The invention relates to a method (for determining calibration data for an airborne goniometry apparatus comprising an antenna array of several antennas, from several sets of calibration data measured in-flight by said goniometry apparatus, each associated with a measured angular position and comprising an amplitude datum and a phase datum measured by each antenna in said antenna array at said measured position.

The method comprises, for an estimated angular position, a phase (200) of calculating an estimated calibration data set and comprising the following steps: for each measured position, normalizing (204) the data set measured at said measured position, with respect to the phase data measured by each antenna, said normalizing providing as many normalized data sets as there are antennas for each measured position; for each antenna, calculating (206) a candidate data set by interpolating the measured data sets at said measured positions and previously normalized with respect to the phase measured by said antenna; selecting (210), as the estimated calibration data set, the candidate data set whose phase reference has the highest energy among said candidate data sets.

It also concerns a computer program and an apparatus implementing such a method, a calibration table obtained by such a method and a goniometry apparatus calibrated with such a method.

In an embodiment, a radar level gauge system can include an antenna system comprising an imaging phased array in an isolated antenna arrangement that supports monopulse processing for radar image resolution and mapping of a surface of a material. The imaging phased array can provide a narrow-beam with beam scanning/steering and can emit a transmit beam that scans the surface of the material and forms the mapping of the surface. The mapping can comprise a 3D volumetric model that can include an image of a surface profile of the surface based on signals returned from the surface. The imaging phase array and the antenna system are protected from condensation and contamination from chemicals and viscous materials.

A radar system includes a transmit front end device including a transmit planar component, and a receive front end device including a receive planar component. Each of the transmit planar component and the receive planar component includes a first end, a second end, a cavity space and a linear array of antennas. The cavity space is bounded by beam ports along a first side of the cavity space and by array ports along a second side of the cavity space. The cavity space is in operative communication with the beam ports and with the array ports to form a Rotman lens. A linear array of antennas is located along the second end of the planar component. The transmit planar component and receive planar component are arranged such that the linear array of antennas of the transmit planar component and the linear array of antennas are perpendicular to one another.

The present disclosure relates to digital signal processing architectures, and more particularly to a modular object-oriented digital system architecture ideally suited for radar, sonar and other general purpose instrumentation which includes the ability to self-discover modular system components, self-build internal firmware and software based on the modular components, sequence signal timing across the modules and synchronize signal paths through multiple system modules.

Radar systems and methods for imaging surfaces. A processor receives raw data from the radar and executes an image data generation. A display unit displays an image representing the targeted surface. The radar unit may be incorporated in a handheld scanner. Rectangular antenna arrays may be configured and processors may be operable such that the image data generated may be processed and displayed in real time.

An electronically steerable phased array and switching network connected to an FMCW radar transceiver to enable a low-cost monopulse tracking system that covers a wide field of regard using electronic beam steering. In a first mode, beamformer integrated circuits (BFICs) at each element in the array are switched synchronously with transmit/receive (T/R) switches located at the subarray level. This allows the entire aperture to be switched between transmission and reception, enabling the FMCW radar transceiver to be operated in a pulsed configuration. In a second mode, a portion of the T/R switches at the subarray level and all of the connecting BFICs at the element level are fixed in either transmitting or receiving mode, allowing separate portions of the aperture to concurrently transmit or receive. The arrangement of transmitting and receiving subarrays can be dynamically reconfigured to allow for accurate bearing and azimuth estimation using alternating monopulse.

A modular radar system comprises an antenna assembly, a support structure to which the antenna assembly is mounted, and a set of modular radar subsystems. The antenna assembly comprises an antenna array, an antenna enclosure to which the antenna array is attached and which is configured to house the antenna array and to distribute communications signals and power signals to the antenna array, and an antenna enclosure interface configured to receive inputs to and provide outputs from, the antenna array. The support structure positions the antenna array at an orientation and elevation for antenna operation. The set of modular radar subsystems is separate from the support structure and in operable communication with the antenna enclosure interface and comprises a data processing subsystem, a cooling subsystem, and an AC power subsystem supplying power to the antenna enclosure, the data processing subsystem, the cooling subsystem and to a DC power conversion subsystem.

The present disclosure relates to an apparatus and method for synthetically making an ultra-wide imaging bandwidth in millimeter-wave frequencies, resulting in improved image resolutions to values previously unattained. The synthetic approach sums up a number of available sub-bands to build an unavailable ultra-wideband system. Each sub-band contains a transceiver unit which is optimized for operation within that specific sub-band. The number and position of the sub-bands can be adjusted to cover any frequency range as required for the specific application.

A self-diagnosis device of a radar system or a phased-array antenna module including a general-purpose multi-channel IC and a transmission phase shifter IC having a plurality of transmission output terminals and reception terminals is configured to perform a self-diagnosis of the transmission phase shifter by utilizing a signal that is generatable by the general-purpose multi-channel IC, which is enabled by a built-in self-test circuit that (A) generates a self-diagnosis monitor signal converted into a low frequency band, which is a mixture of (i) a self-diagnosis signal generated from (a) a third output signal and a fourth output signal output in sync from same PLL with (b) a first output signal to be supplied to a reception frequency converter of the general-purpose multi-channel IC, and (ii) a composite signal of the transmission channel, and (B) analyzes a phase of the self-diagnosis monitor signal.

Examples disclosed herein relate to two-dimensional radar for use in millimeter wave applications. An antenna structure of the two-dimensional radar includes a transmit array arranged along a first axis and configured to scan a field of view along the first axis at a first scan rate with radio frequency (RF) beams in a first polarization, and a receive array arranged along a second axis orthogonal to the first axis and configured to receive return RF beams in the first polarization to scan the field of view along the second axis at a second scan rate different from the first scan rate. Other examples disclosed herein relate to an antenna system for two-dimensional radar in millimeter wave applications and a radar system with two-dimensional scanning.