Coupling-based wideband digital phased array calibration techniques

Abstract

Recently, interest in phased array radars for diverse applications has been rising because of their versatility and recent efforts to reduce their cost. All phased array radars require some form of calibration to periodically remove the amplitude and phase errors which arise during normal operation, regardless of the cost or design of the array. This thesis offers an analysis of two of the latest mutual coupling calibration techniques, one in-situ calibration method and one initial calibration method. The initial calibration mathematics that were reverse engineered from the original publication are presented. The in-situ calibration approach is expanded to allow calibration of an entire array face. A flexible software framework was designed to test both calibration techniques on practical simulation data and to offer a direct comparison of the results, bringing insight into the relative merits of each approach.