Combined radio altimeter and doppler radar with surface-mountable antenna array

1. A method comprising:

receiving an output radio frequency (RF) signal;

generating a digitized output RF signal representing the output RF signal;

transmitting an output RF waveform associated with the output RF signal;

receiving a return RF waveform based on transmission of the output RF waveform;

generating a digitized return RF signal representing a return RF signal associated with the return RF waveform;

serializing the digitized output RF signal and the digital return RF signal to generate a serialized baseband signal; and

communicating a bit stream based on the serialized baseband signal to an RF unit, wherein the RF unit is configured to generate an altitude measurement, a ground speed measurement, or both for a vehicle based on the serialized baseband signal.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

modulating the serialized baseband signal to generate a modulated digitized signal;

wherein the bit stream represents the modulated digitized signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the output RF waveform has a frequency in a range of approximately 13.25 gigahertz (GHz) to approximately 13.4 GHz.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein output RF signal is associated with an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) modulation scheme, a direct sequence spread spectrum (DSSS) modulation scheme, or a combination thereof.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein transmitting the output RF waveform comprises beamforming a plurality of beams via an antenna array according to a beamforming pattern, and wherein the plurality of beams includes one or more selected waveforms from a preset family of waveforms.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the beamforming pattern comprises a preconfigured beamforming network configuration.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the preconfigured beamforming network configuration is established according to a two-dimensional Butler matrix.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the beamforming pattern corresponds to an active beamforming network.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the beamforming pattern is based on an altitude of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, an attitude of the vehicle, a global positioning system denied (GPS-denied) status of the vehicle, or a combination thereof.

10. A system comprising:

one or more processors configured to:

receive an output radio frequency (RF) signal;

generate a digitized output RF signal representing the output RF signal;

transmit an output RF waveform associated with the output RF signal;

receive a return RF waveform based on transmission of the output RF waveform;

generate a digitized return RF signal representing a return RF signal associated with the return RF waveform;

serialize the digitized output RF signal and the digitized return RF signal to generate a serialized baseband signal; and

communicate a bit stream based on the serialized baseband signal to an RF unit, wherein the RF unit is configured to generate an altitude measurement, a ground speed measurement, or both for a vehicle based on the serialized baseband signal.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to:

modulate the serialized baseband signal to generate a modulated digitized signal;

wherein the bit stream represents the modulated digitized signal.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to beamform a plurality of beams via an antenna array according to a beamforming pattern, and wherein the plurality of beams includes one or more selected waveforms from a preset family of waveforms.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the beamforming pattern comprises a preconfigured beamforming network configuration.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the preconfigured beamforming network configuration is established according to a two-dimensional Butler matrix.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the beamforming pattern corresponds to an active beamforming network.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the beamforming pattern is based on an altitude of the vehicle, a speed of the vehicle, an attitude of the vehicle, a global positioning system denied (GPS-denied) status of the vehicle, or a combination thereof.

17. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

receiving an output radio frequency (RF) signal;

generating a digitized output RF signal representing the output RF signal;

transmitting an output RF waveform associated with the output RF signal;

receiving a return RF waveform based on transmission of the output RF waveform;

generating a digitized return RF signal representing a return RF signal associated with the return RF waveform;

serializing the digitized output RF signal and the digitized return RF signal to generate a serialized baseband signal; and

communicating a bit stream based on the serialized baseband signal to an RF unit, wherein the RF unit is configured to generate an altitude measurement, a ground speed measurement, or both for a vehicle based on the serialized baseband signal.

18. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the operations further comprise:

modulating the serialized baseband signal to generate a modulated digitized signal;

wherein the bit stream represents the modulated digitized signal.

19. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein transmitting the output RF waveform comprises beamforming a plurality of beams via an antenna array according to a beamforming pattern, and wherein the plurality of beams includes one or more selected waveforms from a preset family of waveforms.

20. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein the beamforming pattern corresponds to an active beamforming network.