JPH06249945A - Radar device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To achieve scanning of a plurality of beams simultaneously by aligning the opening elements of a phased array antenna conically, scanning beams to an entire periphery without mechanical rotary operation, and at the same time providing a plurality of transmitters/receivers. CONSTITUTION:The title device is provided with a conically-shaped phased array antenna 1 with a phase shifter, a transmission/reception switcher 2, a transmitter 3, a receiver 4, a signal processor 5, a beam scanner 6 for setting phase to the phase shifter, and a beam controller 7 for setting a beam directional angle and a frequency corresponding to the beam directional angle, thus performing beam scanning of an entire periphery without any mechanical rotation and performing scanning of a plurality of beams simultaneously with a plurality of transmitters with different frequencies and by adding a beam scanning control function. Also, by achieving scanning of a plurality of beams, beam scanning period can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

This invention relates to a phased array
The present invention relates to a radar device that uses an antenna to perform beam scanning in a fixed section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a conventional radar apparatus equipped with a typical phased array antenna. In FIG.
A phased array antenna for receiving, 2 is a duplexer, 3 is a transmitter for generating a transmission signal, 4 is a receiver for converting the reception signal of the phased array antenna into a video signal, and 5 is desired from the video signal. Is a beam scanning processor for converting the antenna plane coordinates into the phase data of the phase shifter built in the array antenna.

Next, the operation will be described. The conventional radar apparatus having the phased array antenna is configured as described above, and supplies the transmission signal generated by the transmitter 3 to the phased array antenna 1 through the duplexer 2. The phased array antenna 1 radiates this transmission signal to the space by the transmission trigger signal generated by the transmission / reception timing generation circuit 6, receives the reflection signal from the target, and inputs it to the receiver 4 through the transmission / reception switcher 2. The receiver 4 converts the received signal into a video signal, and the signal processor 5
Supply to. The signal processor 5 extracts a desired target signal from the video signal. On the other hand, the beam scanning processor 6 sets a beam directivity angle, converts the beam directivity angle from the spatial relative coordinate system to antenna plane coordinate system data, and transfers the antenna plane coordinate system data to the phased array antenna 1. The beam directivity angle of the transmission / reception signal is controlled by converting the phase data of the phaser and supplying it to the phased array antenna 1 and setting the phase data.

[0004]

In the conventional radar device, since the phased array antenna has a flat surface,
When the coverage area was the entire circumference, it had to be mechanically rotated. Further, there is a problem that it is difficult to radiate a plurality of beams because the radio wave radiation source is single.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and by arranging the aperture elements of the phased array antenna in a conical shape, it is possible to scan the beam over the entire circumference, and a plurality of beams can be scanned. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus that is capable of simultaneously scanning a plurality of beams by including the transceiver.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus which includes a plurality of transmitters and can simultaneously perform a plurality of beam scans.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of simultaneously scanning a plurality of beams by providing a plurality of receivers.

[0008]

In the radar device according to the present invention, the aperture elements of the phased array antenna are arranged in a conical shape so that the beam can be scanned over the entire circumference without requiring mechanical rotation. In addition, a plurality of transmitters / receivers having different frequencies are provided and assigned to each aperture element group to have a function of simultaneously emitting a plurality of beams.

Also, a plurality of transmitters having different frequencies are provided,
By assigning each aperture element group, it has a function of emitting a plurality of beams at the same time.

Further, a plurality of transmitters having different frequencies are provided,
By assigning each aperture element group, it has a function of receiving a plurality of beams at the same time.

[0011]

In the radar device according to the present invention, by selecting the aperture element according to the beam scanning position, it becomes possible to instantly emit a beam over the entire circumference.
By providing a plurality of transceivers having different frequencies, it is possible to avoid radio wave interference and radiate a plurality of beams at the same time.

Further, by providing a plurality of transmitters having different frequencies, it is possible to avoid radio wave interference on the receiving side and simultaneously transmit radio waves to a plurality of receiving sources within the same beam.

Further, by providing a plurality of receivers having different frequencies, it is possible to avoid radio wave interference and simultaneously receive a plurality of radio waves in the same beam.

[0014]

【Example】

Embodiment 1 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1
1 to 6 are exactly the same as the above-mentioned conventional radar device, and 7 is a beam controller, which calculates the optimum frequency allocation without radio wave interference at the directional angle from the beam directional angle data and calculates the antenna surface coordinates. It is converted into data and input to the beam scanning processor.

Next, the operation will be described. When beam scanning a hemispherical space using the radar device configured as described above, a plane with the directivity angle in relative coordinates as the normal is assumed, and from this plane to the conical phased array antenna By allocating the projected aperture element as the radiating element, beam scanning for the entire circumference is realized. Further, by separating the frequencies in ascending order of the directivity angle in relative coordinates and making the frequencies closer in the order of increasing the directivity angle, it is possible to perform beam scanning with small radio wave interference.

