JP2007163321A - Radio wave arrival direction measuring device and array antenna device for it - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simultaneously achieve high angle measuring accuracy and removal of incorrect angle measurement due to angle ambiguity in a radio wave arrival direction measuring device. <P>SOLUTION: This radio wave arrival direction measuring device has a large array and at least a small array in each of which a plurality of antenna elements are arranged spatially at a different element interval and at the constant interval on the circumference of a virtual circle with a different large or small diameter assumed on the same plane. The number of antenna elements in each array is set so that the element interval in the large array is longer than that of the small array, the plurality of antenna elements constituting the small array are arranged in the virtual circle of the large array, and the arrival direction of the arrival radio wave is calculated based on the received signals of the arrival radio wave received by the antenna elements of the large array and the antenna elements of the small array. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus that receives an incoming radio wave by an antenna array including a plurality of antenna elements and measures the arrival direction of the received radio wave, and an array antenna apparatus therefor.

Measure the direction of arrival of received radio waves by receiving a wide-band radio wave coming from an unknown direction on a horizontal plane with an array antenna consisting of multiple antenna elements and measuring the phase difference of the received radio waves between each antenna element. be able to. The principle of receiving radio waves by a plurality of antenna elements and measuring their arrival directions is shown in FIG. Here, the principle in the case of two antenna elements, which is the simplest case, will be described. In FIG. 10, two antenna elements A6 and A7 arranged at a distance d receive radio waves of wavelength λ that arrive at an angle θ from the vertical direction with respect to the two antenna elements A6 and A7. Then, between these antenna elements A6 and A7, a time difference depending on the antenna interval d and the arrival angle θ occurs in the incoming radio wave. That is, it has a phase difference φ corresponding to the time difference. Here, when the wavelength λ of the radio waves received by the two antenna elements A6 and A7 is longer than the antenna interval d (d <λ), the phase difference φ and the interval d of the radio waves received by the two antenna elements A6 and A7 (1), and the angle of arrival θ is uniquely determined. Therefore, the arrival angle θ of the received radio wave can be known by detecting the phase difference φ between the radio waves received by the two antenna elements A6 and A7.

この場合の位相差特性は図１１に示すようになる。図１１で、ｉ＝１〜４であり、位相差φを満足する角度θが４つ存在することになる。ここで、ｎは−１≦λ（φ−２ｎπ）／２πｄ＜１を満足する正の整数である。 However, when the wavelength λ of the radio wave received by the two antenna elements A6 and A7 is shorter than the antenna interval d (d> λ), Equation (2) is established for the phase difference φ, and the detected order There are a plurality of arrival angles θ satisfying the phase difference φ, and an erroneous measurement angle due to angle ambiguity is generated.

The phase difference characteristic in this case is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 11, i = 1 to 4, and there are four angles θ that satisfy the phase difference φ. Here, n is a positive integer that satisfies −1 ≦ λ (φ−2nπ) / 2πd <1.

  There is an algorithm represented by MUSIC (MUltiple SIgnal Classification) as a calculation algorithm for measuring the direction of arrival of a radio wave received by an antenna element using a phase difference, but in general, a radio wave arriving from all directions on a horizontal plane When measuring the azimuth, an antenna array is used in which the antenna arrangement is expanded and antenna elements are arranged at equal intervals (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

基準点ＯとＲ１の位相差φ１は式（４）のように表せることができ、基準点Ｏとアンテナ素子Ｒ２の位相差φ２も同様の方法から導ける。

よって、アンテナ素子Ｒ１とＲ２の位相差φ３は式（５）のようになる。

Here, the principle of extending the above antenna array to a two-dimensional array, receiving radio waves with a plurality of antenna elements in space, and measuring the direction of arrival will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 12, the vectors of the antenna elements R1 and R2 viewed from the reference point O are represented by r1 and r2. A unit vector having a direction parallel to the incoming radio wave is represented by E. First, the distance difference d1 between the reference point O and the antenna element R1 is | r1 | cos θ ′. Since cos θ ′ is obtained by Expression (3), the distance difference d1 between the reference point O and the antenna element R1 is an inner product r1 · E of the unit vector and the position vector r1.

