JP3153909B2 - Active phased array antenna - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to an active phased array antenna, and more particularly to an active phased array antenna capable of sharing radar and wideband transmission.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as this type of active phased array antenna, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-35203, a transmitting / receiving module designed to be usable only in a single frequency band is used. I have.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional transmitting / receiving module. A transmitting / receiving module 800 includes a phase shifter 80.
1, switches 802 and 804, high power amplifier 803
And a low noise amplifier 805.

When transmitting an excitation signal, an input / output terminal 2
The excitation signal input from 09 is controlled to a desired phase by the phase shifter 801, amplified by the high-power amplifier 803, and then output to the element antenna. At the time of reception, the received signal received by the element antenna is amplified by the low noise amplifier 805, the phase is controlled through the phase shifter 801, and output from the input / output terminal 209. Switches 802 and 804
Switches transmission lines according to transmission and reception.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of an active phased array antenna to which the transmission / reception module is applied. This antenna can be shared by two frequency bands for a low band and a high band.

The low frequency system includes a low frequency power supply circuit 901,
It comprises a low-frequency transmission / reception module 902 and a low-frequency element antenna 903, while the high-frequency system also includes a high-frequency power supply circuit 904 and a high-frequency transmission / reception module 9.
05 and a high-frequency element antenna 906. That is, separate element antennas, transmission / reception modules, and power supply circuits are required for the high band and the low band, respectively.

[0007]

In the case of a radar, since high-frequency power is radiated and reflected power from a target is received,
Two-way (round-trip) power is required. Therefore, it is necessary to obtain a high output by setting the power amplifier of the transmitting / receiving module to have a narrow band. On the other hand, in the case of broadband transmission, since it is used for the purpose of radiating broadband radio waves to a target of the other party, it is necessary to output high-frequency power in a wide band.

Therefore, a transmitting / receiving module for radar designed for a narrow band cannot be used for a device requiring a wide band.

Further, in the broadband transmission, only a wideband radio wave is radiated to a target of the other party, so that only one-way (outward) power is required, and a high output unlike a radar is not required. Therefore, it is possible to use a low-power broadband power amplifier. However, in the case of a radar, a high power is required. An amplifier is required, and the device becomes large.

[0010] Therefore, it is necessary to prepare separate antennas suitable for radar and for broadband transmission, respectively, which leads to an increase in size and cost of the apparatus.

[0011]

In order to solve the above problems, an active phased array antenna according to the present invention is provided with a plurality of element antennas, and is provided for each of the element antennas. An active phased array antenna comprising a transmitting / receiving module for amplifying and controlling the phase of a received signal from the transmitting / receiving module, and a distributing / combining unit for distributing a high-frequency signal to the transmitting / receiving module and synthesizing a high-frequency signal from the transmitting / receiving module But with a narrow band power amplifier,
A wideband power amplifier, and switching means for switching between a first state in which the transmission signal is output in a wide band using only the wideband power amplifier and a second state in which the transmission signal is output in a narrow band using the narrowband power amplifier. It is provided.

[0012] Thus, in the first state, it can be used as broadband transmission, and in the second state, it can be used as radar.

Further, by connecting the wide band power amplifier and the narrow band power amplifier in series, it is possible to output a higher output signal in the second state, that is, during radar transmission.

[0014]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

In the first embodiment of the present invention, a narrow-band power amplifier and a wide-band power amplifier are provided in a transmission system of a transmission / reception module. By operating the switch, either the narrow band power amplifier or the wide band power amplifier is selectively switched as the power amplifier at the last stage on the transmission side. When used as a radar, a switch is switched so that a narrow band power amplifier is connected to the last stage, and when used for wide band transmission, a wide band power amplifier is connected to the last stage. is there.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an active phased array antenna of the present embodiment. A transmitting / receiving module 102 is provided for each of a plurality of element antennas 101, and a transmission signal transmitted to each element antenna 101 and each element The signal received by the antenna 101 is amplified and phase-controlled. The distribution / synthesizer 103 distributes a high-frequency (RF) signal to each transmission / reception module 102 and combines the RF signals from the transmission / reception module 102.

