An antenna having at least one main element and a plurality of parasitic elements. At least some of the elements have coupling elements or devices associated with them, the coupling elements or devices being tunable to thereby control the degree of coupling between adjacent elements. Controlling the degree of coupling allows a lobe associated with the antenna to be steered.

Meta-element antenna and array

An array antenna is formed of a plurality of antenna elements, each of which scans a beam in the direction of an angle θ to a boresight of the antenna and electrically varies the direction of a rotation angle φ of the beam. The antenna elements are disposed so that the optical path difference of radio waves transmitted or received by two adjacent antenna elements in the directions of a plurality of direction angles φ on the plane tilted for an angle θ to the boresight of the antenna is nearly a multiple of the wave length of the radio waves.

Beam scanning antennas with plurality of antenna elements for scanning beam direction

This invention is in the field of base station antennas for wireless communications. The present invention refers to a slim multi-band antenna array for cellular base stations, which provides a reduced width of the base station antenna and minimizes the environmental and visual impact of a network of cellular base station antennas, in particular in mobile telephony and wireless service networks. A multiband antenna array comprises a first set of radiating elements operating at a first frequency band and a second set of radiating elements operating at a second frequency band, said radiating elements being smaller than λ/2 or smaller than λ/3, being (λ) the longest operating wavelength. The ratio between the largest and the smaller of said frequency bands is smaller than 2.

Slim Multi-Band Antenna Array For Cellular Base Stations

The subject of this disclosure may relate generally to systems, devices, and methods using interleaved waveguide elements. Specifically, systems, devices, and methods using a dual-polarized broadband, multi-frequency interleaved waveguide antenna aperture are presented. In one exemplary embodiment, a first plurality of waveguide elements are configured to communicate in a first frequency band. In this exemplary embodiment, a second plurality of waveguide elements are configured to communicate in a second frequency band. In one exemplary embodiment the first plurality of waveguide elements and the second plurality of waveguide elements are integrally coupled to a printed circuit board.

Dual-polarized, multi-band, full duplex, interleaved waveguide antenna aperture

A switch arrangement comprises a plurality of MEMS switches arranged on a substrate about a central point, each MEMS switch being disposed on a common imaginary circle centered on the central point. Additionally, and each MEMS switch is preferably spaced equidistantly along the circumference of the imaginary circle. Connections are provided for connecting a RF port of each one of the MEMS switches with the central point.

Single-pole multi-throw switch having low parasitic reactance, and an antenna incorporating the same

A multiple layer dipole array that provides for a multi-frequency band phased array antenna. Several layers of dipole pair arrays, each tuned to a different frequency band, are stacked relative to each other along the transmission/reception direction. The highest frequency array is in front of the next lowest frequency array and so forth. Due to the frequency selective property of the arrays, incident high frequency signals are completely absorbed by the highest frequency array. In regard to incident low frequency signals, the insertion loss due to higher frequency arrays is small resulting in good performance of the lower frequency arrays. The multi-frequency band phased array antenna may use active or driven dipole pairs, or parasitic elements that form the multiple layer dipoles. The multiple layer dipole array of the present invention may employ corporate feed circuit boards and a corporate feed power divider, using strip transmission line circuits, for example. The multiple layer dipole phased array of the present invention may also employ a feed-through lens arrangement to simplify the feed network.

Multi-frequency band phased-array antenna using multiple layered dipole arrays

In a printed circuit embodiment, dielectric boards in a multilayer arrangement have their ends protruding from a ground plane. Sets of printed dipole elements are disposed along the edge of each board. Each set of dipole elements has three feed ports. Bandpass filters are provided for each feed port. Phase shifters are coupled to each of the feed ports through its respective bandpass filter. At the low band, the outer feed ports are shorted by the filters so that the two sections of dipole elements to the left of the center feed port form one lone band dipole arm, and the two sections of dipole elements to the right of the center feed port form the other low band dipole arm. The low band dipole is driven at the center feed port. At the high band, the center feed port becomes an open circuit so that the two sections to the left thereof form one high band dipole, and the two sections to the right thereof form a second high band dipole. The two outer feed ports drive the dipole array at the high band. In an MMIC embodiment, printed circuit stubs are bridged across the outer feed ports. The length of each stub is one wavelength at the low frequency band, and one-and-one-half wavelengths at the high frequency band. At the low frequency, the stubs appear to be short-circuited. At the high frequency band, the terminals of the stubs provide a 180 degree phase difference for a balun.

Multi-frequency band phased array antenna using coplanar dipole array with multiple feed ports

A phased array antenna which is adapted to provide electronic scanning over a limited scan range with a minimum number of control devices and yet maintain fairly low sidelobes is disclosed wherein the respective radiating elements are grouped into steerable subarrays. Phase steering of the subarrays is performed in discrete steps by means of phase shifters with one or two bits interspersed within the feed network. The phase state of these subarray phase shifters is selected to improve the antenna gain and suppress the grating lobes. Overlapping of the radiating elements of the subarrays is also employed to further suppress grating lobes throughout the limited scan range.

Phase steered subarray antenna

A dual band array antenna is disclosed having interleaved waveguide and dipole arrays, each operating in a different frequency band. The orientation of the waveguides and dipoles is such that polarization of the signals of the two frequency bands is perpendicular to each other, thus reducing mutual coupling. The waveguides are used for the higher frequency band and their cutoff frequency is selected to be above the lower frequency band at which the dipoles operate, in order to reduce mutual coupling into the waveguides. In one embodiment the dipoles are printed on a substrate having a dielectric constant selected so that dipole spacing is the same as the waveguide spacing. This eliminates grating lobe formation in the radiation pattern of the waveguide array. A low pass filter is included in the dipole feed circuit to reject the frequencies at which the waveguides operate. As a result of the invention, two beams of two different frequency bands are independently and simultaneously steerable in a single antenna aperture.

Interleaved waveguide and dipole dual band array antenna

A millimeter-wave phase shifter for use at high millimeter-wave frequencies. The phase shifter employs continuous aperture ferrite and corrugated horns to make a reciprocal phase shifter in the frequency range of interest. Applied linearly polarized energy is expanded in cross-section by means of a first corrugated horn (23). The expanded energy is focused by a first lens (27), circularly polarized (24) and applied to a ferrite phase shifting section (22). The phase shift applied to the energy is controlled by means of phase control circuitry (28) and a yoke (31) and coil (32) arrangement. The phase-shifted energy is then converted to linearly polarized energy by a second circular polarizer (34) focused by a second lens (37) and contracted in cross-section by a corrugated horn (38). The use of the corrugated horns, polarizers, lenses and ferrite phase shifting components allows a much larger device to be fabricated and hence physical tolerances are reduced by an order of magnitude for the frequency range of interest. In addition, both the efficiency and power handling capability are greatly improved. Both reciprocal and nonreciprocal phase shifters are disclosed.

Raymond Tang

Papers

Multi-frequency band phased-array antenna using multiple layered dipole arrays

Multi-frequency band phased array antenna using coplanar dipole array with multiple feed ports

Phase steered subarray antenna

Interleaved waveguide and dipole dual band array antenna

Millimeter-wave phase shifting device