9

Phased-Array Radar
Architectures

9.1 INTRODUCTION
This chapter examines some common phased-array radar (PAR) architectures
used for many applications. Three general categories of architectures are de-
scribed:

• Antenna-based
• Bandwidth-based
• Radar function-based.

The following sections cover these PAR architectures.

9.2 ANTENNA-BASED ARCHITECTURES

Four types of antenna-based PAR architectures are addressed in this section.
They are:

• Full field-of-view (FFOV)

• Limited field-of-view (LFOV)

201
202 Chapter 9

• Digital beam former (DBF)

• Mechanically steered phased-arrays.

9.2.1 Full Field-of-View Radars

The FFOV phased-array architecture is the most common form. It employs an
antenna element spacing that ensures that there are no antenna grating lobes in
real space. At a top level, this requires an average spacing of array elements
≤ λ/2. Therefore, this is the most costly architecture in cost per unit area of ac-
tive antenna aperture, with the advantage of the attendant maximum angular
coverage.
Figure 9.1 illustrates the FFOV PAR architecture. It is characterized by phase-
shifters at every array element, at least in its narrowband (NB) version. As dis-
cussed later, wideband (WB) phased arrays require the use of some degree of
time-delay steering, usually implemented at the subarray level.

Figure 9.1 Full Field-of-View Phased-Array Architecture

 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 203

As can be seen in the figure, this architecture consists of an array of antenna el-
ements, each with a phase-shifter. The next components are the transmit and re-
ceive beam formers that synthesize the sum and azimuth and elevation
monopulse patterns, as well as any auxiliary antenna patterns such as required
for sidelobe blanker (SLB) or sidelobe canceller (SLC) functions. Each channel or
port out of the receive beam former (RBF) has an associated receiver channel that
converts the radio frequency (RF) at the operating frequency down to baseband
and converts these analog signals to a digital format. Each of the digital data
channels are next sent to the signal processor (SP), which performs matched fil-
tering and detection processing. Finally, target return data from the SP are inputs
to the data processor (DP), which performs search and track, as well as schedul-
ing waveforms and controlling the hardware subsystems, including the beam
steering generator (BSG), which translates the DP antenna steering commands to
phase-shifter commands to each antenna element. On the transmit side, the excit-
ers generate the waveforms at RF that are delivered to the transmit portion of the
transmit/receive (T/R) modules, which consist of the transmit power amplifiers,
receive amplifiers, and phase-shifters behind each antenna element.
As stated above, the FFOV PAR architecture is the most prevalent as it can
provide the maximum angular coverage (typically ± 60 degrees in azimuth and/
or elevation angles) for radar functions such as search or surveillance and target
tracking. Most of the PARs built today are of the active aperture or active array
variety; that is, there are active transmitters behind each antenna element. Most
T/R modules used today employ solid-state transistors for RF power amplifica-
tion. However, many earlier radar systems employed passive arrays that were
corporate-fed by one or more higher-powered transmitters, typically of the
traveling-wave tube (TWT) type.
Most digital signal processing today is implemented by software residing in
general or special purpose data processors. Often the signal and data processing
software resides on a common signal/data processor (S/DP).

9.2.2 Limited Field-of-View Radars

Limited field-of-view (LFOV) radar architectures are a trade-off between maxi-
mum available electronic steering and the number of actively steered antenna el-
ements. This architecture was developed specifically for large PARs operating at
204 Chapter 9

high frequencies such as X-band (10 GHz) that require less instantaneous angu-
lar coverage than available from FFOV radars, and, moreover, seek a lower-cost
solution achieved via a reduction in the number of T/R modules. When more
angular coverage is necessary over the long term (but not instantaneously),
LFOV arrays can be mounted on an antenna pedestal or mount to provide a
combination of mechanical and electronic steering. This radar architecture is at-
tractive from a cost perspective.
Figure 9.2 illustrates the LFOV PAR architecture. On the surface it is very sim-
ilar to the FFOV radar, except that the antenna consists of actively controlled
super-elements that consist of the T/R modules that drive multiple passive an-
tenna array elements. Since there are fewer active elements than for an FFOV ra-
dar of the same aperture size, and the super-element spacing is ≥ λ/2, the LFOV
antenna pattern exhibits grating lobes in real space. These must be minimized by
careful array and subarray design, and the grating lobes must be actively con-
trolled and monitored to prevent radiation safety hazards and to prevent other

