Phased array beamforming using nonlinear oscillators

We describe a concept in which an array of coupled nonlinear oscillators is used for beamforming in phased array receivers. The signal that each sensing element receives, beam steered by time delays, is input to a nonlinear oscillator. The nonlinear oscillators for each element are in turn coupled to each other. For incident signals sufficiently close to the steering angle, the oscillator array will synchronize to the forcing signal whereas more obliquely incident signals will not induce synchronization. The beam pattern that results can show a narrower mainlobe and lower sidelobes than the equivalent conventional linear beamformer. We present a theoretical analysis to explain the beam pattern of the nonlinear oscillator array.