To help make complex communication technologies in defence and aerospace more accessible, we continue exploring some of the key concepts behind them. This week, we take a closer look at electronic steering.
Electronic steering is a technology that enables the direction of a transmitted or received signal to be changed electronically, without requiring an antenna or radar to physically move. In conventional systems, the antenna must be mechanically repositioned to point toward a different target. With electronic steering, however, the beam can be directed toward the desired location by controlling the phase and amplitude of multiple antenna elements. This allows for much faster and more precise beam steering.
For example, in satellite communication systems, mechanically steered antennas must physically move to track a satellite. Electronically steered antennas, on the other hand, can direct the beam toward the satellite and maintain tracking without any mechanical movement.
This technology provides several advantages:
• Much faster beam steering and target tracking.
• Reduced need for moving parts.
• Lower maintenance requirements.
• Higher reliability.
• The potential to communicate with multiple targets or satellites simultaneously.
• More stable communication performance on high-speed airborne platforms.
In the CTech SkyARX E-Ku electronically steered satellite communication antenna, satellite tracking is performed electronically using a phased array antenna architecture. This enables uninterrupted satellite communications on high-speed platforms with critical aerodynamic requirements, without the need for antenna movement.
In the defence and aerospace sectors, electronic steering technology is widely used in many critical applications, particularly in radar systems, satellite communication terminals, electronic warfare systems and next-generation communication solutions.