Innovative Antenna Arrays Enabling Continuous Interceptor Communications

Wavelet Technologies, Inc. (WTI) proposes to advance the state of the art for phased array technology deployed on missile defense assets using fractal antenna design principles. These designs will be produced using WTIs proprietary approach to antenna optimization operating on our 32 processor computer. Our software will be extended to optimize conformal antennas and arrays in deployment on missile defense assets. Fractal antennas are advantageous for this problem because they can be designed to be relatively compact and so there is design freedom in placing the antennas in such a fashion as to reduce the size of grating sidelobes. Grating sidelobes are expected at the highest frequencies of operation of wideband arrays, even if the lowest frequencies have elements sufficiently closely spaced to avoid them. The problem is especially severe at large scan angles. Fractal elements are also advantageous because their compactness tends to reduce inter-element coupling of array elements. Fractal elements are routinely designed to be wideband or multiband and thus facilitate frequency agility. These advantages combine synergistically to benefit a system operating under severe constraints of size, weight, area, and power.(Approved for Public Release 15-MDA-8482 (17 November 15))