A digital beamforming array

An eight element Digital Beamforming (DBF) array is described. The array has the capability of forming multiple simultaneous beams by converting the RF amplitude and phase of each element to a digital format followed by beamforming in a general purpose computer. The subassemblies necessary at each element for down-conversion and amplification were measured in terms of phase and amplitude matching between elements. Antenna pattern data was gathered and a variety of antenna patterns are presented. Analysis is performed on the patterns to quantify the errors. These errors are compared to the errors measured on the subassemblies to verify the error effects.