JP2001007640A - Multi-functional antenna system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To use an antenna aperture face of an active phased array antenna mounted on an aircraft or the like used in common for a plurality of functions. SOLUTION: An active phased array antenna consists of an array antenna, where a plurality of element antennas 11 are arranged in two-dimensional form, a combining distribution section 13a that distributes a transmission signal to each element antenna 11 and combines a signal received from each element antenna 11, a control section 3a that divides a plurality of the element antennas 11 into a plurality of groups and assigns different functions to a plurality of the groups, and a plurality of transmission reception sections 2a, 2b that supply the transmission signal to the groups of each element antenna 11 and receive the reception signal from the groups of each element antenna 11 and have different functions to each other via the combining distribution section.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an active phased array antenna (APAA) mounted on an aircraft or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing an outline of a conventional antenna device mounted on an aircraft. In the figure, 1i, 1
j represents antennas I and J corresponding to A and B functions (for example, a radar function, a radio wave jamming function, etc.), and 2d and 2 respectively.
e is a transmitting / receiving unit D connected to an antenna corresponding to each function.
The transmitting and receiving units E, 3m, and 3n are control units that control the antenna and the transmitting and receiving unit corresponding to each function.

Next, the operation will be described. At the time of reception, the radio wave arriving at the antenna 1i is
Perform analysis corresponding to the function. On the other hand, when transmitting,
A transmission signal corresponding to each function from d is radiated into the air from the antenna 1i. The control of these transmission and reception is performed by the control unit 3m. Similarly, the antenna 1j, the transmission / reception unit 2e, and the control unit 3n perform transmission / reception corresponding to the B function.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing an outline of an airborne electronic device using a conventional APAA. In the figure, 2d is the same as the transmitting / receiving section of the above-mentioned conventional airborne electronic device. 1k is an APAA, 11 is an element antenna constituting the APAA, and these are arranged two-dimensionally. Reference numeral 12 includes a transmission / reception module (MDL), a combination / distribution unit 13g, and a control unit 3p.

At the time of reception, a radio wave arriving at the element antenna 11 in the antenna 1k is amplified by the module 12, and the phase is controlled by the control unit 3p. The reception outputs of the module 12 are combined by the combination / distribution unit 13g to form a reception beam, and are received and analyzed by the transmission / reception unit 2d. On the other hand, at the time of transmission, the transmission seed signal from the transmission / reception unit 2d is distributed by the combining / distribution unit 13g and supplied to each module 12. The supplied transmission seed signal is amplified by the module 12, and the phase is controlled by the control unit 3p.
1 transmitted. The outputs from each element antenna 11 are combined in space to form a beam.

In the APAA, a monopulse azimuth detecting method for detecting an angle of a target with one pulse signal is generally used in order to automatically track a target when used in a radar function, a radio wave jamming function, or the like. Monopulse azimuth detection requires four antenna apertures to detect both horizontal and vertical angles to the target. Horizontally,
A region of two adjacent antenna apertures arranged in a horizontal direction is used. The received signals obtained from these two antenna regions are combined and compared to obtain two types of combined signals. This 2
The type of combined signal is a sum pattern (Σ signal) obtained by adding the received signals of the two antenna regions, and the other is a difference obtained by adding one of the two received signals after inverting one phase by 180 degrees. (Δ signal). The difference pattern indicates the absolute value of the angle error, and the sum pattern determines whether the angle error is positive or negative. The azimuth detection is performed by comparing the sum pattern and the difference pattern. In a similar manner, two-dimensional azimuth detection is performed by using two antenna aperture planes arranged in the vertical direction and also performing azimuth detection in the vertical direction.

FIG. 28 shows a conventional APAA combining and distributing unit 13.
FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of g. The combining / distributing unit 13g includes a combining / distributing unit 21, a distributing / pre-comparator 22, a pre-comparator 23, a distributor 26, and a controller 27.

[0008] The operation of the combining and distributing section 13g will be described. At the time of transmission, first, upon receiving a control signal from the control unit 3p, the controller 27 causes the combining / distributing unit 21 and the distributing / pre-comparator 2
2 are switched to operate as distributors respectively.
The transmission seed signal supplied from the transmission / reception unit 2 d is
Is distributed and supplied to the distribution / pre-comparator 22, further distributed by the distribution / pre-comparator 22, and supplied to the combining / distributor 21. The transmission seed signal is further distributed by the combiner / distributor 21 and supplied to the module 12 connected to the element antenna 11 in the area of each aperture.

At the time of reception, the controller 27 receives a control signal from the control unit 3p, and the combining / distributing device 21 serves as a combining device.
The distribution / pre-comparator 22 switches to operate as a pre-comparator. When the transmission signal is supplied from the module 12, the combiner / distributor 21 calculates the sum of the received signals for each aperture surface, combines the antenna patterns on each aperture surface, and distributes / divides the antenna pattern.
It is supplied to the pre-comparator 22. The distribution / pre-comparator 22 compares and combines the antenna patterns of the respective regions, and combines both the horizontal and vertical sum patterns and difference patterns required for the monopulse azimuth detection method. In the case of processing multiple targets with one function by dividing the opening plane, the distribution / pre-comparator 2
2, the combined reception signal is directly supplied to the transmission / reception unit 2d, but when the entire aperture surface is used, the pre-comparator 23
And a part of the received signal combined from the distribution / pre-comparator 22 is supplied thereto, and a sum pattern and a difference pattern over the entire aperture surface are combined and supplied to the transmission / reception unit 2d. The supplied reception signal is analyzed by the transmission / reception unit 2d.

