Low-frequency signal generation in space based on high-frequency electric-antenna array and Doppler effect

doi:10.23919/JSEE.2024.000079

Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics ›› 2025, Vol. 36 ›› Issue (1): 24-36.doi: 10.23919/JSEE.2024.000079

• ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY • Previous Articles

Low-frequency signal generation in space based on high-frequency electric-antenna array and Doppler effect

Anjing CUI¹^,²(), Daojing LI¹^,*(), Jiang WU¹^,²(), Jinghan GAO¹^,²(), Kai ZHOU¹^,²(), Chufeng HU³(), Shumei WU¹(), Danni SHI⁴(), Guang LI⁴()

¹ National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
² School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
³ National Key Laboratory of Science and Technology on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an 710065, China
⁴ Beijing BBEF Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing 100020, China

Received:2023-04-09 Accepted:2023-11-09 Online:2025-02-18 Published:2025-03-18
Contact: Daojing LI E-mail:cuianjing20@mails.ucas.ac.cn;lidj@mail.ie.ac.cn;15074736402@163.com;gaojinghan20@mails.ucas.ac.cn;zk_6810@163.com;huchufeng@nwpu.edu.cn;wusm@aircas.ac.cn;837974747@qq.com;18613819820@163.com
About author:
CUI Anjing was born in 1997. She received her B.S. degree in electronic engineering from Xidian University, Xi’an, China, in 2020. She is a doctoral student with School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Her research interest is array detector signal processing. E-mail: cuianjing20@mails.ucas.ac.cn

LI Daojing was born in 1964. He received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China, in 1986 and 1991, respectively. He received his Ph.D. degree from Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China, in 2003. He is a researcher and doctoral supervisor with National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research interests include radar system and radar signal processing. E-mail: lidj@mail.ie.ac.cn

WU Jiang was born in 1999. He received his B.S. degree in communication engineering from China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, China, in 2020. He is a doctoral student with School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. His interest is coherent detection infrared imaging technology. E-mail: 15074736402@163.com

GAO Jinghan was born in 1997. He received his B.S. degree in communication engineering from Dalian Maritime University, Dalian, China, in 2020. He is a doctoral student with School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. His research interests include diffractive optical system and ladar. E-mail: gaojinghan20@mails.ucas.ac.cn

ZHOU Kai was born in 1995. He received his B.S. degree in electronic information science and technology from Central South University, Changsha, China, in 2020. He is a doctoral student with School of Electronic, Electrical and Communication Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. His research interests include infrared and laser signal multi-channel interference imaging technology. E-mail: zk_6810@163.com

HU Chufeng was born in 1982. He received his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electromagnetic field and microwave technology from Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China, in 2004, 2007 and 2010, respectively. He is a researcher with Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China. His research interests include remote sensing, scattering measurement, and imaging techniques. E-mail: huchufeng@nwpu.edu.cn

WU Shumei was born in 1969. She received her B.S. degree in communication engineering with School of Electronic Engineering, Beijing United University, Beijing, China. She is an associate researcher with National Key Laboratory of Microwave Imaging, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Her research interest is radar signal processing. E-mail: wusm@aircas.ac.cn

SHI Danni was born in 1994. She received her M.S. degree in electronics and communication engineering from School of Electronic and Information Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing, China. She is a radio frequency engineer in Beijing BBEF Science & Technology Co., Ltd. Her research interests include electromagnetic field and electromagnetic waves. E-mail: 837974747@qq.com

LI Guang was born in 1982. He received his B.S. degree in communication engineering from Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China, in 2005. He is a system integration engineer with Beijing BBEF Science & Technology Co., Ltd. His research interests include communications and electronic countermeasures. E-mail: 18613819820@163.com
Supported by:
This work was supported by the Science and Technology Project of Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Y910340Z2F) and the Science and Technology Project of BBEF (E3E2010201).

Abstract

Abstract:

Low-frequency signals have been proven valuable in the fields of target detection and geological exploration. Nevertheless, the practical implementation of these signals is hindered by large antenna diameters, limiting their potential applications. Therefore, it is imperative to study the creation of low-frequency signals using antennas with suitable dimensions. In contrast to conventional mechanical antenna techniques, our study generates low-frequency signals in the spatial domain utilizing the principle of the Doppler effect. We also defines the antenna array architecture, the timing sequency, and the radiating element signal waveform, and provides experimental prototypes including 8/64 antennas based on earlier research. In the conducted experiments, 121 MHz, 40 MHz, and 10 kHz composite signals are generated by 156 MHz radiating element signals. The composite signal spectrum matches the simulations, proving our low-frequency signal generating method works. This holds significant implications for research on generating low-frequency signals with small-sized antennas.

