ENABLING TECHNOLOGIES FOR ULTRA WIDEBAND
PHASED ARRAY FOR RADAR AND EW APPLICATIONS
WITH FOCUS ON SMALL AND MEDIUM PLATFORMS
A. Ouacha, R. Gunnarsson and A. Eneroth(*)
FOI, Dept. of Sensor Technology, P.O. Box 1165, SE-581 11 Linköping, Sweden
E-mail: aziz.ouacha@foi.se
(*) FOI, Dept. of Electronic Warfare Systems, P.O. Box 1165, SE-581 11 Linköping, Sweden
Abstract — Systems that can operate over wide
frequency ranges with agile beam scanning and frequency
hopping are receiving increased attention due to recent
trends within communication, radar and EW applications.
In addition to requiring wideband apertures, T/R modules,
beamforming and beam shaping, a wideband
multifunction antenna system must also be able to
instantaneously reconfigure the array to the required
function(s) and other parameters such as effective radiated
power (ERP) and beam shape. Our findings on the
feasibility of realizing crucial components for wideband
phased arrays and in particular array antennas, ultra
wideband beamformer and front-end for small and
medium platforms such as UAV’s is reported in this paper.
A compact and lightweight phased array concept for 360°
coverage is presented.
I. INTRODUCTION
Recent trends within communication, radar and EW
(electronic warfare) applications calls for systems that
can operate over wide frequency ranges with agile beam
scanning. Wideband active array antennas are highly
interesting alternatives to conventional antennas in
applications including wireless communications,
wideband radar, EW, radioastronomy, and multifunction
RF systems [1-4]. Their potential advantages; multiple
target tracking and jamming, directive communication
and jamming, graceful degradation, flexibility, weight,
size, etc. offer significant improvements provided that
they can be shown to be technically and economically
feasible. Further, conventional antenna array systems
are intended for only one application, i.e. separate
systems are used for functions such as radar, electronic
warfare or communication, commonly with limited
bandwidth. This imposes a multitude of separate and
separately optimised antennas on a platform which
might have limited payload capacity due to size, weight
and signature restrictions. Here a wideband
multifunction antenna system might be an attractive
solution. Such a system does not only require wideband
apertures, T/R modules, beamforming and beam
scanning, but also modular and reconfigurable
architectures in order to, instantaneously, reconfigure
the array to the required function(s) and other
parameters such as effective radiated power (ERP) and
beam shape. In his paper we report on our findings on
the feasibility of realising crucial components for
wideband phased arrays including the antenna and
reconfigurable beamforming components.
II. PHASED ARRAY DESIGN
To be able to perform the desired functions for a
multifunction phased array for small and medium
platforms, e.g. EW, ESM (electronic support measures)
and communication, and to reduce the cost, the array
antenna should be wideband, easily manufactured, have
low weight and have wide azimuth coverage.
A popular antenna candidate for broadband, wide-angle
scanning, antenna arrays is the tapered slot antenna
(TSA) element, see Fig.1a. Different forms of TSA
antennas have been used both as single antenna
elements and in array antennas [5-7] and can
theoretically be designed for multi octave bandwidths.
These antenna elements are, however, relatively heavy,
making them unsuitable for small and medium
platforms, which often have limited payload capacity.
Further, they also have a considerable extension in the
direction of radiation, making them difficult to use if
platform integration is desired. Stacked aperture-
coupled microstrip arrays are conceivable candidates
due to their potentially large bandwidth, low profile and
low weight, see Fig.1b. However, broadband designs
are complex and the manufacturing cost relatively high.
We have studied circular and faceted antenna arrays
consisting of bowtie elements, see Fig.2, [8-9]. The
arrays were designed and evaluated using the
commercially available software Ansoft HFSS and an
in-house developed FDTD-program [10]. Apart from
being wideband and having a low profile, phased arrays
consisting of bowtie elements are also easy to
manufacture using PCB (printed circuit board)
technology. The realized gain for the faceted array in
Fig.2 is presented in Fig.3.

