METHOD FOR PRODUCING A DIRECTION-FINDING ANTENNA ARRAY AND ANTENNA ARRAY PRODUCED ACCORDING TO SUCH A METHOD

Abstract

A method for manufacturing a radio-direction-finding antenna array in two dimensions includes a step of designing the antenna array with the help of predetermined constraints, the designing step comprising: a step of defining a reference antenna network, a step of searching for configurations to be taken into consideration of each of the antennas forming a direction-finding antenna array, a step of quantifying the maximum level of ambiguities of each of the possible configurations with the help of a correlation function so as to associate an evaluation quantity with each of the configurations considered, a step of searching for and selecting the configuration exhibiting the lowest evaluation quantity.

Claims

1. A method for manufacturing a direction-finding antenna array in two dimensions comprising at least three antennas, wherein comprising a phase of determining the optimal configuration of said array from among a list of possible configurations, a configuration being defined by the gain, the direction of pointing and the position within said array of each of said antennas, said phase comprises at least: a step of defining a reference antenna network, said network covering a surface having a dimension in elevation and/or in bearing inversely proportional respectively to a level of precision required in elevation and/or in bearing for the estimation of the directions of arrival of the incident waves, and comprising a plurality of elementary antennas, said elementary antennas being distributed according to a regular mesh, the distance separating two contiguous elementary antennas being substantially equal to the half-wavelength associated with the maximum frequency of a span of frequencies of interest, the number of antennas of said network being greater than the number of antennas of said array, the spacing between the extreme antennas of said network being greater than or equal to the spacing between the extreme antennas of said array along the bearing axis and/or the elevation axis, a step of searching for configurations to be taken into consideration with the help of predetermined constraints so as to establish a list of configurations to be taken into consideration, a step of quantifying the maximum level of ambiguities of each of the configurations of said list with the help of a correlation function so as to associate an evaluation quantity with each of said configurations, a step of searching for the configuration exhibiting the lowest evaluation quantity, said configuration being the optimal configuration.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said direction-finding antenna array being intended for measurements of direction of arrival of incident radioelectric signals not depending on the polarization of these said signals, the evaluation quantity associated with a configuration is equal to the maximum value of a correlation function F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2) dependent on two directions of arrival where .sub.1 and .sub.2 representing two directions of arrival scanning the domain of coverage of direction of arrival of said configuration for the one and the domain of direction of arrival of interest for the other, and by excluding the values for which the correlation function of said reference antenna network F.sub.CorRef(.sub.1, .sub.2) is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold S.sub.Ref, the correlation functions F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2) and F.sub.CorRef(.sub.1, .sub.2) being expressed respectively with the help of the pointing vector of said configuration and of the pointing vector of said reference array.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said antenna array being intended for measurements of direction of arrival of incident radioelectric signals depending on the polarization of these said signals, the evaluation quantity associated with a configuration is equal to the maximum value of the eigenvalues of a matrix *(.sub.1, .sub.2).Math.(.sub.1, .sub.2), dependent on two directions of arrival where .sub.1 and .sub.2 representing two directions of arrival scanning the domain of angular coverage of said configuration for the one and the angular domain of interest for the other, where: $\left({}_1,{}_2\right)=\left[\begin{array}{c}{U}_{\mathrm{Hnorm}}^{*}\left({}_1,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\\ U_{\mathrm{Vnorm}}^{*}\left({}_1,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\end{array}\right].Math.\left[\begin{array}{cc}{U}_{\mathrm{Hnorm}}\left({}_2,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)& U_{\mathrm{Vnorm}}\left({}_2,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\end{array}\right]$ where: (.sub.1, .sub.2) is a 22 sauare matrix; $\left[\begin{array}{c}{U}_{\mathrm{Hnorm}}^{*}\left({}_1,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\\ U_{\mathrm{Vnorm}}^{*}\left({}_1,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\end{array}\right]$ is a 2N matrix; [U.sub.Hnorm(.sub.2, .sub.min) U.sub.Vnorm(.sub.2, .sub.min)] is an N2 matrix; U.sub.Hnorm(, .sub.min) and U.sub.Vnorm(, .sub.min) are two vectors forming an orthonormal basis of the plane generated by the two pointing vectors U.sub.H(, .sub.min) and U.sub.V(, .sub.min) of the direction-finding antenna array at the minimum wavelength, respectively in horizontal linear polarization and in vertical linear polarization, The sign * corresponds to the transpose conjugate transformation.

4. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the list of configurations to be taken into consideration corresponds to the complete list of possible configurations.

5. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the list of configurations to be taken into consideration corresponds to a random draw of a predetermined number of configurations from among the complete list of possible configurations.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the reference antenna network antennas being aligned according to a mesh, the positions in the possible configurations of the antennas of the direction-finding antenna array are aligned with said mesh.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein said reference antenna network is a network of radiating elements, each antenna of said direction-finding antenna array being produced with the help of a sub-network of said network.

8. A direction-finding antenna array, wherein it is produced by the method as claimed in claim 1.

Description

[0029] Other particularities and advantages of the present invention will become more clearly apparent on reading the description hereinafter, given by way of nonlimiting illustration and with reference to the appended drawings for which:

[0030] FIG. 1 illustrates a definition of the geometric reference frame used and of the particular angles of bearing and of elevation;

[0031] FIG. 2 represents possible steps of the design of a direction-finding antenna array in two dimensions;

[0032] FIG. 3 represents an exemplary embodiment of a direction-finding antenna array in two dimensions in the case of polarization non-dependency;

[0033] FIG. 4 represents an exemplary embodiment of a direction-finding antenna array in two dimensions in the case of polarization dependency (polarization diversity case);

[0034] FIGS. 5a and 5b are graphical representations of the correlation functions of the direction-finding antenna array corresponding to the configuration depicted in FIG. 3 and of the reference antenna network, respectively F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2) and F.sub.CorRef (.sub.1, .sub.2);

[0035] FIG. 6 illustrates a definition of the geometric reference frame used with a direction-finding antenna array with polarization diversity;

[0036] FIG. 7 is a graphical representation of the generalized correlation (matrix calculation) of the direction-finding antenna array with polarization diversity depicted in FIG. 6;

[0037] FIGS. 8a and 8b represent respectively a configuration of a direction-finding antenna array which is designed according to the invention and the graphic of the correlation function illustrating the results obtained for this configuration;

[0038] FIGS. 9a and 9b represent respectively a configuration of a direction-finding antenna array with polarization diversity which is designed according to the invention and the graphic of the generalized correlation illustrating the results obtained for this configuration.

[0039] The subject of the present invention is a method for producing a direction-finding antenna array able to work according to two angular dimensions, for example bearing and elevation. If required, the method is obviously applicable with a single angular dimension.

[0040] FIG. 1 recalls that, for any direction of arrival, depicted by a direction-of-arrival straight line 11, the bearing is the angle formed by the straight line 110, corresponding to the projection of the direction-of-arrival straight line on the horizontal plane, and a reference axis in this horizontal plane (or lubber line, for example the normal to a plane of alignment of the antennas). The elevation is the angle formed by the direction-of-arrival straight line 11 and its projection 110 on the horizontal plane.

[0041] Hereinafter, the term direction of arrival will be used, symbolized by , and therefore generally defined by two angles, the bearing .sub.g and the elevation .sub.s, =(.sub.g, .sub.s).

[0042] The direction-finding antenna array can be produced equally well with the help of non-network conventional antennas (spiral, sinuous, butterfly, horn, etc.) as with the help of a network antenna in which an array of sub-networks is defined, this array forming said direction-finding antenna array. Stated otherwise, the array is then produced with the help of beams formed with sub-networks of a network of elementary antennas.