Figure 9.2 Limited Field-of-View Phased-Array Architecture

 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 205

deleterious effects in clutter, interference, jamming, and multipath environ-

ments.
The remaining subsystems are essentially the same as for the FFOV architec-
ture. The primary differences are in the transmit and receive beam formers and
the BSG, which controls and steers a smaller number of super-elements than for
an FFOV radar of the same aperture size. The LFOV does have approximately
the same transmit and receive antenna gain as its similar-sized FFOV counter-
part. However, due to the fewer active super-elements as compared with the
number of active elements in the FFOV radar, the peak transmit power is re-
duced by the ratio of active LFOV super-elements to active FFOV elements.

9.2.3 Digital Beam Former Radars

In contrast to the "hard-wired" beam formers used in the previously described
radar architectures, a relatively new type of radar architecture uses digital beam
forming to digitally synthesize via software the antenna beams required by a
particular radar’s needs. This architecture is referred to here as a DBF radar ar-
chitecture.
A DBF radar employs receivers at the front end of the radar to translate RF sig-
nals to baseband and convert analog signals to a digital format. The receivers
can be behind each array element, each subarray, or some combination of subar-
rays (or equivalently at super subarrays). The result is a digital data stream from
each array beam forming degree-of-freedom (DoF) that is available for process-
ing by the signal processor or a DBF preprocessor preceding the SP to form
whatever antenna beams are required. At a minimum it forms multiple sum
beams and/or monopulse difference patterns (or the equivalent) for subsequent
target detection and parameter estimation.
There are several advantages to the DBF architecture, including:

• Capability to form up to M independent sum beams to synthesize:

– Simultaneous beams to reduce search occupancy
– Stacked-beams for extended elevation search coverage
• Capability to form M independent sum pattern nulls
• Enhances the available dynamic range by a factor of up to M
206 Chapter 9

• Supports implementation of single and multiple sidelobe cancellers

• Supports implementation of adaptive array processing
• Enables arbitrary antenna pattern shaping.

Figure 9.3 illustrates the basic DBF radar architecture. Contrasting Figure 9.3
to Figures 9.1 or 9.2 indicates that front-end hardwired beam formers are limited
to those to form the array DoFs, that is, whether these are at the subarray of su-
per-subarray level. If DBF is implemented at the element level, no hardwired
beam former is required, and this component can be eliminated from the archi-
tecture shown in Figure 9.3.
Other changes for the DBF radar are the addition of the digital beam former
processing. This can be implemented as a part of the SP or by a separate DBF
pre-processor that precedes the SP. Also, the BSG is only required to steer the
subarrays or super-subarrays depending on the DoFs implemented in antenna

Figure 9.3 Digital Beam Former Phased-Array Architecture

 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 207

array (i.e., whether DBF is implemented at the subarray or super-subarray

level). The remaining subsystems and processing in the DBF architecture are
similar to that of the hardwired beam former radars described in Sections 9.1
and 9.2.

9.2.4 Mechanically Steered Phased-Array Radars

These types of radar are a hybrid of a PAR and a mechanically scanned an-
tenna. This architecture satisfies the requirement of greater than ± 60 degree
(e.g., up to 360 degrees) coverage available when using a single-faced antenna
array. These radars employ an antenna pedestal or mount to provide the me-
chanical steering capability. This architecture is appropriate when only a small
instantaneous angular field-of-view (FOV) is required, but over a larger field-
of-regard (FOR).
The basic mechanically steered PAR (MSPAR) architecture is illustrated in Fig-
ure 9.4. Effectively, the architecture is identical to that of the FFOV radar with the
addition of an antenna pedestal or an antenna mount. Alternatively, when de-
sired, the LFOV architecture shown in Figure 9.2 could be substituted for the
FFOV architecture depicted in Figure 9.4.

9.3 BANDWIDTH-BASED ARCHITECTURES

Two basic types of bandwidth-based PAR architectures exist:

• Narrowband
• Wideband.
These two radar variants are described in the following sections.

