Electronically tunable microstrip antenna
First Claim
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1. An antenna structure comprising:
- a generally rectangular microstrip radiator having a nominal physical length of one half of the wavelength of a desired resonant frequency, and a grond plane spaced from said radiator by a dielectric lamina with a thickness much less than said wavelength;
a varactor diode, electrically connected between said ground plane and said radiating element, located at one extreme of the longitudinal axis of the radiating element;
a feed pin, electrically connected to said radiator, located at the other extreme of the longitudinal axis of the radiating element;
a transmission line with a signal conductor electrically connected to said feed pin;
means for generating a variable dc bias voltage with which to reverse bias said diode;
means for generating a rf signal voltage with which to excite said radiating element; and
means, electrically connected to said signal conductor, for combining said rf signal and said dc bias voltage for transmission over said transmission line.
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Abstract
A microstrip antenna with a linearly polarized radiating patch is varied in resonant frequency by an electronic tuning technique. A dc bias voltage is combined with the excitation signal to regulate the capacitance of a varactor diode mounted in the antenna structure. In one embodiment the varactor is in shunt with a half wave open circuited radiator and adds electrical length to the antenna, while in another embodiment the varactor is in series with a shorted quarter wave radiator and subtracts electrical length therefrom.
106 Citations
4 Claims
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1. An antenna structure comprising:
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a generally rectangular microstrip radiator having a nominal physical length of one half of the wavelength of a desired resonant frequency, and a grond plane spaced from said radiator by a dielectric lamina with a thickness much less than said wavelength; a varactor diode, electrically connected between said ground plane and said radiating element, located at one extreme of the longitudinal axis of the radiating element; a feed pin, electrically connected to said radiator, located at the other extreme of the longitudinal axis of the radiating element; a transmission line with a signal conductor electrically connected to said feed pin; means for generating a variable dc bias voltage with which to reverse bias said diode; means for generating a rf signal voltage with which to excite said radiating element; and means, electrically connected to said signal conductor, for combining said rf signal and said dc bias voltage for transmission over said transmission line. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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Specification