Patent ID: 8009507
Filing Date: 2011-08-30
Classification: G01N,G01S

Abstract:
1. A system for an adaptable aperture planar array for maintaining source resolution as the array moves relative to a source comprising: the source having a longitudinal axis; a plurality of sensor elements each having a coordinate location within the array; a first nested array defining a first aperture responsive to a first range of frequencies, the first aperture sized based on an angle between the array and the source, the first aperture including a first subset of sensor elements; a second nested array defining a second aperture responsive to a second range of frequencies that is less than the first range of frequencies, the second aperture sized based on the angle between the array and the source, the second aperture including a second subset of sensor elements; the first aperture and the second aperture change in size as the angle between the array and the source changes, which results in a change in the sensor elements within the first subset and the second subset so that the source resolution for the array remains substantially the same as the angle changes; and a control module that resizes the first aperture and the second aperture based on the position of the array relative to the source, and changes the plurality of sensor elements associated with the first subset and the second subset based on the coordinate locations of the plurality of sensor elements within the resized first aperture and the resized second aperture to maintain the source resolution of the array.