RU2408140C2 - Electronic antenna assembly with controlled configuration of directivity pattern - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: radio engineering.

SUBSTANCE: aerial equipment is used for radio communication between aircrafts and between aircrafts and ground command centre included in common information exchange network. Electronic antenna assembly (EAA) is intended to form radiation of narrow-beam scanning directivity patterns (DP) and for automatic mutual DP pointing with moving aircrafts for stable monitoring information exchange with megabit transmission speeds at any aircraft developments. EAA includes transmitting EAA and receiving EAA, each of which consists of set of panels of transmitting or receiving active phased arrays respectively, which are made in the form of multi-layered printed-circuit boards and control unit. Each panel forms one independent DP beam in the direction of the other aircraft, which changes its position under influence of control unit of patterns and location finding unit, which are included in the control unit of the appropriate EAA. Panels are arranged either on edges of EAA housing or at various points of aircraft airframe so that aerodynamic characteristics cannot be disturbed and the required DP can be provided at any position of aircraft without any nulls.

EFFECT: formation of independent beams of directivity patterns, which change their position in azimuthal and elevation planes, provision of circular receiving and radiation zone, exchange of information with several subscribers, and small mass and dimensions parametres.

6 cl, 1 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of antenna technology used for radio communication between aircraft (LA) and between LA and ground command post (NKP), included in a single information exchange network.

The antenna-electronic unit (AEB) is designed to exchange aircraft information simultaneously with several aircraft, each of which is located in the AEB service area.

Currently, most aircraft aeronautical radio communication systems with NKP or between themselves use weakly directional airborne and ground antennas, which in the frequency range 240-400 MHz allocated for aviation radio communications provide information transfer at a speed of up to 32 kbit / s. To transmit information with a higher speed at maximum distance and at low elevation angles, onboard and ground pointed antennas are used, for example, parabolic antennas operating in the range of up to ten GHz. In this case, the mutual guidance of the radiation patterns of the receiving and transmitting antennas is carried out by an electromechanical drive, which allows the exchange of information only between two subscribers in one direction. The placement of several antennas that form diagrams in different directions is not possible due to a violation of aerodynamics of the aircraft. In these cases, the electronic adaptive change in the DN is not realized.

A well-known complex of on-board means of digital radio communication of aircraft with each other and with the NKP (patent RU No. 2319304 C2, published on 07.27.2007), consisting of on-board and ground equipment, using weakly directional antennas on the aircraft and on the NKP.

A radio communication device is known (patent No. 2146851 with priority from 1995.07.07), which allows an on-board radio station to conduct a communication session with a terrestrial cellular radiotelephone system. The ground base station contains one or many upward-facing active antennas that form the cells for the aircraft, at the intersection of which the onboard transponder receives signals from the base station and transmits signals from the aircraft to the base station through the radio station, which allows the ground system to track the location of the onboard telephone

There is also known an antenna device (patent No. 2114002 dated 07.27.1997), adopted as a prototype and providing work with radio signals in the very high frequency band with frequency modulation (VHF / FM), in the superfrequency band (UHF) and in the band (VHF / AM). The antenna element is placed in the end section of the keel of the aircraft and installed with the formation of an elongated non-conductive groove between one edge of the element itself and the adjacent conductive structure of the aircraft. The excitation point along the groove is chosen for optimal performance. This system provides an almost comprehensive radiation pattern, but it does not provide a narrow, redirected radiation pattern.

The antennas for radio communications proposed in the patents do not provide the formation of independent, re-targeted beams of radiation paths for the simultaneous exchange of information with several subscribers. In addition, they have the drawbacks that are traditional for weakly directional onboard antennas, which are manifested in the appearance of dips in the aircraft antenna bottom due to interference of signals reflected to the antenna by the glider’s mirror points and in the interruption of communication due to shadowing of the signal propagation path by the aircraft glider during its evolution.

The solution to this problem using mirrored directional antennas is not feasible on board the aircraft due to violations of the aerodynamics of the aircraft.

