A Broadband Wide Field-of-view True-time delay-based Multi-Beamforming Architecutre and Design

To realize the combinations of wide field-of-view (FoV) and multi-beamforming capability with an affordable implementation as required by SKA mid-frequency dense array, this paper presents a broadband wide field-of-view true time-delay based multi-beamforming architecture guided by the concept of allocating beams over the full FoV. The system is designed as a two-dimensional silicon-based beamformer combined with a chessboard beam-selector and is able to produce 16 independent beams covering ±45° scanning angle while maintaining a flexible digital multi-beamforming capability within the full optical FoV. Thus the design provides a feasible solution that fulfills the wide FoV, flexible multi-beamforming and cost-effective system design requirements for large-scale dense array.