COHERENT FEED FOR SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED 94 GHZ ARRAY USING A PASSIVE PHASED SURFACE

MALIBU RESEARCH HAS RECENTLY DEVELOPED A FLAPS PHASED-SURFACE TECHNIQUE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THIN ELECTROMAGNETIC STRUCTURES HAVING THE CAPABILITY OF SCATTERING INCIDENT RF ENERGY IN SPECIFIC PREFERRED DIRECTIONS AND PATTERNS. THE DESIGN IS BASED ON ARRAYS OF PRINTED CIRCUIT DIPOLES. TO DATE WE HAVE USED THIS TECHNIQUE FOR CONSTRUCTION OF ANTENNAS AND CONFORMAL REFLECTORS. THIS TECHNIQUE IS IDEALLY SUITED FOR GENERATION OF RELIABLE, COST-EFFECTIVE 94 GHZ COHERENT TARGET SCENARIOS FOR MISSILE SEEKER TEST AND EVALUATION. RATHER THAN A MATRIX OF ANTENNAS THE TARGET FOV WALL (60 DEG X 10 DEG AT 15 METERS) IS COVERED WITH THE FLAPS SURFACE AND EXCITED BY AN 18" ILLUMINATION ANTENNA. THE SURFACE HAS THE PROPERTY THAT NO MATTER WHERE THE ILLUMINATION SPOT STRIKES IT, IT REFOCUSES THE INCIDENT 94 GHZ BACK TOWARDS THE TEST SEEKER POSITION. MOTION OF THE ILLUMINATING BEAM SPOT CARVES OUT THE DESIRED TARGET TRAJECTORY IN A CONTINUOUS (< 1 MR) MANNER. OTHER PROPERTIES ARE LOW LOSSES, HIGH BANDWIDTH AND EASY MULTIPLE POLARIZATION CAPABILITY. UNDER THE PROPOSAL PROJECT A DESIGN FOR THE SPECIFICS OF SUCH A COHERENT, SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED 94 GHZ TARGET SCENARIO GENERATOR, BASED ON THIS CONCEPT WOULD BE CARRIED OUT.