JPH0210182A - Radar equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To eliminate the need of a mechanical rotation and to allow the title equipment to correspond to various purposes by selecting plural small antennas which have been arrayed like a concentric circle by a controller and connecting them alternately to transmitting and receiving equipments and executing the transmission and reception, and making the radiation characteristic variable. CONSTITUTION:An array antenna 1 is formed by plural small antennas which have been arrayed like a concentric circle. A controller 5 selects a small antenna required for the purpose, and repeats alternately driving of a transmitting equipment 3 and reception of a receiving equipment 2. A signal processor 4 processes an output of the receiving equipment 2. A control signal of the controller 5 enlarges or narrows a half-power angle by making the directivity of a radiation characteristic of the array antenna 1 variable in accordance with the purpose, or controlls a speed of a sweep of the directivity. In such a way, a mechanical rotary mechanism becomes unnecessary, and the title equipment is applied to various purposes.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a radar device.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional radar devices, a search in all directions for detecting a target is performed by mechanically rotating the antenna.

In the conventional radar device described above, the rotational speed of the antenna,
The number of reflected signals that can be obtained from the target signal (hereinafter referred to as the effective number of signals) and the maximum detectable distance called the coverage area are determined by the antenna beam width and the transmission repetition period, so depending on the intended use of the radar, System parameters such as the antenna rotation speed, antenna width, and transmission repetition period are uniquely determined.

For example, ASR (Airport Surveil 1anc) is installed at an airport and controls the takeoff and landing of aircraft.
e Radar), the system parameters are the antenna rotation speed 151-1) m and the antenna beam width 2°.
, transmission repetition period 1.2ms, number of effective hits 14. A value with a coverage area of about 6ONM is selected.

It also removes reflected signals from the ground, clouds, etc., or clutter signals, from the radar reception signal and detects target signals from aircraft, etc. Therefore, each radar device has its own dedicated hardware configuration.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

The conventional radar device described above requires a different antenna device and signal processing device for each radar device installed, and it is impossible to operate the system by changing the system parameters according to the operational purpose. There is a drawback.

The second object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks and to provide a radar device that can be operated by adaptively changing system parameters in accordance with the operational purpose.

[Means to solve the problem]

The device of the present invention is a radar device that transmits radio waves in space and detects target signals from aircraft etc. using the reflected signals. an array antenna capable of forming a transmission pattern for a plurality of antennas, a plurality of receiving devices and a transmitting device that are set based on usage conditions of a plurality of small antennas forming the array antenna, and the radar device that receives the output of the receiving device. a signal processing device that performs received signal processing in a programmable manner under the control of a built-in program in response to operational characteristics including loading changes and clutter suppression characteristic changes; and settings for transmitting power and transmission repetition period of the transmitting device. It is configured to include a control device that performs operation control on the array antenna, the transmitting device, and the signal processing device based on the operational characteristics.

r Example] Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the radar device of the present invention. The radar device of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes an array antenna 1 which is composed of a plurality of small antennas arranged concentrically and can form a transmission pattern in any arbitrary direction in all directions; A built-in program controls the operational characteristics, including changing the loading of the radar device and changing the clutter suppression characteristics, by receiving the outputs of the multiple receiving devices 2, the transmitting device 3, and the receiving device 2, which are set based on the usage conditions of the small antenna. A signal processing device 4 and a transmitting device 3 that process received signals in a programmable manner based on
The control device 5 is configured to set the transmission power and transmission repetition period of the antenna 1, and to control the array antenna 1, the transmitter 2, and the signal processing device 4 based on the operational characteristics.

Next, the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be explained.

The control device 5 controls the transmission direction of the array antenna 1, which is capable of transmitting radio waves by forming an arbitrary transmission pattern in all directions, so that the transmission direction changes sequentially, similar to conventional radar. be done.

However, in this azimuth scanning, when conditions arise that require a larger coverage area for a certain azimuth or a high clutter suppression ability, conventional radars have Although it is impossible to adapt to changes, the present invention makes this possible. If you want to increase the coverage area, simply change the composite pattern of the next search direction Hairray antenna 1 in the control device 5. In addition to increasing the time period for transmitting
This can be handled simply by lengthening the repetition period of the transmission l/receiver sent from the control device 5. In this case, if the transmission power is insufficient for the increase in the requested coverage area,
The transmission device 4 may be controlled by the control device 5 at the same time to increase the transmission power.

In addition, when a high clutter suppression ability is required as a change in operational characteristics, the number of effective hits can be increased by lengthening the time layer 10 in which the antenna is directed to the next search direction without adjusting the transmission delay period. increase.

For example, when performing processing using multiple Doppler frequency filters for clutter suppression, the characteristics of the Doppler frequency filter are determined by the degree of freedom in filter design, that is, the number of effective hits. - It is possible to further increase the suppression characteristics of the unused frequency region of the Tsuppura frequency filter, and it is possible to obtain high clutter suppression ability.

Such changes in coverage, switching of filter characteristics, etc.
This is performed by controlling the array antenna 1 from the control device 5 and at the same time outputting a control signal to the signal processing device 3. In order to adaptively adapt to such changes in processing, the signal processing device 3 is configured to include a programmable processing circuit using rough 1-ware processing. Therefore, even if new processing is required for operational reasons, it can be easily accommodated by changing the software.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, by including an antenna that can direct an antenna beam in any direction without mechanical rotation, and a programmable signal processing device that performs processing using rough 1 to wear. Therefore, it is possible to easily realize a radar device that can be used for various radar purposes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the radar device of the present invention. ]...Array antenna, 2...Receiving device, 3...
Signal processing device, 4... Transmission device, 5... Control device.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a radar device that transmits radio waves in space and detects target signals from aircraft etc. using the reflected signals, the radar device is composed of a plurality of small antennas arranged concentrically and can be used in any direction in all directions. an array antenna that can form a transmission pattern using a plurality of antennas, a plurality of receiving devices and a transmitting device that are set based on usage conditions of a plurality of small antennas that constitute the array antenna, and a loading device that receives the output of the receiving device and carries the radar device. a signal processing device that performs received signal processing in a programmable manner under the control of a built-in program for operational characteristics including changes in clutter suppression characteristics and changes in clutter suppression characteristics; A radar device comprising: a control device that controls operations of the array antenna, the transmitting device, and the signal processing device based on the operational characteristics.