An example of this is a variation of the embodiment described in figure 1a.
In the embodiment described in figure 1a the transforming unit is inserted between each antenna element and the electronic system. A variation of this solution within the scope of the invention is that a common IFT unit is used
for all antenna elements/sub arrays, i.e. the waveform from each antenna element/sub array is processed in a separate FT unit for each antenna element/sub array but the sum of the spectral component q from each antenna element/sub array after suitable time delay or phase shift and/or attenuation/amplification are processed in a common IFT unit.
WE CLAIMS
1. A method to control an antenna pattern of a wideband array antenna (301) connected to an electronic system (303) and comprising at least two antenna elements, the antenna pattern control comprising control of the directions of one or several main lobe/s and/or cancellation directions in the antenna pattern, the control being achieved by affecting waveforms between the antenna elements and the electronic system with phase shifts or time delays being individual for each antenna element, characterized in that a wideband array antenna unit, comprising the wideband array antenna and transforming means, the wideband array antenna being operational over a system bandwidth and operating with an instantaneous bandwidth B, is accomplished by:
• the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN) being inserted between each antenna element or sub array (Ei-EN) in the wideband array antenna and the electronic system (303), a sub array comprising at least two antenna elements, or the transforming means being integrated in the antenna element/ sub array or the electronic system,
• a weighting function W(ai) being calculated for Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in q components, q being an integer index ranging from 0 to Q-\, for each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) using standard methods taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency fq of each spectral component and
• the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN) affecting the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array (E\-EN) and the electronic system (303), the waveforms being continuous or pulsed, by use of one or several parameters calculated from the weighting function W{co) at discrete angular frequencies mq
thus achieving extended control of the antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna over the instantaneous bandwidth B.
2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that the extended control of the antenna pattern comprises controlling characteristics such as the shape, direction and width of one or several main lobe/lobes and the side lobe levels in different directions as well as creation of a number of wideband cancellation directions in the antenna pattern.
3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Tr\-TrN) affects the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array {EX-EN) and the electronic system (303) with one parameter being frequency dependent and comprising a frequency dependent time delay r{oo) or a frequency dependent phase shift $&>)•
4. A method according to claim 3, characterized in that frequency dependency of the time delay T(CQ) or phase shift ).
6. A method according to claim 5, characterized in that frequency dependency of the attenuation/amplification A(co) for each antenna element or subarray {E\-EN) is calculated for each spectral component q according to the standard methods thus achieving that the width of the main lobe can be controlled and fixed over the instantaneous bandwidth B.
7. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN) affects the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) and the electronic system (303) with two parameters being frequency dependent and comprising a frequency dependent time delay r(o>) or frequency dependent phase shift #» and a frequency dependent attenuation/amplification A(co).
8. A method according to claim 7, characterized in that the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Tr\-TrN) affects the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) and the electronic system (303), by use of the frequency dependent time delay r(cy) or frequency dependent phase shift
) and the frequency dependent attenuation/amplification A(co), the parameters being individual for each antenna element or sub array, such that each waveform between each antenna element or sub array {EX-EN) and the electronic system is affected by the frequency dependent time delay r{co) or the frequency dependent phase shift
) in response to the frequency dependent weighting function W(co) .
9. A method according to claim 8, characterized in that frequency dependency of the time delay z(a>) or frequency dependency of the phase shift (p(co) and the frequency dependency of the attenuation/amplification A{co) is calculated for each spectral component q according to the standard methods thus achieving that the direction and width of the main lobe can be controlled and fixed over the instantaneous bandwidth B and one or several cancellation directions can be controlled and fixed over the instantaneous bandwidth B.
10. A method according to anyone of the claims 3-9, characterized in that the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN) comprises a Fourier
Transformation (FT) unit (102), the FT unit accomplishing the division into Q spectral components, 0 to Q-\, (110-117) of an input waveform sin(t) (101) to each transforming means, each spectral component having a centre frequency^, and the frequency dependent parameters time delay rq and/or attenuation/amplification aq are/is affecting each spectral component q through time delay and/or attenuation/amplification means, all spectral components being fed to an Inverse Fourier Transformation (IFT) unit (103) transforming all spectral components back into the time domain and producing an output waveform sout{i) (104) from each transforming means.
11. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that the input waveforms sin(i) are received from antenna elements or sub arrays {E\-EN) and that the output waveforms sout(t) are fed to the electronic system (303) and that a first, or a third control element (100, 150) is used as transforming means to transform the input waveforms sin(t) to the output waveforms sout(t).
12. A method according to claim 10, characterized in that the input waveforms sin(t) are received from a waveform generator in the electronic system (303), that the output waveforms sout{t) are fed to antenna elements or sub arrays {E\-EN) and that a first, a third or a fourth control element (100, 150) is used as transforming means to transform the input waveforms sin(f) to the output waveforms So„{t).