The phase difference φ1 between the reference points O and R1 can be expressed as shown in Equation (4), and the phase difference φ2 between the reference point O and the antenna element R2 can be derived from the same method.

Therefore, the phase difference φ3 between the antenna elements R1 and R2 is as shown in Expression (5).

さらには、｜ｒ２−ｒ１｜＝ｄ２より式（６）は式（１）と同等であることが分かる。また、式（６）はＲ１，Ｒ２に限らずＲ３，Ｒ４等すべてのアンテナ素子の組み合わせについて成り立つため、２次元に配置されたアレーアンテナにおいて、水平面上の全方位から到来する電波を測定する場合も、その精度等に関してはアレーアンテナの中のアンテナ素子対の電波到来方向から見たアンテナ素子間隔に依存することが分かる。つまり、空間的に配置されたアンテナ素子が受信した到来電波の方位を求める場合においても、式（１）で示す方法に帰着される。このことから、ある波長λ、到来角度θの条件のもとに、アレーアンテナに到来する電波の測角精度を向上させる大きい位相差の値を得るためには、アレーアンテナが電波到来方向から見てアンテナ素子間隔の大きいアンテナ素子対を有していることが有効であることが分かる。しかし、上述したように、最大素子アンテナ間隔を大きくすると角度アンビギュイティによる誤測角が生じてしまい、円形等間隔に配置されたアレーアンテナでは、高い測角精度、角度アンビギュイティによる誤測角の除去を同時に実現することは困難である。 Here, from FIG. 12, since θ ″ + θ = π / 2, the phase difference φ3 between the antenna elements R1 and R2 is expressed by equation (6).

Further, from | r2−r1 | = d2, it is understood that the expression (6) is equivalent to the expression (1). In addition, since Equation (6) is valid not only for R1 and R2, but also for all combinations of antenna elements such as R3 and R4, in the case of measuring radio waves coming from all directions on a horizontal plane in an array antenna arranged two-dimensionally However, it can be seen that the accuracy and the like depend on the antenna element spacing as viewed from the direction of arrival of radio waves of the antenna element pair in the array antenna. That is, even when the direction of the incoming radio wave received by the spatially arranged antenna elements is obtained, the method is expressed by the formula (1). Therefore, in order to obtain a large phase difference value that improves the angle measurement accuracy of radio waves arriving at the array antenna under the conditions of a certain wavelength λ and arrival angle θ, the array antenna is viewed from the radio wave arrival direction. It can be seen that it is effective to have an antenna element pair having a large antenna element interval. However, as described above, when the maximum element antenna interval is increased, an erroneous measurement angle due to angular ambiguity occurs, and with an array antenna arranged at a circular equal interval, erroneous measurement due to high angular measurement accuracy and angular ambiguity. It is difficult to achieve corner removal at the same time.

  In order to simultaneously realize high angle measurement accuracy and removal of erroneous measurement angle due to angle ambiguity, as in Patent Document 2, antenna elements are arranged in a straight line at unequal intervals, and angle measurement accuracy is achieved at the maximum antenna element interval. There is a method of removing erroneous measurement angles by angle ambiguity with a pair of antenna elements having a small antenna element interval. However, since this method cannot cope with radio waves coming from all directions, it is necessary to use an antenna array such as a circular array. In view of this, this method has been expanded to examine the case where antenna elements are arranged at unequal intervals on a space circle, and the array antenna in that case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 13, three antenna elements A8, A9, and A10 are arranged on a space circle at unequal intervals, and the array antenna generates an incoming radio wave A and an incoming radio wave B having an angle perpendicular to the incoming radio wave A. The case where it received is represented. The distance difference between the antenna elements as viewed from the angle at which the incoming radio wave A enters is A1 and A2, and the distance difference between the antenna elements as viewed from the angle at which the incoming radio wave B is incident as B1, B2. And Since the antenna elements A8, A9, and A10 are arranged on the circle at unequal intervals, it is clear that the antenna element distance differences A1, A2 and B1, B2 are not equal. Therefore, the phase difference between the antenna elements as viewed from each incoming radio wave is also different, and the accuracy of measuring the directions of the incoming radio wave A and the incoming radio wave B is also different. That is, when the antenna elements are arranged on the circle at unequal intervals, the incoming radio waves cannot be measured with the same accuracy in all directions. The same applies to an angle where the incoming radio wave B is not perpendicular to the incoming radio wave A.

