A Radio System Using a Phase-Reconfigurable Reflectarray for Adaptive Beamforming

In the field of radio communication, achieving reliable signal reception and transmission is paramount, especially in environments plagued by significant interference and jamming threats. Beamforming technology is essential for directing radio beams toward desired signal sources while suppressing unwanted signals, thereby enhancing communication quality and security. As wireless applications expand across various domains—including satellite, terrestrial, airborne communications, radar systems, and radio sensing—the demand for more sophisticated and adaptive beamforming solutions has intensified. Effective beamforming ensures robust performance in diverse and challenging scenarios, making it a critical component for modern and future communication infrastructures. However, current beamforming approaches predominantly rely on conventional digital receive arrays that involve multiple receiver frontend components to sample and process individual signal streams. This architecture introduces considerable complexity and cost because of the numerous necessary hardware elements. Moreover, digital arrays often face limitations in handling strong interference, leading to frontend saturation and diminished signal quality. The extensive digital processing required to adjust phase and amplitude for each signal stream hampers scalability and efficiency, making it difficult to achieve optimal interference suppression and adaptive beamforming in real time. These challenges underscore the need for more streamlined and effective beamforming methodologies that can better manage interference while reducing system complexity.

Technology Description

The system employs a streamlined architecture featuring a single radio receiver frontend combined with a phase-reconfigurable reflectarray and an antenna. This arrangement enables the formation of directional beams toward desired signal sources while simultaneously creating nulls to suppress incoming interference. Each reflector element within the reflectarray can be individually adjusted with specific phase-shift states, allowing for the constructive combination of target signals and the destructive cancellation of unwanted ones before the signals reach the receiver frontend. The radio unit integrates essential components such as an RF-to-baseband converter, processors for array estimation and beamforming, a control unit for reflectarray configuration, and a dedicated signal processor for specialized tasks. Operationally, the system can optimize performance through iterative phase-state exploration or a two-phase online-offline estimation approach, enhancing its adaptability in dynamic environments.

What sets this technology apart is its ability to manage interference at the physical signal level prior to digitization, thus significantly reducing the complexity and cost compared to conventional digital receiver arrays. By leveraging a single frontend, the system avoids issues like frontend saturation from strong interference, ensuring robust performance even in high-interference scenarios. The phase-reconfigurable reflectarray allows for adaptive beamforming with matched gain patterns for both transmission and reception, enhancing overall signal integrity. Additionally, the architecture supports scalability through the use of auxiliary antennas and coherent super-arrays, making it versatile for a wide range of applications, including satellite, terrestrial, airborne communications, and radar systems. This efficient and cost-effective approach to beamforming and interference mitigation makes the technology a significant advancement in radio communication systems.