Universal transmit/receive module for radar and communications

• Main Authors: McCune, Jr., Earl W, Kirkpatrick, Douglas A
• Format: Patent
• Language: English
• Published: 18.10.2022
• Subjects: ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES; ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS; BASIC ELECTRIC ELEMENTS; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE; ELECTRICITY; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION ORRERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; MEASURING; PHYSICS; RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; TESTING; TRANSMISSION

A universal transmit-receive (UTR) module for phased array systems comprises an antenna element shared for both transmitting and receiving; a transmit path that includes a transmit-path phase shifter, a driver, a switch-mode power amplifier (SMPA) that is configured to be driven by the driver, and a dynamic power supply (DPS) that generates and supplies a DPS voltage to the power supply port of the SMPA; and a receive path that includes a TX/RX switch that determines whether the receive path is electrically connected to or electrically isolated from the antenna element, a bandpass filter (BPF) that aligns with the intended receive frequency and serves to suppress reflected transmit signals and reverse signals, an adjustable-gain low-noise amplifier (LNA), and a receive-path phase shifter. The UTR module is specially designed for operation in phased array systems. The versatility and wideband agility of the UTR module allows a single phased array system to be designed that can be used for multiple purposes, such as, for example, both radar and communications applications.