The AERIS-10 is a 10.5 GHz phased array radar system, featuring open-source hardware and an AMD Artix-7 FPGA, utilizing Pulse Linear Frequency Modulated (LFM) modulation. It’s described as “low-cost,” which will be further elaborated.
Two variants exist: the AERIS-10N (Nexus) with a range of up to 3 km, utilizing an 8×16 patch antenna array, and the AERIS-10X (Extended) offering up to a 20 km range with a 32×16 dielectric-filled slotted waveguide array.
ARIES-10 key components and features include:
- Main Board:
- FPGA – AMD Artix-7 XC7A100T to manage PLFM Chirps generation through the DAC, Raw ADC data reading, Automatic Gain Control (AGC), I/Q Baseband Down-Conversion, Decimation, Filtering, Forward FFT, Pulse Compression, Doppler, MTI, and CFAR processing, and USB Interface.
- MCU – ST STM32F746xx microcontroller handling Power management, FPGA communication, Setup and interfacing with components on various boards such as GPS module for GUI map centering, GY-85 IMU for pitch/roll correction, BMP180 Barometer, Stepper Motor, 8x ADS7830 Temperature Sensors, and RF switches.
- DAC for RADAR Chirps generation, 2x LT5552 microwave mixers, 4x ADAR1000 4-channel phase shifters, and 16x ADTR1107 front-end chips for both LNA (Rx) and PA (Tx) stages.
- Frequency synthesizer board equipped with an AD9523-1 low-jitter clock generator, ensuring phase-aligned clock references.
- 16x power amplifier boards with 10Watt QPA2962 GaN amplifier (AERIS-10X only), and a Power management board.
- Antenna Arrays:
- AERIS-10N – 8×16 patch antenna array
- AERIS-10X – 32×16 dielectric-filled slotted waveguide antenna array
- Miscellaneous components like Slip-ring, stepper motors and drivers, cooling fans, enclosure, and Full electronic beam steering with ±45° steering in elevation and azimuth.
