Patent ID: 9653804
Date: 2017-05-16
CPC Classifications: G01S,H01Q,H04B

Claim:
1. An electronically scanned array (ESA) system comprising: a first ESA assembly including a first antenna system coupled to a first plurality of transmit/receive modules, the first antenna system is configured as a first aperture; a second ESA assembly including a second antenna system coupled to a second plurality of transmit/receive modules, the second antenna system is configured as a second aperture that is different from the first aperture; a manifold system coupled to the first and second ESA assemblies, the manifold system including an RF signal processing system configured to receive signals from the first and second ESA assemblies and transmit signals to the first and second ESA assemblies; and an electronic beam steering system communicatively coupled to each of the first and second ESA assemblies, wherein the electronic beam steering system is configured to control beam formation and electronic beam scanning for the first and second apertures, wherein the electronic beam steering system is configured to apply weights to signals of the first and second plurality of transmit/receive modules to control a direction of beams produced by the first and second ESA assemblies; and a switch matrix disposed between the first and second ESA assemblies and the manifold system, wherein the switch matrix includes a first switching configuration to couple the first ESA assembly to the electronic beam steering system and a second switching configuration to couple the second ESA assembly to the electronic beam steering system.