Virtual beam system

A virtual beam system for achieving a relatively high processing gain by forming a narrow virtual transmit beam, the system being responsive to a signal introduced thereto, the system comprising:

• at least one transmitting subsystem, the at least one transmitting subsystem including:
• a transmitting antenna array including a plurality of transmitting elements, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements having a position spaced apart from each other;
• a first power divider, the first power divider being responsive to the signal and dividing the signal into a plurality of constituent signals including one constituent signal for each one of the plurality of transmitting elements;
• a transmitter RF processor circuit, the transmitter RF processor circuit being responsive to the plurality of constituent signals and synthesizing a plurality of different synthesized frequencies, each one of the plurality of different synthesized frequencies being respectively associated with one of the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of different synthesized frequencies being evenly spaced thereby being offset from each other by a common difference frequency, the transmitter RF processor circuit thereby generating a plurality of synthesized constituent signals;
• a plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of synthesized constituent signals and imparting a pseudo-random phase shift on each one of the plurality of synthesized constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters thereby generating a plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• the transmitting antenna array being responsive to the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements respectively radiating one of the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• radiation oblique to the plurality of transmitting elements imparting an additional phase shift on each one of the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, further phase shifted by the oblique radiation, forming a transmitted composite signal;
• and
• at least one receiving subsystem, the at least one receiving subsystem including:
• at least one receiving element, the at least one receiving element being responsive to the transmitted composite signal radiated by the at least one transmitting subsystem;
• a second power divider, the second power divider being responsive to the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element and dividing the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element into a plurality of transmitted composite signal portions;
• a receiver RF processor circuit, the receiver RF processor circuit being responsive to the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions, the receiver RF processor circuit separating a plurality of received constituent signals from the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions, the receiver RF processor circuit realigning the plurality of received constituent signals by converting the plurality of different synthesized frequencies associated with the plurality of received constituent signals to a common frequency and removing the pseudo-random phase shift and the oblique radiation phase shift imparted by the at least one transmitting subsystem, the receiver RF processor circuit thereby generating a plurality of realigned received constituent signals;
• and
• a power combiner, the power combiner being responsive to the plurality of realigned received constituent signals, the power combiner coherently combining the plurality of realigned received constituent signals and thereby generating a received composite signal, the received composite signal effectively forming the narrow virtual transmit beam and thereby allowing the at least one receiving subsystem to realize the relatively high processing gain.

A virtual beam system for achieving a relatively high processing gain by forming a narrow virtual transmit beam, the system being responsive to a signal introduced thereto, the system comprising:

• at least one transmitting subsystem, the at least one transmitting subsystem including:
• a transmitting antenna array including a plurality of transmitting elements, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements having a position spaced apart from each other;
• a first power divider, the first power divider being responsive to the signal and dividing the signal into a plurality of constituent signals including one constituent signal for each one of the plurality of transmitting elements;
• a transmitter RF processor circuit, the transmitter RF processor circuit being responsive to the plurality of constituent signals and synthesizing a plurality of different synthesized frequencies, each one of the plurality of different synthesized frequencies being respectively associated with one of the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of different synthesized frequencies being offset from each other by a pseudo-randomly spaced multiple of a common difference frequency, the transmitter RF processor circuit thereby generating a plurality of pseudo-randomly synthesized constituent signals;
• the transmitting antenna array being responsive to the plurality of pseudo-randomly synthesized constituent signals, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements respectively radiating one of the plurality of pseudo-randomly synthesized constituent signals;
• radiation oblique to the plurality of transmitting elements imparting a phase shift on each one of the plurality of pseudo-randomly synthesized constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-randomly synthesized constituent signals, further phase shifted by the oblique radiation, forming a transmitted composite signal;
• and
• at least one receiving subsystem, the at least one receiving subsystem including:
• at least one receiving element, the at least one receiving element being responsive to the transmitted composite signal radiated by the at least one transmitting subsystem;
• a second power divider, the second power divider being responsive to the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element and dividing the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element into a plurality of transmitted composite signal portions;
• a receiver RF processor circuit, the receiver RF processor circuit being responsive to the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions, the receiver RF processor circuit separating a plurality of received constituent signals from the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions, the receiver RF processor circuit realigning the plurality of received constituent signals by converting the plurality of different transmitting frequencies associated with the plurality of received constituent signals to a common frequency and removing the oblique radiation phase shift imparted by the at least one transmitting subsystem, the receiver RF processor circuit thereby generating a plurality of realigned received constituent signals;
• and
• a power combiner, the power combiner being responsive to the plurality of realigned received constituent signals, the power combiner coherently combining the plurality of realigned received constituent signals and thereby generating a received composite signal, the received composite signal effectively forming the narrow virtual transmit beam and thereby allowing the at least one receiving subsystem to realize the relatively high processing gain.

