Partitioned aperture array antenna
First Claim
1. An antenna comprising:
- a first subarray having a first number of antenna elements and a transmit circuit coupled to each antenna element in said first subarray, wherein each transmit circuit is adapted to receive a transmit control signal and in accordance therewith vary a relative phase of a signal transmitted by the coupled antenna element to steer an overall antenna transmit beam;
a second subarray having a second number of antenna elements and a receive circuit coupled to each antenna element in said second subarray, wherein each receive circuit is adapted to receive a receive control signal and in accordance therewith vary a relative phase of a signal received by the coupled antenna element to steer an overall antenna receive beam, wherein said second number is not equal to said first number and said first and second subarrays have at least one common antenna element and a transmit/receive circuit coupled to each common antenna element, wherein each transmit/receive circuit includes independently controlled receive and transmit circuits coupled to said common antenna element; and
means for combining signals received from each of said receive circuits to form a single output signal.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A partitioned aperture array antenna. The novel antenna includes a first subarray having a first number of antenna elements equipped with transmit functionality and a second subarray having a second number of antenna elements equipped with receive functionality, wherein the first and second numbers are not equal and the first and second subarrays have at least one common antenna element. In an illustrative embodiment, the first subarray includes a transmit circuit coupled to each antenna element in the first subarray for controlling a relative transmit phase of the antenna element to steer an overall antenna transmit beam, and the second subarray includes a receive circuit coupled to each antenna element in the second subarray for controlling a relative receive phase of the antenna element to steer an overall antenna receive beam.
229 Citations
37 Claims
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1. An antenna comprising:
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a first subarray having a first number of antenna elements and a transmit circuit coupled to each antenna element in said first subarray, wherein each transmit circuit is adapted to receive a transmit control signal and in accordance therewith vary a relative phase of a signal transmitted by the coupled antenna element to steer an overall antenna transmit beam; a second subarray having a second number of antenna elements and a receive circuit coupled to each antenna element in said second subarray, wherein each receive circuit is adapted to receive a receive control signal and in accordance therewith vary a relative phase of a signal received by the coupled antenna element to steer an overall antenna receive beam, wherein said second number is not equal to said first number and said first and second subarrays have at least one common antenna element and a transmit/receive circuit coupled to each common antenna element, wherein each transmit/receive circuit includes independently controlled receive and transmit circuits coupled to said common antenna element; and means for combining signals received from each of said receive circuits to form a single output signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. An antenna comprising:
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a first subarray including a plurality of antenna elements and a transmit/receive circuit coupled to each antenna element, wherein each transmit/receive circuit includes independently controlled receive and transmit circuits simultaneously coupled to one of said antenna elements; one or more additional subarrays adjacent to said first subarray;
wherein each additional subarray includes one or more antenna elements and a receive-only circuit coupled to each antenna element of said additional subarray;a distribution circuit adapted to receive an input signal and distribute said input signal to each of said transmit circuits of said first subarray; and a combiner circuit adapted to combine signals received from each receive circuit and each receive-only circuit to form a single output signal.
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27. An antenna comprising:
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a patch substrate; a plurality of radiating patches disposed on a first side of said substrate; a ground plane disposed on a second side of said substrate; a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver coupled to one or more of said radiating patches; and a phased array control circuit coupled to one or more of said radiating patches. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A communication system comprising:
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a first subarray including a first number of antenna elements and a transmit circuit coupled to each antenna element in said first subarray, each transmit circuit adapted to receive a transmit control signal and in accordance therewith vary a relative phase of a signal transmitted by the antenna element; a second subarray including a second number of antenna elements and a receive circuit coupled to each antenna element in said second subarray, each receive circuit adapted to receive a receive control signal and in accordance therewith vary a relative phase of a signal received by the antenna element, wherein said second number is not equal to said first number and said first and second subarrays have at least one common antenna element; a processor adapted to provide said transmit and receive control signals to steer an overall antenna transmit beam and an overall antenna receive beam, respectively; a distribution circuit adapted to receive a transmit signal and distribute said transmit signal to each of said transmit circuits of said first subarray; a combiner circuit adapted to combine signals received from each receive circuit to form a single output signal; and a modem adapted to receive input data and encode said data to form said transmit signal, and to decode said output signal to extract and output decoded data.
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37. A method for communicating with a satellite including the steps of:
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providing a first subarray having a first number of antenna elements and a transmit circuit coupled to each antenna element in said first subarray, wherein each transmit circuit is adapted to receive a transmit control signal and in accordance therewith vary a relative phase of a signal transmitted by the coupled antenna element; providing a second subarray having a second number of antenna elements and a receive circuit coupled to each antenna element in said second subarray, wherein each receive circuit is adapted to receive a receive control signal and in accordance therewith vary a relative phase of a signal received by the coupled antenna element, wherein said second number is not equal to said first number and said first and second subarrays have at least one common antenna element and a transmit/receive circuit coupled to each common antenna element, wherein each transmit/receive circuit includes independently controlled receive and transmit circuits coupled to said common antenna element; generating a transmit control signal for each of said transmit circuits to steer an overall antenna transmit beam toward said satellite; generating a receive control signal for each of said receive circuits to steer an overall antenna receive beam toward said satellite; distributing an input signal to each of said transmit circuits to transmit said input signal to said satellite; and combining signals received from each of said receive circuits to form a single output signal.
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Specification