Key words: frequency conversion, array signal processing, experimental verification, Doppler effect

Anjing CUI, Daojing LI, Jiang WU, Jinghan GAO, Kai ZHOU, Chufeng HU, Shumei WU, Danni SHI, Guang LI. Low-frequency signal generation in space based on high-frequency electric-antenna array and Doppler effect[J]. Journal of Systems Engineering and Electronics, 2025, 36(1): 24-36.

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Simulation parameter	LF signal	VLF signal
Length of the array/m	105	120
Number of arrays	1	9
Equivalent spacing of RE/m	0.15	0.167
Distance/km	30	30
Number of REs	700	729
Carrier frequency of RE signal/GHz	1	0.1
Pulse width of RE signal/μs	0.73	0.115
Number of RE signal cycles	1	600
Duty cycle of RE signal/%	/	50
Phase-modulation frequency of RE signal/MHz	39	/
Phase stepping of RE signal	$ - {{10} \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{10} {13}}} \right. } {13}}\text{π} $	/
Frequency of composite signal/MHz	400	0.01
Pulse width of composite signal/$ \text{μs} $	1.46	138.59
Sampling frequency/GHz	2	0.5
PSLR/dB	−4.28	−13.34
ISLR/dB	−14.93	−8.77
Energy ratio of LF/VLF signal in composite signal/%	96.88	88.29
EPUR/%	19.02	14.01

Parameter	Value
Frequency range of REs/MHz	148−175
Maximum gain of REs/dBi	3
Power capacity of REs/W	10
Input impedance of REs/Ω	50
RE direction of polarization	Vertical polarization
Radiation direction of REs	Omnidirectional
Standing-wave ratio of REs	Superior to 2 (156 MHz)
Center frequency of REs/MHz	156
Wavelength of the RE signal/m	1.923
Spacing of REs/m	0.24
Attenuation of cables/(dB·m⁻¹)	<0.3
Shielding effectiveness of cables/dB	>60
Frequency range of cables/ MHz	100−18000
Medium of cables	Poly tetra fluoro ethylene
Relative dielectric constant of cables	2.04
Isolation of power splitters/dB	>18
Standing-wave ratio of power splitters	<1.5
Frequency range of power splitters/MHz	5−1000
Carrier frequency of RE signal/MHz	156
Carrier wavelength of RE signal/m	1.92
Spacing of RE signal/m	0.24
Pulse width of RE signal/μs	0.074
Number of RE signal pulse	13
Repetition period of digital module/μs	3
Carrier period of RE signal/ns	6.41
Ratio of equivalent radar speed and speed of light	0.246
Length of array (short/ long array)/m	1.68/ 15.12
Period of RE signal/μs	0.148
Sample frequency of digital module/GHz	1
Frequency of composite signal/ GHz	121.35

Cable number	Length/m	Attenuation/dB	Relative phase/rad	Delay/ns
1	0.20	0.0735	0	0.95238
2	0.88	0.3232	−3.1093	4.1905
3	1.57	0.5767	0.1113	7.4762
4	2.25	0.8264	−2.9980	10.714
5	2.94	1.0799	0.2226	14.000
6	3.62	1.3296	−2.8867	17.238
7	4.30	1.5794	0.2872	20.476
8	4.99	1.8328	−2.7754	23.762

Device tested (Channel 0)	Delay relative to channel 1/ns	Transmission delay/ns	Delay difference/ns
Without cable	13.333	0	−
8 m cable	24.778	11.445	−
8 m cable and 0.20 m cable	27.079	13.746	−
8 m cable and 0.88 m cable	30.225	16.892	3.146
8 m cable and 1.57 m cable	33.371	20.038	3.146
8 m cable and 2.25 m cable	36.742	23.409	3.371
8 m cable and 2.94 m cable	40.000	26.667	3.258
8 m cable and 3.62 m cable	43.371	30.038	3.371
8 m cable and 4.30 m cable	46.405	33.072	3.034
8 m cable and 4.99 m cable	49.888	36.555	3.483

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Low-frequency signal generation in space based on high-frequency electric-antenna array and Doppler effect

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