JP-A-10-142308 JP 59-116562 A

  As described above, in the radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus, the accuracy of the radio wave arrival direction measurement obtained by the radio wave arrival direction measurement algorithm using the phase difference of the received radio wave represented by the MUSIC algorithm is the maximum antenna element interval of the array antenna. Large is effective. However, if the antenna element interval is increased for that purpose, an erroneous measurement angle due to angular ambiguity is likely to occur. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to arrange the antenna elements over a wide range at fine intervals. However, when the antenna elements are actually mounted on the platform, the size of the antenna elements is limited, which is realized. In other words, it is difficult to simultaneously realize high angle measurement accuracy and removal of erroneous measurement angle by angle ambiguity. As a method for solving this problem, there is a solution as in Patent Document 2 if the antenna element is limited to a one-dimensional array. However, in this case, when the direction of an unknown radio wave is measured, all arrivals There is a problem that the direction cannot be measured with the same accuracy.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and provides a radio wave arrival direction measuring device and an array antenna device used therefor that can simultaneously realize high angle measurement accuracy and removal of erroneous measurement angles due to angular ambiguity. For the purpose.

  The radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus according to the present invention is a radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus that determines the arrival direction of a received radio wave from the phase difference between received signals of a plurality of antenna elements arranged in space. On the circumference of virtual circles with different diameters, there are a large array in which a plurality of antenna elements are spatially arranged at different intervals and at equal intervals, and at least one small array. The number of each antenna element is set to be larger than the element spacing of the array, and a plurality of antenna elements constituting the small array are arranged in a virtual circle of the large array, and the antenna elements of the large array and the antenna elements of the small array are arranged. The arrival direction of the incoming radio wave is calculated based on the received signal of the incoming radio wave.

  According to the present invention, by combining a large array and a small array disposed therein, it is possible to obtain a high angle measurement accuracy with an antenna element having a large element spacing, and at the same time, a small array element. It becomes possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle by the angle ambiguity by the antenna element having a small interval.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an array configuration of an array antenna apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
In FIG. 1, a large array P1 and a small array P2 in which a plurality of antenna elements are spatially arranged at equal intervals on the circumference of virtual circles of different large and small diameters assumed on the same plane. Forming. The large array P1 is composed of antenna elements A1 to A3, and the small array P2 is composed of antenna elements A3 to A5. In this case, each of the large array P1 and the small array P2 is composed of three antenna elements, but the number of each antenna element is such that the element spacing of the large array P1 is larger than the element spacing of the small array P2. Is set. Further, the plurality of antenna elements A3 to A5 constituting the small array P2 are arranged so as to be located within the virtual circle of the large array P1. The antenna element A3 functions as an antenna element common to both arrays P1 and P2. The large array P1 realizes radio wave arrival direction measurement with high angle measurement accuracy by increasing the element spacing, and the small array P2 realizes removal of erroneous measurement angles by angle ambiguity that generates erroneous measurement angles. It is.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus common to the embodiments of the present invention.
In FIG. 2, unknown incoming radio waves are received by the antenna elements A1 to A5 of the large array P1 and the small array P2 that are spatially arranged as shown in FIG. Output. In the receivers 1 to 5, signals having the same frequency are extracted from the received signals and output to the azimuth calculation processing unit 10. The azimuth calculation processing unit 10 performs an incoming radio wave direction measurement process using the principle of the equation (1), and calculates and outputs an incoming angle θ of the received radio wave.
In this incoming radio wave direction measuring process, a conventionally used algorithm such as MUSIC is applied to all antenna arrays. In the case of the antenna arrangement of FIG. 1, first, the arrival angle is calculated based on the received signals of the antenna elements A1 to A3 constituting the large array P1. The arrival angles calculated for the large array P1 are obtained as a plurality of arrival angle estimation values with high accuracy but including angle ambiguities. Next, the arrival angle is calculated based only on the reception signals of the antenna elements A3 to A5 constituting the small array P2. The arrival angle estimated value calculated for only this small array P2 is inferior to the arrival angle estimated value obtained from the large array P1 in terms of accuracy, but is a single target angle estimated value (θ value to be obtained). Therefore, the estimated arrival angle of the large array P1 is compared with the estimated arrival angle of the small array P2, and a true value is extracted from the estimated arrival angle of the large array P1.
Accordingly, by providing the antenna arrays of the large array P1 and the small array P2 in which the antenna elements A1 to A5 are arranged at equal intervals on the circumferences of the different virtual circles, all arrivals are made based on the element spacing of the large array P1. By measuring the direction of arrival of radio waves with high accuracy with respect to the radio waves in the direction and using the small array P2 at the same time, it is possible to eliminate erroneous measurement angles due to angular ambiguity.

