Adaptive Array Processing Architecture

Array antennas are becoming ubiquitous in many commercial and military systems. This allows for electronic steering of the antenna in one or more directions simultaneously. However, by combining the individual array element signals at the array, these systems fail to take full advantage of the array capabilities. The newest array antennas are capable of supporting I/Q digital inputs and outputs for each element. This creates new processing challenges, and the need for a new architecture to enable capabilities such as very fast adaptation rates with very high independent beam counts.