NORMAN—A University of Oklahoma Advanced Radar Research Center team is developing new antenna and related technologies for U.S. Navy next-generation radar systems with a two-year, $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense, Office of Naval Research. The ARRC research and development program under way is designed to improve the agility and multi-functionality of radio frequency sensors and communication systems, while enabling future implementation on a variety of surfaces and platforms.
“The ARRC team is developing agile sensors that can effectively maneuver in frequency and space while retaining the ability to avoid and cancel interference,” said Nathan Goodman, director of research at the ARRC and professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Gallogly College of Engineering. “Multi-function capability will also reduce the number of individual systems needed during deployment, improving mobility and operational agility. Our tunable, integrated antenna designs will allow agile RF sensor implementation on smaller platforms.”
The ARRC program will focus on four major areas of research: research on integrated filter-antennas that provide frequency tunability with reduced size and weight; a state-of-the-art, all-digital phased array antenna and electronics that will be synchronized with another all-digital phased array system already under development at the ARRC; implementation of dual-band, dual-polarized antennas; and algorithms for using and exploiting the agility enabled by these hardware technologies.
The ARRC team endeavors to demonstrate important technologies, such as tunable antenna arrays capable of handling high power; synchronized all-digital systems that can be used for a variety of experiments on waveforms, interference cancellation, coexistence of multiple systems and other important technologies; and state-of-the-art algorithms for controlling agile sensors.
ARRC team members involved with this project include: Goodman, Jessica Ruyle, Hjalti Sigmarrson, Mark Yeary, Jorge Salazar Cerreno, Caleb Fulton and Robert Palmer. For more information about this program or other ARRC research and capabilities, please contact goodman@ou.edu.