[0043] The method according to the invention comprises a phase of searching for the optimal configuration of the direction-finding antenna array, followed by a phase of production with the help of this optimal configuration.

[0044] In general, by configuration is meant the definition of each constituent antenna within the array, that is to say the gain dependent on direction of arrival, on frequency and on polarization, the position of the phase center and the direction of pointing, irrespective of the embodiment with conventional antennas or with formed beams. This exhaustive definition of a configuration can, however, be simplified as will be seen further on.

[0045] The method according to the invention comprises for example the following steps presented in FIG. 2: [0046] A first step 21 of defining a reference antenna network; [0047] A second step 22 of defining the configurations to be taken into consideration; [0048] A third step 23 of evaluating each configuration to be taken into consideration, by a scheme involving the reference antenna network and making it possible to assess the direction-finding quality in terms of ambiguities and precision; [0049] A fourth step 24 of determining the best configuration; [0050] A fifth step 25 of producing the direction-finding antenna array corresponding to this best configuration.

[0051] The first step of defining a reference antenna network consists in defining a plurality of K elementary antennas, all identical, whose phase centers are arranged regularly on a meshed surface. The distance between two contiguous antennas of the network must substantially be less than half the minimum wavelength, the minimum wavelength .sub.min corresponding to the maximum working frequency f.sub.max, which is the maximum frequency of a span of frequencies of interest, specific to each application. The lengths of the network, in the horizontal and vertical sectional planes, are inversely proportional to the bearing-wise and elevation-wise direction-finding precisions respectively. The number of antennas of the reference antenna network is greater than the number of antennas of the antenna array. The spacing between the extreme antennas of the reference antenna network is greater than or equal to the spacing between the extreme antennas of the antenna array, irrespective of which axis is considered, elevation or bearing.

[0052] In general, this meshed surface is not necessarily plane, it may for example be cylindrical. However, a simplified variant may be a plane meshed surface.

[0053] This reference antenna network is a simple calculational stratagem in the method in the case where the direction-finding antenna array is produced with conventional antennas. On the other hand, in the case where the direction-finding antenna array is produced by beams formed with the help of sub-networks, this reference antenna network can correspond concretely to the network of elementary antennas with which the sub-networks generating said formed beams are produced.

[0054] The object of the second step of defining the configurations to be taken in consideration is to provide the third step with a configuration list to be evaluated in such a way that the fourth step can choose, from among them, the best according to a criterion regarding the quantity serving to evaluate each configuration.

[0055] It is recalled that a configuration corresponds to the physical definition of a direction-finding antenna array, this array comprising N antennas, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2. This physical definition corresponds, for each of the N constituent antennas in the most general case, to the gain dependent on direction of arrival, on frequency and on polarization, to the position of the phase center and to the direction of pointing. This is valid irrespective of the embodiment, with conventional antennas or with formed beams.

[0056] The definition of a configuration may however be simplified in a large number of possible cases. A variant embodiment may then culminate in a configuration that reduces solely to the positions of the phase centers of the antennas in a plane, these all being identical, placed in a plane and pointing in the same direction.

[0057] It should be noted that the antenna gain (dependent on direction of arrival, on frequency and on polarization) is a definition aimed at generalization. Indeed, for current cases of use, there will not be a tendency to employ constituent antennas that differ from one another, except in polarization response for polarization diversity reasons.

[0058] These configurations are tailored by the specification and by geometric and technical considerations depending on the mode of production of the direction-finding antenna array. For example, in the case of production with conventional antennas, the antennas being allowed neither to get in one another's way mechanically, nor to mask one another, it will not be possible for them to overlap. On the other hand, in the case of formed beams, it would be possible for the antennas to overlap insofar as the formations of beams by sub-network would so permit; this is a technical question of specification.

