Investigation of active phased arrays performance deficiency due to array planarity and misalignment

ABSTRACT

This paper investigates the degradation in the electromagnetic performance of an active phased array antenna and establishes the coupling relationship between the antenna array alignment/planarity to the near-field scanner probe. An analytical framework is presented to evaluate the sensitivity of radiation parameters of active phased arrays antenna due to the deviation of complex excitation vector. A laser-based positioning metrology equipment measures the near-field scanner plane to the antenna under test (AUT) plane in a global coordinate system. The antenna array surface is adjusted and aligned to the near-field scanner probe measurement plane within 1 mm (in S-band) by employing the mechanical mechanism within the positioning accuracies of 50–100 µ$\mathrm{m}$. The collimation of a perfectly aligned antenna array results in the alignment of electrical and mechanical boresight of the active phased array radar. The theoretical evidence and experimental results presented powerful tools and guidelines to set a reasonable tolerance for array alignment in the near-field test range (NFTR) to achieve high performances of the active phased array antenna.

KEYWORDS:

• Antenna array misalignment
• active phased array collimation
• laser tracker(LT)
• near-field test range (NFTR)

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge their gratitude towards the Director LRDE for support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Virendra Kumar

Virendra Kumar, received B.E. in EC in 2003 from K.E.C., Dwarahat, Almora, Nanital University, M.Tech. in EC in 2006, from H.B.T.I., Kanpur. He joined LRDE in 2007 as scientist-‘B’, his current responsibilities include active array aperture and architecture design, development, integration, and calibration of phased array antenna subsystems, primarily in near-field test facilities. He is having sixteen publication in national and international conferences and symposium, and ten technical reports in his credit. He applied for two software copyrights and two patents. He is recipient of four Technology Group Awards in 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2014 in the field of Active Phased array calibration. He received best paper award in 2009 in ICMARS, Jodhpur, Rajsthan.

U. S. Pandey

U. S. Pandey born in Durg, India on October 16, 1971. He received his BE in Electronics and Telecommunication from Dr. Hari Singh Garu University in 1996 and M.Tech. in Digital Communication from R.E.C. Bhopal in the year 1999. Since 2000 he is working as scientist in LRDE, Bangalore. His current responsibilities include active array aperture and architecture design, development, integration, and calibration of phased array antenna subsystems, primarily in near-field test facilities. He is recipient of three Technology Group Awards in 2008, 2010 and 2012 in the field of Active Phased array calibration. He is having seven publication in national and international conferences and symposium, and ten technical reports in his credit. He holds three software copyrights and has applied for two patents.

K. S. Beenamole

Dr. K. S. Beenamole received her Ph.D. in Electronics from Osmania University in 2009, M.Tech. in Electronics in 1996, from Cochin University of Science and Technology and B.Tech. from Mahatma Gandhi University in 1992. Presently she is working as a Scientist in LRDE. She is a recipient of the National Research & Development Cooperation (NRDC), India Award 2005, IETE-Smt Ranjana Pal Memorial Award-2012 and IETE CDIL Award-2014. She has received DRDO Technology Group Award in 2001 & 2010 and Outstanding Team Work Award in 2003. She is a recipient of National Science Day Silicone Medal and Commendation Certificate in 2009. She has received one Patent for her innovative design of Printed Microstrip Patch Antenna Array for Battlefield Surveillance Radar(BFSR-SR) and has applied for two Patents. She has one Copyright. She has published more than 50 research papers in the National/ International Journals and Conferences. She is a member of Society of EMC Engineers and Fellow of ATMS and IETE.

Ravi Kumar Gangwar

Ravi Kumar Gangwar (Senior Member, IEEE) received the B.Tech. degree in electronics and communication engineering from Uttar Pradesh Technical University, Lucknow, and the Ph.D. degree in electronics engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi, Varanasi, India, in 2006 and 2011, respectively. He is currently an Associate Professor with the Department of Electronics Engineering and the Associate Dean (Sponsored Research and Industrial Consultancy) of the Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad, India. He has guided/guiding 15 Ph.D. and 19 M.Tech. students. He has completed/ongoing eight research and development projects (≈2 Crores rupees) related dielectric resonator antennas and their applications from various funding agencies, like DRDO, SERB-DST, and ISRO. He has authored or coauthored over 100 research articles in reputed international journals and 80 papers in conference proceedings. His research interests include dielectric resonator antennas, microstrip antennas, and bio-electromagnetics. He is a Senior Member of the Antenna and Propagation Society, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), USA; a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), U.K.; a Life Member of the Institution of Engineers (IE), India; and a fellow of the Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE), India. He is also a member of the IETE Executive Council and a Joint Regional Secretary at the Ranchi Centre. He is an External Expert of the peer-review committee of project related to chaff application of the Defence Laboratory Jodhpur, DRDO. He was a recipient of the INSA Visiting Scientist Fellowship and the IETE Smt. Ranjana Paul Memorial Award, for the year 2020. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE Access and IET Circuits, Devices & Systems journal. He is a Reviewer of IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, IEEE Antenna and Propagation Letters, IEEE Antenna and Propagation Magazine, IET Microwave, Antenna & Propagation, IET Electronics Letters, Microwave and Optical Technology Letters, and Scientific Report.