Phased Array Radar Basics

Jeffrey Herd MIT Lincoln Laboratory

17 November 2009

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Radar Course JSH -1

Outline

History and Evolution of Phased Arrays Phased Array Radar Fundamentals

Array Beamforming Electronic Scanning Active Transmit-Receive Modules

Summary

Radar Course JSH -2

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Radar Antenna Architectures

Dish Antenna Passive Phased Array Active Phased Array

Beamformer

T/R Modules

Very low cost Frequency diversity Slow scan rate High distribution loss Single point of failure

Beam agility Effective radar resource management High distribution loss Higher cost

Highest performance Effective radar resource management Low distribution loss Highest cost

MILLSTONE
Radar Course JSH -3

SPY-1

THAAD MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Dish Radar Example

MIT LL Millstone Radar
2 Klystrons with 3 MW peak power 120 kW avg power Center Frequency of 1295 MHz 8 MHz bandwidth

$400,000/tube 7 ft x 1ft 600 lbs 3% duty cycle 42 dB gain

Millstone Klystron Tube

Advantages
High output power Low cost per watt Disadvantages Single point of failure Large size

Radar Course JSH -4

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Solid State Array Radar Example

PAVE PAWS
First all-solid-state array radar UHF Band 1800 active transceiver T/R modules, 340 W of peak power each
Transmit and Receive Modules

Advantages
Electronic beam agility Low maintenance (no moving parts) Graceful degradation

Disadvantages
Higher cost per watt

Radar Course JSH -5

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Phased Array Radar Evolution

Passive Arrays
( Phase Shifter at Element)

Active Arrays
(Amplifiers + Phase Shifter at Element)
Increasing Beam Agility

Airborne

B-1B
X-Band

JSTARS
X-Band

F/A-22
X-Band

JSF
X-Band

MP-RTIP
X-Band

1985

2005

2010

1975

1980

1990

1995

Surface

Patriot
C-Band

SPY-1
S-Band

THAAD
X-Band

2000

SBX
X-Band

SPY-3
X-Band

Radar Course JSH -6

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

2015

Outline

History and Evolution of Phased Arrays Phased Array Radar Fundamentals

Array Beamforming Electronic Scanning Active Transmit-Receive Modules

Summary

Radar Course JSH -7

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Array Beamforming
Multiple antennas combined to enhance radiation and shape pattern
Isotropic Element Array Array Phased Array

S Combiner

Phase Shifter

Response

Response

Response

Direction

Direction

Direction

Response

Direction MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Radar Course JSH -8

Array Beamforming (Beam Collimation)

Want fields to interfere constructively (add) in desired directions,
and interfere destructively (cancel) in the remaining space Broadside Beam Scan To 30 deg

Radar Course JSH -9

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Broadside Uniform Linear Array

Design Goal
Maximum at

Required Phase

z
L = (N-1) d N = 10 Elements

q = 90

b =0

y = k d cos q + b q =90 = 0
d = l/4 separation
20

d = l/2 separation
10 dBi

d = l separation
Grating Lobes 10 dBi

7 dBi
10

Directivity (dBi)

-10

-20

-30 0

30

Angle off Array q (deg)

60

90

120

150

180 0

30

Angle off Array q (deg)

60

90

120

150

180 0

30

Angle off Array q (deg)

60

90

120

150

180

Limit element separation to d < l to prevent grating lobes for broadside array
Radar Course JSH -10

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Increasing Broadside Linear Array Size by Adding Elements

z

Element Separation d = l/2

L = (N-1) d

N = 10 Elements
20

N = 20 Elements
13 dBi

N = 40 Elements
16 dBi

10 dBi
10

Directivity (dBi)

-10

-20

-30 0

30

60

90

120

150

180 0

30

60

90

120

150

180 0

30

60

90

120

150

180

Angle off Array q (deg)

Angle off Array q (deg)

Angle off Array q (deg)

Gain ~ 2N(d / l) ~ 2L / l for long broadside array without grating lobes*

Radar Course JSH -11

*d<l

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Excitation Amplitudes
Tapers Across 10 Element Linear Array
Uniform Amplitude 26 dB Dolph-Tschebyscheff
3 2 1 1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 0 -5 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 0 -5 -10 -15 -20 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 150 100 50

Binomial

3 2 1

0 -5 -10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 0 30 60 90 120 150 180

13 dB SLL

-10 -15 -20 -25 -30 -35 -40 0 30 60 90 120 150 180

26 dB SLL

-25 -30 -35 -40 0

No Sidelobes Theoretical Result!

30 60 90 120 150 180

Amplitude & Phase Errors Limit the Sidelobe Level (SLL) That Can Be Achieved in Practice: > 40 dB is Challenging
Radar Course JSH -12

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Polarization
Defined by behavior of the electric field vector as it propagates
in time
q

Electromagnetic Wave

Electric Field

f
Magnetic Field

Vertical Linear (with respect to Earth)

Horizontal Linear (with respect to Earth)

r

Radar Course JSH -13

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Active Array T/R Module

Radar Course JSH -14

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

T/R Module / Subarray Integration

64 Element Tile

Radar Course JSH -15

High levels of integration reduce unit cost Automated assembly and test reduces touch labor cost
MIT Lincoln Laboratory

Summary
Phased array provides improvements in radar functionality
and performance
Beam agility Effective radar resource management Graceful degradation with module failures

Current trend is towards active arrays with distributed T/R

modules
Large number of distributed active components and control High levels of integration required to achieve low cost

Radar Course JSH -16

MIT Lincoln Laboratory

References

General Antenna Theory and Design:

Balanis, C.A., Antenna Theory: Analysis and Design, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 1997.* Elliot, R. S., Antenna Theory and Design. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1981. Kraus, J.D., Antennas 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1993. Stutzman W. L., Thiele, G. A., Antenna Theory and Design, 2nd ed. New York: Wiley, 1998. Hansen, R. C., Microwave Scanning Antennas. California: Peninsula Publishing, 1985. Pozar, D. M., Schaubert, D. H. eds., Microstrip Antennas: The Analysis and Design of Microstrip Antennas and Arrays. New York: IEEE, 1995. Lo, Y.T. and Lee S.W. eds., Antenna Handbook, Theory, Applications, and Design. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1993. Mailloux, R. J., Phased Array Antenna Handbook. Artech House, 1994.

Special Topics:

Handbooks:

Radar Course JSH -17

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