[0059] The reference antenna network, defined in the first step, provides the regular mesh of the surface of implantation of the phase centers of the K constituent antennas of this network, with a mesh cell pitch d of substantially less than half the minimum wavelength .sub.min/2. The phase centers of the constituent antennas of the direction-finding antenna array, with beamforming, being able to align themselves with a mesh cell half-pitch d/2 according to the beamforming, it will be possible to use this half-pitch mesh also when the antennas are conventional.

[0060] FIG. 3 illustrates a plane example of embodiment of a direction-finding antenna array 30 as well as the possible positions of each of the phase centers of the antennas thus produced with the sub-networks 31. So as not to overload the figure, only the possible locations 311 of the phase centers 310 of each of the antennas 31 have been represented.

[0061] According to a first mode of implementation, in the course of this step, it is possible to compile a list of all the possible configurations of the direction-finding antenna array, by establishing all the possible combinations having regard to the constraints and to the specification.

[0062] According to a second, alternative, mode of implementation, the list of configurations to be evaluated can be established by selecting in a random manner, in the array of possible configurations, a restricted number of configurations relative to the possible totality. The aim of this mode is to avoid too large a number of configurations to be evaluated as third step, if the application is constrained in execution time. Insofar as the configurations are limited to the positions of the phase centers of the antennas, it is interesting to note that random drawing will reproduce the statistic in respect of irregularity of the configurations, implying that it will be possible to have, in the list thus restricted, a configuration which is sufficiently irregular to have a sufficiently low level of direction-finding ambiguities.

[0063] The third step is based on an evaluation of the maximum level of direction-finding ambiguities produced by each configuration of direction-finding antenna array, each evaluated configuration having been defined in the second step.

[0064] A direction-finding ambiguity corresponds to identical measurements of direction of arrival for different actual directions of arrival. In practice, having regard to imperfections of hardware production and measurement noise of any kind, a direction-finding ambiguity corresponds to measurements of direction of arrival that are close for sufficiently distant actual directions of arrival.

[0065] The level of direction-finding ambiguities can be evaluated by correlating the measurements of directions of arrival that are performed by a direction-finding antenna array in a given domain of directions of arrival, by eliminating from this domain the cases for which the correlation of the measurements of direction of arrival is normal, this being seen through the correlation of the measurements of direction of arrival of the reference antenna network which produces an ideal response.

[0066] The correlation can be supported by a calculation of correlation function which is more or less generalized depending on whether the measurements of direction of arrival do or do not depend on the polarization of the radioelectric signals having to be processed.

[0067] To perform this calculation, two domains of directions of arrival need to be distinguished: the domain of coverage and the domain of interest. The domain of coverage is the domain of directions of arrival for which the direction-finding antenna array may receive radioelectric signals. The domain of interest is given by the specification, it is at most equal to the domain of coverage, it is generally restricted relative to the latter.

[0068] In a practical manner to calculate the more or less generalized correlation functions, it will be possible to take angular values that are not linearly distributed in these domains, but angular values whose sines are linearly distributed. This makes it possible advantageously to reduce the number of directions of arrival while taking into account, if need be, the squint-related broadening of the formed beams.

[0069] The first case is that where the direction-of-arrival measurements performed with the direction-finding antenna array do not depend on the polarization of the incident radioelectric signals. In this case, the correlation is expressed by a simple correlation function. The maximum level of ambiguities of a direction-finding antenna array, associated with a given configuration, corresponds to the maximum value of the correlation function of said array

[00003]$\underset{{}_1,{}_2}{\max }.Math.\left(F_{\mathrm{Cor}}\left({}_1,{}_2\right)\right)$

where .sub.1 and .sub.2 are two directions of arrival scanning the domain of coverage for the one and the domain of interest for the other (the assignment of the domains to .sub.1 and to .sub.2 is immaterial), and by excluding the values for which the correlation function of the reference antenna network F.sub.CorRef(.sub.1, .sub.2) is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold S.sub.Ref. In general, the result lies between 0 and 1, bound included. A preferential value of the threshold S.sub.Ref is 0.5.

