Abstract: A digital receiver/exciter (DREX) antenna calibration system includes a DREX antenna array, and an antenna probe configured to receive energy from the DREX antenna array and/or transmit energy to the DREX antenna array. A modular signal processing unit is in signal communication with the DREX antenna array. The modular signal processing unit includes a plurality of individual signal processing programmable integrated circuits configured to process the energy. A modular array controller is in signal communication with the probe controller, the DREX antenna array, and the modular signal processing unit. The modular array controller includes at least one modular array unit that includes an array programmable integrated circuit and a multicore processor.

Abstract: The Active Electronically Scanned Lens Array design for a phased array reduces the cost of the phased array with minimal sacrifice to array performance. The design replaces transmit/receive (T/R) modules at the front end of the array with low cost and low lost phase shifters. A tradeoff in this design is a periodic phase quantization error that leads to quantization lobes. To reduce quantization lobes, a phase addition approach is presented to break up with the periodicity. In the presented approach, a phase offset is added at a T/R module and then corrected for at each radiating element in the array. The applied phase offset can be either deterministic or random.