LENS ANTENNA

• US 20160087344A1
• Filed: 11/25/2015
• Published: 03/24/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Limited Liability Company radio Gigabit
• Original Assignee: Limited Liability Company radio Gigabit
• Inventors: ARTEMENKO, Aleksey Andreevich, MOZHAROVSKIY, Andrey Viktorovich, MASLENNIKOV, Roman Olegovich, SSORIN, Vladimir Nikolaevich, SEVAST'YANOV, Aleksey Gennad'evich
• Granted Patent: US 10,224,638 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 13/00 Waveguide horns or mouths; Slot antennas; Leaky-waveguide antennas; Equivalent structures causing radiation along the transmission path of a guided wave
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/08 formed of solid dielectric material
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/062 for focusing
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/29 Combinations of different interacting antenna units for giving a desired directional characteristic H01Q25/00 takes precedence

Abstract

Disclosed is a lens antenna comprising a dielectric lens consisting of a collimating part and an extension part, and an antenna element. The extension part of the lens comprises a substantially flat surface crossed by the axis of the collimating part, and the antenna element is rigidly fixed on the surface. The antenna element is formed by a hollow waveguide and comprises a dielectric insert with one end thereof adjacent to said surface; the size of the radiating opening of the waveguide is determined by the predefined width of the main beam and by side lobe levels of the radiation pattern of the lens antenna. The technical result of the invention is an increase in realized gain value due to the use of a waveguide antenna element with a dielectric insert, which provides impedance matching in a wide frequency bandwidth. The present invention can be used in radio-relay point-to-point communication systems, e.g. for forming backhaul networks of cellular mobile communication, in car radars and other radars, in microwave RF tags, in local and personal communication systems, in satellite and intersatellite communication systems, etc.

Claims

1. A lens antenna comprising:

a lens and an antenna element, the lens including a collimating part and an extension part, the collimating part and the extension part being formed integrally from a dielectric material, wherein the extension part comprises a substantially flat surface crossed by an axis of the collimating part;

wherein the antenna element is rigidly fixed on said surface, said antenna element is formed by a hollow radiating waveguide with a radiating opening thereof facing the lens, wherein the hollow radiating waveguide comprises transition segment between an input aperture of the hollow radiating waveguide and the radiating opening, the transition segment having a variable cross section; and

the antenna element comprises a dielectric insert having the same cross-section shape as the radiating opening, wherein the dielectric insert and the dielectric lens are formed of the same material, and the dielectric insert is formed integrally with the lens.

2. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the radiating opening of the radiating waveguide is configured such that its size defines a beamwidth value of a main lobe.

3. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the antenna element is fixed in a position determined in accordance with a defined direction of the main lobe of the radiation pattern of the lens antenna.

4. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the dielectric insert has a length which is less than the radiating waveguide length.

5. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the radiating opening of the radiating waveguide has a rectangular shape.

6. The lens antenna according to claim 5, wherein the lens is made of a material with the dielectric constant ranging from 2.0 to 2.5, while the length of each side of the radiating opening of the radiating waveguide is selected from a range of 0.6λ

-1.0λ

, where λ

is the wavelength in free space.

7. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the radiating opening of the radiating waveguide has a circular shape.

8. The lens antenna according to claim 7, wherein the lens is made of a material with the dielectric constant ranging from 2.0 to 2.5, while diameter of the radiating opening of the radiating waveguide is selected from a range of 0.6λ

-1.0λ

, where λ

is the wavelength in free space.

9. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the radiating opening of the radiating waveguide has an elliptic shape.

10. The lens antenna according to claim 7, wherein the lens is made of a material with the dielectric constant ranging from 2.0 to 2.5, while the minor and major semi-axes of the elliptic radiating opening of the radiating waveguide are selected from a range of 0.6λ

-1.0λ

, where λ

is the wavelength in free space.

11. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the collimating part of the lens has a shape of a hemi-ellipsoid of revolution.

12. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the collimating part of the lens has a hemispherical shape.

13. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the extension lens part is a surface of revolution.

14. The lens antenna according to claim 13, wherein the extension lens part has a cylindrical shape.

15. The lens antenna according to claim 13, wherein the extension lens part has a truncated conical shape.

16. The lens antenna according to claim 1, wherein the non-radiating opening of the waveguide is connected to a transceiver.

17. The lens antenna according to claim 1, adapted for use in millimeter wave point-to-point radio communication systems.

18. A lens antenna comprising:

a lens and at least two antenna elements, the lens including a collimating part and an extension part, the collimating part and the extension part being formed integrally from a dielectric material, wherein the extension part comprises a substantially flat surface crossed by the axis of the collimating part;

wherein the at least two antenna elements are rigidly fixed on said surface, said antenna elements are formed by hollow radiating waveguides with radiating openings thereof facing the lens, wherein each of the hollow radiating waveguides comprises a transition segment between an input aperture of the hollow radiating waveguide and the radiating opening, the transition segment having a variable cross section, and each of the antenna elements comprises a dielectric insert having the same cross-section shape as its radiating opening, wherein the dielectric inserts and the dielectric lens are formed of the same material, and the dielectric inserts are formed integrally with the lens.

19. The lens antenna according to claim 18, further comprising a switching unit for supplying a signal to one of the at least two antenna elements.

20. The lens antenna according to claim 18, adapted for use in millimeter wave point-to-point radio communication systems.