Design and Fabrication of N-Way Calibration Line for Active Electronically Scanned Array Radar

Abstract

In this study, we describe the design and fabrication of an N-way calibration line for an active electronically scanned array radar. The designed calibration line consisted of an open-ended probe and a Wilkinson power divider. It was designed to calibrate by measuring the amplitude and phase of the transmit/receive path. In addition, the signals from the array antenna and transmit/receive module could be transmitted to a calibration assembly using the open-ended probe and power divider. A multilayer printed circuit board (PCB) was used for miniaturization. We described the mechanism and design process of signal transmission through the calibration line. In addition, we described the issue of an N-way calibration line design without a uniform phase distribution of the output ports. This indicated that the signal could not be transmitted at a specific frequency through a random output port. The proposed calibration line was designed to achieve a uniform phase distribution. A calibration line was designed, measured, and tested to validate its performance.