A wideband multibeam faceted antenna system for integration in small platforms

The general system architecture and subsystem blocks for a wideband faceted multibeam antenna system intended for both receiving (Rx) and transmitting (Tx) functions are presented. Each facet in the antenna system consists of a planar microstrip antenna array, T/R-module and a Rotman lens used for 1D beam steering in azimuth; a module for pulse descriptor word (PDW) generation which detects and makes coarse parameter measurements of received signals; an up/down frequency conversion block and a transceiver block for high resolution measurements and signal generation. The facets are reconfigured for either Tx or Rx functions by controlling switches connected to the T/R-modules. Measured results are presented for the antenna array consisting of aperture-coupled, microstrip antenna elements and for the PDW-module.