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
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -2
 Radar Antenna Architectures
Dish Antenna Passive Phased Array Active Phased Array

Beamformer T/R
Modules

T R T R T R
• Very low cost • Beam agility • Highest performance
• Frequency diversity • Effective radar resource • Effective radar resource
• Slow scan rate management management
• High distribution loss • High distribution loss • Low distribution loss
• Single point of failure • Higher cost • Highest cost

MILLSTONE SPY-1 THAAD

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -3
 Dish Radar Example

• MIT LL Millstone Radar

– 2 Klystrons with 3 MW peak power • $400,000/tube
• 7 ft x 1ft
– 120 kW avg power • 600 lbs
• 3% duty cycle
– Center Frequency of 1295 MHz • 42 dB gain
– 8 MHz bandwidth

Millstone Klystron Tube

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

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -4
 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
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -5
 Phased Array Radar Evolution

Passive Arrays Active Arrays

( Phase Shifter at Element) (Amplifiers + Phase Shifter at Element)
Increasing Beam Agility
Airborne

B-1B JSTARS F/A-22 JSF MP-RTIP

X-Band X-Band X-Band X-Band X-Band
1985

2005

2010

2015
1975

1980

1990

1995

2000
Surface

Patriot SPY-1 THAAD SBX SPY-3

C-Band S-Band X-Band X-Band X-Band

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -6
 Outline

• History and Evolution of Phased Arrays

• Phased Array Radar Fundamentals
– Array Beamforming
– Electronic Scanning
– Active Transmit-Receive Modules
• Summary

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -7
 Array Beamforming

• Multiple antennas combined to enhance radiation and shape pattern

Isotropic
Array Array Phased Array
Element

S S S
Phase
Combiner Shifter
Response

Response

Response

Response
Direction Direction Direction Direction

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
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
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -9
 Broadside Uniform Linear Array
ẑ
Design Goal Required Phase
Maximum at q = 90° b =0
L = (N-1) d
y = k d cos q + b q =90° = 0 N = 10 Elements

d = l/4 separation d = l/2 separation d = l separation

20
Grating
7 dBi 10 dBi Lobes
10
10 dBi
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)

Limit element separation to d < l to prevent

grating lobes for broadside array
Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -10
 Increasing Broadside Linear Array
Size by Adding Elements
ẑ

• Element Separation d = l/2 L = (N-1) d

N = 10 Elements N = 20 Elements N = 40 Elements

20
10 dBi 13 dBi 16 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* *d<l
Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -11
-
Excitation Amplitudes
Tapers Across 10 Element Linear Array
Uniform Amplitude 26 dB Dolph-Tschebyscheff Binomial
3 3 150

2 2 100

50
1 1
1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
0 0 0

-5 -5 -5

-10 -10 -10

13 dB SLL
-15 -15 -15

-20 -20 -20

-25 -25 26 dB SLL -25

-30 -30 -30

No Sidelobes -
-35 -35 -35
Theoretical Result!
-40 -40 -40
0 30 60 90 120 150 180 0 30 60 90 120 150 180 0 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
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -12
 Polarization

• Defined by behavior of the electric field vector as it propagates

in time q

Electromagnetic
Wave Electric Field
f
Magnetic Field

Vertical Horizontal
Linear Linear
(with respect (with respect
to Earth) E to Earth)

r
E
r

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -13
 Active Array T/R Module

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -14
 T/R Module / Subarray Integration

64 Element Tile

• High levels of integration reduce unit cost

• Automated assembly and test reduces touch labor cost

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -15
 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
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -16
 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.
• Special Topics:
– 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.
• Handbooks:
– 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.

Radar Course
MIT Lincoln Laboratory
JSH -17