Miniature Horn Interrogator Antenna with Internal Sum/Difference Combiner
First Claim
1. A miniature interrogator antenna assembly comprising:
- a housing;
a first miniature horn antenna in the housing having a first aperture;
a second miniature horn antenna in the housing having a second aperture, wherein the first and second miniature horn antennas are arranged in a canted configuration and are joint at a front of the assembly, and wherein the first and second apertures form combined apertures at the front of the assembly;
a splitter/combiner having a matching portion, wherein the matching portion is positioned in the housing in such a way that an apex of the matching portion points to the front of the assembly;
a plurality of annular grooves formed around the combined apertures at the front of the assembly;
a sum input port coupled to a first waveguide with an H-plane bend feeding the splitter/combiner; and
a difference input port coupled to a second waveguide feeding the splitter/combiner directly,wherein the miniature interrogator antenna assembly is configured to transmit a sum pattern or a difference pattern depending of which input port is selected.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A miniature interrogator antenna assembly including: a housing; a first miniature horn antenna in the housing having a first aperture; a second miniature horn antenna in the housing having a second aperture. The first and second miniature horn antennas are arranged in a canted configuration and are joint at a front of the assembly to form combined apertures at the front of the assembly. The antenna assembly further includes: a splitter/combiner having a matching portion, where the matching portion is positioned in the housing in such a way that an apex of the matching portion points to the front of the assembly; a plurality of annular grooves formed around the combined apertures at the front of the assembly; a sum input port coupled to a first waveguide with an H-plane bend feeding the splitter/combiner; and a difference input port coupled to a second waveguide feeding the splitter/combiner directly.
9 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A miniature interrogator antenna assembly comprising:
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a housing; a first miniature horn antenna in the housing having a first aperture; a second miniature horn antenna in the housing having a second aperture, wherein the first and second miniature horn antennas are arranged in a canted configuration and are joint at a front of the assembly, and wherein the first and second apertures form combined apertures at the front of the assembly; a splitter/combiner having a matching portion, wherein the matching portion is positioned in the housing in such a way that an apex of the matching portion points to the front of the assembly; a plurality of annular grooves formed around the combined apertures at the front of the assembly; a sum input port coupled to a first waveguide with an H-plane bend feeding the splitter/combiner; and a difference input port coupled to a second waveguide feeding the splitter/combiner directly, wherein the miniature interrogator antenna assembly is configured to transmit a sum pattern or a difference pattern depending of which input port is selected. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A miniature interrogator antenna assembly comprising:
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a housing; a first miniature horn antenna in the housing having a first aperture; a second miniature horn antenna in the housing having a second aperture, wherein the first and second miniature horn antennas are arranged in a canted configuration and are joint at a front of the assembly, and wherein the first and second apertures form combined apertures at the front of the assembly; a splitter/combiner having a matching portion, wherein the matching portion is positioned in the housing in such a way that an apex of the matching portion points to the front of the assembly; a sum input port coupled to the splitter/combiner; and a difference input port coupled to the splitter/combiner directly, wherein the antenna assembly has a volume of less than 1.15 Cu. in., and wherein the miniature interrogator antenna assembly is configured to transmit a sum pattern or a difference pattern depending of which input port is selected. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification