System Study and Design of Broad-Band U-Slot Microstrip Patch Antennas for Aperstructures and Opportunistic Arrays
Abstract
An opportunistic array is an integrated ship-wide digital phased-array radar, where antenna elements are placed at available open areas over the entire ship's length. Such an array has the potential to fulfill many of the Navy's missions, including ballistic missile defence (BMD) where the radar mission encompasses exoatmospheric surveillance, tracking and preliminary discrimination. Advantages of opportunistic arrays include enhanced stealth - since low-profile antennas reduce the ship's RCS; high angular resolution - as the entire ship's length forms the "aperture" and produces a narrow beamwidth; and potentially lower costs - through the use of COTS technology and a flexible digital antenna architecture that reduces the number of distinct radar systems required. This research first investigated the opportunistic array concept in the context of BMD. A system level tradeoff was performed to size the system and verify that detection ranges greater than 1000 km could be achieved. Next, the research focused on designing a low-profile, broad-band U-slot microstrip patch antenna. Theoretical calculations and parametric studies were performed to develop an antenna element that could operate in the upper VHF/lower UHF frequencies. A set of simple design procedures is proposed to provide approximate rules that result in a good "first-pass" design with prescribed characteristics that require minimal tuning.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA443324
Entities
People
- Chin H. M. Tong
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School