Distributed Radio Frequency Cooperation at the Wavelength Level Using Wireless Phase Synchronization

Abstract: Coordinating the operations of separate wireless systems at the wavelength level can lead to significant improvements in wireless capabilities. We address a fundamental challenge in distributed radio frequency system cooperation - inter-node phase alignment - which must be accomplished wirelessly, and is particularly challenging when the nodes are in relative motion. We present a solution to this problem that is based on a novel combined high-accuracy ranging and frequency transfer technique. Using this approach, we present the design of the first fully wireless distributed system operating at the wavelength level. We demonstrate the system in the first open-loop coherent distributed beamforming experiment. Internode range estimation to support phase alignment was performed using a two-tone stepped frequency waveform with a single pulse, while a two-tone waveform was used for frequency synchronization, where the oscillator of a secondary node was disciplined to the primary node. In this concept, secondary nodes are equipped with an adjunct self-mixing circuit that is able to extract the reference frequency from the captured synchronization waveform. The approach was implemented on a two-node dynamic system using Ettus X310 software-defined radios, with coherent beamforming at 1.5 GHz. We demonstrate distributed beamforming with greater than 90% of the maximum possible coherent gain throughout the displacement of the secondary node over one full cycle of the beamforming frequency.