Phased array radar antenna with two-stage time delay units

Claim 2

A phased array antenna comprising: a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; means in each of said radiating elements for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy; means in each of said radiating elements coupled to said phase steering means for providing a time delay at each of said elements for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays; means coupled to each of said subarrays for collimating said electromagnetic energy of transmit output signals or receive input signals of said radiating elements; means coupled to each of said collimating means for providing a predetermined subarray time delay for optimum range resolution at a predetermined scan angle; and means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said subarray time delay means to and from said phased array antenna.

Claim 3

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 1 wherein said phase steering means comprises a multi-bit phase shift and said element time delay providing means comprises at least a 1-bit time delay.

Claim 4

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 1 wherein said subarray time delay means comprises a multi-bit time delay.

Claim 5

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 1 wherein said collimating means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means comprises a beamformer means.

Claim 6

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 4 wherein said beamformer means comprises a transmit beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signals of said subarray time delay means.

Claim 7

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 4 wherein said beamformer means comprises receive beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said receive input signals of said subarray time delay means.

Claim 8

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 6 wherein said receive beamformer means provides multiple signals for monopulse tracking and multi-beam searching.

Claim 9

A phased array radar system comprising: a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; means in each of said radiating elements for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy; means in each of said radiating elements coupled to said steering means for providing a time delay at each of said elements for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays; means coupled to each of said subarrays for collimating said electromagnetic energy of transmit output signals or receive input signals of said radiating elements; means coupled to each of said collimating means for providing a predetermined subarray time delay for optimum range resolution at a predetermined scan angle; beamformer means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said subarray time delay means to and from said phased array antenna; means coupled to said beamformer means for generating a transmit signal; means coupled to said beamformer means for receiving and processing said collimated electromagnetic energy; and means for generating a signal to said transmit signal generating means and for providing a synthesized signal for said receiving and processing means.

Claim 10

A phased array radar system comprising: a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; means in each of said radiating elements for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy; means in each of said radiating elements coupled to said steering means for providing a time delay at each of said elements for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays; means coupled to each of said subarrays for collimating said electromagnetic energy of transmit output signals or receive input signals of said radiating elements; means coupled to each of said collimating means for providing a predetermined subarray time delay for optimum range resolution at a predetermined scan angle; beamformer means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said subarray time delay means to and from said phased array antenna; means coupled to said beamformer means for generating a transmit signal; means coupled to said beamformer means for receiving and processing said collimated electromagnetic energy; and means for generating a signal to said transmit signal generating means and for providing a synthesized signal for said receiving and processing means.

Claim 11

The phased array radar system as recited in claim 8 wherein said phase steering means comprises a multi-bit phase shift and said element time delay providing means comprises at least a 1-bit time delay.

Claim 12

The phased array radar system as recited in claim 8 wherein said subarray time delay unit means comprises a multi-bit time delay.

Claim 13

The phased array radar system as recited in claim 8 wherein said collimating means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means comprises a beamformer means.

Claim 14

The phased array radar system as recited in claim 11 wherein said beamformer means comprises a transmit beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signals of said subarray time delay means.

Claim 15

The phased array radar system as recited in claim 11 wherein said beamformer means comprises receive beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said receive input signals of said subarray time delay means.

Claim 16

The phased array radar system as recited in claim 13 wherein said receive beamformer means provides multiple signals for monopulse tracking and multi-beam searching.

Claim 17

A phased array antenna comprising: a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; each of said radiating elements comprises a radiator; each of said radiating elements comprises a transmit/receive (T/R) means coupled to said radiator for generating a transmit output signal or a receive input signal; said T/R means comprises a phase shifter means for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy; said T/R means comprises an element time delay unit means coupled to said phase shifter means for providing a minimal time delay for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays, said partial compensation increasing the instantaneous bandwidth of said phased array antenna; a plurality of power combiner means for collimating the electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signal or said receive input signal, each one of said power combiner means being coupled to said element time delay unit means of a corresponding one of said subarrays; a plurality of subarray time delay unit means for providing a predetermined time delay at a predetermined scan angle for optimum range resolution, each of said plurality of subarray time delay unit means being coupled to a corresponding one of said plurality of power combiner means; and beamformer means coupled to each of said plurality of subarray time delay unit means for collimating said electromagnetic energy.