FIG. 29 is a diagram of the antenna aperture surface of the APAA viewed from the front. As shown in FIG. 29, the antenna aperture surface can be divided so that beams having different frequencies and different azimuths can be formed for each surface for the same function. That is, at the time of transmission, a seed signal of a frequency set for each of the divided aperture surfaces is input from the transmission / reception unit 2d, and a phase is set to the azimuth set for each by the control unit 3p. On the other hand, at the time of reception, the control unit 3p sets a phase corresponding to the azimuth set for each of the divided aperture surfaces, and receives and analyzes each signal in the transmission / reception unit 2d. This enables automatic tracking of a plurality of targets with one APAA.

[0011]

As described above, the conventional active phased array antenna can be used for a plurality of targets with one function, but when a plurality of functions are required, Need to provide different antenna devices.

However, when the antenna is mounted on an aircraft or the like, it is desirable to reduce the number of antennas that need to be installed on the surface of the fuselage, inside the exterior pod, or the like, due to problems in aerodynamic characteristics.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to reduce the number of electronic devices mounted on an aircraft by sharing one antenna aperture surface for a plurality of functions.

[0014]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides an array antenna in which a plurality of element antennas are arranged two-dimensionally, and a combining / distributing section for distributing a transmission signal to each element antenna and combining a reception signal from each element antenna. And a control unit that divides the plurality of element antennas to form a plurality of groups, assigns different functions to the plurality of groups, and transmits a transmission signal to each of the element antenna groups via the combining / distributing unit. Provided is a multifunctional antenna device that includes a plurality of transmission / reception units that supply and receive a reception signal from the group of each of the element antennas, each having a different function.

Further, the present invention provides a multifunctional antenna device which switches the area of the antenna opening surface between the horizontal direction search and the vertical direction search.

The present invention also provides a multifunctional antenna device that switches the area of the antenna aperture surface even during transmission.

Further, the present invention provides a plurality of array antennas in which element antennas are two-dimensionally arranged, and the same number of array antennas are provided for the plurality of array antennas. A combining unit that combines the received signals from the plurality of groups, a control unit that divides the element antennas of the plurality of array antennas to form a plurality of groups, and assigns different functions to the plurality of groups, and the plurality of combining and distributing units. Through, to provide a transmission signal to a plurality of groups of each element antenna, receive a reception signal from the plurality of groups, a plurality of transmission and reception units, each having a different function, and the plurality of combined distribution unit The function provided between the plurality of transmission / reception units and assigned to the plurality of element antenna groups and the function of the plurality of transmission / reception units are the same. Providing multi-antenna unit comprising a switch for switching transmission and reception signals so.

[0018]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 Hereinafter, embodiments of the antenna device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an antenna device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In the first embodiment, two-dimensionally arranged element antennas 11, modules 12, and combining / distributing units 13 are provided.
a, an antenna 1a including the above three devices, transmission / reception units 2a and 2b, and a control unit 3a.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the area division of the aperture surface when the element antennas are grouped and the antenna aperture surface is divided into upper and lower portions. In this example, the upper half is used as an A function (for example, a radar function) and the lower half is used as a B function (for example, a radio wave interference function), and the area to which the A function is assigned is 31, 32, 33, 34, The areas to which the function B is assigned are 35, 36, 37, and 38.

First, in the control section 3a of FIG. 1, grouping of element antennas and assignment of functions are set. When grouping is performed on the area of the aperture surface, an A function (for example, a radar function) and a B function (for example, a radio wave interference function) are assigned to each area. Since monopulse azimuth detection is used as an automatic tracking method, four aperture surfaces are required. In this case, the areas 31 to 34 in FIG. 2 are assigned the A function, and the areas 35 to 38 are assigned the B function. The transmission / reception unit 2a and the transmission / reception unit 2
b is set to be an antenna for each of the A function and the B function.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a signal flow in the combining / distributing unit at the time of transmission when the element antennas are grouped and the area of the aperture is divided into two and used. The combining / distributing unit 13a according to the first embodiment includes a combining / distributing unit 21a,
21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f, 21g, 2
1h, distribution / pre-comparators 22a, 22b, pre-comparator 2
3, a reception switch 24, a transmission switch 25, a distributor 26, and a control unit 27.

