Radiation pattern synthesis for monopulse radar applications with a reconfigurable transmitarray antenna

L. Di Palma (1) , A. Clemente (1) , L. Dussopt (1) , R. Sauleau (2) , P. Potier (3) , P. Pouliguen (4)

1 CEA-LETI - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives - Laboratoire d'Electronique et de Technologie de l'Information
2 IETR - Institut d'Électronique et des Technologies du numéRique
3 DGA MRIS - DGA Mission Recherche et Innovation Scientifique
4 DGA.MI - DGA Maîtrise de l'information

We investigate here the capabilities of a 400-element reconfigurable transmitarray antenna to synthesize monopulse radiation patterns for radar applications in X -band. The generation of the sum (Σ) and difference ( Δ ) patterns are demonstrated both theoretically and experimentally for broadside as well as tilted beams in different azimuthal planes. Two different feed configurations have been considered, namely, a single focal source and a four-element focal source configuration. The latter enables the simultaneous generation of a Σ - and two Δ -patterns in orthogonal planes, which is an important advantage for tracking applications with stringent requirements in speed and accuracy. © 1963-2012 IEEE.

Keywords: Radar equipment; Radar antennas; Radar; Monopulse radar; Planar lens; Reconfigurable hardware; Beam-steering; Antenna arrays; Antenna radiation; Microwave antennas; Radiation pattern synthesis; Reconfigurable array; Transmit arrays; Directional patterns (antenna)

Domains: Computer Science [cs]; Networking and Internet Architecture [cs.NI]; Engineering Sciences [physics]; Electronics

L. Di Palma, A. Clemente, L. Dussopt, R. Sauleau, P. Potier, et al.. Radiation pattern synthesis for monopulse radar applications with a reconfigurable transmitarray antenna. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, 2016, 64 (9), pp.4148--4154. ⟨10.1109/TAP.2016.2586491⟩. ⟨hal-01371964⟩