13. A method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the transforming means (200) receives an input waveform sin{m-T) (201):
• the input waveform being successively time delayed in Q-\ time steps T, (203), numbered from 1 to Q-\ and being time delayed copies of the input waveform sin{mT) and
• Q parameters comprising weighting coefficients w„0 to wniQ.x for antenna element n, identified with two indexes the first representing antenna element number and the second a consecutive number q representing a spectral component and ranging from 0 to Q-\, are
calculated as the Inverse Fourier Transformation (IFT) of W(co) for the
Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous
bandwidth B in q components, the calculation being performed for
each antenna element or sub array (E\-EN) using the standard
methods and taking into account design requests valid for a centre
frequency^ of each spectral component
the input waveform sin(m-T) being multiplied with the first weighting coefficient
w„,o and each time delayed copy of the input waveform being successively
multiplied with the weighting coefficient having the same second index as the
number of time step delays T included in the time delayed copy of the input
waveform, the result of each multiplication being summarized to an output
waveform (207), soul(m-T).
14. A method according to claim 13, characterized in that the first x weighting coefficients and the last y weighting coefficients in the series of weighting coefficients w„,0 to W„_Q.\ are set to zero and that the first x time delays Tare integrated into a time delay D, 202, equal to xT and the lasty multiplications are excluded thus reducing the number of required operations to less than Q operations.
15. A method according to claims 13-14, characterized in that one input signal sin(mT) is emitted from each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) and that the output waveforms sou,(m-T) are fed to the electronic system (303) and that a second control element (200) is used as the transforming means to transform the input waveforms sin(t) to the output waveforms sottl(t).
16. A method according to claims 13-14, characterized in that one input waveform sin{mT) for each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) is emitted from a waveform generator in the electronic system (303), that each output waveform soul{m-T) is fed to an antenna element or sub array and that
a second (200), or a fourth control element is used as the transforming means to transform the input waveform sin(t) to the output waveform sou,(t).
17. A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized
by that the method comprises the steps of:
• Specifying (1901) wave form data
• Calculating (1903) the weighting function W(ca) for Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in q components, q being an integer index ranging from 0 to Q-l, for each antenna element or sub array (E{-EN) using standard methods taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency^ of each spectral component
• Realizing (1907) the array antenna in the frequency domain (1908) using the first or third control element (100, 150) or realizing the array antenna in the time domain (1909) using the second control element (200) or realizing the array antenna using the fourths control element comprising the Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) unit (1910).
18. A method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized by that the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) and the electronic system (303) are pulsed or continuous waveforms.
19. A method according to any of the claims 1-9, characterized by that the wideband array antenna unit is realized using the analogue transforming means (150).
20. A wideband array antenna unit arranged to control an antenna pattern of a wideband array antenna (301) connected to an electronic system (303) and comprising at least two antenna elements (E\-EN), the antenna pattern control comprising control of the directions of one or several main lobe/s and/or cancellation directions in the antenna pattern, the antenna pattern control being arranged to be achieved by affecting waveforms between the antenna
elements and the electronic system with phase shifts or time delays being individual for each antenna element, characterized in that the wideband array antenna unit, comprising the wideband array antenna and transforming means, the wideband array antenna being arranged to be operational over a system bandwidth and being arranged to operate with an instantaneous bandwidth B, is accomplished by:
• the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN) being arranged to be inserted between each antenna element or sub array {EX-EN) in the wideband array antenna and the electronic system (303), a sub array comprising at least two antenna elements, or the transforming means being integrated in the antenna element/ sub array or the electronic system,
• a weighting function W{co) being arranged to be calculated for Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in Q components numbered q, q being an integer index ranging from 0 to Q-\, for each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) using standard methods taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency fq of each spectral component and
• the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN) being arranged to affect the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) and the electronic system (303), the waveforms being continuous or pulsed, by use of one or several parameters calculated from the weighting function W{co) at discrete angular frequencies wq
thus achieving extended control of the antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna over the instantaneous bandwidth B.
21. A wideband array antenna unit according to claim 20, characterized in that the extended control of the antenna pattern comprises means for controlling characteristics such as the shape, direction and width of one or several main lobe/lobes and the side lobe levels in
different directions as well as creation of a number of wideband cancellation directions in the antenna pattern.
22. A wideband array antenna unit according to claim 20 or 21,
characterized in that the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN)
are arranged to affect the waveforms between each antenna element or sub
array {E\-EN) and the electronic system (303) with one parameter being
frequency dependent and comprising a frequency dependent time delay T(CO)
or a frequency dependent phase shift (j^co).
23. A wideband array antenna unit according to claim 22,
characterized in that frequency dependency of the time delay r(a>) or
phase shift
) or a frequency dependent phase shift
).
