Process for the automatic tracking of the directional beam of a phased array antenna

Claim 1

Apparatus for automatically tracking the directional beam of a phased array antenna comprising: a plurality of receiving modules, said modules being arranged in rows and columns, a delay line associated with each module, phase discriminator means for developing a control voltage in response to the phase of a received signal, means for using said control voltage to vary the delay of the delay lines associated with each module, the outputs of each of said modules in respective rows and columns being coupled together, the outputs of odd numbered rows and columns being coupled to respective inputs of the phase discriminator means, outputs of even numbered rows and columns being coupled to other respective inputs of said phase discriminator means whereby two inputs are provided for the columns of the array, said phase discriminator means including first and second phase discriminators for developing positive and negative direct voltage outputs in dependence on the sign of the angle of incidence of the received signal, first and second voltage dividers, said phase discriminators having outputs which are coupled to said first and second respective voltage dividers, said first voltage divider having a series of taps each of which is connected to a respective common input of the delay line of a given row, said second voltage divider having a series of taps each of which is connected to a respective common input of the delay lines of a given column.