  Here, as shown in FIG. 3, a case will be described in which antenna elements A13 to A15 constituting the small array P2 are arranged on a straight line connecting the antenna elements A11 to A13 constituting the large array P1. In this example, there is a regular arrangement between the large array P1 and the small array P2, it becomes impossible to measure with the same angle measurement accuracy for radio waves in all directions, and angle ambiguity is likely to occur. You will have an angle. As a result of experiments, it is most effective for radio waves in all directions when the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the small array P2 is at an angle of about 20 degrees with respect to the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array P1. It was. Therefore, in order to deal with radio waves in all directions of arrival, when the small array P2 is arranged, the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the small array P2 overlaps the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array P1. It must be configured so that it does not fit.

As described above, in the first embodiment, a plurality of antenna elements A1 to A3 and A3 to A5 are arranged at different element intervals on the circumference of virtual circles having different large and small diameters assumed on the same plane, and the like. There are a large array P1 and a small array P2 spatially arranged at intervals. The number of antenna elements is set so that the element spacing of the large array P1 is larger than the element spacing of the small array P2. The three antenna elements A3 to A5 to be configured are arranged in the virtual circle of the large array, and based on the received signals of the incoming radio waves received by the antenna elements A1 to A3 of the large array P1 and the antenna elements A3 to A5 of the small array P2. Thus, the arrival direction of the incoming radio wave is calculated. Therefore, high angle measurement accuracy can be obtained by the antenna element having a large element interval of the large array, and at the same time, the erroneous measurement angle is eliminated by the angle ambiguity by the antenna element having the small element interval of the small array. be able to. In addition, when configured so that the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array does not overlap the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array, the same characteristics can be obtained with respect to radio waves in all directions of arrival. . Furthermore, in the first embodiment, since one antenna element of a large array and one antenna element of a small array are shared, an increase in the number of antenna elements used when an array antenna apparatus is configured by a plurality of arrays is suppressed. can do.
Here, an example in which three large array antennas and three small array antenna elements are arranged has been described, but the number of large array and small array antenna elements or the number of small arrays can be determined independently. This also applies to the following embodiments.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an array configuration of an array antenna apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
In the array antenna apparatus according to the second embodiment, a plurality of antenna elements are spatially arranged at different element intervals and at equal intervals on the circumference of virtual circles having different large and small diameters assumed on the same plane. An array P5 and a small array P6 are formed. The large array P5 is composed of four antenna elements A16 to A19, and the small array P6 is composed of three antenna elements A16, A20, A21. In this case, the element spacing of the large array P5 is set to be larger than the element spacing of the small array P6. Further, the plurality of antenna elements A16, A20, A21 constituting the small array P6 are arranged so as to be located within the virtual circle of the large array P5. The antenna element A16 functions as an antenna element common to both arrays P5 and P6. Further, the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the small array P6 is not overlapped with the straight line connecting the P5 antenna elements of the large array.
Further, the incoming radio wave direction measurement process in the second embodiment is also performed in the same procedure as described in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, high angle measurement accuracy can be obtained by the antenna element having a large array element spacing, and at the same time, a small array element. It is possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle by the angle ambiguity by the antenna element having a small interval, and it is also possible to achieve the other effects of the first embodiment. In addition, when the number of antenna elements in a large array is increased to 5 or more, similarly, erroneous measurement angles are removed by angle ambiguity for radio waves in all directions, and received radio waves are received with high angular accuracy. Can be measured.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an array configuration of an array antenna apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.