9.3.1 Narrowband Radars

A precise definition of a narrowband PAR does not exist. However, it is gener-
ally understood that an NB radar employs a narrower bandwidth than a wide-
band radar. A WB radar is typically one that can instantaneously cover a
bandwidth of at least 10 percent of its operating frequency. Using this definition,
an NB radar is one that uses a bandwidth of less than 10% of its operating fre-
quency.
208 Chapter 9

Figure 9.4 Mechanically Steered Phased-Array Architecture

From a radar architecture perspective, an NB radar can be of either the

FFOV or LFOV variety, although they are typically the former. However,
note that a radar that uses both NB and WB waveforms is in the WB radar
class. A desirable feature of an NB radar is the ability to use phase-shift
steering exclusively, that is, there is no need for time-delay steering. Under
this requirement, the definition of the NB radar can be refined to be a radar
that does not require time-delay steering. In general, this will constrain the
radar instantaneous bandwidth of a NB radar to be much less than the 10%
of operating frequency metric. Conversely, this will extend the definition of
 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 209

a WB radar to be one that uses more instantaneous bandwidth than its NB

counterpart for a specified operating frequency. These definitions will be
considered as adequate for describing and contrasting these classes of ra-
dars.
Typically, based on the above observations, NB radars will then support band-
widths of no more than 1% of their operating frequency. For example, an X-band
radar that uses a 500 MHz would be classed a WB radar (i.e., 5% bandwidth),
whereas one that employs 50 MHz would be considered an NB radar (i.e., 0.5%
bandwidth).
Figure 9.5 illustrates a possible form of an NB radar; in this case it is also an
FFOV radar. However, an LFOV radar (e.g., as illustrated in Figure 9.2) could
also be substituted for Figure 9.5. The key discriminator is again the use of only
phase-shift steering needed to electronically scan the antenna beam.
In addition to the electronic steering technique used, the bandwidth capability
of most of the other subsystems in Figure 9.5 is likewise constrained. Specifically,

Figure 9.5 Narrowband Phased-Array Architecture

210 Chapter 9

the antenna, beam formers, receiver, exciter, beam steering generator, and signal
processing only need to support the narrower bandwidth. This impacts all active
electronics in both transmit and receive paths.
Narrow bandwidth aspects include:

• NB waveform generation and RF up-conversion in the exciter

• NB down-conversion, intermediate frequency (IF) filters, and sample rates in

the receiver

• NB power amplifiers in the T/R modules and subarray drivers

• Lower sampling rate processing, transform sizes, etc., in signal processor

• Narrow bandwidth modulation (e.g., linear frequency modulation; [LFM])

and associated matched filtering

• Phase-shift only computations in the BSG.

The narrowband nature of the resulting radar system and subsystems designs
results, in general, in a radar of lower cost than its wide instantaneous band-
width counterpart.

9.3.2 Wideband Radars

The alternative to the NB class of radars is the wideband class. As described in
Section 9.3.1, this type of radar employs waveforms that occupy a larger percent-
age bandwidth than NB radars. Moreover, because of this difference, time-delay
steering is required for WB radars. This is probably the most significant differ-
ence compared with NB radars.
Figure 9.6 illustrates the basic wideband radar architecture. The major changes
relative to the front end of the NB radar architecture is the addition of time-delay
steering, typically at the subarray level.
Other changes necessary to subsystems in the architecture include:

• WB waveform generation and RF up-conversion in the exciter

• WB down-conversion (and possible de-ramping or de-chirping), IF filters, and

sample rates in the receiver
 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 211

Figure 9.6 Wideband Phased-Array Architecture

• WB power amplifiers in the T/R modules and subarray drivers

• Higher sampling rate processing, transform sizes, etc., in signal processor

• Wide bandwidth modulation (e.g., LFM) and associated matched filtering (in-
cluding both digital pulse compression and spectrum analysis or "stretch" pro-
cessing as a function of receive window size)

• Both time-delay and phase-shifter computations in the BSG.

It should be noted that due to limitations in available A/D sampling rates and
dynamic ranges, use of very wide bandwidths, for example, larger than 100
MHz, will preclude use of standard digital pulse compression techniques. The
use of some form of "stretch" processing is the usual solution for very wideband
operation. This requires some type of de-ramping or de-chirping (i.e., full or par-
tial bandwidth) in the down-conversion process in the receiver, followed by
spectral analysis in the signal processor.
212 Chapter 9

9.4 FUNCTION-BASED RADARS

The last class of PAR architecture discussed is function-based radars. These in-
clude radars that perform:

• Search

• Track

• Target classification, discrimination, and identification (CDI)

• Missile illumination

• Multifunction.

