The Boeing Company

Chris D McKinley

Ming Chen

John Byam O'Connell

Dan R Miller

Robert L Wightman

John B O'Connell

In accordance with an embodiment, a radio frequency transition system includes a stripline trace section with openings in ground planes and forms a quarter wavelength resonator and an electromagnetic mechanism to couple the RF energy from the stripline trace section to a connector, wherein the RF signal energy is transferred from inside a beam forming network printed wiring board to an a back side of a phased array antenna system with minimal RF losses. An RF transition system is disclosed. The RF transition system comprises a stripline trace section with openings in ground planes and forms a quarter-wavelength resonator. The RF transition system further includes an electromagnetic mechanism to couple the RF energy from the stripline trace section to a connector. The RF signal energy is transferred from inside a beam forming network printed wiring board to an a back side of a phased array antenna system with minimal RF losses.

Radio frequency (RF) transition design for a phased array antenna system utilizing a beam forming network

In accordance with an embodiment, a phased array antenna system includes a printed wiring board formed in rhombic shape that accommodates requirements for low observability and a beam forming network located within the printed wiring board. The beam forming network is located over substantially the entire printed wiring board. The embodiment includes connectors located on the backside of the printed wiring board. The back side connectors allow the array architecture to expand to include more subarrays and therefore allowing for more beam forming elements in a full size array than conventional phased arrays.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Chris D McKinley