Retrodirective interrogation responsive system
First Claim
1. An interrogation responsive system for remote monitoring comprising:
- (a) an interrogator having a transmitting antenna means for transmitting an interrogation signal;
(b) a responder made of semiconductor material having a receiving antenna means for collecting said interrogation signal;
(c) said responder further comprising encoding means connected to said responder receiving antenna means for imposing information on said interrogation signal collected by said responder;
(d) said responder further comprising retrodirective means connected to said encoding means for retransmitting said interrogation signal encoded with said information in the direction of said interrogator as a responder signal, and wherein said retrodirective means further comprises at least one receiving antenna means which are configured as a Van Atta array having at least one pair of antenna elements, and wherein said van Atta array is comprised of a plurality of paired antenna elements disposed in a two-dimensional configuration, said paired antenna elements of said Van Atta array being disposed in diagonal symmetry around the center of said array and said encoding means is comprised of means for imposing said code signal to said interrogation signal intermediate each of said elements of respective pairs of said paired antenna elements, and wherein said encoding means further comprises means for modulating said information on said interrogation signal intermediate said respective elements of said paired antenna elements and wherein said modulation means encodes said interrogator signal in either direction of propagation between said paired elements of said Van Atta array; and
(e) said interrogator having a receiving antenna means for collecting said responder signal and means for decoding said information.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A retrodirective interrogation responsive system wherein a responder, illuminated by an interrogator, receives an interrogation signal, modulates information onto the interrogation signal, and retransmits the encoded interrogation signal back in the direction of arrival of the collected interrogation signal. The responder uses a Van Atta array antenna and is capable of responding to an interrogator signal incident over a wide solid angle of arrival while retrodirectively retransmitting without amplification substantially all of the collected signal within a narrow solid angle. The responder may be implemented using monolithic microwave integrated circuit technology (MMIC), thus being suitable for high volume production.
55 Citations
23 Claims
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1. An interrogation responsive system for remote monitoring comprising:
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(a) an interrogator having a transmitting antenna means for transmitting an interrogation signal; (b) a responder made of semiconductor material having a receiving antenna means for collecting said interrogation signal; (c) said responder further comprising encoding means connected to said responder receiving antenna means for imposing information on said interrogation signal collected by said responder; (d) said responder further comprising retrodirective means connected to said encoding means for retransmitting said interrogation signal encoded with said information in the direction of said interrogator as a responder signal, and wherein said retrodirective means further comprises at least one receiving antenna means which are configured as a Van Atta array having at least one pair of antenna elements, and wherein said van Atta array is comprised of a plurality of paired antenna elements disposed in a two-dimensional configuration, said paired antenna elements of said Van Atta array being disposed in diagonal symmetry around the center of said array and said encoding means is comprised of means for imposing said code signal to said interrogation signal intermediate each of said elements of respective pairs of said paired antenna elements, and wherein said encoding means further comprises means for modulating said information on said interrogation signal intermediate said respective elements of said paired antenna elements and wherein said modulation means encodes said interrogator signal in either direction of propagation between said paired elements of said Van Atta array; and (e) said interrogator having a receiving antenna means for collecting said responder signal and means for decoding said information. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A responder comprising:
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(a) at least one receiving antenna means for collecting an interrogation signal from a first direction wherein said at least one receiving antenna means is configured as a Van Atta Array having at least one pair of antenna elements; (a) encoding means connected to said at least one receiving antenna means for encoding information on said interrogation signal; and (a) at least one transmitting antenna means connected to said encoding means for retrodirectively retransmitting said interrogation signal encoded with said information in said first direction as a responder signal, wherein said at least one transmitting antenna means is configured as a Van Atta array having at least one pair of antenna elements and wherein said Van Atta array is comprised of a plurality of paired antenna elements disposed in a two-dimensional configuration, said paired antenna elements of said Van Atta array being disposed in diagonal symmetry around the center of said array and wherein said encoding means is comprised of means for imposing said code signal to said interrogation signal intermediate each of said elements of respective pairs of said paired antenna elements and wherein said encoding means further comprises means for modulating said interrogation signal intermediate said respective elements of said paired antenna elements and wherein said modulation of said interrogation signal is performed in either direction of propagation between said paired elements of said Van Atta array. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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Specification