Digital Beam Forming technology for phased array antennas

Future SAR earth observation missions and their demanding imaging requirements will require large antennas with Digital Beam Forming (DBF) capability. DBF significantly enhances achievable swath widths and instrument sensitivity. DBF for antennas typically separates into an elevation beam forming scheme presently called SCORE (Scan-on-Receive beam forming) and an azimuth beam forming scheme presently called MAPS (Multiple Aperture Processing Scheme). An example of SCORE with Nadir suppression feature is furnished. A parametric performance plot for MAPS is presented. It is reported that Astrium is preparing DBF antenna technology in several frequency bands.