The radar transmission signal from the radar transceiver 106 is input to the distribution / synthesizer 103, distributed to each transmission / reception module 102, amplified and controlled in phase, and radiated from the element antenna 101. On the other hand, the reception signal received and amplified by the transmission / reception module 102 via the element antenna 101 is combined by the distribution / combination unit 103 and then sent to the radar transceiver 106.

A transmission signal for broadband transmission from a transmitter for wideband transmission 105 is input to a distributor / synthesizer 103, amplified and phase-controlled by each transmission / reception module 102, and radiated from an element antenna 101.

Distribution Combiner 103 and Radar Transceiver 10
6 or the transmission line with the broadband transmission transmitter 105 is switched by the changeover switch 104.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a transmission / reception module applied to the active phased array antenna according to the first embodiment of the present invention, in which a switch 202 for switching transmission and reception and a phase shift for phase control are shown. Vessel 201
And a wideband power amplifier 203 used for wideband transmission and radar, and a narrowband power amplifier 205 used as a final-stage power amplifier for radar. It further includes a switch 204 and a switch 206 used to bypass the narrowband power amplifier 205, a circulator 207 for separating transmission lines for transmission signals and reception signals, and a low-noise amplifier 208 for reception signals. The narrow band power amplifier 205 and the wide band power amplifier 203 have different characteristics as shown in FIG.

When the transmitting / receiving module of the present embodiment is used for radar, the excitation signal input from the input / output terminal 209 passes through the phase shifter 201 to both the wideband power amplifier 203 and the narrowband power amplifier 205. After being amplified by the circulator 207, the element antenna 1
Emitted from 01. At this time, the switches 204 and 206 are switched to the “a” side in FIG.

A received signal received by the element antenna 101 enters a reception transmission line by a circulator 207 and is amplified by a low noise amplifier 208. Further, the phase shifter 201
And output to the input / output terminal 209. The switch 202 switches between transmission and reception. When the switch is switched to the a side, transmission is performed, and when the switch is switched to the b side, reception is performed.

On the other hand, the transmitting / receiving module 10 of the present embodiment
2 is used for broadband transmission, switch 2
Both 04 and 206 are switched to the b side in FIG. The excitation signal input from the input / output terminal 209 passes through the phase shifter 201, is amplified by the wideband power amplifier 203, and then passes through the circulator 207 without passing through the narrowband power amplifier 205.
Emitted from 01.

As described above, when the transmitting / receiving module is used for radar, the excitation signal is amplified by both the wide band power amplifier and the narrow band power amplifier, while when used for wide band transmission, only the wide band power amplifier is used. By amplifying the excitation signal by the above, the radar and the broadband transmission can be shared. And
By providing such a transmission / reception module in the phased array antenna, it can be shared by radar and wideband transmission.

Referring to FIG. 2, when a transmitting / receiving module is used for radar, a wideband power amplifier 20 is used.
3 and the narrow-band power amplifier 205 are connected in series. Therefore, since the excitation signal is amplified by the two amplifiers, the high output performance as a radar can be improved.

In this embodiment, the wide-band power amplifier and the narrow-band power amplifier are connected in series. However, when these are connected in parallel and used for radar, only the narrow-band power amplifier is used. When used for broadband transmission, it is also possible to adopt a configuration in which a switch or the like is used to use only a wideband power amplifier.

The switching between the radar and the broadband transmission, that is, the switching of the switches 202, 204 and 206 may be either switching by operator selection or automatic switching by a timing signal input from the outside. Here, the timing of the automatic switching between the radar and the broadband transmission is set so that the radar and the wideband transmission do not overlap as shown in FIG.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the transmission / reception module applied in this embodiment, and a detailed description of the same parts as those of the transmission / reception module shown in FIG. 2 will be omitted.

