Co-Site Interference Mitigation in Phased Arrays

In this Phase I effort Pharad will carry out a theoretical and experimental feasibility study of several innovative approaches for mitigating the effects of co-site interference that arises due to narrowband transmit and wideband receive phased array apertures that are deployed in close proximity to each other. Our proposed solutions for addressing the problem of co-site interference will include an active optical interference cancellation system based on an RF photonic link as well as methods for improving the electromagnetic isolation between the transmit and receive phased arrays. During Phase I we will develop a preliminary design for a photonics-based active interference cancellation circuit and analyze the performance of our developed link architecture. We will also investigate the application of Artificial Magnetic Conductors (AMCs), lossless, reactive surfaces that inhibit the flow of tangential electric surface current, to reduce the coupled RF energy between the transmit receive antenna arrays. We will create novel, small footprint electromagnetic isolation circuits based on AMC structures and verify their operation using both analytical and experimental techniques. The work carried out in Phase I will lay the groundwork for the Phase II effort; the design, fabrication and test of a prototype interference mitigation system.