Applied Radar, Inc. has developed a Wideband Phased / Channelized Array Technology (WIPCAT™) as part of a Phase III SBIR with the US Army C5ISR Center in Aberdeen, MD. WIPCAT™ is a scalable wideband tile-based phased-array suitable for airborne and ground-based Multi-function Radar, Electronic Warfare (EW) and Communications. A prototype has been built and we are currently testing a representative section of the array in our in-house anechoic chamber. Outdoor testing will follow.
WIPCAT™ is designed from the ground-up to support both a wide instantaneous and tuning bandwidth, which translates into range resolution in a radar application, and high data rate in a communications application. For EW, it allows scanning of a wide RF spectrum using a single sensor. An additional key feature of WIPCAT™ is that it utilizes proprietary Spread-Spectrum Digital Beamforming (SSDBF™) algorithms to produce highly-accurate beams over a wide bandwidth. Additionally, with SSDBF™ multiple simultaneous beams may be formed in order to perform sensing or communications in multiple directions at the same time.
WIPCAT™ is also designed to be cost-effective from the get-go. We employ all commercial RF components, and the array is assembled using fully-automated assembly with minimum hand-labor. This allows the array to be manufactured in high volume using commercial assembly techniques. Additionally, our proprietary SSDBF™ beamforming approach allows a significant reduction in the number of digital channels, thereby reducing both cost, weight and power compared to element-level digitization. Overall, WIPCAT™ is an affordable, scalable wideband phased array with world-class performance.