28. A wideband array antenna unit according to claim 27, characterized in that frequency dependency of the time delay r(co) or frequency dependency of the phase shift <^» and the frequency dependency of the attenuation/amplification A(co) is arranged to be calculated for each spectral component q according to the standard methods thus achieving that the direction and width of the main lobe can be arranged to be controlled and fixed over the instantaneous bandwidth B and one or several cancellation
directions can be arranged to be controlled and fixed over instantaneous bandwidth B.
29. A wideband array antenna unit according to anyone of the claims 22-28,
characterized in that the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Tr\-TrN)
comprises a Fourier Transformation (FT) unit (102), the FT unit is arranged to
accomplish the division into Q spectral components, 0 to Q-\, (110-117) of an
input waveform sin{t) (101) to each transforming means, each spectral
component having a centre frequency fq, and the frequency dependent
parameters time delay zg and/or attenuation/amplification a(l are/is arranged
to affect each spectral component q through time delay and/or
attenuation/amplification means, all spectral components are connected to an
Inverse Fourier Transformation (IFT) unit (103) arranged to transform all
spectral components back into the time domain and to produce an output
waveform sou,(t) (104) from each transforming means.
30. A wideband array antenna unit according to claim 29, characterized in that the input waveforms sin(f) are arranged to be received from antenna elements or sub arrays {E\-EN) and that the output waveforms sou,(t) are connected to the electronic system (303) and that a first or a third control element (100, 150) is arranged to be used as transforming means to transform the input waveforms sin(t) to the output waveforms sout(0-
31. A wideband array antenna unit according to claim 29, characterized in that the input waveforms sin(t) are arranged to be received from a waveform generator in the electronic system (303), that the output waveforms sout{t) are connected to antenna elements or sub arrays {E\-EN) and that a first, a third or fourth control element (100, 150) is arranged to be used as transforming means to transform the input waveforms sin{i) to the output waveforms sou£t).
32. A wideband array antenna unit according to claim 20 or 21, characterized in that the transforming means (200) is arranged to receive an input waveform sin{m-T) (201):
• the input waveform being arranged to be successively time delayed in Q-\ time steps T, (203), numbered from 1 to Q-\ and being time delayed copies of the input waveform sin{m-T) and
• Q parameters comprising weighting coefficients w„t0 to wnQA for antenna element n, identified with two indexes the first representing antenna element number and the second a consecutive number q representing a spectral component and ranging from 0 to Q-l, are arranged to be calculated as the Inverse Fourier Transformation (IFT) of W(co) for the Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in q components, the calculation being performed for each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) using the standard methods and taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency^ of each spectral component
the input waveform sin(mT) being arranged to be multiplied with the first weighting coefficient w„,0 and each time delayed copy of the input waveform being arranged to be successively multiplied with the weighting coefficient having the same second index as the number of time step delays T included in the time delayed copy of the input waveform, the result of each multiplication being arranged to be summarized to an output waveform (207), sout{m-T).
33. A wideband array antenna unit according to claims 32, characterized in that the first x weighting coefficients and the last y weighting coefficients in the series of weighting coefficients w„0 to W„,Q.\ are arranged to be set to zero and that the first x time delays T are arranged to be integrated into a time delay D, 202, equal to x-T and the last y multiplications are excluded thus reducing the number of required operations to less than Q operations.
34. A wideband array antenna unit according to claims 32-33, characterized in that one input waveform sin{mT) is arranged to be emitted from each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) and that the output waveforms sou,(m-T) are connected to the electronic system (303) and that a second control element (200) is arranged to be used as the transforming means to transform the input waveforms sin(t) to the output waveforms soul(t).
35. A wideband array antenna unit according to claims 32-33, characterized in that one input waveform sin(m-T) for each antenna element or sub array {E{-EN) is arranged to be emitted from a waveform generator in the electronic system (303), that each output waveform sout(m-T) is connected to an antenna element or sub array and that a second (200), or a fourth control element is arranged to be used as the transforming means to transform the input waveform sin(t) to the output waveform sou,(t).
36. A wideband array antenna unit according to any of the preceding claims
20-35, characterized by that the wideband array antenna unit
comprises the means for:
• Specifying (1901) wave form data
• Calculating (1903) the weighting function W(co)tor Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in q components, q being an integer index ranging from 0 to Q-\, for each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) using standard methods taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency/, of each spectral component
• Realizing (1907) the array antenna in the frequency domain (1908) using the first or third control element (100, 150) or realizing the array antenna in the time domain (1909) using the second control element (200) or realizing the array antenna using the fourths control element comprising the Direct Digital Synthesis (DDS) unit (1910).
37. A wideband array antenna unit according to any of the preceding claims 20-36, characterized by that the waveforms between each antenna element or sub array (E\-EN) and the electronic system (303) are arranged to be pulsed or continuous waveforms.
