Surface scattering antenna systems with reflector or lens

• US 10,594,033 B1
• Filed: 06/13/2019
• Issued: 03/17/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2018
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Pivotal Commware, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Pivotal Commware, Inc.
• Inventors: Black, Eric James, McCandless, Jay Howard
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Hoang V
• Application Number:
  US16/440,815
• Publication Number:
  US 20200091607A1
• Time in Patent Office: 278 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 11/02 Non-resonant antennas, e.g. travelling-wave antenna Yagi antennas H01Q19/30
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/0066 said selective devices being reconfigurable, tunable or controllable, e.g. using switches
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/0086 said selective devices having materials with a synthesized negative refractive index, e.g. metamaterials or left-handed materials
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/062 for focusing
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/15 the primary radiating source being a line source, e.g. leaky waveguide antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/443 varying the phase velocity along a leaky transmission line frequency scanning H01Q3/22; non-resonant leaky-waveguide or transmission-line aerials H01Q13/20
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/46 Active lenses or reflecting arrays

Abstract

A system for forming a beam includes one or more wave sources; one or more surface scattering antennas (for example, one or more holographic metasurface antennas) coupled to the one or more wave sources, wherein each of the one or more surface scattering antennas comprises an array of scattering elements that are dynamically adjustable in response to one or more waves provided by the one or more wave sources to produce a beam; and a beam shaper configured to receive the beam from each of the one or more surface scattering antennas and to redirect the beam, preferably, with gain.

Claims

1. A system for forming a beam, comprising:

one or more holographic metasurface antennas (HMAs) that include an array of scattering elements that produce one or more beams based on one or more wave signals; and

a shaper that passively redirects the one or more beams, wherein a physical arrangement of the shaper provides an aperture that is relatively larger than another aperture provided by the one or more HMAs.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the array of scattering elements is extended along a length of the one or more HMAs in one or more rows that are substantially less than a number of columns for a width of the one or more HMAs.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising employing two or more HMAs to separately produce the one or more beams along a first axis and a second axis.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising switching the production of the one or more beams between two or more HMAs to scan two or more different sectors of a focal plane.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more HMAs are configured as one or more of a static reflect array, a configurable reflect array, a static transmit array, or a configurable transmit array.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the shaper further comprises one or more of:

a surface curved along one direction and extending laterally relative to the one direction, wherein the scattering elements of the one or more HMAs extend laterally relative to the one direction of the shaper.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the shaper further comprises:

one or more reflectors, wherein the one or more reflectors include one or more of a parabolic cylindrical reflector, an ellipsoid reflector, a hyperboloid reflector, or a dish reflector;

or

one or more lenses, wherein the one or more lenses include one or more of a Fresnel lens, a Fourier lens, a biconcave lens, a plano-convex lens, a plano-concave lens, a lenticular lens, or a cylindrical lens.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the shaper further comprises providing one of positive, negative or zero gain for the one or more redirected beams.

9. The system of claim 1, further comprising another shaper that is arranged to initially receive the one or more beams produced by the one or more HMAs, wherein the initially received one or more beams is redirected by the other shaper to the shaper that passively redirects the one or more beams.

10. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

one or more processors that execute instructions to perform actions, comprising adjusting a response of the array of scattering elements to scan the one or more beams along one or more axises of the one or more HMAs.

11. A shaper for directing one or more beams, comprising:

a surface that receives the one or more beams produced by an array of scattering elements for one or more holographic metasurface antennas (HMAs) based on one or more wave signals, wherein the surface passively redirects the one or more beams; and

wherein a physical arrangement of the surface provides an aperture that is relatively larger than another aperture provided by the one or more HMAs.

12. The shaper of claim 11, wherein the array of scattering elements is extended along a length of the one or more HMAs in one or more rows that are substantially less than a number of columns for a width of the one or more HMAs.

13. The shaper of claim 11, further comprising employing two or more HMAs to separately produce the one or more beams along a first axis and a second axis.

14. The shaper of claim 11, further comprising switching the production of the one or more beams between two or more HMAs to scan two or more different sectors of a focal plane.

15. The shaper of claim 11, wherein the one or more HMAs are configured as one or more of a static reflect array, a configurable reflect array, a static transmit array, or a configurable transmit array.

16. The shaper of claim 11, wherein the shaper further comprises one or more of:

a surface curved along one direction and extending laterally relative to the one direction, wherein the scattering elements of the one or more HMAs extend laterally relative to the one direction of the shaper.

17. The shaper of claim 11, further comprising:

one or more reflectors, wherein the one or more reflectors include one or more of a parabolic cylindrical reflector, an ellipsoid reflector, a hyperboloid reflector, or a dish reflector;

or

one or more lenses, wherein the one or more lenses include one or more of a Fresnel lens, a Fourier lens, a biconcave lens, a plano-convex lens, a plano-concave lens, a lenticular lens, or a cylindrical lens.

18. The shaper of claim 11, further comprising providing one of positive, negative or zero gain for the one or more redirected beams.

19. The shaper of claim 11, further comprising another shaper that is arranged to initially receive the one or more beams provided by the one or more HMAs, wherein the initially received one or more beams is redirected by the other shaper to the shaper that passively redirects the one or more beams.

20. The shaper of claim 11, further comprising:

one or more processors that execute instructions to perform actions, comprising adjusting a response of the array of scattering elements to scan the one or more beams along one or more axises of the one or more HMAs.

21. A holographic metasurface antennas (HMAs) for forming one or more beams, comprising:

an array of scattering elements that produce the one or more beams based on one or more wave signals; and

wherein the HMA provides the one or more beams to a shaper that passively redirects the one or more beams, wherein a physical arrangement of the shaper provides an aperture that is relatively larger than another aperture provided by the one or more HMAs.

22. The HMAs of claim 21, wherein the array of scattering elements is extended along a length of the one or more HMAs in one or more rows that are substantially less than a number of columns for a width of the one or more HMAs.

23. The HMAs of claim 21, further comprising employing two or more HMAs to separately produce the one or more beams along a first axis and a second axis.

24. The HMAs of claim 21, further comprising switching the production of the one or more beams between two or more HMAs to scan two or more different sectors of a focal plane.

25. The HMAs of claim 21, wherein the one or more HMAs are configured as one or more of a static reflect array, a configurable reflect array, a static transmit array, or a configurable transmit array.

26. The HMAs of claim 21, wherein the shaper further comprises one or more of:

a surface curved along one direction and extending laterally relative to the one direction, wherein the scattering elements of the one or more HMAs extend laterally relative to the one direction of the shaper.

27. The HMAs of claim 21, wherein the shaper further comprises:

one or more reflectors, wherein the one or more reflectors include one or more of a parabolic cylindrical reflector, an ellipsoid reflector, a hyperboloid reflector, or a dish reflector;

or

one or more lenses, wherein the one or more lenses include one or more of a Fresnel lens, a Fourier lens, a biconcave lens, a plano-convex lens, a plano-concave lens, a lenticular lens, or a cylindrical lens.

28. The HMAs of claim 21, wherein the shaper further comprises providing one of positive, negative or zero gain for the one or more redirected beams.

29. The HMAs of claim 21, further comprising another shaper that is arranged to initially receive the one or more beams produced by the one or more HMAs, wherein the initially received one or more beams is redirected by the other shaper to the shaper that passively redirects the one or more beams.

30. The HMAs of claim 21, further comprising:

one or more processors that execute instructions to perform actions, comprising adjusting a response of the array of scattering elements to scan the one or more beams along one or more axises of the one or more HMAs.