Referring to FIG. 5, the switch 501 includes:
When three switching points are provided and the switch 501 is switched to the a side, the switch 206 is also switched to the a side, and the excitation signal input from the input / output terminal 209 has a narrow band high output. Sent. On the other hand, switch 50
1 is switched to the b side, the switch 20
6 is also switched to the b side, and the excitation signal is output in a wide band. When the switch 501 is switched to the c side, the transmission power is absorbed by the terminator 502,
No excitation signal is transmitted from the transmission module 102.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a configuration of an active phased array antenna to which the transmission / reception module shown in FIG. 5 is applied, except that the transmission module having the configuration shown in FIG. 5 is applied to FIG. Since the configuration is the same as that shown, the description of the overlapping part will be omitted.

In this embodiment, when the active phased array antenna functions as a radar, the switches 501 and 206 of all the transmitting / receiving modules 102 are switched to the a side. The excitation signal input from the input / output terminal 209 is amplified by both the wideband power amplifier 203 and the narrowband power amplifier 205, and then radiated from the element antenna 101. The operation at the time of radar reception is the same as that of the first embodiment described above, and the description is omitted.

On the other hand, when the active phased array antenna functions as a broadband transmission, the transmission / reception module 602, which is connected to a plurality of element antennas 601 arranged in the center and shaded in FIG. 501 and 206 are switched to the b side. Therefore, in these transmitting / receiving modules 602, the excitation signal input from the input / output terminal 209 is radiated from the element antenna 601 after being amplified by the wideband power amplifier 205. Also, in FIG. 6, in the transmission / reception module 102 connected to the element antennas 101 arranged in the periphery and not shaded, the switch 501 is switched to the side c. That is, the switch 501 is switched so that no signal is transmitted from the transmission / reception modules 102 arranged in the peripheral portion.

As a result, when functioning as broadband transmission, the aperture of the active phased array antenna is reduced, and the beam width of the antenna pattern is increased. Therefore, it is possible to perform a disturbance to a wide angle range at a time.

When functioning as a radar, all element antennas 101 perform radar transmission.
The directivity of the radar beam does not decrease.

As described above, by changing the transmission power given to each element antenna by controlling the transmission / reception module, it is possible to obtain a desired beam width pattern suitable for each application.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In this embodiment, during radar transmission, all of the switches 701 to 706 are switched to the a side. The excitation signal input from the input / output terminal 209 is controlled to a desired phase required for beam scanning by the phase shifter 201, amplified by the wideband power amplifier 203 and the narrowband power amplifier 205, and then radiated from the element antenna 101. Is done. Since the power amplifier in the final stage has a narrow band, it is possible to transmit a narrow band high output as a radar.

When transmitting over a wide band, the switch 70
1, switch 702, switch 705 and switch 7
06 is switched to the a side, and the switches 703 and 704 are switched to the b side. I / O terminal 209
The excitation signal input from the phase shifter 201 is phase-controlled by the phase shifter 201, amplified by the wideband power amplifier 203, and then output to the element antenna 101 through the bypass line of the narrowband power amplifier 205. Since the final stage power amplifier has a wide band, a wide band output for wide band transmission can be performed.

At the time of radar reception, the switch 70
1, switch 702, switch 705 and switch 7
06 is switched to the b side. The received signal received by the element antenna 101 is amplified by the low-noise amplifier 208, phase-controlled by the phase shifter 201, amplitude-controlled by the variable attenuator 707, and output from the input / output terminal 209.

By controlling the level of the received signal by the variable attenuator 707, the sensitivity of the received signal can be optimized, and the target can be detected more accurately.