Hereinafter, the operation at the time of transmission will be described. At the time of transmission, the module 1 shown in FIG.
2, the transmission / reception switching is performed so that the received signal does not enter the combining / distributing unit 13a. Combination distribution unit 13a
The controller 27 in the inside is composed of the combiners / distributors 21a, 21b, 21
Switching is performed so that c, 21d, 21e, 21f, 21g, and 21h and the distribution / pre-comparators 22a and 22b operate as distributors for distributing transmission signals. In addition, the transmission switch 25 outputs to the distributor 26 either the signal of the function A or the signal B when the whole surface is open, or two types of signals if the opening surface is divided into two and shared by the two functions. To control.

The transmitting / receiving sections 2a and 2b to the combining / distributing section 1
When two kinds of transmission seed signals corresponding to the respective functions are output toward 3a, the aperture is divided into two, so that both the transmission seed signals of the A function and the B function are distributed via the transmission switch 25. Is supplied to the vessel 26. In the distributor 26, the transmission seed signal of the A function is distributed to the distribution / pre-comparator 22a, and the transmission seed signal of the B function is distributed to the distribution / pre-comparator 22b. Then, each of the signals A and B is divided into four, and the signals are combined and divided by the combiners / dividers 21a, 21b, 21c, and 21.
d, the transmission type signal of the A function, and the combiner / distributor 21e,
The transmission function signal of the B function is output to 21f, 21g, and 21h.

The input transmission seed signal is supplied to the combining / distributing unit 21.
a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f, 21
g and 21h are distributed and supplied to the modules 12 connected to the respective element antennas in each area. In the module 12, the transmission seed signal is amplified, phase-controlled by the control unit 3a so as to be transmitted in the set direction, radiated by the element antenna 11, and combined in space to form a beam.

FIG. 4 shows the synthesis / combination when the element antennas are used in one group at the time of transmission, that is, when the entire aperture surface is used with one function (A function in this example).
It is a block diagram showing the flow of the transmission seed signal in distribution part 13a. The control before transmission is the same as when the element antennas are divided into two groups. However, the transmission switch 25
Is controlled by the controller 27 so that only the transmission type signal of the A function is supplied to the distributor 26.

The transmission seed signal of the function A is output from the transmission / reception unit 2a and supplied to the distributor 26 via the transmission switch 25. The distributor 26 divides the transmission type signal of the A function into two and supplies the signal to the distributor / prefixers 22a and 22b. The distributing / prefixing units 22a and 22b divide the transmission seed signal into four and synthesize and distributing units 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f,
21g and 21h, respectively.

From each of the synthesizers / distributors, a module 1
A transmission signal is supplied to each of the grouped element antennas 11 via 2 and emitted from each element antenna to form a transmission beam.

Next, the operation at the time of reception will be described. First, the element antennas are grouped, and 2
The case of dividing and using two functions will be described. Under the control of the control unit 3a, the element antennas are grouped, and the area of the aperture surface is the A function in the upper half areas 31, 32, 33, and 34, as shown in FIG.
The B function is assigned to 5, 36, 37, and 38.

First, the module 12 is controlled by the control unit 3a.
The switching between transmission and reception is performed so that the transmission signal is not supplied to the module 12.

The controller 27 in the combining / distributing section 13a
Receives a control signal from the control unit 3a, and
To supply one type of received signal from the pre-comparator 23 to the transmitting / receiving unit corresponding to the function at the time of full aperture,
When the aperture surface is divided into two, switching control is performed so that two types of reception signals from each distribution / pre-comparator 22 are supplied to a transmission / reception unit corresponding to the function.

At the same time, the controller 27 converts the received signal into a signal that can be analyzed by the transmission / reception units 2a and 2b.
Combining / distributing devices 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21
e, 21f, 21g, 21h and distribution / pre-comparator 22
Control is performed so that the sum pattern (Σ signal) and the difference pattern (Δ signal) required in the analysis of the monopulse azimuth detection method of the received signal are synthesized by a and 22b.

At this time, the Σ signal of the A function corresponds to the area 31,
This is a signal obtained by summing the signals of 32, 33, and 34. .

The Δ signal of the A function is obtained by taking the sum of the regions 31 and 33 and the sum of 32 and 34 in the horizontal direction, shifting one of the phases by 180 degrees and taking the sum, and Is a signal obtained by taking the sum of the regions 31 and 32 and the sum of the regions 33 and 34, similarly shifting one phase by 180 degrees, and taking the sum.

Similarly, in the case of the B function, the Σ signal is a signal obtained by summing the areas 35, 36, 37 and 38.

The Δ signal of the B function is expressed in the horizontal direction by
The sum of the areas 35 and 37 and the sum of the areas 36 and 38 are obtained, and one phase is shifted by 180 degrees, and then the sum is obtained. In the vertical direction, the sum of the areas 35 and 36 and the area 37 are obtained.
And 38 are signals obtained by shifting one phase by 180 degrees and then taking the sum.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the flow of a received signal in the combining / distributing section 13a when the element antennas are grouped and the area of the antenna aperture is divided into two and used for two functions. The received signal received by each of the element antennas 11 on the aperture surface is amplified by the module 12 under the control of the control unit 3a, and then is combined / distributed in the combination / distribution unit 13a by the combining / distributing units 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21e.
Output to 21f, 21g, 21h. The output received signals for each element antenna are combined with the combiners / distributors 21a and 21a.
b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21f, 21g, 21h
And the opening surface regions 31, 32, 33, 3
Eight kinds of sum signals of 4, 35, 36, 37, and 38 are formed, respectively, and output to the distribution / pre-comparators 22a and 22b. In each of the distribution / pre-comparators 22a and 22b, the sum and difference patterns of the function A and the function B are combined in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction from the input sum signal of each aperture plane, and the reception switch 24 To supply. Unless the entire opening surface is used, the pre-comparator 23 does not operate.

The horizontal and vertical Σ and Δ signals of the A function and the B function input to the reception switch 24 are distributed to the corresponding transmission / reception units 2a and 2b and output.

Each of the transmission / reception units 2a and 2b compares the Σ signal and the Δ signal, measures a target angle, and performs an operation corresponding to each function.

Next, at the time of reception, there is only one group of element antennas, that is, the entire aperture surface has one function (A
Function)). FIG.
Is the synthesis / composition when the entire opening surface is used for one function.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a flow of a signal in a distribution unit.

The difference from the reception when the element antenna is divided into two groups is the operation of the pre-comparator 23. When the entire aperture surface is used, the antenna area used for combining the sum signal and the difference signal is different from the case where the element antennas are divided into two groups.

That is, the Σ signal at the time of full aperture is a signal obtained by adding the signals of all the regions 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38.

The Δ signal at the time of full opening is obtained by adding the signals of the regions 31, 33, 35, 37 in the horizontal direction and the region 3
Either phase of the sum of 2, 34, 36, 38 is 1
A signal obtained by shifting by 80 degrees and taking the sum, and in the vertical direction, one of the sum of the signals of the regions 31, 32, 33, and 34 and the sum of the regions 35, 36, 37, and 38 A signal whose phase is shifted by 180 degrees and then summed.

At the time of reception, each combining / distributing device 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 2
Received signals are supplied to 1f, 21g, and 21h, and each of the combiners / distributors 21a, 21b, 21c, 21d, 21e, 21
The operation in which f, 21g, and 21h take the sum of the signals of the element antennas is the same as the case where the element antennas are grouped and divided into two.

Next, the combiners / distributors 21a, 21b, 21
Eight received signals corresponding to the areas of the respective apertures are distributed from c, 21d, 21e, 21f, 21g, and 21h to distribution / prefix 2
The signals are output to 2a and 22b, but the Σ signal and the Δ signal at the time of full aperture cannot be combined as they are. Therefore, the eight received signals in the entire area of the aperture surface are further supplied to the pre-comparator 23 via the distribution / prefix units 22a and 22b.
In the pre-comparator 23, when using the entire opening surface described above,
The signal and the Δ signal are combined and output to the reception switch 24. Since the Σ and Δ signals are signals of the A function,
The reception switch 24 outputs a reception signal to the transmission / reception unit 2a, and reception / analysis is performed in the transmission / reception unit 2a.

As described above, by grouping element antennas and dividing the aperture plane, one antenna can be divided into two.
If the functions are shared, the active phased array antenna and the control unit can be shared, and the number can be reduced as compared with the related art.

Embodiment 2 FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 2 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention. 1
b denotes an active phased array antenna which divides an element antenna into n groups, divides an aperture area into n, and can be shared by n functions, and 13b has the same configuration as the combining / distributing section 13a in the first embodiment. Then, the combining / distributing device and the distributing / prefix device are installed in accordance with the number of functions, and the receiving switch is arranged to distribute the received signals corresponding to the respective functions to the n transmitting / receiving sections. This is a synthesizing / distributing unit that can be shared by multiple functions. 2n is
X function (for example, radar function, jamming function,
ESM (Electronic Support Mea)
Sure) function and MWS (Missile Warni)
ng System function). Reference numeral 3b denotes a control unit that performs control corresponding to n functions in addition to the function of the control unit 3a in the first embodiment.

In FIG. 7, 2a, 2b, 11,
Reference numeral 12 denotes the same device as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 shows a combining and distributing unit 13b according to the second embodiment.
It is a block diagram of. The basic operation of each device is the same as that of the first embodiment, except that the element antennas are divided into n groups according to the area of the aperture surface, and one active phased array antenna is shared by n functions. Function requires four antenna apertures for azimuth detection, for a total of 4n combiners / dividers 211-21 (4n)
Is installed. Also, n distribution / pre-comparators 221
To 22n are provided. Switching of the combination between the n groups of element antennas and the n transmission / reception units is performed by the reception switch 24 and the transmission switch 25, respectively. Controller 27
In addition to the transmission / reception switching of the combining / distributing device 21 and the distributing / pre-comparator 22, the reception switching device 24 and the transmission switching device 25 are switched according to signals corresponding to their respective functions at full aperture and n division. Control is performed to switch the combination of each transmission / reception unit and each distribution / pre-comparator.

FIG. 9 is a diagram of the opening surface of the antenna 1b. By dividing the antenna aperture surface by n, n functions can be assigned to one antenna as in the first embodiment of the invention.

As described above, even if the number of functions is n (radar function, radio interference function, ESM function, MWS function, etc.), the combining / distributing unit and the distributing / pre-comparator are added in the combining / distributing unit. By increasing the number of transmission switches and reception switches, the antenna aperture can be shared by n functions, the active phased array antenna and the control unit can be shared, and the number of antenna devices can be reduced as compared with the related art. it can.

Embodiment 3 FIG. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 3 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1c denotes a time when the horizontal azimuth is detected and a time when the vertical azimuth is detected, in which the group of the element antennas is temporally switched, and the aperture surface area forming the group is temporally switched. This is an antenna with azimuth detection accuracy. 13c is a combining / distributing unit corresponding to the switching. 3c is a control unit 3a according to the first embodiment.
In addition to the function described above, the control unit performs control to temporally switch the aperture plane of the antenna during horizontal and vertical search.

In addition, 2a, 2b, 11, and 12 are the same devices as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 11A is a diagram showing the antenna aperture surface of the third embodiment viewed from the front. The element antennas are divided into four groups according to the area of the antenna aperture. Reference numerals 111 to 114 represent the area of the antenna aperture surface grouped.

Since azimuth detection is an operation only at the time of reception,
The operation at the time of reception will be described. FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a flow of a received signal when the horizontal direction is detected. First, FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1b, the control unit 3c assigns A to the areas 111 and 112.
The function and the B function are assigned to the areas 113 and 114. At the same time, the controller 27 in the combining and distributing unit 13c of FIG.
And a combiner / divider 21i, 21
j, 21k, 21l, distribution / pre-comparators 22c, 22d
Is controlled to operate as a combiner and a pre-comparator of the received signal. The pre-comparator 23 is not used when detecting the horizontal azimuth.

First, the reception signal is transmitted to the aperture areas 111 to 11.
4 are received by the element antennas 11 grouped in 4, are amplified in the module 12, and are amplified by the combiner / distributor 21.
i, 21j, 21k, and 21l.

The combiners / distributors 21i, 21j, 21k, 2
In 11, the sum of the received signals of the element antennas is calculated to form the antenna patterns of the aperture areas 111, 112, 113, and 114. The synthesized pattern is distributed / prefixed 22
c, the antenna patterns of the regions 111 and 112 are distributed and
The antenna patterns of the areas 113 and 114 are input to the prefix 22d. The distribution / prefix 22c combines the horizontal Σ and Δ signals of the A function, and the distribution / prefix 22d combines the horizontal Σ and Δ signals of the B function.

Σ and Δ in the horizontal direction of the combined A and B functions
The signal is not input to the pre-comparator 23, but is input directly to the reception switch 24. The reception switch 24 outputs the signal of the A function to the transmission / reception unit 2a and outputs the signal of the B function to the transmission / reception unit 2b. .

Next, the operation at the time of detecting the vertical azimuth will be described. At the time of the vertical search, the state of the opening surface is as shown in FIG. 11C. Fig. 13 shows the composition and
It is the block diagram showing the flow of the received signal in distribution part 13c.

As in the case of the horizontal direction search, the received signals are combined by the combiners / distributors 21i, 21j, 21k, and 211. However, in the vertical search, the A function is assigned to the opening areas 111 and 113, and the B function is assigned to 112 and 114. Therefore, the distribution / prefix 22c to which the antenna pattern of the opening areas 111 and 112 is input is used. And area 113,1
Distribution / prefix 22 to which 14 antenna patterns are input
In the case of d, the 合成 and Δ signals of each function at the time of the vertical search cannot be combined.

Therefore, in the vertical search, the distribution / prefix 22c,
22d does not perform signal synthesis, and inputs the antenna pattern of each area to the pre-comparator 23 as it is. Precomparator 2
Numeral 3 combines the Σ and Δ signals of the A function from the antenna patterns of the aperture areas 111 and 113 and the Σ and Δ signals of the B function from the antenna patterns of the areas 112 and 114 and inputs them to the reception switch 24. The reception switching unit 24 has Σ, Δ of the A and B functions.
The signal is output to the transmission / reception units 2a and 2b for each function.

The transmission / reception units 2a and 2b detect the target azimuth from the Σ and Δ signals in the horizontal direction search and the vertical direction search, and perform an operation corresponding to each function.

In the monopulse system, two horizontal apertures and two vertical apertures are required to determine the horizontal and vertical angles from one received pulse signal. In the first embodiment, the element antenna group of the A function and the element antenna group of the B function are completely fixed. However, when the element antennas are grouped and fixed as in the first embodiment, the azimuth detection in the vertical direction is performed. Is performed, the width of the beam is doubled as compared with the case in the horizontal direction. For this reason, the azimuth detection performance in the vertical direction is inferior to that when the entire opening surface is used. In the third embodiment, by switching the grouping of the element antennas over time, the same azimuth detection performance as in the case of using the entire aperture surface is obtained.

