Electronically reconfigurable aperture (ERA): A new approach for beam-steering technology

In order to satisfy the demanding SWaP requirements of modern microwave/MMW instruments, designers are looking for novel integrated solutions. In particular, phased array packaging, especially at Ka and higher frequencies, is extremely challenging as half-wavelength spacing is prohibitively small. The cost of implementing high density phased array packaging is another impediment to wider use. This communication presents a new electronically beam-steering technology that is compatible with highly integrated antenna design and dramatically simplifies packaging. It is based on the coherent scattering of the evanescent field associated with waves propagating through a dielectric waveguide. The antenna scattering elements are controlled electronically and constitute a dynamically reconfigurable hologram. The switching time from one hologram pattern (one beam position) to another is on the order of tens of nanoseconds. Because of the hologram nature of this approach, the beam-forming capabilities of the electronically reconfigurable aperture (ERA) approach are comparable to those of phased arrays: 1D and 2D beam-forming and beam-steering, multiple simultaneous individually controlled beams, steerable nulls and variable beam width(s).