[0042]

As described above, in the active phased array antenna of the present invention, the narrow band power amplifier and the wide band power amplifier are provided in the transmitting and receiving module, and either the narrow band or the wide band is selected as the final stage power amplifier. In order to switch between the two, narrowband high power and wideband power transmissions can be performed with a single antenna. As a result, the active phased array antenna of the present invention can be shared by radar and wideband transmission, thereby realizing a smaller, lower-cost, and multifunctional device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an active phased array antenna according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a transmission / reception module in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating characteristics of the wide band power amplifier and the narrow band power amplifier in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing switching timing between radar and wideband transmission according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmission / reception module in an active phased array antenna according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an active phased array antenna according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a transmission / reception module in an active phased array antenna according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a configuration of a transmission / reception module in a conventional active phased array antenna.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional active phased array antenna.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 101 element antenna 102 transmission / reception module 103 distribution / synthesizer 104 selector switch 105 broadband transmission transmitter 106 radar transceiver 201 phase shifter 202, 204, 206 switch 203 wideband power amplifier 205 narrowband power amplifier 207 circulator 208 low noise amplifier 209 Input / output terminal 501 Switch 502 Terminator 601 Element antenna 602 Transmission / reception module 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 706
Switch 707 Variable attenuator

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Takayuki Hashimura 4-29-12 Gion, Kisarazu-shi, Chiba (72) Inventor Yuki Kadowaki 7-1 Shiba 5-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo NEC Corporation (56) References JP-A-57-48674 (JP, A) JP-A-57-91469 (JP, A) JP-A-8-1886437 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name ) H01Q 3/00-3/46 H01Q 23/00 G01S 7/02

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] A transmission / reception module provided for each of the plurality of element antennas, for each of the element antennas, for amplifying and controlling the phase of a transmission signal to the element antenna and a reception signal from the element antenna; and a distributor synthesizer for synthesizing high-frequency signals from the distribution and the transceiver module of the RF signal, transmission wideband
An active phased array antenna used for trust and radar transmission / reception , wherein the transmission / reception module is connected to the element module, and transmits and receives the transmission signal and the reception signal.
A circulator for separating the transmission line of the transmission signal, a narrowband power amplifier provided on the transmission line of the transmission signal, a wideband power amplifier provided on the transmission line of the transmission signal, and the wideband power amplifier using only the wideband power amplifier. Switching means for switching between a first state in which a transmission signal is output in a wide band and a second state in which the transmission signal is output in a narrow band by using the narrow band power amplifier; and a transmission line for the reception signal. Radar reception increase
An active phased array antenna, comprising: a width device . 2. The narrow-band amplifier and the wide-band power amplifier are connected in series. In the second state, the transmission signal is amplified by the wide-band power amplifier and then further transmitted by the narrow-band power amplifier. 2. The active phased array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the antenna is amplified. 3. The active phased array antenna according to claim 1, wherein said transmission / reception module further comprises a variable attenuator for converting a signal level of a signal received from said element antenna to an optimum level. 4. A plurality of element antennas, provided in each of the element antennas, a transceiver module for amplifying and phase control transmission signals and received signals from the antenna elements to the element antennas, to the transceiver module and a distributor synthesizer for synthesizing high-frequency signals from the distribution and the transceiver module of the RF signal, transmission wideband
An active phased array antenna used for trust and radar transmission / reception , wherein the transmission / reception module is connected to the element module, and transmits and receives the transmission signal and the reception signal.
A circulator for separating the transmission line of the transmission signal; a means provided on the transmission line of the transmission signal , for outputting the transmission signal in a wide band; and a transmission line for the transmission signal, the transmission signal being provided in a narrow band and a high output. Output means, and selects one of a first state in which the transmission signal is output in a wide band, a second state in which the transmission signal is output in a narrow band, and a third state in which the transmission signal is not output. switching means and, radar reception up provided the transmission line of the received signal
An active phased array antenna, comprising: a width device . When 5. outputs a broadband radio wave from the antenna elements, among the antenna elements are a plurality of sequences, wherein the transceiver module connected to the antenna elements arranged in the central portion, by said switching means The first state or the second state is selected, and among the element antennas, the transmission / reception module provided in the element antennas arranged in a peripheral portion has the third state selected by the switching unit. The active phased array antenna according to claim 4, wherein: The method according to claim 6 wherein the means for outputting by the narrow band and means for outputting in the broadband, are connected in series, the signal from the means for outputting in the broadband is provided to means for outputting by the narrow-band configuration The active phased array antenna according to claim 4, further comprising: