System and method for distributed beamforming

1 . A system for distributed beamforming, the system comprising:

an onboard processor for processing radiofrequency beams, the onboard processor further comprising:

a plurality of beamforming integrated circuits for beamforming the beams, wherein each of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits are communicatively connected in a plurality of digital beamforming networks, wherein each of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits is communicatively connected to multiple other beamforming integrated circuits of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits, wherein each of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits is communicatively connected to a respective subset of radiating elements, wherein each of plurality of beamforming integrated circuits is able to operate as an input and as an output for the respective subset of radiating elements and a channelization integrated circuit, wherein each of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits performs calculations for partially forming the beams with its respective subset of radiating elements and communicates partially formed beam information to another of the beamforming integrated circuits for adding by the another of the beamforming integrated circuits, the another of the beamforming integrated circuits being a next beamforming integrated circuit in a digital beamforming network, wherein the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits perform calculations for completely forming the beams; and

the channelization integrated circuit for applying a channelization process to the beams, wherein the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits are communicatively linked to the channelization integrated circuit.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the channelization process further comprises:

digitizing the beams; and

demultiplexing the beams.

3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the beamforming integrated circuits are configured to demultiplex subchannels of the beams.

4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the beamforming integrated circuits are configured to demultiplex channels of the beams.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the channelization process further comprises:

multiplexing the beams; and

converting the beams to analog.

6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits includes at least one redundant beamforming integrated circuit.

7 . A method for distributed beamforming, the method comprising:

partially calculating radiofrequency beams on each of a plurality of beamforming integrated circuits, wherein each of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits are communicatively connected in a plurality of digital beamforming networks, wherein each of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits is communicatively connected to multiple other beamforming integrated circuits of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits, wherein each of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits is communicatively connected to a respective subset of radiating elements, wherein each of plurality of beamforming integrated circuits is able to operate as an input and as an output for the respective subset of radiating elements and a channelization integrated circuit;

combining the calculation of each of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits, wherein combining includes communicating partially calculated radiofrequency beam information to another of the beamforming integrated circuits for adding by the another of the beamforming integrated circuits, the another of the beamforming integrated circuits being a next beamforming integrated circuit in a digital beamforming network; and

performing a channelization process on the beams.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the channelization process further comprises:

digitizing the beams; and

demultiplexing the beams.

9 . The method of claim 7 further comprising demultiplexing subchannels of the beams with the beamforming circuits.

10 . The method of claim 7 further comprising demultiplexing channels of the beams with the beamforming circuits.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the channelization process further comprises:

multiplexing the beams; and

converting the beams to analog.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits includes at least one redundant beamforming integrated circuit.

13 . A system for performing distributed digital beamforming, the system comprising:

radiating elements for transmitting radiofrequency beams;

a first digital beamforming integrated circuit of a plurality of beamforming integrated circuits communicatively connected in a plurality of digital beamforming networks, the first digital beamforming integrated circuit for generating a first partial beam information for a plurality of beams, wherein the first digital beamforming integrated circuit is communicatively connected to a first subset of the radiating elements for communication of the plurality of beams, wherein the first beamforming integrated circuit is communicatively connected to multiple other beamforming integrated circuits, wherein the first digital beamforming integrated circuit is able to operate as an input and as an output for the first subset of radiating elements and a channelization integrated circuit;

a second digital beamforming integrated circuit of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits communicatively connected in a plurality of digital beamforming networks, the second digital beamforming integrated circuit for generating a second partial beam information for the plurality of beams, wherein the second digital beamforming integrated circuit is communicatively connected to a second subset of the radiating elements for communication of the plurality of beams, the second subset being different from the first subset, wherein the second beamforming integrated circuit is communicatively connected to multiple other beamforming integrated circuits of the plurality of beamforming integrated circuits, wherein the second digital beamforming integrated circuit is able to operate as an input and as an output for the second subset of radiating elements and a channelization integrated circuit, wherein the second digital beamforming integrated circuit is communicatively connected to the first beam forming integrated circuit to communicate the partial beam information to the first digital beamforming integrated circuit for adding by the first digital beamforming integrated circuit, the first digital beamforming integrated circuit being a next beamforming integrated circuit with respect to the second digital beamforming integrated circuit in a network of beamforming integrated circuits;

the first digital beamforming integrated circuit configured to generate complete beam information for a first beam of the plurality of beams using the first partial beam information for the first beam and the second partial beam information for the first beam; and

the second digital beamforming integrated circuit configured to generate complete beam information for a second beam of the plurality of beams using the first partial beam information for the second beam and the second partial beam information for the second beam.

14 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the second digital beamforming integrated circuit sends second partial beam information of the first beam to the first digital beamforming integrated circuit.

15 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the first digital beamforming integrated circuit sends the first partial beam information for a second beam to the second digital beamforming integrated circuit.

16 . The system of claim 13 further comprising a channelization integrated circuit for applying a channelization process to the plurality of beams, wherein at least one of the first digital beamforming integrated circuit and the second digital beamforming integrated circuit is communicatively linked to the channelization integrated circuit.

17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the channelization process further comprises:

digitizing the beams; and

demultiplexing the beams.

18 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the first digital beamforming integrated circuit and second digital beamforming integrated circuit are configured to demultiplex subchannels of the beams.

19 . The system of claim 16 , wherein the channelization process further comprises:

multiplexing the beams; and

converting the beams to analog.

20 . The system of claim 13 , wherein the radiating elements are configured for transmitting the plurality of beams, and wherein the first digital beamforming integrated circuit and second digital beamforming integrated circuit are configured to demultiplex channels of the beams.