Performance of Electrically Small Beamed Array Receiving Systems in the Presence of Noise

摘要

The performance of broadband, electrically small beamed receiving arrays operating in the high frequency band (3 to 30 MHz) and in a random noise environment is studied. The concepts of System Noise Figure (SNF) and Signal-to-Noise ratio Improvement Factor (SNIF) are proposed as criteria for comparing one array antenna receiving system to any reference system when the conditions of operation are defined. Graphical representations of SNIF for the two-element and the four-element antenna systems versus a single element system are presented. The improvement factor (SNIF) is shown to depend on the geometry of the array, on the phasing network and on the ratio of atmospheric noise power to internal system noise power. (Author)