The following sections describe these different PAR architectures.

9.4.1 Search Radars

The search class of radars is a very common and the simplest form besides that
of missile illuminators. These radars are essentially NB radars that are primarily
in the FFOV class, although they can also be implemented as mechanically
steered LFOV radars. DBF radars can also be used as search radars due to their
inherent multibeam capability, especially using "stacked" elevation beams and
simultaneous multibeam operation to reduce search occupancy.
Figure 9.7 illustrates an NB FFOV form of the search class of radars. Typically,
very narrowband waveforms are employed, for example, usually in the range of
several hundred kHz to about 1 MHz, often using LFM in clear environments. In
clutter environments, narrowband moving target indicator (MTI), moving target
detector (MTD), or pulse-Doppler waveforms are generally employed. Due to
the very narrow bandwidth, all-range digital pulse compression is normally
used. All subsystems are essentially the same as described for the NB FFOV ra-
dar architecture or for the DBF architecture when it is employed for search. Due
to the usual large receive windows necessary to perform the search function; the
signal processor may have to process very large fast Fourier transforms (FFTs) as
part of the matched filtering when using digital pulse compression techniques.
For clutter applications, some type of Doppler processing is also performed after
pulse matched filtering in the SP.
 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 213

Figure 9.7 Search and Track Phased-Array Radar Architecture

9.4.2 Track Radars

Architecturally, the tracking radar class is nearly identical to that of the search
radar described in Section 9.4.1, and therefore can likewise be implemented us-
ing NB FFOV, mechanically steered LFOV, or DBF class radar architectures.
Figure 9.7 also illustrates an NB FFOV form of the tracking class of radars.
Typically, narrowband waveforms are employed, for example, usually in the
range of 5 MHz to about 20 MHz, usually using LFM in clear environments.
Again, in clutter environments, MTI, MTD, or pulse-Doppler waveforms are
generally used. Due to the narrow bandwidth, digital pulse compression is nor-
mally used, except in cases when extremely large receive windows are required.
Again, all subsystems are essentially the same as described for the NB FFOV ra-
dar architecture or for the DBF architecture when it is selected for tracking pur-
poses.
Due to the usually small- to medium-sized receive windows necessary to per-
form the tracking function (as compared with search), the signal processor will
214 Chapter 9

usually have to process only medium-sized FFTs as part of the matched filtering
when using digital pulse compression techniques. However, in cases where
large receive windows are necessary based on mission requirements, digital
pulse compression or stretch processing might be used depending on the spe-
cific waveform parameters and receive window sizes. In clutter environments,
some form of Doppler processing is also performed after pulse-matched filter-
ing. In addition to the normal detection processing used for search, tracking ra-
dars usually employ some form of parametric constant false alarm rate (CFAR)
detection processing, and postdetection processing that includes monopulse for
target angle measurement, and range and amplitude interpolation.

9.4.3 Classification, Discrimination, and Identification Radars

The CDI radar architectures are usually of the WB radar variety due to the re-
quirement for wide bandwidth waveforms necessary to support target feature
extraction. This is the case for both air and ballistic missile defense radars, al-
though the specific waveform bandwidths and operating frequencies may differ
for the two missions.
Figure 9.8 illustrates the basic CDI radar architecture, which is identical in
structure to the WB radar class.
Key attributes of the CDI radar subsystems in the architecture shown include:

• WB antenna elements and T/R modules

• WB waveform generation and RF up-conversion in the exciter
• WB down-conversion (and possible de-ramping or de-chirping), IF filters, and
sample rates in the receiver
• WB power amplifiers in the T/R modules and subarray drivers
• Higher sampling rate processing, transform sizes, etc., in signal processor
• Wide bandwidth modulation (e.g., LFM) and associated matched filtering (in-
cluding both digital pulse compression and spectrum analysis or "stretch" pro-
cessing as a function of receive window size)
• Both time-delay and phase-shifter computations in the BSG.

The prevalent use of some form of "stretch" processing is the case for the nec-
essary very wideband operation. As in the case of WB radars, this requires some
 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 215

Figure 9.8 CDI Phased-Array Radar Architecture

type of de-ramping or de-chirping (i.e., full or partial bandwidth) in the down-

conversion process in the receiver, followed by spectral analysis in the signal
processor.
Due to the usually very small to small receive windows necessary to perform
the CDI function (compared with tracking); the signal processor will usually
have to process only medium-sized FFTs as part of the matched filtering when
using stretch processing. In addition to the detection and postdetection process-
ing required for tracking radars, CDI radars require target feature extraction, as
well as feature conditioning algorithms.