A virtual beam system for achieving a relatively high processing gain by forming a narrow virtual transmit beam, the system being responsive to an information signal introduced thereto, the system comprising:

• at least one transmitting subsystem, the at least one transmitting subsystem including:
• a transmitting antenna array including a plurality of transmitting elements, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements having a position spaced apart from each other;
• a first power divider, the first power divider being responsive to the information signal and dividing the information signal into a plurality of constituent signals including one constituent signal for each one of the plurality of transmitting elements;
• a plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being respectively driven by a first plurality of different pseudo-random phase code sequences, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters respectively encoding and modulating each one of the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters thereby generating a plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• the transmitting antenna array being responsive to the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements respectively radiating one of the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• radiation oblique to the plurality of transmitting elements imparting an additional phase shift on the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, further phase shifted by the oblique radiation, forming a transmitted composite signal;
• and
• at least one receiving subsystem, the at least one receiving subsystem including:
• at least one receiving element, the at least one receiving element being responsive to the transmitted composite signal radiated by the at least one transmitting subsystem;
• a second power divider, the second power divider being responsive to the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element and dividing the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element into a plurality of transmitted composite signal portions;
• a plurality of correlators, the plurality of correlators being responsive to the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions;
• the plurality of correlators being respectively driven by a second plurality of different pseudo-random phase code sequences, the second plurality of pseudo-random phase code sequences being complementary to the first plurality of pseudo-random phase code sequences of the at least one transmitting subsystem, the plurality of correlators respectively separating, decoding and demodulating a plurality of received constituent signals, each one of the plurality of received constituent signals being contained in each one of the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions, the plurality of correlators thereby generating a plurality of decoded constituent signals;
• a plurality of conjugate phase shifters, the plurality of conjugate phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of decoded constituent signals, the plurality of conjugate phase shifters removing the oblique radiation phase shift imparted by the at least one transmitting subsystem and thereby generating a plurality of cophasal constituent signals;
• and
• a power combiner, the power combiner being responsive to the plurality of cophasal constituent signals, the power combiner coherently combining the plurality of cophasal constituent signals and thereby generating a received composite signal, the received composite signal forming the narrow virtual transmit beam and thereby allowing the at least one receiving subsystem to realize the relatively high processing gain.

A virtual beam system for achieving a relatively high processing gain by forming a narrow virtual transmit beam, the system being responsive to a modulated signal introduced thereto, the system comprising:

• at least one transmitting subsystem, the at least one transmitting subsystem including:
• a transmitting antenna array including a plurality of transmitting elements, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements having a position spaced apart from each other;
• a first power divider, the first power divider being responsive to the modulated signal and dividing the modulated signal into a plurality of constituent signals including one constituent signal for each one of the plurality of transmitting elements;
• a plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being respectively driven by a first plurality of different pseudo-random phase code sequences, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters respectively encoding each one of the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters thereby generating a plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• the transmitting antenna array being responsive to the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements respectively radiating one of the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• radiation oblique to the plurality of transmitting elements imparting an additional phase shift on the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, further phase shifted by the oblique radiation, forming a transmitted composite signal;
• and
• at least one receiving subsystem, the at least one receiving subsystem including:
• at least one receiving element, the at least one receiving element being responsive to the transmitted composite signal radiated by the at least one transmitting subsystem;
• a second power divider, the second power divider being responsive to the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element and dividing the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element into a plurality of transmitted composite signal portions;
• a plurality of correlators, the plurality of correlators being responsive to the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions, the plurality of correlators being respectively driven by a second plurality of different pseudo-random phase code sequences, the second plurality of pseudo-random phase code sequences being complementary to the first plurality of pseudo-random phase code sequences of the at least one transmitting subsystem, the plurality of correlators respectively separating and decoding a plurality of received constituent signals, each one of the plurality of received constituent signals being contained in each one of the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions, the plurality of correlators thereby generating a plurality of decoded constituent signals;
• a plurality of conjugate phase shifters, the plurality of conjugate phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of decoded constituent signals, the plurality of conjugate phase shifters removing the oblique radiation shift imparted by the at least one transmitting subsystem and thereby generating a plurality of cophasal constituent signals;
• and
• a power combiner, the power combiner being responsive to the plurality of cophasal constituent signals, the power combiner coherently combining the plurality of cophasal constituent signals and thereby generating a received composite signal, the received composite signal forming the narrow virtual transmit beam and thereby allowing the at least one receiving subsystem to realize the relatively high processing gain.

A virtual beam system for achieving a relatively high processing gain by forming a narrow virtual transmit beam, the system being responsive to an information signal introduced thereto, the system comprising:

• at least one transmitting subsystem, the at least one transmitting subsystem including:
• a transmitting antenna array including a plurality of transmitting elements, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements having a position spaced apart from each other;
• a first power divider, the first power divider being responsive to the information signal and dividing the information signal into a plurality of constituent signals including one constituent signal for each one of the plurality of transmitting elements;
• a plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being respectively driven by a first plurality of different pseudo-random phase code sequences, each one of the first plurality of different pseudo-random phase code sequences being a derivative of a common pseudo-random phase code, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters respectively encoding and modulating each one of the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters thereby generating a plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• the transmitting antenna array being responsive to the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements respectively radiating one of the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• radiation oblique to the plurality of transmitting elements imparting an additional phase shift on the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, further phase shifted by the oblique radiation, forming a transmitted composite signal;
• and
• at least one receiving subsystem, the at least one receiving subsystem including:
• at least one receiving element, the at least one receiving element being responsive to the transmitted composite signal radiated by the at least one transmitting subsystem;
• a correlator, the correlator being responsive to the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element, the correlator removing the common pseudo-random phase code applied at the at least one transmitting subsystem and time compressing a plurality of received constituent signals within the transmitted composite signal into a sequence of contiguous pulses;
• a tapped delay line, the tapped delay line being responsive to the sequence of contiguous pulses and time-synchronizing the sequence thereby generating a plurality of time-synchronized pulses;
• a plurality of conjugate phase shifters, the plurality of conjugate phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of time-synchronized pulses, the plurality of conjugate phase shifters demodulating the pulses and removing the additional phase shift imparted by the oblique radiation of the at least one transmitting subsystem thereby generating a plurality of time, phase-synchronized pulses;
• and
• a power combiner, the power combiner being responsive to the plurality of time, phase-synchronized pulses and combining the pulses thereby generating a received composite pulse signal, the received composite pulse signal forming the narrow virtual transmit beam and thereby allowing the at least one receiving subsystem to realize the relatively high processing gain.

