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Scalable Millimeter-Wave Architectures for Reconfigurable Transceivers (SMART)
Program Manager: Dr. Mark Rosker
The Scalable Millimeter-wave Architectures for Reconfigurable Transceivers (SMART) program will develop an integrated, surface-emitting panel architecture for millimeter wave (MMW) transceiver arrays. The program will culminate in an objective demonstration of a large (at least 400 element), coherent, active electronically steerable array (AESA) achieving an output power density of 5W/cm2 and a total layer thickness of less than 1cm. Taken together, these values would represent a vastly greater "functional density" (e.g., power density, expressed in W/cm3) than achievable with current MMW architectures, such as slats or bricks, without compromising performance in other areas (e.g., receiver noise figure).
The three-dimensional (3D) multi-layer modules that will be developed during the SMART program will greatly reduce AESA packaging complexity. Such compact, heterogeneously integrated, batch-fabricated, radio-frequency (RF) sub-array "building blocks" will be combinable to form arbitrarily large arrays. New capabilities, such as the ability to construct reconfigurable and/or multi-band AESAs and other MMW circuits, will be enabled by this architectural approach.