Low profile antenna
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A multi panel antenna, comprising:
- a plurality of panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements;
a mechanical mount structure carrying the panels in a manner which allows movement of at least two of the panels relative to each other;
an RF signal transmitter and/or receiver adapted to respectively transmit and/or receive RF signals through the radiator elements of the panels;
RF transmission lines connecting the RF signal transmitter and/or receiver to the radiator elements in a manner which is capable of inducing electrical tilt in a pointing angle of a radiation pattern beam of one or more of the panels; and
a controller adapted to mechanically move the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions, while also moving the panels relative to each other such that when viewed from the beam pointing direction of the panels they appear to present a continuous surface without overlap or gaps over at least some range of beam pointing directions, wherein the controller is adapted to mechanically move the panels over a range including an angle in which the beam pointing direction of the panels and a line perpendicular to the panels are in separate quadrants of space when divided by horizontal and vertical lines intersecting at an axis of panel rotation.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Plural panelized phased arrays, possibly including electronic tilt, are controlled in physical orientation to present a reduced physical profile. Each panel may include a non-linear shaped aperture which physically mates with other shaped apertures to maintain a composite tapered aperture for reduced side lobes. Long delay compensation to equalize RF radiator element signal propagation times improves bandwidth.
127 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A multi panel antenna, comprising:
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a plurality of panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements;
a mechanical mount structure carrying the panels in a manner which allows movement of at least two of the panels relative to each other;
an RF signal transmitter and/or receiver adapted to respectively transmit and/or receive RF signals through the radiator elements of the panels;
RF transmission lines connecting the RF signal transmitter and/or receiver to the radiator elements in a manner which is capable of inducing electrical tilt in a pointing angle of a radiation pattern beam of one or more of the panels; and
a controller adapted to mechanically move the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions, while also moving the panels relative to each other such that when viewed from the beam pointing direction of the panels they appear to present a continuous surface without overlap or gaps over at least some range of beam pointing directions, wherein the controller is adapted to mechanically move the panels over a range including an angle in which the beam pointing direction of the panels and a line perpendicular to the panels are in separate quadrants of space when divided by horizontal and vertical lines intersecting at an axis of panel rotation.
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2. A multi panel antenna, comprising:
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a plurality of at least four panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements;
at least two assemblies of the panels, each assembly including at least two panels that are displaced from each other and also fixed in position with respect to each other so that they do not move relative to each other but are movable together as a unit with respect to at least one other panel;
a mechanical mount structure carrying the panel assemblies in a manner which allows movement of at least two of the panel assemblies relative to each other;
an RF signal transmitter and/or receiver adapted to respectively transmit and/or receive RF signals through the radiator elements of the panels;
RF transmission lines connecting the RF signal transmitter and/or receiver to the radiator elements; and
a controller adapted to mechanically move the panel assemblies over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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4. A multi panel antenna, comprising:
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a plurality of panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements;
a mechanical mount structure carrying the panels in a manner which allows movement of at least two of the panels relative to each other;
an RF signal transmitter and/or receiver adapted to respectively transmit and/or receive RF signals through the radiator elements of the panels;
RF transmission lines connecting the RF signal transmitter and/or receiver to the radiator elements; and
a controller adapted to mechanically move the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions, while also moving the panels relative to each other such that when viewed from the beam pointing direction of the panels they appear to present a continuous surface without overlap or gaps over at least some range of beam pointing directions, wherein the mount allows and the controller causes overlap of at least two of the panels at a vertical plane for some range of beam pointing directions.