Since the aperture surface is temporally switched, the instantaneousness is lower than when the aperture is fully open, but if the target is far away, it is unlikely that the position of the target will change suddenly.
No problem. If the target is near and instantaneousness is required, there is no problem if the time width of the horizontal / vertical direction switching is shortened as necessary.

Note that the above is the operation only at the time of reception, and at the time of transmission, the transmission beam is radiated with the aperture surface fixed. The operation of the combining / distributing unit at that time is the same as in the first embodiment.

As described above, in the third embodiment, the number of antenna devices can be reduced as compared with the prior art by sharing the active phased array antenna and the control unit, and the group of element antennas is switched over at the time of reception. Provided is an antenna device having the same azimuth detection performance as that when the entire opening surface is used for one function.

Embodiment 4 FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 4 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention. 1d, at the time of reception, similar to the third embodiment, the element antenna group can be switched between the horizontal direction search and the vertical direction search, and the azimuth detection can be performed by temporally switching the aperture plane. In addition, the antenna can switch the antenna aperture surface at the time of transmission as well as at the time of reception. 1
Reference numeral 3d denotes a synthesizing / distributing unit corresponding to the switching of the aperture plane during the transmission. 3d is a control unit 3c according to the third embodiment.
In addition to the above function, the control unit performs control for temporally switching the aperture surface of the antenna also during transmission.

FIG. 15A is a diagram showing the use of the antenna aperture surface according to the fourth embodiment. The element antenna is divided into four aperture areas 151, 152, 153, and 154 and grouped, and the vertical split or the horizontal split is determined according to the direction in which the beam directivity is desired to be improved. FIG. 15B shows a method of narrowing the beam in the horizontal direction, and FIG. 15C shows a method of dividing the antenna aperture surface in the case of narrowing the beam in the vertical direction.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram showing a flow of a transmission seed signal in the combining / distributing section 13d at the time of transmission in the antenna apparatus according to the fourth embodiment in which the aperture surface is divided horizontally as shown in FIG. 15b. The difference from the first embodiment is that the combining / distributing units 21i, 21j, 21k, and 211 are connected to the distributing / preliminary comparators 22c and 22d via the aperture switch 28. The combination of the aperture area at the time of transmission and the transmission / reception unit can be freely set by the aperture plane switch 28.

The operation before the transmitting / receiving sections 2a and 2b output the transmission seed signal is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, except that any one of the combining / distributing sections 21i, 21j, 21k and 21l The aperture plane switch 28 switches whether the front devices 22c and 22d send the transmission signal. At this time, the controller 27 controls the opening surface switching device 28.

When the aperture plane is divided horizontally as shown in FIG. 15b, the transmission seed signal is
2c and 22d, A is added to regions 151 and 152.
Function / distributors 21i, 21j, 21k, 2 so that transmission type signals of the function B in the areas 153 and 154 are supplied.
The combination of 1l and the distribution / prefix units 22c and 22d is switched, and a transmission seed signal is supplied.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram showing the flow of a transmission signal in the combining / distributing section 13d when the aperture plane is vertically divided as shown in FIG. 15c. As in the first embodiment, transmission seed signals A and B are distributed / prefixed units 22c and 22d, respectively.
Are supplied to the areas 151 and 153, and the aperture plane switch 28 is provided with the combiner / distributors 21i and 21i so that the transmission seed signal of the function A is supplied to the areas 151 and 153 and the transmission seed signal of the function B is supplied to the areas 152 and 154.
The combination of j, 21k, and 211 and the distribution / prefix units 22c and 22d is switched, and a transmission seed signal is supplied.

The advantage that the aperture plane can be switched at the time of transmission will be described. When the division of the aperture plane is switched between vertical splitting and horizontal splitting, the width of the transmission beam formed differs depending on the direction. In other words, if the aperture of the original antenna is square,
According to the horizontal dividing method shown in FIG. 2 in the first embodiment, the number of element antennas in the vertical direction is reduced, so that the beam width in the vertical direction is about twice as large as that in the horizontal direction. In the case of the vertical division method, the beam width in the horizontal direction is about 2 times smaller than that in the vertical direction.
Double. By making use of this property, the vertical split is set when the body is swayed in the horizontal direction, and the horizontal split is set when the body is swayed in the vertical direction, so that the influence of the body sway can be reduced.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 5 of the present invention. Instead of grouping the element antennas according to the area of the antenna aperture surface as in the first embodiment, a function corresponding to each element antenna is set and the antenna aperture surface is made common.

FIG. 19 shows an antenna aperture surface that can be shared by the two functions by setting the A function correspondence and the B function correspondence for every other antenna element, thereby sharing the entire antenna aperture surface. Due to the monopulse azimuth detection method, the antenna aperture surface is in the regions 191, 192, 19
The area is divided into four areas of 3,194, and each area operates with both A and B functions.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of the combining / distributing section 13e. The device is the same as in the first embodiment. The difference from the first embodiment is that both the element antenna corresponding to the function A and the element antenna corresponding to the function B exist in the same antenna opening surface area. Therefore, the required number of combining / distributors 21 for the four divided aperture surfaces is four for the A function and four for the B function, for a total of eight.