A virtual beam system for achieving a relatively high processing gain by forming a narrow virtual transmit beam, the system being responsive to a modulated signal introduced thereto, the system comprising:

• at least one transmitting subsystem, the at least one transmitting subsystem including:
• a transmitting antenna array including a plurality of transmitting elements, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements having a position spaced apart from each other;
• a first power divider, the first power divider being responsive to the modulated signal and dividing the modulated signal into a plurality of constituent signals including one constituent signal for each one of the plurality of transmitting elements;
• a plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters being respectively driven by a first plurality of different pseudo-random phase code sequences, each one of the first plurality of different pseudo-random phase code sequences being a derivative of a common pseudo-random phase code, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters respectively encoding each one of the plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-random phase shifters thereby generating a plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• the transmitting antenna array being responsive to the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, each one of the plurality of transmitting elements respectively radiating one of the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals;
• radiation oblique to the plurality of transmitting elements imparting an additional phase shift on the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, the plurality of pseudo-randomized constituent signals, further phase shifted by the oblique radiation, forming a transmitted composite signal;
• and
• at least one receiving subsystem, the at least one receiving subsystem including:
• at least one receiving element, the at least one receiving element being responsive to the transmitted composite signal radiated by the at least one transmitting subsystem;
• a correlator, the correlator being responsive to the transmitted composite signal received by the at least one receiving element, the correlator removing the common pseudo-random phase code applied at the at least one transmitting subsystem and time compressing a plurality of received constituent signals within the transmitted composite signal into a sequence of contiguous pulses;
• a tapped delay line, the tapped delay line being responsive to the sequence of contiguous pulses and time-synchronizing the sequence thereby generating a plurality of time-synchronized pulses;
• a plurality of conjugate phase shifters, the plurality of conjugate phase shifters being responsive to the plurality of time-synchronized pulses, the plurality of conjugate phase shifters removing the additional phase shift imparted by the oblique radiation of the at least one transmitting subsystem thereby generating a plurality of time, phase-synchronized pulses;
• and
• a power combiner, the power combiner being responsive to the plurality of time, phase-synchronized pulses and combining the pulses thereby generating a received composite pulse signal, the received composite pulse signal forming the narrow virtual transmit beam and thereby allowing the at least one receiving subsystem to realize the relatively high processing gain.

A method for achieving a relatively high processing gain from a narrow virtual transmit beam associated with a virtual beam system, the system including at least one transmitting subsystem and at least one receiving subsystem, the method comprising the steps of:

• at the at least one transmitting subsystem:
• dividing a signal into a plurality of constituent signals, the plurality of constituent signals quantitatively corresponding to a plurality of transmitting elements associated with the at least one transmitting subsystem;
• element position encoding the plurality of constituent signals, the encoding step including the steps of:
• uniquely marking each one of the plurality of constituent signals, the marking step providing each one of the plurality of constituent signals with a unique marking, the unique marking representing a position of each one of the plurality of transmitting elements in the at least one transmitting subsystem;
• and
• pseudo-randomly phase shifting each one of the plurality of constituent signals, the pseudo-random phase shifting step imparting a pseudo-random phase shift on each one of the plurality of constituent signals, the pseudo-random phase shift associated with the plurality of constituent signals substantially reducing a probability that the plurality of constituent signals will be intercepted upon transmission;
• radiating each one of the plurality of constituent signals, respectively, from corresponding transmitting elements of the plurality of transmitting elements, whereby an additional phase shift is imparted on each one of the plurality of constituent signals due to radiation oblique to the plurality of transmitting elements, the plurality of constituent signals, further phase shifted by the oblique radiation, forming a transmitted composite signal;
• at the at least one receiving subsystem:
• receiving the transmitted composite signal;
• dividing the received transmitted composite signal into a plurality of transmitted composite signal portions, the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions quantitatively corresponding to the plurality of constituent signals;
• element position decoding the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions the decoding step including the steps of:
• separating a plurality of received constituent signals from the plurality of transmitted composite signal portions;
• removing the unique marking, provided during the unique marking step, associated with the plurality of received constituent signals;
• removing the pseudo-random phase shift, imparted during the pseudo-random phase shifting step, associated with the plurality of received constituent signals;
• removing the phase shift, imparted during the radiating step by the oblique radiation, associated with the plurality of received constituent signals;
• and
• combining the plurality of received constituent signals, coherently, to effectively form the narrow virtual transmit beam thereby allowing the at least one receiving subsystem to realize the relatively high processing gain.