EMBRACE: Results from an aperture array for radio astronomy

A consortium of research institutes are developing an aperture array concept for the lower and mid frequencies of SKA (Square Kilometer Array). An important demonstrator of this concept is the Electronic Multi-Beam Radio Astronomy Concept (EMBRACE). This is a phased array antenna in L-band and it demonstrates the aperture array concept for the lower SKA frequencies. This paper provides a system overview, the current status of the EMBRACE stations and discusses a few of the the main results achieved so far. Next, a system overview is presented of the successor of EMBRACE know as AAVS-mid, which is a 2000 m² array to be distributed over 15 stations at the SKA site in 2015.