MONOLITHIC PHASED-ARRAY ANTENNA SYSTEM
First Claim
1. A phased-array antenna system that is formed as a monolithic structure of a unitary conductive material, the system comprising:
- a ground plane;
a plurality of antenna transformer elements formed in an array and conductively coupled to a first surface of the ground plane; and
a plurality of connectors formed and conductively coupled to a second surface of the ground plane opposite the first surface, the plurality of connectors being configured to propagate radio frequency signals to or from respective ones of the plurality of antenna transformer elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
One embodiment describes a phased-array antenna system that is formed as a monolithic structure of a unitary conductive material. The system includes a ground plane and a plurality of antenna transformer elements formed in an array and conductively coupled to a first surface of the ground plane. The system also includes a plurality of connectors formed and conductively coupled to a second surface of the ground plane opposite the first surface, the plurality of connectors being configured to propagate radio frequency signals to or from respective ones of the plurality of antenna transformer elements.
18 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A phased-array antenna system that is formed as a monolithic structure of a unitary conductive material, the system comprising:
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a ground plane; a plurality of antenna transformer elements formed in an array and conductively coupled to a first surface of the ground plane; and a plurality of connectors formed and conductively coupled to a second surface of the ground plane opposite the first surface, the plurality of connectors being configured to propagate radio frequency signals to or from respective ones of the plurality of antenna transformer elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for forming a phased-array antenna system, the method comprising:
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loading dimensional data regarding the phased-array antenna system into an additive manufacturing machine configured to form the phased-array antenna system; and forming the phased-array antenna system as a monolithic structure of a unitary conductive material via the additive manufacturing machine, the phased-array antenna system comprising, a ground plane, an array of antenna transformer elements disposed on a first surface of the ground plane, and a plurality of connectors formed on a second surface of the ground plane opposite the first surface, the plurality of connectors being configured to propagate respective portions of the signal to or from respective antenna transformer elements of the array of antenna transformer elements. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A phased-array antenna system comprising:
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a ground plane; a plurality of antenna transformer elements formed in an array and conductively coupled to a first surface of the ground plane, each of the plurality of antenna transformer elements being dimensioned to form a balun cavity between respective pairs of the plurality of antenna transformer elements with respect to the ground plane and to form a transformer gap between respective pairs of the plurality of antenna transformer elements to provide impedance matching to free-space; a plurality of connectors formed and conductively coupled to a second surface of the ground plane opposite the first surface, the plurality of connectors being configured to propagate radio frequency signals to or from respective ones of the plurality of antenna transformer elements; and a plurality of coaxial connections between the plurality of connectors and the plurality of transformer elements, each of the plurality of connectors being associated with one of the plurality of antenna transformer elements and comprising a signal conductor that is formed from the unitary conductive material as an inner conductor of a respective one of the plurality of coaxial connections and extending through an associated one of the plurality of antenna transformer elements that corresponds to an outer conductor of the respective one of the plurality of coaxial connections to an adjacent one of the plurality of antenna transformer elements; wherein the phased-array antenna system is formed as a monolithic structure of a unitary conductive material. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification