The Reflective Dot Array -- A New Technique for High Performance Signal Processing

High performance signal processing devices using reflective array (etched groove) devices have been made. These have been used as pulse compression filters in radar systems and more recently as the critical components in a SAW implementation of the chirp transform algorithm. A lower cost alternative to the etched groove technique, called the reflective dot array (RDA), is presented in which the etched grooves are replaced by rows of metallic or etched dots. The RDA technique has been applied to bandpass filters, linear FM expansion and compression filters, and PN code correlation. Experimental results from these devices are presented.