9.4.4 Missile Illumination Radars

Missile illuminators are a special-case radar function used to support semi-
active RF homing type interceptors in fire control applications. Phased-array
216 Chapter 9

architectures that provide this capability are usually of the NB FFOV type. Fig-
ure 9.5 is representative of a missile-illuminator radar architecture.

9.4.5 Multifunction Radars

This class of radar refers to those radars that support multiple radar functions.
Typical variants include:

• Search and track

• Search, track, and identification (for air defense fire control)
• Search, track, identification, and illumination (for air defense fire control)
• Search, track, and classification and discrimination (for ballistic missile de-
fense fire control).

The appropriate PAR architecture is usually the one that provides the highest
level of functionality or performance required, often defined by the necessary
waveform bandwidth. For example, the first case above might be an NB FFOV
radar since only narrowband search and tracking are required, whereas the last
one would most likely be a WB FFOV, WB LFOV, or mechanically steered WB
LFOV radar since it is driven by the CDI function’s requirements for wideband
target classification and discrimination.

9.5 SCALABLE RADAR ARCHITECTURES

The concept of developing scalable radar architectures and the associated hard-
ware and software architectures is described in the following subsections. Some
notional system-level architecture constructs are introduced, and, from them,
some candidate approaches to achieve scalability at the subsystem levels via the
definition of candidate architectural building blocks.

9.5.1 Scalable Architecture Objectives

The objectives for developing scalable radar architectures are several-fold, with
a few listed below:
 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 217

• Ability to construct radars of varying sizes, for different missions and require-
ments using "radar building blocks"
• Radar building blocks would be used to synthesize all radar hardware and
software subsystems
• Building blocks would constitute "product lines" as opposed to radars or com-
plete subsystems being the product lines
• Building blocks, once developed, would be off-the-shelf with little effort re-
quired for documentation, testing, etc.
• Building blocks would have a minimum (ideally zero) of tailorability
• The performance and costs of building blocks would be known and stable
• An adequate number of hardware and software building blocks would be
available to synthesize any radar, regardless of mission, size, performance, etc.

This list is incomplete but should give an indication of the goals of such an ap-
proach. Obviously, no one would question the advantages of having such archi-
tectural "widgets" from many perspectives, including design, implementation,
performance, cost, reliability, extensibility, and maintainability.

9.5.2 Scalable Architecture Components

Given the objectives list in Section 9.5.2, some thought is required to understand
what minimum set of architecture "components" might form a basis for achiev-
ing scalable radar architectures. It is instructive to first explore some of the com-
monly employed radar architectures used for existing missions and radar
applications.
Five types of phased-array radar architectures are addressed in this section.
They are:

• Full field-of-view
• Limited field-of-view
• Digital beam former
• Mechanically steered phased-arrays
• Wideband radars.
218 Chapter 9

Figures 9.9 through 9.13 illustrate these basic radar architectures at the block
diagram level and are repeated here from Section 9.2.
As can be seen in these block diagrams, at this high level of abstraction, there
is a great deal of commonality with the five phased-array radar architectures
shown. In order to better characterize distinct radar architecture elements, some
fundamental hardware items are listed below:

• Antenna elements
• Antenna super-elements
• T/R modules
• Antenna array structures
• Antenna subarray structures
• Multiple-element structures

Figure 9.9 FFOV Phased-Array Radar Architecture

 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 219

Figure 9.10 LFOV Phased-Array Radar Architecture

• Phase-shifters
• Time-delay units
• Array transmit and receive beamformers
• Subarray or super-subarray beamformers
• Beam steering generator
• Subarray beam steering generator
• Subarray phase and time-delay steering generator
• Narrowband receivers
• Wideband receivers
• Narrowband exciters
• Wideband exciters
220 Chapter 9

Figure 9.11 DBF Phased-Array Radar Architecture

• Signal processor
• Digital beam former processing
• Antenna pedestal or mount
• Antenna pedestal or mount controller
• Data processor
• Physical enclosures
• Power supplies and conditioning
• Cooling system.