The aim of the claimed invention is an antenna-electronic unit that provides the exchange of monitoring information with megabit transfer rates, as well as coordinate signals and control commands between the aircraft and the NCP during any evolution of the aircraft. This goal is achieved through the use of an antenna-electronic unit in the radio communication system, consisting of several panels of active phased antenna arrays (AFAR), located in different areas of the airframe of the aircraft, of which the control unit includes those panels that, during any evolution of the aircraft, form the beam in a given direction to another aircraft or NKP, which ensures the formation of MD without failures in any direction. Structurally, there are two possible options for placing AFAR panels on board the aircraft: the first - on the sides of the AEB hull in a single unit, the second - in different places of the aircraft glider without disturbing aerodynamic characteristics, the panels are installed so that the total service area is 360 ° in azimuth and up to 360 ° in elevation. In this case, the control unit adapts adaptively depending on the range and propagation conditions, the width of the beam and the value of the radiated power, providing transmission and reception of signals at a speed of up to 8-16 Mbit / s. In the communication system, the AEB provides mutual guidance of the Beams of moving aircraft by signals from direction finders that monitor the maximum of the received radiation, while with known coordinates of the aircraft, the AFAR panels are automatically selected and turned on for communication, within the service areas of which the aircraft are exchanging information. AFAR panels are made in the form of flat multilayer printed circuit boards having a protective coating of radiolucent materials. The control unit performs the following main functions: selects and turns on the AEB panels in the required directions, changes the radiation pattern and radiation power of the selected panels as a result of turning on / off certain elements of the antenna sheet, issues commands that move the radiation pattern in a given direction.

The drawing shows the circuit of the AEB together with the control unit.

The transmitting AEB consists of Q (Q≥1 ... 10) identical AFAR panels (1), each of which includes a frequency converter (2), phase shifters (3), power amplifiers (4), emitters (5). The transmitting AEB control unit controlling the phase shifters consists of a control unit for diagrams (6), a control unit for panels (7), including the necessary panels through a multiplexer (8), a signal receiver for the GPS satellite navigation system (9), which determines the coordinates of the aircraft for mutual guidance of the receiver transmitting directional antennas, which is supported by mutual bias of the aircraft according to the signals of the direction finding unit (10). The receiving AEB consists of Q (Q≥1 ... 10) identical AFAR panels (11), each of which includes receiving elements of the antenna sheet (12), low-noise amplifiers (LNA) (13), phase shifters (14), adder (15) and frequency converter (16). The panels can be made in the form of multilayer printed circuit boards. The control unit for the receiving AEB consists of a control unit for diagrams (17), a control unit for panels (18), a direction finding unit (19), receivers (20), and a switch (21).

The sources of information and the signal receiver of the satellite navigation system GPS (9) through a multiplexer (8), the second input of which is connected to the control unit panels (7), are connected to frequency converters (2), the outputs of which through phase shifters (3), controlled by the control unit diagrams (6) and direction finding unit (10) are connected through power amplifiers (4) to emitters (5).

In the receiving AEB, the outputs of the elements (12) of the antenna sheet of the receiving panels (11) are connected through the LNA (13) to the phase shifters (14), the second inputs of which are connected to the diagram control unit (17), and the outputs are connected to the adders (15) connected to frequency converters (16), the outputs of which are connected to receivers (20) associated with direction finding units (19) and a switch (21), the second input of which is connected to the panel control unit (18), and the signals of the panels selected for communication.

Signals from information sources and a GPS signal receiver (9) at an intermediate frequency by a multiplexer (10) are sent to the inputs of those panels from the total number Q of the transmitting AEB that are selected by the panel control unit (7), and phase shifters (3) pass through the frequency converter (2) ), which, under the influence of the signals of the diagram control unit (6) and the signals of the direction finding unit (10), change the phase of the signals so that the signals at the output of the power amplifiers (4) and the associated emitters (5) of the antenna sheet form a maximum of one beam beam in a certain direction, changing during mutual movement of the aircraft under the influence of the signals of the control unit of the diagrams (6), which also includes the on / off signals of individual emitters, which allows, if necessary, to increase the beam width of the transmitting antenna with unknown coordinates of the aircraft with a corresponding decrease in radiated power.

In each panel (11) of the receiving AEB, the signals from the outputs of the elements (12) of the antenna sheet are fed through low-noise amplifiers (LNA) (13) to the input of the phase shifters (14), the phase values of which change under the influence of the signals of the diagram control unit (17), forming a maximum Beams in a certain direction, and then enter the adder (15), from the output of which the corresponding signal through the frequency converter (16) enters the receiving device (20) connected to the direction finding unit (19), according to the signals of which the control unit (17) changes maximum direction Nam at mutual displacement LA and through the switch (21), receiver outputs (20) signals of the various panels, panels selected by the control unit (20) is provided to switch outputs.