Claim 18

A phased array antenna comprising: a plurality of antenna radiating elements for providing a directed beam of electromagnetic energy, said radiating elements being arranged in groups to form a plurality of time steered subarrays; each of said radiating elements comprises a radiator; each of said radiating elements comprises a transmit/receive (T/R) means coupled to said radiator for generating a transmit output signal or a receive input signal; said T/R means comprises a phase shifter means for phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy; said T/R means comprises an element time delay unit means coupled to said phase shifter means for providing a minimal time delay for a partial compensation to a wavefront of said electromagnetic energy produced by said plurality of time steered subarrays, said partial compensation increasing the instantaneous bandwidth of said phased array antenna; a plurality of power combiner means for collimating the electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signal or said receive input signal, each one of said power combiner means being coupled to said element time delay unit means of a corresponding one of said subarrays; a plurality of subarray time delay unit means for providing a predetermined time delay at a predetermined scan angle for optimum range resolution, each of said plurality of subarray time delay unit means being coupled to a corresponding one of said plurality of power combiner means; and beamformer means coupled to each of said plurality of subarray time delay unit means for collimating said electromagnetic energy.

Claim 19

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 15 wherein said phase shifter means comprises a multi-bit phase shift and said element time delay providing means comprises at least a 1-bit time delay.

Claim 20

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 15 wherein said subarray time delay unit means comprises a multi-bit time delay.

Claim 21

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 15 wherein said beamformer means comprises a transmit beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signals of said subarray time delay unit means.

Claim 22

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 15 wherein said beamformer means comprises receive beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said receive input signals of said subarray time delay unit means.

Claim 23

The phased array antenna as recited in claim 19 wherein said receive beamformer means provides multiple signals for monopulse tracking and multi-beam searching.

Claim 26

The method as recited in claim 21 wherein said step of phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy comprises the step of providing a multi-bit phase shift means.

Claim 27

The method as recited in claim 21 wherein said step of providing a time delay with said element time delay providing means comprises the step of providing at least a 1-bit time delay.

Claim 28

The method as recited in claim 21 wherein said step of providing a predetermined time delay with said subarray time delay unit means comprises providing a multibit time delay.

Claim 29

The method as recited in claim 21 wherein said step of collimating said electromagnetic energy of said radiating elements with means coupled to each of said subarray time delay means comprises the step of using beamformer means.

Claim 30

The method as recited in claim 25 wherein said step of using said beamformer means comprises the step of using a transmit beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signals of said subarray time delay means.

Claim 31

The method as recited in claim 25 wherein said step of using said beamformer means comprises the step of using receive beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said receive input signals of said subarray time delay means.

Claim 32

The method as recited in claim 27 wherein said step of collimating said electromagnetic energy with receive beamformer means provides multiple signals for monopulse tracking and multiple beams for searching.

Claim 35

The method as recited in claim 29 wherein said step of phase steering the direction of said beam of electromagnetic energy with phase shifter means comprises the step of providing a multi-bit phase shift.

Claim 36

The method as recited in claim 29 wherein said step of providing a time delay with said element time delay unit means comprises the step of using at least a 1-bit time delay.

Claim 37

The method as recited in claim 29 wherein said step of providing a predetermined time delay with said subarray time delay unit means comprises the step of using a multi-bit time delay.

Claim 38

The method as recited in claim 29 wherein said step of collimating said electromagnetic energy with said beamformer means comprises the step of using a transmit beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said transmit output signals of said subarray time delay unit means.

Claim 39

The method as recited in claim 29 wherein said step of collimating said electromagnetic energy with said beamformer means comprises the step of using a receive beamformer means for collimating said electromagnetic energy of said receive input signals of said subarray time delay unit means.

Claim 40

The method as recited in claim 34 wherein said step of collimating said electromagnetic energy with said receive beamformer means provides multiple signals for monopulse tracking and multi-beam searching.