This list, while incomplete, should give an idea of some of the hardware func-
tional items necessary to implement many phased-array radars.
Now, within the data and signal processors, there are a number of software
functional items, including:
 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 221

Figure 9.12 Mechanically Steered Phased-Array Radar Architecture

• Resource manager
• Radar scheduler
• Commands generation
• Returns processing
• Search processing
• Track processing
• Classification, discrimination, and identification processing
222 Chapter 9

Figure 9.13 Wideband Phased-Array Radar Architecture

• Interceptor support
• Antenna pedestal/mount control
• Inertial navigation system/global positioning system (INS/GPS) processing
• Coordinate transformations
• Waveform matched filtering
• Detection processing (e.g., noise, CFAR)
• Postdetection processing (interpolation, peak detection, monopulse)
• Data recording
• Fault detection and fault isolation
• Calibration and alignment
• Built-in test
 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 223

• Manual operation
• Digital simulation
• Hardware-in-the-loop simulation
• Scenario generation
• Operator displays
• Operator controls
• External communications
• Data report generation
• Pre-mission data generation.

Again, this list is not complete, but should give a good idea of the software pro-
cessing "widgets" necessary for various types of phased-array radar applica-
tions.

9.5.3 Candidate Building Blocks for Scalable Radar Architectures

In order to define a candidate set of radar architectural building blocks, some ba-
sic rules must first be established. Obviously, since the goal is scalability with the
objectives established in Section 9.5.2, the necessary rules are in the form of
guidelines and constraints, including:

• Building blocks should include as much functionality as possible (within rea-

son) that can be considered to be a fundamental radar element
• Building blocks can include both hardware and software functions
• Building blocks should be defined so as to minimize external interfaces and
maximize internal interfaces
• Similarly, functions with high-interdependencies should be bundled together
• A building block may exist in a number of versions (e.g., based on operating
frequency)
• Building blocks should have a minimum of tailorability.

The following section suggests some candidate building blocks.

224 Chapter 9

9.5.3.1 Building Blocks

FFOV Subarray Block. This building block consists of a complete FFOV subarray,
including an exciter and multiple receiver channels, phase-shifters for each ele-
ment and T/R module, subarray beam steering generator, AC-to-DC power con-
version, built-in test functionality, power distribution, cooling, and a modular
physical structure, and external interfaces for control inputs from a data proces-
sor, multiple channels of digital baseband data output, power inputs, and cool-
ing intake/output. Figure 9.14 is a simplified block diagram of this building
block.
The intent is that any number of these FFOV subarray blocks could be com-
bined to achieve the desired antenna aperture size. The element spacing would

Figure 9.14 FFOV Subarray Block Functional Diagram

 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 225

be a standard triangular grid that allows ± 60 degrees of azimuth and elevation

scan without grating lobes. These blocks would be available at ultra-high fre-
quency (UHF), L-band, S-band, C-band, X-band, and so on to facilitate modular
construction of any size antenna aperture. The mechanical structure would be
such as to allow building blocks to interlock and also allow ease of connection of
input and output signals, power, and cooling for the overall antenna aperture.
The physical size of the subarray would be driven by the minimum size
necessary to support wideband operation (as a function of operating band
limitations) using a single time-delay unit (physical or otherwise) at each
building block. This would enable the FFOV subarray block to also be a fun-
damental element of a wideband FFOV subarray block with wideband excit-
ers/receivers, and time-delay applied at the building block level. This
indicates the need for both narrowband and wideband variants of the FFOV
subarray block.

LFOV Subarray Block. Figure 9.15 is the LFOV version of the FFOV subarray
block. The key difference is the use of super-elements or horns in place of an-
tenna elements, with larger spacing than required for FFOV operation. Again,
both narrowband and wideband variants of the LFOV subarray block are re-
quired.

Signal/Data Processor Block. This building block would be a data processor with
the adequate throughput, memory, and I/O capability to support signal and
data processing software in a single unit. The processor would consist of a num-
ber of multiple servers (e.g., blades) that could be scaled easily within reason to
increase computational capacity depending on the resident software needs.

Signal Processing Software Block. This software item would incorporate a num-
ber of the functions identified in Section 9.5.3. A simple block diagram of this
building block appears in Figure 9.16.