[0070] The correlation functions F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2) and F.sub.CorRef(.sub.1, .sub.2) are expressed respectively with the help of the pointing vector (or steering vector) of the direction-finding antenna array U(, .sub.min) and of the pointing vector of the reference antenna network U.sub.Ref(, .sub.min):

F.sub.cor(.sub.1, .sub.2)=|U*(.sub.1, .sub.min).Math.U(.sub.2, .sub.min)|.sup.2 and F.sub.CorRef(.sub.1, .sub.2)=|U*.sub.Ref(.sub.1, .sub.min).Math.U.sub.Ref(.sub.2, .sub.min)|.sup.2

where the sign * corresponds to the transpose conjugate transformation.

[0071] In general, a pointing vector of a group G of P antennas, U.sub.G(, ), is a unit vector comprising P components, whose p-th component is proportional to the response of the p-th antenna, in amplitude and phase,

[00004]$A_{G,p}\left(,\right)=D_{G,p}\left(,\right).Math.e^{j.Math..Math.\frac{2.Math.}{}.Math.{\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{\mathrm{OM}}}_{G,p}.Math.\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{u}\left(\right)}$

where, as illustrated by FIG. 1: [0072] D.sub.G,p(, ) is the radiation pattern or gain (amplitude and phase) of the p-th antenna of the group G in the direction of arrival and at the wavelength ; [0073] M.sub.G,p is the position in space of the phase center of the p-th antenna of the group G with respect to an origin O; [0074] {right arrow over (u)}() is the unit vector carried by the direction of arrival ;

[00005]$e^{j.Math..Math.\frac{2.Math.}{}.Math.{\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{\mathrm{OM}}}_{G,p}.Math.\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{u}\left(\right)}$

represents the phase shift term related to the position of the phase center of the p-th antenna in the group G.

[0075] In general, the pointing vector U.sub.G(, ) can be expressed as the ratio of the vector A.sub.G(, ), whose p-th component is A.sub.G,p(, ), to its Euclidean norm A.sub.G(, ) which can itself be expressed in the following manner A.sub.G(, )={square root over (A*.sub.G(, ).Math.A.sub.G(, ))}, A*.sub.G(, ) is the conjugate transpose vector of the vector A.sub.G(, ).

[0076] The pointing vector U(, .sub.min) is obtained by application of the foregoing to the N antennas of the direction-finding antenna array.

[0077] The pointing vector U.sub.Ref(, .sub.min) is obtained by application of the foregoing to the K antennas of the reference antenna network. Having regard generally to the weak directivity of the antennas of the reference antenna network, in an implementation variant, the gains D.sub.Ref,k(, ) can be replaced by 1. In another implementation variant, these gains D.sub.Ref,k(, ) can be replaced by weighting coefficients P.sub.k which differ from antenna to antenna, with the aim of not penalizing a configuration of the direction-finding antenna array offering a lower level of ambiguities at the cost of a slight degradation in the precision of direction of arrival.

[0078] The second case is that where the direction-of-arrival measurements performed with the direction-finding antenna array depend on the polarization of the radioelectric signals, both for reasons of diversity of polarization of the incident radioelectric signals and for reasons of polarization response of the constituent antennas. When the direction-finding antenna array must be able to deal with diversity of polarization of incident signals, it is necessary to use constituent antennas that can form a basis of decomposition of the polarization, which is preferably orthogonal. For example, antennas with horizontal linear matched polarization and antennas with vertical linear matched polarization are used conventionally. But this can also be antennas with right circular matched polarization and antennas with left circular matched polarization.

[0079] In this case, the correlation at the level of the direction-finding antenna array rises with the matrix product *(.sub.1, .sub.2).Math.(.sub.1, .sub.2) and the maximum level of ambiguities corresponds to the largest eigenvalue of this matrix product:

VP.sub.max[*(.sub.1, .sub.2).Math.(.sub.1, .sub.2)]

[0080] with

[00006]$\left({}_1,{}_2\right)=\left[\begin{array}{c}{U}_{\mathrm{Hnorm}}^{*}\left({}_1,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\\ U_{\mathrm{Vnorm}}^{*}\left({}_1,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\end{array}\right].Math.\left[\begin{array}{cc}{U}_{\mathrm{Hnorm}}\left({}_2,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)& U_{\mathrm{Vnorm}}\left({}_2,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\end{array}\right]$

[0081] where: [0082] VP.sub.max signifies maximum eigenvalue; [0083] (.sub.1, .sub.2) is a 22 square mix;

[00007]$\left[\begin{array}{c}{U}_{\mathrm{Hnorm}}^{*}\left({}_1,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\\ U_{\mathrm{Vnorm}}^{*}\left({}_1,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\end{array}\right]$

is a 2N matrix; [0084] [U.sub.Hnorm(.sub.2, .sub.min) U.sub.Vnorm(.sub.2, .sub.min)] is an N2 matrix; [0085] U.sub.Hnorm(, .sub.min) and U.sub.Vnorm(, .sub.min) are two vectors forming an orthonormal basis of the plane generated by the two pointing vectors U.sub.H(, .sub.min) and U.sub.V(, .sub.min) of the direction-finding antenna array at the minimum wavelength, respectively in horizontal linear polarization (H) (corresponding to an electric field collinear with the vector {right arrow over (u)}.sub.H() of FIG. 4, said vector being a unit vector orthogonal to the direction-of-arrival straight line defined by and situated in the local horizontal plane of the direction-finding antenna array) and in vertical linear polarization (V) (corresponding to an electric field collinear with the vector u.sub.v(0) of FIG. 4, said vector being a unit vector orthogonal to the direction-of-arrival straight line defined by and situated in the local vertical plane, comprising the direction-of-arrival straight line, of the direction-finding antenna array), that can take for example the following form:

[00008]$.Math.U_{\mathrm{Hnorm}}\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)=U_H\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right).Math..Math.\mathrm{and}$$U_{\mathrm{Vnorm}}\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)=\frac{U_V\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)-\left(U_H^{*}\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right).Math.U_V\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\right).Math.U_H\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)}{.Math.U_V\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)-\left(U_H^{*}\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right).Math.U_V\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right)\right).Math.U_H\left(,{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}\right).Math.}$ [0086] The sign * corresponds to the transpose conjugate transformation.

[0087] The pointing vectors U.sub.H(, .sub.min) and U.sub.V(, .sub.min) are unit vector comprising N components since they correspond to the direction-finding antenna array which possesses N antennas, their n-th components are proportional to the responses, in amplitude and phase, of the n-th antennas respectively in horizontal polarization

[00009]$A_{H,n}\left(,\right)=D_{H,n}\left(,\right).Math.e^{j.Math..Math.\frac{2.Math.}{}.Math.{\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{\mathrm{OM}}}_n.Math.\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{u}\left(\right)}$

and in vertical polarization

[00010]$A_{V,n}\left(,\right)=D_{V,n}\left(,\right).Math.e^{j.Math..Math.\frac{2.Math.}{}.Math.{\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{\mathrm{OM}}}_n.Math.\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{u}\left(\right)},$

where in a similar manner to the first case and as illustrated by FIG. 4: [0088] D.sub.H,n(, ) and D.sub.V,n(, ) are the radiation patterns or gains (amplitude and phase) of the n-th antenna of the direction-finding antenna array in the direction of arrival , at the wavelength and respectively in horizontal linear polarization and in vertical linear polarization; [0089] M.sub.n is the position in space of the phase center of the n-th antenna of the direction-finding antenna array with respect to an origin O; [0090] {right arrow over (u)}() is the unit vector carried by the direction of arrival ;

[00011]$e^{j.Math..Math.\frac{2.Math.}{}.Math.{\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{\mathrm{OM}}}_n.Math.\stackrel{.fwdarw.}{u}\left(\right)}$

represents tne phase shift term related to the position of the phase center of the n-th antenna in the direction-finding antenna array.