The operation at the time of transmission / reception is the same as in the first embodiment.

In the fifth embodiment, since the antenna aperture area does not change before and after the functional division, the antenna gain and the beam width do not change, and the antenna characteristic of the high gain and narrow beam width is maintained. By comparison, the effective radiated power at the time of transmission is improved, and the direction detection accuracy at the same level as at the time of full aperture at the time of reception is obtained.

Embodiment 6 FIG. In the fifth embodiment,
The example in which the function is set for each element antenna to make the antenna aperture surface common and the antenna is shared by two functions has been described. However, this method is extended to a method in which the antenna is shared by n functions. What is shown is the sixth embodiment. FIG. 21 shows a block diagram of the sixth embodiment. In this figure, 2a, 2b, 2n, 3b, 11, 12 are the same as in the second embodiment. 1AA is an APAA obtained by extending the method of the fifth embodiment so as to support n functions.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an antenna aperture surface according to the sixth embodiment. The same function is set for every n-1 antennas, and the antenna aperture surface is shared and shared by n functions.

FIG. 23 shows a block diagram of the synthesizing / distributing section 13f. The configuration is the same as that of the combining / distributing section 13b of the second embodiment.

As in the fifth embodiment, since the antenna aperture area hardly changes before and after the functional division, the antenna gain and the beam width do not change, and the antenna characteristic of the high gain and narrow beam width is maintained. Compared to the division method,
The effective radiation power at the time of transmission is improved, and at the time of reception, the same azimuth detection accuracy as at full aperture is obtained.

Embodiment 7 FIG. FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 7 of the present invention. In this figure, transmission / reception units 2a and 2b are the same as those in the first embodiment. Further, the antenna section 1g may be any of the antennas 1a to 1e used in the first, third, fourth and fifth embodiments of the invention. The switch 4a is a switch that switches between two or more antennas 1g. The control unit 3e is a controller that can control two or more antennas 1g in addition to the functions of the control unit 3a of the first embodiment.

A function assigned to a plurality of element antenna groups in two or more antennas 1g,
The switching device 4a performs a transmission / reception signal switching operation for associating the functions with the functions a and 2b. Other flows of the transmission / reception signals are the same as in the first embodiment.

A switch 4a is provided and two or more antennas 1
Is connected, it is possible to secure a covered area that cannot be covered by the single antenna of the first embodiment.

Embodiment 8 FIG. FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 8 of the present invention. In this figure, transmitting / receiving sections 2a, 2b, 2n are the same as in the second and sixth embodiments. The antenna 1h may be any of the antennas used in the second and sixth embodiments. The switch 4b is a switch that switches between two or more antennas 1h, like the switch 4a of the seventh embodiment. 3f can perform control corresponding to n functions, similarly to the controller 3b of the second embodiment.
This is a controller that can be assigned to and controlled by more than one antenna 1h. By providing the switch 4b and connecting two or more antennas 1h, it is possible to secure a coverage area that cannot be covered by one antenna 1h of the second embodiment.

[0086]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multifunctional antenna device comprising: an array antenna in which a plurality of element antennas are two-dimensionally arranged;
A combining / distributing unit that distributes a transmission signal to each element antenna and combines reception signals from each element antenna, and divides the plurality of element antennas to form a plurality of groups, and has different functions for the plurality of groups. A control unit to be assigned, a plurality of transmitting / receiving units each having a different function, supplying a transmission signal to the group of each element antenna via the combining / distributing unit, receiving a reception signal from the group of each element antenna, , The antenna and the control unit can be shared, and the number of active phased array antenna devices mounted on an aircraft or the like can be reduced.

A multifunctional antenna device according to a second aspect of the present invention is an array antenna in which a plurality of element antennas are two-dimensionally arranged, and a combining / distributing section for distributing a transmission signal to each element antenna and combining a reception signal from each element antenna. And a control unit that divides the plurality of element antennas to form a plurality of groups, assigns different functions to the plurality of groups, and transmits a transmission signal to each of the element antenna groups via the combining / distributing unit. A multi-functional antenna device, which supplies and receives a reception signal from each of the element antenna groups and has a plurality of transmission / reception units each having a different function, so that an antenna and a control unit can be shared. At times, the antenna characteristics can be obtained at the same level as when the entire aperture surface is used by switching the element antenna group division over time. Can.

A multifunctional antenna device according to a third aspect of the present invention is an array antenna in which a plurality of element antennas are two-dimensionally arranged, and a combining / distributing section for distributing a transmission signal to each element antenna and combining a reception signal from each element antenna. And a control unit that divides the plurality of element antennas to form a plurality of groups, assigns different functions to the plurality of groups, and transmits a transmission signal to each of the element antenna groups via the combining / distributing unit. A multi-functional antenna device, which supplies and receives a reception signal from each of the element antenna groups and has a plurality of transmission / reception units each having a different function, so that an antenna and a control unit can be shared. At times, the antenna characteristics can be obtained at the same level as when the entire aperture surface is used by switching the element antenna group division over time. By installing an aperture switch between the combiner / distributor and the distributor / prefix in the combiner / distributor, and by temporally switching the grouping of element antennas even during transmission, airframes such as aircraft The effect of the sway can be suppressed.