Radar Hardware Control Software Block. Figure 9.17 represents a software block
that provides radar hardware control. This block is effectively the software that
interfaces with the FFOV or LFOV subarray blocks to provide transmit and re-
ceive action commands for waveform generation, transmission, reception, and
the associated beam steers. In addition, this block performs the transmit beam
226 Chapter 9

Figure 9.15 LFOV Subarray Block Functional Diagram

Figure 9.16 Signal Processing Software Block

 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 227

Figure 9.17 Radar Hardware Control Software Block

forming control. It is this function that controls partitioning of an antenna array

and formation of multiple beams on transmit and implements time-delay steer-
ing for wideband transmit operation.
Resource Manager and Radar Scheduler Software Block. This software block repre-
sents the "brain" of the radar architecture. It consists of a resource manager that
allocates radar duty and timeline occupancy to radar tasks, and a radar sched-
uler that assigns transmit and receive actions to the radar timeline. This block is
depicted in Figure 9.18. There will be several variants of this block, for example,
for:

• Ballistic missile early warning

• Air defense fire control
• Ballistic missile defense fire control
• Ship self-defense,

due to the very distinct requirements for functionality, latency, and performance
of each of these radar applications.
Search, Track, and CDI Software Block. Figure 9.19 depicts the search, track, and
CDI software block. This block entails the search processing, tracking logic (data

Figure 9.18 Resource Manager and Radar Scheduler Software Block

228 Chapter 9

Figure 9.19 Search, Track, and CDI Software Block

association, track filters, track file maintenance), and the CDI algorithms neces-
sary for radar applications. Also included are the interceptor support functions.
Since this is closely associated with track-related processing and data, it is bun-
dled into this software block. As identified under “Resource Manager and Radar
Scheduler Software Block,” at least four variants are required for different radar
applications.

Antenna Pedestal and Pedestal Control Block. This hardware block includes both
the antenna pedestal or antenna mount, and the antenna servo control system
(ASCS) that controls the mechanical steering of the pedestal or mount. A simple
block diagram is shown in Figure 9.20.

Power System Block. This hardware block consists of the power generation,
power conversion, and power conditioning needed to supply necessary power
at required voltages to all radar hardware blocks.

Cooling System Block. This hardware block consists of the cooling source (e.g.,
chiller, heat exchanger), cooling medium (e.g., water, glycol solution), and trans-
mission method (e.g., pumps, hoses) needed to supply the cooling for all radar
hardware blocks.

Figure 9.20 Antenna Pedestal and Pedestal Control Hardware Block

 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 229

FD/FI, Calibration, and Alignment Software Block. This software block includes the
radar system-level fault detection, fault isolation, calibration and alignment
functions that collect and assess radar health data, and compute calibration and
alignment data based on pilot-pulse processing and similar calibration func-
tions.

Operator Displays and Controls Hardware/Software Block. Thishardware/software

block consists of the operator controls and displays needed to operate the radar
system.

Scenario Generation and Simulation Software Block. This software block generates
target and environment (e.g., ship motion, clutter, jamming, decoys) scenarios,
and controls and implements digital simulation and hardware-in-the-loop simu-
lation or analog simulation functions. This block is depicted in Figure 9.21.

Pre- and Post-Processing Software Block. This software block includes a tool nec-
essary to create pre-mission data (e.g., waveform matched filter replicas, mission
profiles) and to process, reduce, and compile data reports needed for testing and
performance assessment.

External Communications Hardware/Software Block. This hardware/software block

provides the interface to all external systems and handles all necessary data
translation and formatting.

Utilities and Services Software Block. This software block would include all utili-
ties and services, such as INS/GPS processing, coordinate transformations, time
and date, and other similar types of functions needed to support overall radar
operation.

Figure 9.21 Scenario Generation and Simulation Software Block

230 Chapter 9

9.5.4 Examples of Radars Synthesized from Architecture Building

Blocks
In order to demonstrate the use of the scalable architecture concept, two exam-
ples of radar systems are synthesized using the hardware and software building
blocks defined in Section 9.4.

9.5.4.1 Wideband FFOV Radar. Figure 9.22 depicts a WB fire control radar synthe-
sized from architectural building blocks.

9.5.4.2 Mechanically Scanned LFOV Radar. Figure 9.23 depicts a mechanically

scanned LFOV radar synthesized from architectural building blocks.

Figure 9.22 Wideband FFOV Radar Synthesized from Building Blocks

 Phased-Array Radar Architectures 231

Figure 9.23 Mechanically Scanned LFOV Radar Synthesized from Building Blocks