[0091] The fourth step of determining the best configuration consists in adopting the configuration of the direction-finding antenna array exhibiting the lowest maximum level of ambiguities from among those calculated in the third step, and less than a predetermined threshold S.sub.max. This threshold makes it possible to ensure that the maximum level of ambiguities is sufficiently low for the quality of the direction-finding and, if need be if it is not, to recommence the method according to the invention from the first step while necessarily relaxing certain constraints such as, for example, the number of direction-finding antennas N, that is to say by increasing it.

[0092] The preferential values of the threshold S.sub.max are less than or equal to 0.9.

[0093] Complementary explanations are provided hereinafter, backed up with nonlimiting examples illustrated by figures.

[0094] FIGS. 5a and 5b illustrate the phenomenon of direction-finding ambiguities through the graphical representation of the correlation function. To facilitate interpretation, the direction of arrival is restricted to the bearing .sub.g, the elevation .sub.s is assumed zero. As advocated previously, the bearing scales are also in terms of sine of the bearing. The domain of coverage in bearing goes from 90 to +90 degrees, and the domain of bearing interest goes from .sub.gi=15 degrees to .sub.gi=15 degrees.

[0095] FIG. 5a corresponds to the correlation function F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2)=F.sub.Cor(.sub.g1, .sub.g2) of the configuration of the array, described previously by FIG. 3, of direction-finding antennas. In this configuration, the N direction-finding antennas exhibit the same radiation pattern pointing in the same direction and are regularly spaced according to a pitch L along the y axis (horizontal), and consequently constitute an antenna array which is naturally ambiguous for the minimum wavelength .sub.min. This is manifested by a multitude of straight lines 51 in addition to the straight line 50 which is not itself to be considered to be a site of ambiguities. Indeed, FIG. 5b corresponds to the correlation function F.sub.CorRef(.sub.1, .sub.2)=F.sub.CorRef(.sub.g1, .sub.g2) of the reference antenna network, it illustrates its robustness to ambiguities, that is to say the best possible result in terms of rejection of ambiguities. Only the pairs (.sub.g1, .sub.g2) belonging to the straight line 50 passing through the origin, .sub.g1=.sub.g2, provide a value of F.sub.CorRef(.sub.g1, .sub.g2) equal to 1, this being absolutely normal.

[0096] It will be noted that, in these graphical representations of the correlation functions, the thickness of the straight lines 50, 51 reflects the precision achievable in the estimation of direction of arrival. The finer the straight line 50, 51, the more precise the estimation of the bearing. Indeed, the thickness of these straight lines conveys the rate at which the pointing vectors become decorrelated as the directions of arrival are parted. The precision of direction of arrival ensues directly from this decorrelation rate, itself related to the geometric dimensions of the direction-finding antenna array.

[0097] It will also be noted in FIG. 5a that the spacing 52 between straight lines 50, 51 is regular and equals precisely

[00012]$\frac{{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}}{.Math..Math.L}.$

This is to do with the fact that two bearings .sub.g1 and .sub.g2 exhibit similar pointing vectors when the difference of their sine equals an integer number of times

[00013]$\frac{{}_{m.Math..Math.i.Math..Math.n}}{.Math..Math.L}.$

This similarity, for this non-zero integer number, generates the ambiguities which are normal here in view of the geometry of the configuration and are manifested by the largest value of the correlation function, that is to say 1.

