Calibration and integrated beam control/conditioning system for phased-array antennas

A method for operating a phased-array transmit antenna in first and second modes, where said first mode includes near-field calibration of the beam-direction control arrangement of said antenna, and said second mode includes determination of the pointing direction of said antenna relative to a remote site, said method comprising the steps of:

• in said first mode of operation, producing a test tone, and applying said test tone to a port of said transmit antenna, for generating a transmitted test tone;
• in said first mode of operation, applying modulating signals to said beam-direction control arrangement of said antenna, for modulating said transmitted test tone, for generating a modulated transmitted test tone;
• in said first mode of operation, receiving said modulated transmitted test tone at a near-field probe, to thereby form received modulated test tone;
• in said first mode of operation, processing said received modulated test tone in conjunction with said modulating signals, for calibrating said beam-direction control arrangement;
• in said second mode of operation, producing said test tone, and applying said test tone to a port of said transmit antenna, for generating a transmitted test tone;
• in said second mode of operation, receiving said transmitted test tone at a remote site to thereby define a remote received signal, and determining at least one of the amplitude and phase of said remote received signal;
• in said second mode of operation, determining from said at least one of said amplitude and phase of said remote received signal the pointing direction of said transmit antenna relative to said remote site.

A method for determining the beam pointing direction of a phased-array receiving antenna including a beam direction control input port and a received signal port, in a system in which said beam direction input port of said phased-array receiving antenna is coupled to a beam-direction control arrangement, and said phased-array receiving antenna is associated with a near-field calibration system including a calibration tone generator coupled to a near-field probe for radiating a tone to said receive antenna, an orthogonal code generator coupled to said beam direction control input port for encoding the tone produced by said receive antenna at said received signal port, an orthogonal code decoder coupled to said received signal port and to said orthogonal code generator, for decoding said tone as encoded for thereby allowing the signals received by the individual elements of the receive antenna array to be separated, and a processor coupled to said decoder, for generating calibration signals representative of the relative phases and amplitudes of said individual elements, said method comprising the steps of

• at a remote station, transmitting a test tone toward said receive antenna;
• at said receive antenna, receiving said tone;
• controlling at least one of amplitude and phase of said beam-direction control arrangement of said receive antenna for generating multiple beams;
• at a location close to said receive antenna, determining, for each of said multiple beams, at least one of amplitude and phase of said tone;
• from said at least one of amplitude and phase of said tone, determining the pointing direction of said antenna relative to said remote station.