Hello gentlemen,
been studying about radar systems recently, and
now I am curious about the phased array radar system. Can anyone
describe to me how does it work, and how is it compared to the
conventional radar? Wikipedia has such complicated explanations
thanks
Conventional radar, in the simplest terms, consists of an antenna and a reflector that emits high frequency electromagnetic fields. Because of this, it cannot be steered without actually rotating the radar itself. This means you have mechanical parts and mechanical parts fail with time, along with the emitter array.
Phased array radar systems on the other hand, do not need mechanical steering and come in two categories; passive and active. Passive phased array radars simply consist of several emitters arrayed in an array (or simply think of several rectangular blocks together), while active phased array consists of several Galenium Arsenide chips together. If you recall diffraction grids (diffraction of light through a grid), the principle is similar. Because each unit in the array emits an EM field, they will superposition and by adjusting the intensity of the EM field from each unit, you can steer the radar "electronically". The advantage is higher power, resolution, accuracy. and speed.
In simple terms, phased array = group of antennas.
This is in contrast to the normal view of the radar with a single antenna + dish.
tek_koh
Read up a physics text book about waves. It will explain the principle of how radar waves can be generated and steered without using the traditional rotating antennae.