In the multifunctional antenna device according to the fourth aspect, a plurality of array antennas in which element antennas are two-dimensionally arranged, and the same number of antennas are provided for the plurality of array antennas, and a transmission signal is distributed to each element antenna. And a combining and distributing unit that combines received signals from the element antennas, a control unit that divides the element antennas of the plurality of array antennas to form a plurality of groups, and allocates different functions to the plurality of groups, Through a combining and distributing unit, to supply a transmission signal to a plurality of groups of each element antenna, receive a reception signal from the plurality of groups, a plurality of transmission and reception units, each having a different function, and the plurality of A function disposed between the combining / distributing unit and the plurality of transmitting / receiving units, and a function assigned to the plurality of element antenna groups and the plurality of transmitting / receiving units. By the Noh and a switch for switching transmission and reception signals to be the same, a single array antenna can be secured cover area not covered.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of a multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an antenna aperture surface of the multifunctional antenna device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a combination of the multifunctional antenna device according to the first embodiment of the present invention when the aperture surface is divided and used at the time of transmission.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a transmission path of a transmission signal in a distribution unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a transmission path of a transmission signal in a combining and distributing unit when the multi-functional antenna device according to the first embodiment of the present invention uses the entire aperture surface when transmitting.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a combination of the multifunctional antenna device according to the first embodiment of the present invention when the aperture surface is divided and used at the time of reception.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a transmission path of a reception signal in a distribution unit.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a transmission path of a reception signal in a combining / distributing unit when the multifunctional antenna device according to the first embodiment of the present invention uses the entire aperture surface at the time of reception.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 2 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a combining / distributing unit according to a second embodiment of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an antenna aperture surface of a multifunctional antenna device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 3 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an antenna aperture surface of a multifunctional antenna device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a transmission path of a received signal in a combining / distributing unit when a horizontal azimuth is detected in a multifunctional antenna device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a transmission path of a received signal in a combining / distributing unit when detecting a vertical azimuth in a multifunctional antenna device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 4 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an antenna aperture surface of a multifunctional antenna device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating a transmission path of a transmission seed signal in a combining / distributing unit when an aperture plane is horizontally divided according to a fourth embodiment of the multifunction antenna apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a transmission path of a transmission seed signal in a combining / distributing unit when an aperture plane is vertically divided according to a fourth embodiment of the multifunction antenna apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 5 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an antenna aperture surface of a multifunctional antenna device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a combining / distributing unit of a multifunctional antenna device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 6 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an antenna aperture surface of a multifunctional antenna device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing a multifunctional antenna device according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing a multifunctional antenna device according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing Embodiment 8 of the multifunctional antenna device according to the present invention.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing a conventional airborne electronic device.

FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a conventional airborne electronic device using an active phased array antenna.

FIG. 28 is a block diagram showing a synthesis / distribution unit of a conventional active phased array antenna.

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing an antenna aperture surface of a conventional active phased array antenna.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 antenna 2 transmitting and receiving unit 3 control unit
4 Switcher 11 Element Antenna 12 Module 13
Combining / distributing unit 21 Combining / distributing unit 22 Distributing / prefix unit 23
Pre-comparator 24 Reception switch 25 Transmission switch 26 Distributor 27 Controller 28 Open plane switch

Claims (4)

[Claims] An array antenna in which a plurality of element antennas are two-dimensionally arranged; a combining / distributing unit for distributing a transmission signal to each element antenna and combining a reception signal from each element antenna; Dividing into a plurality of groups to form a plurality of groups, a control unit for assigning different functions to the plurality of groups, and a transmission signal to each of the element antenna groups via the combining / distributing unit, A multifunctional antenna device comprising: a plurality of transmitting / receiving units each having a different function, receiving a reception signal from a group. 2. In the horizontal direction search and the vertical direction search,
The multifunctional antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the grouping of the plurality of element antennas is switched to switch the area of the antenna aperture surface. 3. The multifunctional antenna device according to claim 2, wherein the area of the aperture surface is switched during transmission. 4. A plurality of array antennas in which element antennas are two-dimensionally arranged, and the same number of the array antennas are provided for the plurality of array antennas, a transmission signal is distributed to each element antenna, and a reception signal And a control unit that divides the element antennas of the plurality of array antennas to form a plurality of groups, assigns different functions to the plurality of groups, and a plurality of the combining / distribution units. A plurality of transmission / reception units, each having a different function, supplying transmission signals to a plurality of groups of element antennas and receiving reception signals from the plurality of groups; the plurality of combining / distribution units; and the plurality of transmission / reception units. Transmitting and receiving signals so that the functions assigned to the plurality of element antenna groups and the functions of the plurality of transmitting and receiving units are the same. A multifunctional antenna device comprising a switch for switching signals.