Modeling and Beam-Steering Control of Hybrid/ACAP-Based FPGA Architectures for Radar and Electronic Warfare (EW) Beamforming Applications

Abstract

This mini-project looks at how beam steering works when you try to model it on an FPGA-style setup, without using any physical antenna hardware. Everything is done through simulation in Verilog. The idea is to reproduce what a phased array normally does: change the phase across several antenna elements and, as a result, watch the main beam swing toward whatever direction you choose. That’s the fundamental trick behind modern radar and electronic-warfare systems, where the beam has to move quickly and respond to whatever is happening in the environment. In the simulation, the phase for each element is controlled digitally, and that shift is what steers the beam. Because it doesn’t rely on any mechanical movement, the model can show how the beam reacts in real time. You can also see how basic factors—like how far apart the elements are, whether the array is arranged in a line or another shape, and how the phase changes from one element to the next—affect the width of the beam and how strong it is in different directions. To keep things manageable, the project uses the standard formulas from uniform linear array theory along with the basic phase-shift equations that engineers typically use for beamforming. Those models are tied into signal-processing steps so the system can follow a changing angle, similar to angle-of-arrival tracking. When you adjust the target angle or the control values, the beam pattern shifts right away in the plots, which makes it easy to see what’s going on. The whole design was written in Verilog HDL and run in ModelSim, keeping it close to what an eventual FPGA implementation would look like. The end goal here is not just to simulate the beam, but to build a starting point for radar systems that need to steer the beam instantly—something that matters a lot in defense applications where the system may have to track a moving object, push through interference or pick out a signal buried in clutter.