Steerable, Directional Antennas to Increase Small Mobile Platform Communication Range

Traditionally, small platforms that need to communicate with airborne platforms use omnidirectional antennas. This makes it simple to communicate with mobile airborne platforms but reduces the communication link range compared to directional antennas. However, directional antennas require pointing at the airborne platform, which requires a means of moving the antenna to follow the motion of the airborne platform. Additionally, if the small platform is not stable, such as on the ocean or in a moving marine or land vehicle there are limits to how small the platform can be and also how quickly it can compensate for the motion of the platform. With advances in electronically steered antennas, motion compensation and pointing toward the airborne platform can be smaller and have faster response times than mechanically steered antennas.  Leveraging expertise in developing electronically steered antennas, steering algorithms, and compact, low-SWaP systems, IMSAR LLC and Brigham Young University (BYU) propose to explore methods to increase the communication link range of small platforms without increasing the transmit power.   IMSAR, in collaboration with Brigham Young University (BYU), proposes to further leverage existing  hardware and algorithms to develop a low-SWaP-C, inertially stabilized mechanism capable of supporting the fine beam pointing, acquisition, tracking, and stabilization (PATS) accuracy required to transmit data through extended communication link ranges in a variety of environments. The proposed solution in its final configuration will be customizable and easy to integrate into a variety of antenna configurations. It will allow small platforms to search for the airborne platform, establish a communication link (detect), and track the airborne platform