An Acoustooptic-Phased-Array Antenna Beamformer for Multiple Simultaneous Beam Generation

An acoustooptic-phased-array antenna beamformer with N multiple simultaneous beam generation capability is experimentally demonstrated using a single channel acoustooptic device driven by a signal of frequency fc, and an acousto-optic device with N channels driven by signals with frequencies fc + f1,…, fc+fN, respectively. f1,…, fn,…, fN control the carrier and phase values of the N independent beam generation signals, n being the beam number. Using fc = 60 MHz, and N = 2, 0-2π phase control is achieved using fn = 0-460 KHz. A dynamic range of 54.5 dB at 1 MHz and carrier-to-noise of 113.4 dB/Hz at 1 MHz is measured for a 120 MHz carrier. One-dimensional transmit/receive antenna beam scanning can be provided by this system.