SUPERPOSITION OF GUIDED SURFACE WAVES ON LOSSY MEDIA

• US 20160079645A1
• Filed: 09/09/2015
• Published: 03/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Quantum Wave LLC
• Original Assignee: Cpg Technologies, LLC
• Inventors: Corum, Kenneth L., Corum, James F.
• Granted Patent: US 9,893,402 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 13/0218 Very long range radars, e.g. surface wave radar, over-the-horizon or ionospheric propagation systems for meteorological use G01S13/95
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 3/00 Waveguides; Transmission lines of the waveguide type
• CPC Class Codes: H01P 5/00 Coupling devices of the waveguide type
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/00 Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas arrangements for varying orientation of directional pattern H01Q3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/04 Adaptation for subterranean or subaqueous use
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 3/26 varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture H01Q3/12, H01Q3/22, H01Q3/24 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/30 with feed to end of elongated active element, e.g. unipole H01Q9/44 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 9/32 Vertical arrangement of element H01Q9/40 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 3/52 Systems for transmission between fixed stations via waveguides

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for superposition of guided surface wave launched along the surface of a lossy medium such as, e.g., a terrestrial medium by exciting a guided surface waveguide probe. In one example, among others, a system includes an array of guided surface waveguide probes configured to launch guided surface waves along a surface of a lossy conducting medium and an array control system configured to control operation of waveguide probes in the array via one or more feed networks. The array control circuit can control operation of the guided surface waveguide probes to maintain a predefined radiation pattern produced by the guided surface waves. In another example, a method includes providing voltage excitation to first and second guided surface waveguide probes to launch guided surface waves with the voltage excitation provided to the second guided surface waveguide probe delayed by a defined phase delay.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

an array of guided surface waveguide probes configured to launch guided surface waves along a surface of a lossy conducting medium; and

an array control system configured to control operation of guided surface waveguide probes in the array of guided surface waveguide probes via one or more feed networks to maintain a predefined field pattern produced by the guided surface waves.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein individual guided surface waveguide probes of the array comprise a charge terminal elevated over a lossy conducting medium configured to generate at least one resultant field that synthesizes a wave front incident at a complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ

_i,B) of the lossy conducting medium.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the charge terminal is one of a plurality of charge terminals.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein individual guided surface waveguide probes of the array comprise a feed network electrically coupled to a charge terminal, the feed network providing a phase delay (Φ

) that matches a wave tilt angle (Ψ

) associated with a complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ

_i,B) associated with the lossy conducting medium in the vicinity of the guided surface waveguide probe.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the charge terminal is one of a plurality of charge terminals.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the feed network comprises delay circuitry configured to delay excitation supplied to the charge terminal from an excitation source.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the array control system is configured to adjust operation of one or more of the guided surface waveguide probes in response to a change in an electric field strength associated with the guided surface waves.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the lossy conducting medium is a terrestrial medium.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the array of guided surface waveguide probes is a linear array of guided surface waveguide probes.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the linear array comprises a first guided surface waveguide probe and a second guided surface waveguide probe separated by a fraction of a wavelength of an excitation frequency of the first and second guided surface waveguide probes.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein excitation of the second guided surface waveguide probe is delayed with respect to excitation of the first guided surface waveguide probe to maintain the predefined field pattern.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first and second guided surface waveguide probes are excited by an excitation source, the second guided surface waveguide probe is excited through a feed network comprising delay circuitry configured to delay the excitation of the second probe.

13. A method, comprising:

providing voltage excitation from an excitation source to a first guided surface waveguide probe in an array to launch a first guided surface wave along a surface of a lossy conducting medium; and

providing voltage excitation from the excitation source to a second guided surface waveguide probe in the array to launch a second guided surface wave along the surface of the lossy conducting medium, where the voltage excitation provided to the second guided surface waveguide probe is delayed by a defined phase delay with respect to the voltage excitation provided to the first guided surface waveguide probe to establish a predefined field pattern about the first and second guided surface waveguide probes.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second guided surface waveguide probes comprise a charge terminal elevated over a lossy conducting medium configured to generate at least one resultant field that synthesizes a wave front incident at a complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ

_i,B) of the lossy conducting medium.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the charge terminal is one of a plurality of charge terminals.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second guided surface waveguide probes comprise a feed network electrically coupled to a charge terminal, the feed network providing a phase delay (Φ

) that matches a wave tilt angle (Ψ

) associated with a complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ

_i,B) associated with the lossy conducting medium in the vicinity of the first and second guided surface waveguide probes.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the charge terminal is one of a plurality of charge terminals.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the feed network of the second guided surface waveguide probe comprises delay circuitry configured to delay the excitation supplied to the charge terminal from an excitation source by the defined phase delay.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein the first guided surface waveguide probe and the second guided surface waveguide probe are separated by a defined distance corresponding to a fraction of a wavelength of an excitation frequency of the excitation source.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the array is a linear array comprising a third guided surface waveguide probe.