Antenna processor ASIC developed to power AESA sensor
NewsJanuary 06, 2021
SAN DIEGO, Calif. IQ-Analog Corporation has announced that its Full-Spectrum Conversion wideband transceiver F1000 Antenna Processor Unit (APU) has been integrated into Lockheed Martin Corporation's next-generation digital prototype active electronically scanned phased array (AESA) sensor.
According to the company, the F1000 is a monolithic application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) that was developed by IQ-Analog to address next-generation radar, communications, and electronic warfare systems that are transitioning from legacy analog to all-digital antenna processing.
The new inflection point in converged AESA systems is designed with the ability to reconfigure the array architecture through cognitive software control. Lockheed Martin, together with IQ-Analog, have developed a reconfigurable, multi-function wideband sensor capability as part of Lockheed Martin's Broadband Electromagnetic Aperture (BEMA) program.
The company's claim that the key to BEMA's success is the IQ-Analog F1000 APU which is designed to offer Full-Spectrum Conversion capability with over 30-GHz of instantaneous bandwidth provided by 64 Giga-sample per second data converters.
IQ-Analog's TPWQ technology is also designed to have dual-use in both military sensors as well as commercial 5G equipment demanding multi-beam frequency-agile antenna systems.