In the array antenna apparatus according to the third embodiment, a plurality of antenna elements are spatially arranged at different element intervals and at equal intervals on the circumference of virtual circles having different large and small diameters assumed on the same plane. An array P7 and a small array P8 are formed. The large array P7 is composed of four antenna elements A22 to A25, and the small array P8 is composed of four antenna elements A22 and A26 to A28. In this case, the element spacing of the large array P7 is set to be larger than the element spacing of the small array P8. Further, the four antenna elements A22, A26 to A28 constituting the small array P8 are arranged so as to be located in the virtual circle of the large array P7. The antenna element A22 functions as an antenna element common to both arrays P7 and P8. Further, the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the small array P8 is not overlapped with the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array P7.
Further, the incoming radio wave direction measurement processing in the third embodiment is also performed in the same procedure as described in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, a high angle measurement accuracy can be obtained by the antenna element having a large element spacing, and at the same time, a small array element. It is possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle by the angle ambiguity by the antenna element having a small interval, and the other effects of the first embodiment can be obtained. Even when the number of antenna elements in the small array is increased to 5 or more, the erroneous measurement angle is eliminated by the angle ambiguity for the radio waves in all directions in the same way, and the received radio waves are received with high angular accuracy. Can be measured.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an array configuration of an array antenna apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.
In the array antenna apparatus according to the fourth embodiment, a plurality of antenna elements are spatially arranged at different element intervals and at equal intervals on the circumference of virtual circles having different large and small diameters assumed on the same plane. An array P9 and three small arrays P10, P11, and P12 are formed. The small arrays P10, P11, and P12 are formed on the circumference of virtual circles having the same diameter but different. The large array P9 includes three antenna elements A29 to A30, and the small arrays P10, P11, and P12 also include three antenna elements (A29, A32, A33), (A30, A34, A35), and (A31, A36). , A37). In this case, the element spacing of the large array P9 is set to be larger than the element spacing of the small arrays P10, P11, P12. Further, the antenna elements constituting the small arrays P10, P11, and P12 are arranged so as to be positioned within the virtual circle of the large array P9. The antenna elements A29, A30, and A31 function as antenna elements common to the large and small arrays P9 and P10, P11, and P12, respectively. All the antenna elements of the large array are each one of the antenna elements of each small array. It is a relationship composed of Further, the straight lines connecting the antenna elements of the small arrays P10, P11, P12 are not overlapped on the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array P9. Each small array P10, P11, P12 is given a different angle with respect to the large array P9.
Since a plurality of small arrays are used in the fourth embodiment, the received signal levels of the antenna elements constituting the small arrays P10, P11, and P12 are examined prior to performing the incoming radio wave direction measurement process. And the small array which consists of an antenna element with a low received signal is not used for a direction calculation process. The subsequent processing method is performed in the same procedure as described in the first embodiment.

  As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, by providing a plurality of small arrays, it is possible to obtain high angle measurement accuracy with the antenna elements having a large element spacing as in the first embodiment. At the same time, it is possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle by the angle ambiguity by the antenna element having a small element interval of the small array, and it is also possible to achieve the other effects of the first embodiment. Furthermore, by arranging the small arrays P10, P11, and P12 at different angles with respect to the large array P9, it is possible to further improve the ambiguity resistance. In addition, even when the number of small arrays is increased to 3 or more, it is possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle by the angle ambiguity for the radio waves in all directions and measure the received radio waves with high angular accuracy. it can.

