US 2026/0202533 A1 · Hybrid Interferometer and Method of Using the Same

Abstract

Systems and methods are presented. The systems include a hybrid interferometer that implements both monopulse and interferometry modes to determine angle of arrival of target signals using one or more separate receive antenna elements (SSRAE), the SSRAE receiving T unique waveforms transmitted from a set of at least two transmit antenna elements (SSTAE), and a circuit assembly electrically coupled to the set of SSRAE, the set of SSRAE providing respective electrical signals responsive to the T unique waveforms, the circuit assembly operating on the respective electrical signals to define a set of T weights to apply to the T unique waveforms. A method includes arranging a set of SSRAE, receiving T unique waveforms transmitted from a set of at least two SSTAE with at least one of the SSRAE, and spatially manipulating lobes generated by the respective T unique waveforms as received by the at least one receive antenna element.

Claims26

Dependent claims

A system for enhancing radar sensitivity for conventional RF interferometric applications using transmit elements, the system comprising:

a set of spatially separated receive antenna elements (SSRAE), the SSRAE having at least R members, where R is a positive integer greater than or equal to one, the SSRAE receiving T unique waveforms transmitted from a set of spatially separated transmit antenna elements (SSTAE), the SSTAE having at least T members transmitting T unique waveforms, respectively, where T is a positive integer greater than or equal to two;
and
a circuit assembly electrically coupled to the set of SSRAE, the set of SSRAE providing respective electrical signals responsive to the T unique waveforms, the circuit assembly operating on the respective electrical signals to define a set of T weights to apply to the T unique waveforms to create a combined waveform from the T received waveforms at each of the R receive antennas,
wherein the R combined waveforms are the coherent sum of the T waveforms at each of the R members of the SSRAE.

1 more element

A method, comprising:

arranging a set of spatially separated receive antenna elements (SSRAE), the SSRAE having at least R members, where R is a positive integer greater than or equal to one, the SSRAE receiving T unique waveforms transmitted from a set of spatially separated transmit antenna elements (SSTAE), the SSTAE having at least T members transmitting T unique waveforms, respectively, where T is a positive integer greater than or equal to two;
and
spatially manipulating lobes generated by the respective T unique waveforms,
wherein spatially manipulating lobes generated by the respective T unique waveforms includes applying a respective spatial weight to direct the respective T unique waveforms with respect to a transmit normal vector extending orthogonally from a plane defined by the SSTAE,
wherein the respective spatial weight is applied in a manner that directs the respective lobes to a desired angle with respect to the transmit normal vector extending from the plane defined by the SSTAE and such that the lobes converge at a desired range from an origin of the transmit normal vector,
wherein when the desired angle and the desired range coincide with a location of a target in a transmit field of view, a power of a respective receive signal incident at the SSRAE is at a maximum.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Hybrid Interferometer and Method of Using the Same

Life of this patent

Hybrid Interferometer and Method of Using the Same

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims26