ELECTRONICALLY STEERABLE AGILE BEAM ANTENNA

TRA PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A LOW COST, ELECTRONICALLY STEERABLE AGILE BEAM ANTENNA. PHASE I DEVELOPMENT WILL EXAMINE THE FEASIBILITY OF THE DEVICE CONFIGURED AS FOUR QUARTER WAVE-LENGTH VERTICAL ELEMENTS(OVER A GROUND PLANE), A PIN DIODE SWITCHING AND PHASING ASSEMBLY, A DEDICATED CONTROL MICROCOMPUTER, AND AN INTERFACED TRANSCEIVER OPERATING WITH A DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM. THE BEAM WILL INITIALLY SCAN IN FOUR SECTORS BUT WILL IN PHASE II BE EXTENDED TO ADDITIONAL SECTORS DEPENDING ON THE SPECIFIC ANTENNA SYSTEM EMPLOYED. SUCH AN ANTENNA SYSTEM WILL ENHANCE THE QUALITY AND SECURITY OF MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS BY INCREASING THE SIGNAL STRENGTH IN THE DESIRED DIRECTION AND MINIMIZING IT IN ALL OTHERS. THE DEVICE WILL BE USEFUL FOR SMALL MISSION, MOBILE, ROBOTIC, LARGE MOVING PLATFORM AND BASE STATION (FIXED) COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS.