A POWER SATELLITE SONIC SIMULATOR James H. Ott and James S. Rice Novar Electronics Corporation, Barberton, Ohio ABSTRACT A simulator is described which generates and transmits a beam of audible sound energy mathematically similar to the SPS power beam. The simulator provides a laboratory means for analysis of ground based closed loop SPS phase control and of ionospheric effects on the SPS microwave power beam. INTRODUCTION Novar Electronics Corporation has built and is currently testing a Satellite Power System Microwave Transmission Simulator. In a ground based laboratory environment, the simulator generates and transmits a beam of audible sound energy which is mathematically similar to the microwave beam which would transmit energy to earth from a Solar Power Satellite. SIMULATOR DESCRIPTION Figure 1 shows the major functional parts of the simulator. The Sonic Spacetenna (Figure 2) is 1.3 meters in diameter and contains 3200 independent transmitting elements. These elements are connected in a 64 row by 64 column matrix. Each column is driven by a driver which multiplexes each of the 64 rows 32,000 times per second. This enables the simulator's computer to control the amplitude, phase, and frequency of each of the 3200 transducers. The simulator is designed to transmit a coherent sonic power beam at 12 kHz. Any illumination taper, e.g., Gaussian, can be programmed and the resultant ground pattern studied. A computer, RAM Memory, 300 MB disc drive, and line printer are incorporated to provide a very high degree of experimental flexibi1i ty. SIMULATOR CAPABILITIES A unique feature of Novar's Sonic Simulator is its ability to provide actual photographs of the transmitted power beam. Figure 3 shows a scanning system which provides an intensity modulated raster of the sonic beam. By adding a phase signal to the intensity modulator, the phase coherence can also be photographed. This technique, developed at Bell Labs in the early 1950's^, will provide photographic records similar to Figure 4.
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