Designing an active electronically scanned array as part of onboard equipment of a high-speed radio communication channel

Abstract

The active electronically scanned array being developed is designed to provide an all-weather high-speed radio communication channel “Spacecraft – Earth”. It is supposed to provide fast, inertia-free observation of space by swinging the antenna beam electrically, and, in fact, is a dynamic space-time filter of the spacecraft. The aim of the work is to identify the basic principles of functioning of the array as part of the spacecraft with inherent limitations in the mass-dimensional and energy characteristics of the onboard equipment and, at the same time, high requirements for the functional characteristics. This paper presents the calculation and the main results of designing an active electronically scanned array complying with the requirements for optimizing the parameters of the antenna system. To assess the effect of scanning on the phase characteristics of the chips, a nonlinear amplifier model was developed. A statistical analysis of the phase characteristics was carried out when the load resistance changed in accordance with the obtained distribution laws. When calculating the resulting directional pattern of the antenna array, destabilizing factors were taken into account in accordance with the results of the study of the prototypes of the antenna array being created. Phase errors were calculated, mainly determined by the errors of the terminal parts of the receiving paths. Measures were implemented to ensure the effect of such phase errors on the directional pattern of the array only on the far side lobes.