[0016] This state is a conical phased array
A beam scanning diagram when the number of phased array antennas is 3 is shown in FIG. 2 for simplification, taking a case where the antenna is regarded as a plane and the beam is two-dimensionally scanned in a vertical plane. In FIG. 2, 1 is a phased array antenna,
x is the horizontal axis, y is the vertical axis, θ is the beam pointing angle, and f is the frequency. The suffixes of θ and f are
The array antenna number is shown. By controlling the beam directivity angle according to the frequency as shown in FIG.
It is possible to avoid radio wave interference. Further, FIG. 2 shows an example of beam scanning of a conical phased array antenna on a vertical plane, so that not only is it possible to perform beam scanning on the entire vertical plane, but also multiple beam scanning is possible at the same time. Thus, the state of shortening the beam scanning period will be described at the same time.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 3 is a view for three-dimensionally explaining an embodiment of the present invention, showing a state of beam scanning with respect to a coverage area of a hemispherical space when the number of phased array antennas is three. There is.
In FIG. 3, 1 is a phased array antenna, x, y, and z are coordinate axes, θ is a beam directivity angle from the z axis to the xy plane, ψ is a beam directivity angle from the y axis to the x axis, and f is a frequency. is there. The suffixes θ, ψ, and f indicate the numbers of the phased array antennas. Here, when each beam is represented by a vector, the following equation is obtained.

[0018]

[Equation 1]

[0019]

[Equation 2]

[0020]

[Equation 3]

Therefore, since the angular interval of the directivity angle of each beam can be calculated by taking the vector product of each beam,
Optimal frequency allocation is possible.

Embodiment 3 In addition, although the above embodiment shows the one provided with a plurality of transmitters / receivers, by providing a transmitter having a plurality of different frequencies, a plurality of frequencies in a hemispherical space including in the same beam are provided. Radio waves can be transmitted to different reception sources. An example of the configuration in this case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, 1, 3, 5
7 to 7 are exactly the same as the radar apparatus of the above-described embodiment, and it is possible to simultaneously scan a plurality of beams by the beam directivity angle data according to the frequency and relative coordinates of each receiving source.

Embodiment 4 In addition, although the above embodiment shows the one provided with a plurality of transmitters / receivers, a plurality of receivers having different frequencies are provided so that a plurality of frequencies in a hemispherical space including in the same beam are provided. It is possible to receive radio waves from different reception sources. A configuration example in this case is shown in FIG. In FIG. 5, reference numerals 1 and 4 to 7 are exactly the same as those of the radar apparatus of the above-mentioned embodiment, and by simultaneously scanning a plurality of beams, it is possible to simultaneously receive radio waves from transmission sources having different frequencies. Becomes

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, by arranging the aperture elements of the phased array antenna in a conical shape, the entire circumference can be scanned with an arbitrary beam scanning cycle without mechanical rotation. In addition, by providing a plurality of transceivers having different frequencies and adding a beam scanning control function, there is an effect that a plurality of beams can be scanned at the same time. Furthermore, by simultaneously realizing a plurality of beam scans, there is an effect of shortening the beam scan cycle. further,
By arranging the aperture elements of the phased array antenna in a conical shape, the array surface can be made to have an inclination, so that it is possible to perform beam scanning up to a high elevation angle. By applying the method of the present invention to extend the number of transceivers having different frequencies to a large number, it is possible to expect the effect of being able to control a large number of beams simultaneously.

Further, as shown in the third embodiment, by providing a plurality of transmitters having different frequencies, not only can radio waves be transmitted to a plurality of receiving sources, but also this device or the receiving sources can move. Even when they overlap with each other in the same beam as this device, it is possible to avoid the radio wave interference of the reception source and to transmit the radio wave to the plurality of reception sources.

Further, as shown in the fourth embodiment, by providing a plurality of receivers of different frequencies, not only can radio waves from a plurality of transmission sources be received, but also pencil beam scanning by a phased array antenna can be performed. Therefore, the azimuth of the transmission source can be specified by the resolution of the reception beam width. Further, since the beam scanning is performed by the phased array antenna, there is an effect that the radio wave from the transmission source can be received at an arbitrary beam scanning cycle.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a radar device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a two-dimensional beam scanning diagram for explaining the effect of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional beam scanning diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a radar device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of a radar device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a conventional radar device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 phased array antenna 2 transmission / reception switch 3 transmitter 4 receiver 5 signal processor 6 beam scanning processor 7 beam controller

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of conical phased array antennas having a phase shifter for radiating and receiving radio waves and electronically changing the beam radiation direction, and a beam radiation angle by setting a beam radiation angle. Is converted from the space relative coordinate system to the antenna plane coordinate system, and further converted to the phase information of the phase shifter and set in the phase shifter in the antenna. Beam controller that selects and sets the beam pointing angle of each phased array antenna to control the beam scanning sequence, multiple transmitters with different frequencies, and multiple receivers corresponding to the transmitter frequencies A radar device characterized by the above. 2. A plurality of conical phased array antennas, each having a phase shifter for radiating or receiving radio waves and electronically varying the beam radiation direction, and a beam directional angle for setting a beam directional angle. Is converted from the relative coordinate system of the space to the antenna plane coordinate system, and further converted to the phase information of the phase shifter and set in the phase shifter in the antenna, and multiple beam scanning processors and each phased array antenna A radar apparatus comprising: a beam controller for setting a beam directivity angle to control a beam scanning sequence; and a plurality of transmitters having different frequencies.