Sequentially Shifted Beamforming from a Conformed Conical Array

A conical frustum array capable of beamforming in azimuth is proposed. The design exploits the embedded element pattern of a single facet of the conical frustum array to determine the number of consecutive facets required, and to ascertain the directions at which a handover to the next set of facets is required. A simple beamforming architecture is also presented, which can perform sequential shifting of facets with a minimal number of analog switches and 15 true-time delay lines to produce 36 beams. Such conical frustum array can easily communicate with or track objects beneath when attached to flying platforms.