38. A wideband array antenna unit according to any of the claims 20-29, characterized by that the wideband array antenna unit comprises the analogue transforming means (150).
39. A transforming means arranged to control an antenna pattern of an antenna system connected to an electronic system (303), the antenna system comprising at least two antenna elements, the antenna pattern control comprising control of the directions of one or several main lobe/s and/or cancellation directions in the antenna pattern, the control being arranged to be achieved by affecting waveforms between the antenna elements and the electronic system with phase shifts or time delays being individual for each antenna element, characterized in that an extended control of the antenna pattern arranged to occupy an instantaneous bandwidth B is accomplished by:
• the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN) being arranged to be inserted between at least all but one of the antenna elements or sub arrays {EX-EN) in the antenna system and the electronic system (303), a sub array comprising at least two antenna elements, or the transforming means being integrated in the antenna element/ sub array or the electronic system,
• a weighting function W(a>) arranged to be calculated for Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the instantaneous bandwidth B in Q components q, q being an integer index ranging from 0 to Q-l, for each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) using standard methods taking into account design requests valid for a centre frequency fq of each spectral component and
• the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN) arranged to affect the waveforms between at least all but one of the antenna elements or sub arrays {E\-EN) and the electronic system (303), the waveforms being continuous or pulsed, by use of one or several parameters calculated from the weighting function W(co) at discrete angular frequencies mq
thus achieving the extended control of the antenna pattern of the antenna
system over the instantaneous bandwidth B.
40. A transforming means according to claim 39, characterized in that the extended control of the antenna pattern comprises means for controlling characteristics such as the shape, direction and width of one or several main lobe/lobes and the side lobe levels in different directions as well as creation of a number of wideband cancellation directions in the antenna pattern.
41. A transforming means according to claim 37, characterized in that the antenna system comprises an array antenna with at least two antenna elements or a main antenna and an auxiliary antenna each comprising at least one antenna element or sub array.
42. A transforming means according to any one of claims 40-41,
characterized in that the transforming means (100, 200, 150, Trx-TrN)
comprises a Fourier Transformation (FT) unit (102), the FT unit is arranged to
accomplish the division into Q spectral components, 0 to Q-\, (110-117) of an
input waveform sin(t) (101) to each transforming means, each spectral
component having a centre frequency fq, and the frequency dependent
parameters time delay xq and/or attenuation/amplification aq are/is arranged
to affect each spectral component q through time delay and/or
attenuation/amplification means, all spectral components are connected to an
Inverse Fourier Transformation (IFT) unit (103) arranged to transform all
spectral components back into the time domain and to produce an output
waveform sout(t) (104) from each transforming means.
43. A transforming means according to any one of claims 40-41, characterized in that the transforming means (200) is arranged to receive an input waveform sin(mT) (201):
• the input waveform being arranged to be successively time delayed in
Q-\ time steps T, (203), numbered from 1 to Q-\ and being time
delayed copies of the input waveform sin{m-T) and
• Q parameters comprising weighting coefficients w„>0 to W„,Q.\ for
antenna element n, identified with two indexes the first representing
antenna element number and the second a consecutive number q
representing a spectral component and ranging from 0 to Q-l, are
arranged to be calculated as the Inverse Fourier Transformation (IFT)
of W{co) for the Q spectral components q, resulting from dividing the
instantaneous bandwidth B in q components, the calculation being
performed for each antenna element or sub array {E\-EN) using
standard methods and taking into account design requests valid for a
centre frequency^ of each spectral component
the input waveform sin{mT) being arranged to be multiplied with the first weighting coefficient w„,0 and each time delayed copy of the input waveform being arranged to be successively multiplied with the weighting coefficient having the same second index as the number of time step delays T included in the time delayed copy of the input waveform, the result of each multiplication being arranged to be summarized to an output waveform (207), sout(m-T).
44. A wideband array antenna (301) arranged to be operational over a system bandwidth and comprising at least two antenna elements {EX-EN), arranged to control an antenna pattern of the wideband array antenna, is connected to an electronic system (303), the antenna pattern control being arranged to be achieved by affecting waveforms between the wideband array antenna and the electronic system with parameters being individual for each
antenna element, characterized in that the wideband array antenna is arranged to operate with a waveform having an instantaneous bandwidth B by a separation between the antenna elements in the wideband array antenna being increased compared to conventional array antenna designs to above one half wavelength of a maximum frequency within the system bandwidth when the wideband array antenna is arranged to operate with an instantaneously wideband waveform, thus resulting in a substantially reduced number of antenna elements {EX-EN) without the appearance of grating lobes in the antenna pattern.
45. A wideband array antenna according to claim 44, characterized in that the parameters are non frequency dependent.
46. A wideband array antenna according to claim 44, characterized in that the parameters are frequency dependent.