JP2013183431A - Phased array seeker and method for transmitting/receiving high frequency signal of phased array seeker - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a phased array seeker capable of reducing insertion loss of a phase shifter of an integrated antenna, and a method for transmitting/receiving high frequency signal of the phased array seeker.SOLUTION: A phased array seeker comprises: a phase shifter having a plurality of micro strip lines with a conductor formed of a super conducting material and connected in series, a PIN diode in which an anode is connected to an end of a downstream side in an input high frequency signal transmitting direction of the micro strip lines for each micro strip line and a cathode is connected to ground, and a ground part connected to other end of the microstrip lines connected in series; and a plurality of integrated antennas having a cooling apparatus for cooling the phase shifter to a superconductive transition temperature or lower, and an antenna connected to one end of the microstrip lines connected in series.

Description

  Embodiments described herein relate generally to a phased array seeker and a high-frequency signal transmission / reception method for the phased array seeker.

  A conventional phased array seeker using a reflective antenna has an array in which several tens to several hundreds of integrated antennas each having an antenna and a phase shifter including a PIN diode and a microstrip line are arranged.

  This phased array seeker receives a high-frequency transmission signal radiated from a primary radiator at the time of transmission by an antenna, reflects the signal while controlling the phase by a phase shifter, and radiates it from the antenna to a space in an arbitrary direction. At the time of reception, a high-frequency signal is received by the antenna, and the phase is controlled by the phase shifter and reflected toward the primary radiator.

  Here, the transmission power of the high-frequency signal corresponding to the insertion loss of the phase shifter is reduced during transmission, and the noise figure is deteriorated by the phase shifter during reception. This reduction in transmission power and deterioration in noise figure are greatly affected by conductor loss in the PIN diode and microstrip line of the phase shifter.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-110329

  Accordingly, there is a need for a phased array seeker and a phased array seeker high-frequency signal transmission / reception method that reduce the insertion loss of the phase shifter of the integrated antenna.

  In order to solve the above problems, an embodiment of the present invention includes an antenna, a plurality of microstrip lines connected in series, one end of which is connected to the antenna, and a conductor portion formed of a superconducting material, and a microstrip line A phased array comprising: a plurality of reflective integrated antennas comprising a phase shifter comprising a plurality of PIN diodes having an anode connected to the cathode and a cathode grounded; and a cooling device for cooling the phase shifter to a superconducting transition temperature or lower. Provide Seeka.

It is a perspective view of a phased array seeker. It is a figure which shows the structure of an integrated antenna. It is a partial top view of the periphery of the integrated antenna of a phased array seeker. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of FIG. 3 of a phased array seeker.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of a phased array seeker and a high-frequency signal transmitting / receiving method of the phased array seeker will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The phased array seeker of this embodiment has an antenna, one end connected to the antenna, a plurality of microstrip lines connected in series with a conductor portion formed of a superconductive material, an anode connected to the microstrip line, and a cathode A plurality of reflective integrated antennas including a phase shifter including a plurality of grounded PIN diodes; and a cooling device that cools the phase shifter to a superconducting transition temperature or less.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a phased array seeker 100 of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the phased array seeker 100 includes an array in which a plurality of integrated antennas 101 are arranged.

  In the phased array seeker 100, the integrated antenna 101 receives the high-frequency signal X1 radiated from the primary radiator 200, controls the phase of the high-frequency signal received by the integrated antenna 101, reflects it, and arbitrarily transmits it as a transmission high-frequency signal X2. Radiates in the direction space.

  The phased array seeker 100 receives the high-frequency signal Y1 by the integrated antenna 101, reflects the high-frequency signal received by the integrated antenna 101 by controlling the phase thereof, and radiates the received high-frequency signal Y2 toward the primary radiator 200. To do.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of the integrated antenna 101. As shown in FIG. 2, the integrated antenna 101 includes a plurality of microstrip lines 103 whose conductor portions are formed of a superconductive material and are connected in series, and an input high-frequency signal of the microstrip line 103 for each microstrip line 103. A phase shifter including a PIN diode 104 having an anode connected to the downstream end in the transmission direction and a cathode grounded, and a grounding unit 105 connected to the other end of the microstrip line 103 connected in series, and the phase shift A cooling device 106 for cooling the vessel to a superconducting transition temperature or lower, and an antenna 102 connected to one end of a microstrip line 103 connected in series.

  For example, three microstrip lines 103 are connected, and the length of the connected microstrip lines 103 is ¼ of the wavelength λ of the high-frequency signal to be transmitted and received.

  The superconducting material forming the microstrip line 103 is preferably a high-temperature superconducting material. This is because the superconducting transition temperature is higher than 77 K ° which is the boiling point of liquid nitrogen, so that cooling with liquid nitrogen is possible.

