Design for a source-agile automatic direction finder (ADF)

摘要

The design is intended for aircraft although any vehicle or even a man-mobile system could use the concept. An automatically reconfigurable antenna using MEMS RF switches is driven to seek signals consistent with the current location of the system. The antenna feeds a Software Defined Radio (SDR) that scans for signals and when a signal is found, it is identified and then the azimuth to the signal is used, along with a signal strength parameter, to confirm the location of the system. This is an extension of the now obsolete Automatic Direction Finder (ADF) aircraft navigation tool that used AM broadcast non-directional beacons (NDB), many of which are still in service. The current system can access any radio signal within the limits of the reconfigurable antenna and the SDR.