MMCOMM with support from UCLA will design a low mass, low power digital beamforming (DBF) subarray for radar and communications applications. The technology is applicable to any communication or radar band, namely L, S, X or EHF. We will evaluate advanced DDS and D/A digital waveform generation. We will investigate flexible membrane materials such as Kapton and Liquid Crystal Polymer (LCP). Tradeoffs will be performed comparing alternate architectures. The baseline approach is a DDS waveform generator feeding a hybrid RF/IF - digital beamformer. The DDS based approach is based upon extending the current MMCOMM developed DDS technology that operates at Ka-band. The digital beamforming technology is based upon that currently under development at UCLA for the commercial wireless market. Thus the utilization of applicable COTS technology is a potential realization for the proposed design. We will leverage the current MMCOMM DDS and microwave / MMW MMIC capability plus the UCLA MMW Lab DBF capability to develop the solution for Phase I. We will investigate the applicability of waveforms such as CDMA and OFDM. For Phase II we will propose building a demo subarray leveraging off the newly developing COTS microwave / MMW technology at MMCOMM and the MMW / digital beamforming technology at UCLA. Anticipated Benefits/Commercial Applications: A digital beamforming subarray having very low mass, and power consumption is an extremely useful component for DBF phased array antennas and DBF array feeds to lens and reflector antennas, for both military and commercial use. Space-based radar/communication/surveillance/reconnaissance systems would benefit greatly from the development of this technology. Military applications include satellite radar and communications systems at S-band thru Extremely High Frequency bands. Commercial applications that would benefit from this technology include satellite-based global communications systems.
Keywords: Digital Neamforming (DBF), Low Mass, Low Power Consumption, Phased Array Antenna, Direct Digital Synthesis (DDDS), Communications, Radar, Millimeter Wave (MMW), Waveform Agility