Embodiment 5 FIG.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an array configuration of an array antenna apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention.
In the array antenna device of the fifth embodiment, a plurality of antenna elements are arranged spatially at different element intervals and at equal intervals on the circumference of virtual circles of different large and small diameters assumed on the same plane. An array P13 and two small arrays P14 and P15 are formed. The small arrays P14 and P15 are formed on the circumference of virtual circles having the same diameter. The large array P13 is composed of four antenna elements A39 to A41, and the small arrays P14 and P15 are each composed of four antenna elements (A38, A42 to A44) and (A40, A45 to A47). In this case, the element spacing of the large array P13 is set to be larger than the element spacing of the small arrays P14 and P15. Further, the antenna elements constituting the small arrays P14 and P15 are arranged so as to be located in the virtual circle of the large array P13. The antenna elements A38 and A40 function as antenna elements common to the large and small arrays P13, P14, and P15, respectively. Further, the straight lines connecting the antenna elements of the small arrays P10, P11, P12 are not overlapped on the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array P9. Furthermore, each small array P14, P15 is given a different angle with respect to the large array P13.
Further, the incoming radio wave direction measurement process in the fifth embodiment is also performed in the same procedure as described in the fourth embodiment.

  As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, by providing a plurality of small arrays, it is possible to obtain high angle measurement accuracy with the antenna elements having a large element spacing as in the first embodiment. At the same time, it is possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle by the angle ambiguity by the antenna element having a small element interval of the small array, and it is also possible to achieve the other effects of the first embodiment. Furthermore, by arranging the small arrays P14 and P15 at different angles with respect to the large array P13, it is possible to further improve the ambiguity resistance. In addition, even when the number of antenna elements is 5 or more, or when the number of small arrays is 3 or more, the erroneous measurement angle is removed by the angle ambiguity for the radio waves in all directions similarly, Received radio waves can be measured with high angle measurement accuracy.

Embodiment 6 FIG.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an array configuration of an array antenna apparatus according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.
In the array antenna device of the sixth embodiment, a plurality of antenna elements are spatially arranged at different element intervals and at equal intervals on the circumference of virtual circles having different large and small diameters assumed on the same plane. An array P16 and three small arrays P17 to P19 are formed. The small arrays P17 to P19 are formed on the circumference of virtual circles having the same diameter but different. The large array P16 is composed of three antenna elements A48 to A50, and the small array P17 to P19 is composed of two antenna elements (A48, A51), (A49, A52), (A50, A53). . In this case, the element spacing of the large array P16 is set to be larger than the element spacing of the small arrays P17 to P19. Further, the antenna elements constituting the small arrays P17 to P19 are arranged so as to be located within the virtual circle of the large array P16. The antenna elements A48 to A50 function as antenna elements common to the large and small arrays P16 and P17 to P19, respectively, and each of the large array antenna elements is constituted by one of the small array antenna elements. It has become. Further, the straight lines connecting the antenna elements of the small arrays P17 to P19 are not overlapped on the straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array P16. Further, each of the small arrays P17 to P19 is given a different angle with respect to the large array P16.
Further, the incoming radio wave direction measurement processing in the sixth embodiment is also performed in the same procedure as described in the fourth embodiment.

  As described above, according to the sixth embodiment, by providing a plurality of small arrays, as in the first embodiment, high angle measurement accuracy can be obtained with the antenna elements having a large element spacing. At the same time, it is possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle due to the angle ambiguity by the antenna element having a small element interval of the small array, and the other effects of the first embodiment are obtained. In this case, each of the small arrays P17, P18, and P19 has only two elements, so that it is not possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle by the angle ambiguity for the radio waves in all the arrival directions. Are arranged at different angles with respect to the large array so as to correspond to all directions, so that erroneous measurement angles can be removed by angle ambiguity for radio waves in all directions.

Embodiment 7 FIG.
9 is an explanatory diagram showing an arrangement configuration of the array antenna device according to the seventh embodiment of the present invention.
The array antenna apparatus of the seventh embodiment has a large array P20 and one small array P21, and each of the large array P20 and the small array P21 is composed of three antenna elements, and is similar to the first embodiment. However, here, the large array P20 and the small array P21 are arranged so as not to have a common antenna element. Other conditions are the same as in the first embodiment.
Therefore, also in the seventh embodiment, high angle measurement accuracy can be obtained by the antenna element having a large array element spacing, and at the same time, the angle ambiguity can be obtained by the antenna element having a small array element spacing. It is possible to remove the erroneous measurement angle due to. Further, if the straight line connecting the small array antenna elements is not overlapped on the straight line connecting the large array antenna elements, the same characteristics can be obtained for radio waves in all directions of arrival. The same effect can be obtained even if the number of antenna elements is three or more and the number of small arrays is two or more.
In addition, the incoming radio wave direction measurement process in the seventh embodiment is also performed in the same procedure as described in the first embodiment.

  As described in the first to seventh embodiments, the radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus of the present invention is provided with a plurality of small arrays with respect to the large array, and the antenna elements constituting the small array are arranged in the large array. Thus, the antenna array can be arranged according to the installation location. The same effect can be obtained when the number of antenna elements is increased as in the third embodiment or when the number of small arrays is increased as in the fourth embodiment.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the array structure of the array antenna apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the incoming radio wave direction measuring apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the antenna array which has arrange | positioned the antenna element of a small array on the straight line which connects the antenna element of a large array. It is explanatory drawing which shows the array structure of the array antenna apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the array structure of the array antenna apparatus by Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the arrangement structure of the array antenna apparatus by Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the array structure of the array antenna apparatus by Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the array structure of the array antenna apparatus by Embodiment 6 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the array structure of the array antenna apparatus by Embodiment 7 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the principle of a radio wave arrival direction measuring method. It is explanatory drawing which shows the phase difference characteristic acquired when an antenna element space | interval is longer than an incoming radio wave wavelength. It is explanatory drawing which shows the principle of the radio wave arrival direction measuring method extended to the two-dimensional array. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the two-dimensional array which removes the mismeasurement angle by angle ambiguity.

Explanation of symbols

  1 to 5 receivers, 10 bearing calculation processing units, A1 to A5, A16 to A56 antenna elements, P1, P5, P7, P9, P13, P16, P20 large array, P2, P6, P8, P10 to P12, P14, P15, P17 to P19, P21 Small array.

Claims (10)

In the radio wave arrival direction measuring device that determines the arrival direction of the received radio wave from the phase difference between the received signals of the plurality of antenna elements arranged in space,
On the circumference of virtual circles having different large and small diameters assumed on the same plane, each has a large array in which a plurality of antenna elements are spatially arranged at different element intervals and at equal intervals, and at least one small array,
The number of antenna elements is set so that the element spacing of the large array is larger than the element spacing of the small array,
A plurality of antenna elements constituting the small array are arranged in a virtual circle of the large array,
An apparatus for measuring an arrival direction of radio waves, wherein an arrival direction of the incoming radio waves is calculated based on reception signals of incoming radio waves received by the antenna elements of the large array and the antenna elements of the small array.   2. The radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a straight line connecting the antenna elements of the small array does not overlap a straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array.   The radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein one of the large array antenna element and the small array antenna element is used in common.   4. The radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of small arrays are provided, and each of all antenna elements of the large array is constituted by one of the antenna elements of each small array.   The radio wave arrival direction measuring apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a plurality of small arrays are provided, and each of the small arrays is arranged at different angles with respect to the large array. On the circumference of virtual circles with different diameters assumed on the same plane, each has a large array in which a plurality of antenna elements are arranged at different element intervals and at equal intervals, and one or a plurality of small arrays,
A plurality of antenna elements constituting the small array are arranged in a virtual circle of the large array,
An array antenna apparatus, wherein the number of antenna elements is set so that an element interval of the large array is larger than an element interval of the small array.   7. The array antenna apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of small arrays are provided, and a straight line connecting the antenna elements of the small array does not overlap a straight line connecting the antenna elements of the large array.   8. The array antenna apparatus according to claim 6, wherein one of the large array antenna element and the small array antenna element is used in common.   9. The array antenna apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a plurality of small arrays are provided, and each of all antenna elements of the large array is constituted by one of the antenna elements of each small array.   10. The array antenna apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of small arrays are provided, and each small array is arranged at a different angle with respect to the large array.

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