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5. A multi panel antenna comprising:
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a plurality of panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements;
active areas of said panels including differently shaped active areas;
a mechanical mount structure carrying the panels in a manner which allows movement of at least two of the panels relative to each other;
an RF signal transmitter and/or receiver adapted to respectively transmit and/or receive RF signals through the radiator elements of the panels;
RF transmission lines connecting the RF signal transmitter and/or receiver to the radiator elements; and
a controller adapted to mechanically move the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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9. A multi panel antenna comprising:
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a plurality of panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements;
a mechanical mount structure carrying the panels in a manner which allows movement of at least two of the panels relative to each other;
an RF signal transmitter and/or receiver adapted to respectively transmit and/or receive RF signals through the radiator elements of the panels;
RF transmission lines connecting the RF signal transmitter and/or receiver to the radiator elements at least some of said transmission lines including time delay elements for introducing time delays, in addition to possible beam steering phase shifts, in transmission lines leading to/from at least some RF radiator elements of said panels and are dimensioned so as to substantially equalize effective signal propagation times to/from a remote signal source/sink and a local signal sink/source; and
a controller adapted to mechanically move the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11)
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12. A multi panel antenna comprising:
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a plurality of panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements, at least one of said panels having a thickness and/or height dimension different from another panel;
a mechanical mount structure carrying the panels in a manner which allows movement of at least two of the panels relative to each other;
an RF signal transmitter and/or receiver adapted to respectively transmit and/or receive RF signals through the radiator elements of the panels;
RF transmission lines connecting the RF signal transmitter and/or receiver to the radiator elements; and
a controller adapted to mechanically move the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions, while also moving the panels relative to each other such that when viewed from the beam pointing direction of the panels they appear to present a continuous surface without overlap or gaps over at least some range of beam pointing directions. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A method of operating a multi panel antenna comprising a plurality of panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements, said method comprising:
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inducing electrical tilt in a pointing angle of a radiation pattern beam of one or more of the panels as RF signals are communicated via said panels; and
mechanically moving the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions, while also moving the panels relative to each other such that when viewed from the beam pointing direction of the panels they appear to present a continuous surface without overlap or gaps over at least some range of beam pointing directions, wherein the panels are mechanically moved over a range including an angle in which the beam pointing direction of the panels and a line perpendicular to the panels are in separate quadrants of space when divided by horizontal and vertical lines intersecting at an axis of panel rotation.
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15. A method of operating a multi panel antenna comprising a plurality of panels included in each of plural assemblies of panels, the panels in each assembly being physically fixed with respect to each other, each panel including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements, said method comprising:
mechanically moving the panel assemblies over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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17. A method of operating a multi panel antenna comprising a plurality of panels, each including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements, said method comprising:
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mechanically moving the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions, while also moving the panels relative to each other and controlling their respective beam pointing directions such that when viewed from the beam pointing direction of the panels they appear to present a continuous surface without overlap or gaps over at least some range of beam pointing directions, wherein at least two of the panels overlap at a vertical plane for some range of beam pointing directions.
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18. A method of operating a multi panel antenna comprising a plurality of panels, each panel comprising respectively differently shaped and/or sized active areas including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements, said method comprising:
mechanically moving the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions, while also moving the panels relative to each other such that when viewed from the beam pointing direction of the panels they appear to present a continuous surface without overlap or gaps over at least some range of beam pointing directions. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method of operating a multi panel antenna comprising a plurality of panels, at least one of said panels having a thickness and/or height dimension different from another panel and each panel including a plurality of arrayed antenna radiator elements, said method comprising:
mechanically moving the panels over a range of radiation pattern beam pointing directions, while also moving the panels relative to each other and controlling their respective beam pointing directions such that when viewed from the beam pointing direction of the panels they appear to present a continuous surface without overlap or gaps over at least some range of beam pointing directions.
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24. A method of operating an antenna phased array comprising a plurality of panels, each panel having an active area containing a phased sub-array of plural RF radiator elements for receiving and/or transmitting RF electromagnetic waves with a principal radiation pattern lobe having a pointing angle direction, said method comprising:
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mounting each said panel for controlled movements with respect to an antenna mounting base structure with a horizontal distance G between vertical projections of adjacent panel edges; and
controlling coordinated movements of the panels and controlling their respective beam pointing directions so that a range of antenna pointing angles is provided wherein projections of the panels along the pointing angle direction present substantially contiguous edges and an apparently continuous surface even when G becomes negative due to physically overlapping panel edges along the vertical direction over at least some range of beam pointing directions. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification