Active Phased Arrays for Navigation, Surveillance and SatCom

Active control of beam direction and polarization is essential to improving signal-to-noise ratio and channel capacity in radio links and has widespread applications in robotic navigation, surveillance radar and SATCOM-on-the-move (SOTM). A commercially available beamformer IC will be employed with external high-power and low-noise amplifier to control the amplitude and phase of the RF signals to the individual antenna element of a 2x2 subarray. Depending on the applications and system requirements, these subarray modules are then integrated to form a full-fledge larger size planar phased array. The functionality of the phase array is further enhanced by providing polarization reconfigurability to the antenna elements for different application scenarios, e.g., linear- polarization for robotic navigation and circular- polarization for SOTM. The recent widespread use of robots in delivering foods and medicines exemplifies the benefits of having access to low-cost phased arrays for navigation and maneuver especially in crowded areas. The technology developed can enhance safety against collision in marine radar and fast satellite tracking in SOTM.