Antenna failure compensation

A method for compensating for the failure of an element in a phased array antenna assembly, the method comprising the steps of:

• a) generating a post-failure composite pattern from signals received by respective elements in the phased array antenna assembly after failure of an element of the phased array antenna assembly;
• b) comparing the post-failure composite pattern to a standard composite pattern generated prior to the failure to assess necessity for remedial action;
• c) if remedial action is necessary, assuming an initial value for at least one parameter associated with each element;
• d) if remedial action is necessary, performing optimisation on the parameters to generate a modified post-failure composite pattern which approximates the standard composite pattern;
• e) if remedial action is necessary, applying the optimised parameters to base settings for the phased array antenna assembly;
• and
• f) continuing with operation of the phased array antenna assembly;
• wherein the step of performing optimisation on the parameters comprises the steps of:
• i) generating the modified post-failure composite pattern based on the optimised parameters;
• and
• ii) comparing the modified post-failure composite pattern to the standard composite pattern to assess whether acceptable performance is achieved;
• wherein the generating step a) comprises generating a post-failure curve of antenna pattern difference/sum ratio (Δ/Σ) plotted against offset angle (α) for the entire phased array antenna assembly;
• wherein the comparing step b) comprises comparing the post-failure Δ/Σ curve with a standard Δ/Σ curve generated prior to the failure, in addition to assessing necessity for remedial action;
• wherein the generating step i) comprises generating a modified post-failure curve of antenna pattern difference/sum ratio (Δ/Σ) plotted against offset angle (α) for the entire phased array antenna assembly;
• and
• wherein the comparing step ii) comprises comparing the modified post-failure Δ/Σ curve with the standard Δ/Σ curve generated prior to the failure, in addition to assessing whether acceptable performance is achieved.