Electronic antenna calibration system and measurements for compensating real-time dynamic distortions

A real-time electronic aperture calibration system experiment was created to bring technologies and algorithms together in a pathfinder experiment to reduce the risk of electrically calibrating large dynamic apertures. These large, actively calibrated apertures have the potential to provide a significant increase in performance for many mission applications. A real-time calibration system was put into practice, demonstrated in an antenna range and the results of the dynamic antenna beam compensation experiments are presented. The objective of this dynamic electronic calibration aperture experiment was to demonstrate RF beam compensation at X-band of a dynamically distorted reflector aperture fed by an active electronically scanned array (AESA). Specifically, the antenna demonstration system was deformed to emulate and exaggerate a large objective antenna system's feed and reflector distortions. An optical metrology system measured targets embedded on the feed, reflector, and a fixed reference. Electronic phase shifters on the AESA were adjusted via compensation, surface estimation, and predictive filter algorithms based on the metrology data. Static antenna pattern and dynamic antenna measurements were performed with and without compensation applied. The presented measured results clearly demonstrate and validate the performance of a deployed electronic compensation system capable of creating a phase coherent beam from a large, dynamically active aperture to support the next generation of remote sensing applications.