Figure 1 Wideband phased array antennas developed
at FOI. (a) 6-18 GHz TSA array [7], (b) 6-15 GHz
aperture-coupled microstrip array [11], and (c) 8-18
GHz bowtie element array [8].
Figure 2 Faceted array with 2×22 bowtie elements.
Figure 3 Realized gain as a function of frequency and
φ when the faceted array in Fig.2 is scanned at φ=180°.
Maximum gain method used for antenna diagram
synthesis.
The active reflection coefficient for the faceted array is
better than -10 dB over, at least, 6 – 17 GHz for the
element in the scanning direction (element 1), see Fig.4.
Figure 4 Active reflection coefficient as a function of
frequency when the faceted array is scanned at
broadside for the facet containing element 1.
A planar array (facet) consisting of 4×4 bowtie elements
has been manufactured and experimentally evaluated,
see Fig.1c. The antenna elements are excited by 32
coaxial cables. (One pair of coaxial cables is needed for
each of the antenna elements since the two halves of the
element should be excited with a phase shift of 180°.
The scattering matrix of the array was measured using a
network analyser, and the resulting couplings were used
to calculate the active reflection coefficient. The active
reflection coefficient for a centrally situated element is
presented in Fig.5 when the array is scanned at
broadside and to 30° in the H-plane (azimuth scan).
Comparisons are made with the simulation results for an
infinite planar array.
Figure 5 Active reflection coefficients for element 10
in the experimentally evaluated 2×22 element array (see
Fig.1) and an element in an infinite array. The arrays
are scanned at broadside and to 30° in the H-plane
(azimuth scan).
 III. RECONFIGURABLE BEAMFORMING
The proposed active beamforming network in Fig.6
Reconfiguration of the antenna array to different provides reconfigurability, flexibility and beam shape
frequency bands and/or to share it to a number of sub- management. Key components including TTD’s (true
arrays can be achieved at either the beamformer level or time delays) and reconfigurable bi-directional power
at the aperture level. At the aperture level, several splitters and power combiners (PS/PC) have been
approaches can be used to reconfigure the aperture. designed and experimentally evaluated [13].
However, in this work we have focused on the A more affordable and less advanced beamformer
reconfiguration of the beamformer and its associated solution, especially suitable for small and medium
MMIC’s, reconfigurable bidirectional power splitter/ platforms such as UAV’s, has been designed using
combiners (PS/PC) and TTD’s (true time delays). Rotman lenses, see Fig.7.
A reconfigurable feed network provides the ability to
switch branches and antenna elements on and off. This
feature allows, among other things, the beamwidth to be
kept constant at different frequencies by reconfiguring
the array to the appropriate size [12]. Further, if tunable
low-pass filters are used it is possible to obtain constant
beamwidth for signals covering the entire bandwidth.
Fig.6 shows an architecture of a wideband one-
dimensional active phased array. The beamformer in our
concept was developed based on the following
requirements:

(a) Active instead of passive power distribution

will allow very good control of the system
power gain and linearity budgets.
(b) The architecture of the power splitters should
be broadband, reconfigurable and allow
variable gain. Figure 7 Schematic of a broadband beamforming
(c) The system should be able to handle wideband network based on a Rotman lens.
signals.
The beamforming network in Fig.7 includes both
The requirements (a) and (b) are satisfied using our transmitter and receivers and can therefore be used in
reconfigurable concept. In order for the system to be multifunction systems for EW, signal intelligence and
able to handle a broadband signal, i.e. to fulfil (c), communication. Rotman lenses have several favourable
TTD’s must be used as control devices instead of properties making them attractive alternatives for use in
conventional phase shifters which delivers a constant beamforming networks.
phase shift with frequency. The use of TTD’s eliminates
the “beam-squinting” and “pulse-stretching” effects
resulting from using conventional phase shifters.

Figure 8 Photograph of a Rotman lens designed for a

4×8 element phased array. The lens consists of 4 input
Figure 6 Schematic of a broadband beamforming ports (one for each beam) and 8 output ports (one for
network based on TTD’s and tunable low-pass filters. each column of antenna elements).
Advantages include straightforward manufacturing, low
cost and low weight as well as simultaneous availability
to several lobes. Since it is a TTD component, Rotman
lenses give frequency independent beam steering and
can therefore be used in wideband systems. A Rotman
lens designed for a phased array consisting of 4×8
element bowtie elements is shown in Fig.8. Measured
couplings (S-parameters) for the Rotman lens combined
with ideal element diagrams produce the normalised
directivity shown in Fig.9.
Figure 9 Normalised directivity calculated from
measured S-parameters for the Rotman lens in Fig.9
and assuming ideal element diagrams.
IV. ARRAY SIMULATION AND BEAM
SHAPING
For signals with small instantaneous bandwidth,
beamshaping can be performed by switching on or off
the signal to the antenna elements [13]. In the case of
signals with wide instantaneous bandwidth, apart from
switching elements on/off it is also necessary to perform
a frequency taper. One way is to use a taper where for a
desired beamwidth θ3dB and scanning angle θ, the
antenna element n is excited only with the signal whose
frequency band is [fmin , f(n)] where fmin < f(n) < fmax and
f(n) is given (in one dimension) by the expression:
1
f ( n) = 2 A ⋅ (1)
2n ⋅ θ 3dB ⋅ cos(θ )
Here A = 0.886 and n = -N/2,…, N/2, where N×N is the
number of elements in the array.
In the studied case, the frequency band 6-18 GHz has
been chosen to demonstrate the frequency dependent
taper concept. Fig.6 shows the different RF blocks
involved in the beamformer. An array of 16×16
accessible elements was selected. The reconfigurable
feed network is formed using the active reconfigurable
PS/PC for antenna reconfiguration. The TTD’s are used
for beam steering, the tunable low pass-filter is used for
frequency band selection, i.e. for the antenna element
(n) the allowed frequency band is [fmin , f(n)] where f(n)
is given by the above equation. Here fmin and fmax are
equal to 6 and 18 GHz. The time equalizer is used to
adjust for the delay introduced by the low-pass filter.
Fig.10 illustrates the resulting radiation pattern when the
beamformer is configured to give a frequency
independent beamwidth.
Figure 10 The normalized radiation pattern in one
plane, when the array is excited from 6 to 18 GHz.
TTD’s and filters are used to obtain a frequency
independent direction and beam width [13].
Fig.11 illustrates a small UAV equipped with a faceted
phased array. The screenshot shows the GUI (graphical
user interface) of an in-house developed tool for
visualisation of conformal antennas (VISCA) [14].
Using measured or theoretical element patterns VISCA
can be used to study scanning, coverage, cross
polarization and pattern synthesis for phased arrays. It is
possible to include PO (physical optics) contributions
from the platform on which the array is mounted. A
small UAV equipped with a faceted phased array is
illustrated in Fig.12.
Figure 11 Concept for a small UAV equipped
with a faceted multifunction phased array for ECM,
ESM and direction finding. (The antenna diagram
shown is not for the proposed faceted array.)

Figure 12 Illustration of a small UAV equipped
with a faceted phased array with bowtie elements.
The UAV in Fig.12 was used as a generic platform in a
study where the performance of a small UAV was
investigated. In the studied scenario the UAV, which
was equipped with a wideband multifunction phased
array, was used to protect a target against a hostile
radar. To assess the best tactical behaviour of this small
UAV different scenarios have been studied. It was
found that by placing the UAV in relatively close
proximity to the radar and performing mainlobe
jamming it is possible to protect large targets against
powerful radars even when the ERP for the UAV is very
low. It is therefore conceivable that small, and thereby
relatively inexpensive, UAV’s will play an increasingly
important role in the future battle field scenario. Fig.13
shows the JSR (jamming-to-signal ratio) as a function of
distance between the jammer and the radar for targets
with varying RCS (radar cross section).
Figure 13 Jamming-to-signal ratio (JSR) as a
function of jammer-to-radar distance for targets with
varying RCS. ERPjammer = 600 W, ERPradar = 50 MW,
and frequency = 10 GHz.
V. CONCLUSIONS
Our findings on the feasibility of realising crucial
components for wideband phased arrays and in
particular array antennas, ultra wideband beamformer
and front-end for small and medium platforms such as
UAV’s has been reported. A compact and lightweight
wideband faceted phased array with 360° coverage,
which is particularly suited for small platforms, has
been designed. Two broadband beamforming networks
were proposed and described. Measurements of key
components, including Rotman lens and power splitters
and combiners, have shown good results. A technique
for realising wideband phased arrays with frequency
independent radiation characteristics was described.
Finally we have shown that even with a low input
power, the ECM capability of a UAV equipped with the
proposed phased array system is powerful enough to
make the useful assets in the future battle field scenario.
VI. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the Swedish Armed
Forces (FM) and the Defence Material Administration
(FMV) for supporting this work.
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