Lockheed Martin Corporation
System and method for fleet command and control communications with secondary radar functionality using 360.degree. multi-beam hemispherical array

Abstract:

A system comprising a hemispherical array antenna having a plurality of antenna elements comprising a set of baseline antenna elements arranged in a first 360.degree. circular antenna array, a set of upper antenna elements arranged in a second 360.degree. circular antenna array and latitudinally aligned with the baseline antenna elements, and a set of lower antenna elements arranged in a third 360.degree. circular antenna array and latitudinally aligned with the baseline antenna elements. The system includes a fleet base station including a plurality of non-shared receiver channels coupled to and dedicated to a particular antenna element. The base station is configured to provide 360.degree. of transmission/reception from horizon to zenith using the antenna elements for command and control fleet communications to and from mobile devices and to provide secondary radar functions using the fleet communications to track the mobile devices based on received signal characteristics received at the antenna elements.