Reconfigurable antenna using addressable pixel pistons
First Claim
1. An antenna structure, comprising:
- a two-dimensional actuator;
an array of pistons positioned over the actuator, each piston in the array comprising,a handle,a bottom conductive segment affixed to the top of the handle,a dielectric segment affixed to the uppermost surface of the bottom conductive segment, anda top conductive segment affixed to the uppermost surface of the dielectric segment, wherein the top conductive segment forms part a ground plane when the piston is not actuated,wherein when a subset of the pistons is actuated by the two-dimensional actuator, the top conductive segments of a subset of the array of pistons form transmission line and antenna array patterns and the bottom conductive segments of the subset of the array of pistons integrates with the ground plane.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An antenna made up of addressable conductive segments, or pixel elements, affixed to the top of each piston in a piston array is presented. The pixel elements can be activated in less than a millisecond to form an antenna array and transmission line pattern using movable pistons and a two-dimensional actuator. Each piston comprises a handle, a bottom conductive segment affixed to the top of the handle, a dielectric segment affixed to the uppermost surface of the bottom conductive segment, and a top conductive segment affixed to the uppermost surface of the dielectric segment. When the piston is not actuated, the top conductive segment forms part of a ground plane. The top conductive segment form part of the transmission line and antenna array patterns, the dielectric segment becomes a dielectric space and the bottom conductive segment forms part of the ground plane when the piston is actuated.
14 Citations
20 Claims
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1. An antenna structure, comprising:
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a two-dimensional actuator; an array of pistons positioned over the actuator, each piston in the array comprising, a handle, a bottom conductive segment affixed to the top of the handle, a dielectric segment affixed to the uppermost surface of the bottom conductive segment, and a top conductive segment affixed to the uppermost surface of the dielectric segment, wherein the top conductive segment forms part a ground plane when the piston is not actuated, wherein when a subset of the pistons is actuated by the two-dimensional actuator, the top conductive segments of a subset of the array of pistons form transmission line and antenna array patterns and the bottom conductive segments of the subset of the array of pistons integrates with the ground plane. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of rapidly configuring antenna structure, the antenna structure comprises a two-dimensional actuator, an array of pistons, each piston comprising a top conductive segment, a dielectric segment, a bottom conductive segment and a handle, wherein the method comprises:
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forming a ground plane with the top conductive segments of the array of pistons when the array of pistons is not actuated by the two-dimensional actuator; creating antenna arrays and transmission lines by forming conductive patterns with the top conductive segments over the ground plane by actuating the individual pistons of the array of pistons to move from the ground plane to a predetermined distance over the ground plane using the two-dimensional actuator, such that the bottom conductive segment integrates with the ground plane when the piston is actuated. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. The method of rapidly reconfiguring an antenna structure, the method comprising:
providing an array of pistons, each piston comprising, a handle, a bottom conductive segment affixed to the top of the handle, a dielectric segment affixed to the uppermost surface of the bottom conductive segment, and a top conductive segment affixed to the uppermost surface of the dielectric segment, wherein the top conductive segment integrate to form a ground plane when not actuated; forming transmission lines and antenna array patterns by moving a subset of the array of pistons up from the ground plane until the bottom conductive segment becomes integrated with the ground plane; and controlling the formation of the transmission lines and antenna array patterns by a two-dimensional actuator.
Specification