Integrated hardware reduction schemes for retrodirective array architectures

This paper will present and review a few recent developments in retrodirective array architectures that integrate schemes for hardware reduction. The proposed systems offer simplified architectures for retrodirective array application that can lead to low-cost solutions for various communication scenarios. First, the flexibility of the retrodirective architecture is discussed with simple integration into sparse arrays. Combination of a sparse array with a switching network allows a single phase conjugator to be shared by four radiating elements within a six element aperture. Finally, an example of a conformal sparse retrodirective array is presented in a potential mobile platform application that is known to have limited hardware requirements.