| An adaptive conformal antenna system for small rocket and missile applications was developed for S-Band telemetry. The antenna system was developed to extend the link distance of telemetry systems for low power applications that are constrained to broad coverage antennas. The antenna was also developed to optimize the RF link for rapidly changing path link scenarios such as those encountered in the missile environment. The antenna system utilizes a ground-based transmit beacon to enable the airborne telemetry antenna to determine the optimal data transmit direction. This provides +6 dB improvement in the RF link margin. The design, simulation, development, and test results of the system are presented. The antenna system consists of an eight-element microstrip patch array, RF switchboard, and a DSP sequencer/sampler. Cylindrical versus planar microstrip patch antenna characteristics are studied and compared. An RF link margin analysis is presented for lower and upper S-Band and L-Band applications. A discussion of antenna improvement techniques including gain enhancement, antenna placement, and antenna polarization is provided, and missile geometry interactions are examined. A study of published stripline equation sets and their accuracy is included. |
