UMPS: Ultrasound-Microwave-Fused Phase Synchronization for UAV-Based Phased Arrays
Journal
Asia-Pacific Microwave Conference Proceedings, APMC
Journal Volume
2021-November
Pages
482-484
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
A wireless ultrasound-microwave-fused phase synchronization (UMPS) method for antenna elements in a UAV-based phased array is presented in this paper. The UMPS includes multiple non-connected modules that follow a leader-follower scheme for positioning and phase synchronization. The only leader is the reference point, to which followers locate their relative position by Time-of-Flight of ultrasound calibrated with microwave signal and synchronize its phase by on-board phase shifters. With a synchronized phase, the UMPS modules can form a phased array with a variable spatial arrangement of antenna elements. In this work, the prototype UMPS exhibits a root-mean-square (RMS) positioning error at 14 mm and a 7.5° RMS phase error for synchronizing a 433 MHz continuous wave RF signal, which is satisfactory for forming a UAV-based phased array. ? 2021 IEEE.
Subjects
Phased arrays
Phased shifters
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV)
Antenna phased arrays
Phase shifters
Synchronization
Antenna element
Leader-follower
Phase synchronization
Phased shifter
Phased-arrays
Reference points
Relative positions
Root Mean Square
Synchronization method
Unmanned aerial vehicle
Ultrasonics
SDGs
Type
conference paper