A known high temperature superconducting material can be used as the high temperature superconducting material. Known high-temperature superconducting material, for _example, can be used as the _{Hg 12 Tl 3 Ba 30 Ca 30} Cu 45 O 127, Bi 2 Sr 2 Ca 2 Cu 3 O 10, YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7.

  The PIN diode 103 is switched by a control unit that performs overall control of the integrated antenna 101.

  This switching changes the reflection position of the high-frequency signal in the phase shifter, so that the phase can be controlled.

  The cooling device 106 can use liquid nitrogen as a refrigerant when a high-temperature superconducting material is used for the microstrip line 103.

  The cooling device 106 includes a tank that stores the refrigerant, an injection hole that injects the refrigerant into the tank, and a discharge hole that discharges the vaporized refrigerant.

  Since the cooling device 106 cools the phase shifter, the insertion loss of the phase shifter is reduced, the transmission power is increased, and the noise figure at the time of reception is reduced.

  FIG. 3 is a partial plan view around the integrated antenna 101 of the phased array seeker 100. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the phased array seeker 100 taken along line AA in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the phased array seeker 100, a plurality of integrated antennas 101 may share a single cooling device 106.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the phased array seeker 100 supports the integrated antenna 101, the cooling device 106 that cools the phase shifter, the heat insulating member 109 that supports the integrated antenna 101, and the heat insulating member 109. A housing 111 having a gap portion 112 for storing the cooling device 106 in a non-contact manner, a phase control terminal 108 for controlling switching of the PIN diode 104, and a substrate 110 to which the phase control terminal 108 is connected are provided.

  For the heat insulating member 109, it is desirable to use a metal having a high thermal resistance. As the metal having a high thermal resistance, for example, an iron nickel alloy can be used. The heat insulating member 109 is desirably conductive in order to take a ground.

  The cooling device 106 is locked as close as possible to, preferably in contact with, the phase shifter of the integrated antenna 101.

  The cooling device 106 is surrounded by the gap 112 except for the portion that contacts the integrated antenna 101. Accordingly, the heat of the casing 111 is not easily transmitted to the cooling device 106.

  The substrate 110 is formed of glass epoxy, for example, and controls the phase of the phase shifter.

  The phase control terminal 108 is inserted into the gap portion 112. Therefore, the phase control terminal 108 does not come into contact with the casing 111 and it is difficult to transfer the heat of the casing 111 to the phase shifter.

  As described above, the phased array seeker 100 according to this embodiment includes a plurality of microstrip lines 103 whose conductor portions are formed of a superconducting material and are connected in series, and each microstrip line 103 has a microstrip line 103. A phase shifter including a PIN diode 104 having an anode connected to the downstream end of the input high-frequency signal transmission direction and a cathode grounded, and a grounding unit 105 connected to the other end of the microstrip line 103 connected in series. And a plurality of integrated antennas 101 each including a cooling device 106 for cooling the phase shifter to a superconducting transition temperature or lower and an antenna 102 connected to one end of a microstrip line 103 connected in series.

  Therefore, there is an effect that the insertion loss of the phase shifter of the integrated antenna 101 can be reduced.

  Although several embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, replacements, and changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and the equivalents thereof.

101: integrated antenna 103: microstrip line 104: PIN diode 106: cooling device 109: heat insulating material 112: gap

Claims (6)

An antenna, a plurality of microstrip lines connected in series with one end connected to the antenna and a conductor portion made of a superconducting material, and a plurality of PIN diodes having an anode connected to the microstrip line and a cathode grounded A plurality of reflective integrated antennas comprising a phase shifter comprising:
A cooling device for cooling the phase shifter to a superconducting transition temperature or lower;
Phased array seeker with The superconducting material is a high temperature superconducting material,
The phased array seeker according to claim 1, wherein in the cooling device, the refrigerant is liquid nitrogen. The cooling device is
3. The phased array seeker according to claim 2, wherein the phased array seeker is surrounded by a gap except for a portion in contact with the reflective integrated antenna. The integrated antenna is
The phased array seeker according to claim 3, wherein the phased array seeker is locked to the housing via a conductive heat insulating member. A plurality of reflective integrated antennas comprising a plurality of microstrip lines having conductor portions made of a superconducting material, and a phase shifter comprising a plurality of PIN diodes having anodes connected to the microstrip lines and cathodes grounded The phase shifter is cooled to a superconducting transition temperature or lower by a cooling device,
A phased array seeker high-frequency signal transmission / reception method in which a high-frequency signal is reflected and transmitted / received by the reflective integrated antenna. The superconducting material is a high temperature superconducting material,
6. The method of transmitting and receiving a high frequency signal of a phased array seeker according to claim 5, wherein the cooling device is liquid nitrogen.

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