The inventive device performs the functions of either a transmitting or receiving AEB and is structurally a set of AFAR panels made in the form of multilayer flat printed circuit boards, each of which structurally combines an antenna sheet and microwave converters, which can be placed either in one construct, for example, on the edges of a parallelepiped , or at various points in the airframe of the aircraft without disturbing aerodynamic characteristics. The panel includes a layer of antenna fabric with sprayed emitters (or receiving elements), to which power amplifiers (or LNA in the receiving AEB) included in the next layer are directly connected, a layer of phase shifters with phase control devices, a layer of converters of the intermediate frequency of the signal to a dozen GHz region, a layer additional devices and layers of metal plates.

Each of the panels of the transmitting and receiving AEB forms one beam of the radiation pattern, which changes its position in the azimuthal and elevation planes independently of the other beams under the influence of the diagram control unit and the direction finding unit, which allows each aircraft to independently exchange information simultaneously with several subscribers, each of located in the sector served by the relevant AEB panel.

With an increase in the number of phase shifters connected to each emitter, each panel can form a larger number of beams, which allows to increase the number of subscribers due to the spatial separation of beams.

Directional antennas of LA and NKP provide transmission of high-speed monitoring information at a distance of direct geometric visibility of 250 ÷ 300 km in the radio line of LA-NKP and at a distance of 50 ÷ 100 km between the aircraft.

Claims (6)

1. The device of the antenna-electronic unit (AEB), which includes on-board transmitting and receiving equipment, characterized in that the on-board transmitting and receiving equipment is based on active phased antenna arrays (AFAR) with the provision of changing the configuration of their radiation pattern (NAM) according to commands of the control units of transmitting or receiving equipment and contains a transmitting AEB and a receiving AEB, while the transmitting and receiving AEBs consist of Q transmitting located in different areas of the airframe (LA) Q transmitting and Q of the AFAR receiving panels, respectively, where Q≥1 ... 10, the control unit contains the control unit of the transmitting AEB and the control unit of the receiving AEB, and the control unit of the transmitting AEB consists of the control unit of the radiation patterns of the transmitting panels and the associated direction finding unit, according to the signals of which Mutual guidance of the beam detector of the AFAR transceiver panels is supported, as well as the control unit of the AFAR transmitter panels connected to the multiplexer, while signals from the corresponding information sources and the receiver with GPS signals are sent by the multiplexer to the inputs of those AFAR panels from the total number Q of the transmitting AEBs, which are selected by the control unit of the transmitting AFAR panels, the control unit of the receiving AEB consists of the control unit of the receiving AFAR panels, the control unit of the receiving AFAR panels, signal receivers connected to the receiving outputs AFAR panels, the direction finding unit associated with the corresponding signal receiver, while the signals from the direction finding unit, the control unit of the bottom of the AFAR receiving panels sends a maximum to the transmitting AFAR DN, and through the switch of the outputs of the signal receivers, the signals of various receiving panels selected by the control panel of the receiving panels are fed to the outputs of the switches, each of the panels of the transmitting and receiving AEB forms one beam of the beam, changing under the influence of the corresponding control unit of the beam and the direction finding unit, regardless other rays, its position in the azimuthal and elevation planes, which provides each aircraft with an independent exchange of information simultaneously with several subscribers, each of which is located in the sector served by the corresponding AEB receiving panel. 2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the AFAR panels are oriented in space in such a way as to provide a circular zone for receiving and emitting radio signals with the possibility of selecting those whose radiation is directed toward the aircraft with which information is exchanged. 3. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the AFAR panels can be installed on the faces of the AEB casing with such an arrangement of each panel to provide a circular zone for receiving and emitting radio signals. 4. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that it provides the ability to adaptively change the width of the radiation pattern of the AEB and the radiated power depending on the range and propagation conditions of the radio waves. 5. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the AFAR panels are made in the form of multilayer flat printed circuit boards, each of which combines an antenna sheet, microwave converters, phase shifters. 6. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that narrow radiation patterns are formed in the AEB.