[0098] FIG. 6 presents an exemplary embodiment of a direction-finding antenna array 70 with polarization diversity and the possible positions of these antennas 71, 72. Just as for FIG. 3, so as not to overload the figure, only the possible locations 730 of the phase centers 73 of each of the direction-finding antennas 71, 72 have been represented. The depicted configuration is directly inspired by the depicted configuration of the array of single-polarization antennas of FIG. 3 and each antenna 71, 72 is aligned according to a regular mesh. In this example, the direction-finding antenna array with polarization diversity 70 comprises twice as many antennas distributed over one and the same surface to achieve the same precision of direction of arrival as in the configuration depicted in FIG. 3. Half of the antennas 71 possess a horizontal linear matched polarization and the other half of the antennas 72 possess a vertical linear matched polarization.

[0099] In general, the antennas 71 have matched polarization orthogonal to that of the antennas 72, and these antennas 71, 72 can be arranged in any way to form the direction-finding antenna array on condition that as many antennas 71 as antennas 72 are used.

[0100] According to a particular embodiment, the antennas forming the direction-finding antenna array can be arranged checkerboard-fashion by alternating an antenna 71 and an antenna 72. Advantageously, this checkerboard-fashion dual-polarization architecture makes it possible: [0101] To homogenize the probability of interception of the incident signals on the direction-finding antenna array as a function of their polarization; [0102] To allow joint estimation of the direction of arrival and of the polarization of the intercepted signal; [0103] To optimize the precision of direction of arrival in terms of elevation and bearing.

[0104] According to another embodiment, the direction-finding antenna array 70 with polarization diversity consists of double, so-called dual-polarization, antennas comprising two antennas of orthogonal matched polarizations whose phase centers coincide to within imperfections. In this case, the number of dual-polarization antennas is identical to that of a single-polarization antenna array 30.

[0105] FIG. 7 corresponds to the correlation function F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2)=F.sub.Cor(.sub.g1, .sub.g2) for the configuration depicted in FIG. 6. The regular arrangement of the antennas 71, 72 causes ambiguities of maximum level. For domains of coverage bearing and of interest which are identical to FIG. 5a, FIG. 7 exhibits half as many straight lines, this being normal since the spacing along the y axis (horizontal) between two successive antennas is decreased in a ratio of two.

[0106] FIG. 8a gives an exemplary configuration of a direction-finding antenna array 80 which is designed according to the invention. This configuration has been adopted from among a list of ten thousand possible configurations, obtained through a succession of random draws. For a domain of direction of arrival of interest comprising bearings between 15 and +15 degrees and elevations between 10 and +10 degrees, the correlation function F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2) is less than 0.75. FIG. 8b graphically represents the correlation function F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2)=F.sub.Cor(.sub.g1, .sub.g2) at zero elevation for bearings of interest between 15 and +15 degrees and coverage bearings between 90 and +90 degrees, the value of this function exhibits a value of less than 0.7 away from the straight line 50. Comparison of FIGS. 5a and 8b makes it possible to demonstrate the appreciable reduction in the level of the ambiguities of the direction-finding antenna array, the precision of direction of arrival being unchanged.

[0107] FIG. 9a gives an exemplary configuration of a direction-finding antenna array 90 with polarization diversity which is designed according to the invention. This configuration has been adopted from among a list of a million possible configurations, obtained through a succession of random draws. For a domain of direction of arrival of interest comprising bearings between 15 and +15 degrees and elevations between 10 and +10 degrees, the correlation function F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2) is less than 0.85. FIG. 9b graphically represents the correlation function F.sub.Cor(.sub.1, .sub.2)=F.sub.Cor(.sub.g1, .sub.g2) at zero elevation for bearings of interest between 15 and +15 degrees and coverage bearings between 90 and +90 degrees, the value of this function exhibits a value of less than 0.5 away from the straight line 50. Comparison of FIGS. 7 and 9b makes it possible to demonstrate the appreciable reduction in the level of the ambiguities of the direction-finding antenna array, the precision of direction of arrival being unchanged.