Miniature horn interrogator antenna with internal sum/difference combiner
First Claim
1. A miniature interrogator antenna assembly comprising:
- a housing;
a first miniature horn antenna in the housing having a first aperture;
a second miniature horn antenna in the housing having a second aperture, wherein the first and second miniature horn antennas are arranged in a canted configuration and are joint at a front of the assembly, and wherein the first and second apertures form a combined aperture at the front of the assembly;
a splitter/combiner having a cone-shaped or pyramid-shaped matching portion positioned at a top edge of the housing opposite to the front of the assembly in such a way that an apex of the cone-shaped or pyramid-shaped matching portion points to the front of the assembly;
a plurality of annular grooves formed around the combined aperture at the front of the assembly;
a sum input port formed on top of the assembly and coupled to a first waveguide with an H-plane bend feeding the splitter/combiner; and
a difference input port formed on top of the assembly and coupled to a second waveguide feeding the splitter/combiner directly,wherein the miniature interrogator antenna assembly is configured to transmit, through the combined aperture of the first and second miniature horn antennas, a sum pattern when the sum input port is selected and a difference pattern when the difference input port is selected, and wherein the front of the assembly comprises of substantially only the first aperture, the second aperture and the plurality of annular grooves.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A miniature interrogator antenna assembly including: a housing; a first miniature horn antenna in the housing having a first aperture; a second miniature horn antenna in the housing having a second aperture. The first and second miniature horn antennas are arranged in a canted configuration and are joint at a front of the assembly to form combined apertures at the front of the assembly. The antenna assembly further includes: a splitter/combiner having a matching portion, where the matching portion is positioned in the housing in such a way that an apex of the matching portion points to the front of the assembly; a plurality of annular grooves formed around the combined apertures at the front of the assembly; a sum input port coupled to a first waveguide with an H-plane bend feeding the splitter/combiner; and a difference input port coupled to a second waveguide feeding the splitter/combiner directly.
8 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A miniature interrogator antenna assembly comprising:
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a housing; a first miniature horn antenna in the housing having a first aperture; a second miniature horn antenna in the housing having a second aperture, wherein the first and second miniature horn antennas are arranged in a canted configuration and are joint at a front of the assembly, and wherein the first and second apertures form a combined aperture at the front of the assembly; a splitter/combiner having a cone-shaped or pyramid-shaped matching portion positioned at a top edge of the housing opposite to the front of the assembly in such a way that an apex of the cone-shaped or pyramid-shaped matching portion points to the front of the assembly; a plurality of annular grooves formed around the combined aperture at the front of the assembly; a sum input port formed on top of the assembly and coupled to a first waveguide with an H-plane bend feeding the splitter/combiner; and a difference input port formed on top of the assembly and coupled to a second waveguide feeding the splitter/combiner directly, wherein the miniature interrogator antenna assembly is configured to transmit, through the combined aperture of the first and second miniature horn antennas, a sum pattern when the sum input port is selected and a difference pattern when the difference input port is selected, and wherein the front of the assembly comprises of substantially only the first aperture, the second aperture and the plurality of annular grooves. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A miniature interrogator antenna assembly comprising:
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a housing; a first miniature horn antenna in the housing having a first aperture; a second miniature horn antenna in the housing having a second aperture, wherein the first and second miniature horn antennas are arranged in a canted configuration and are joint at a front of the assembly, and wherein the first and second apertures form combined apertures at the front of the assembly; a splitter/combiner having a cone-shaped or pyramid-shaped matching portion, wherein the matching portion is positioned in the housing in such a way that an apex of the matching portion points to the front of the assembly; a selectable sum input port formed on top of the assembly and coupled to the splitter/combiner; and a selectable difference input port formed on top of the assembly and coupled to the splitter/combiner directly, wherein the miniature interrogator antenna assembly is configured to transmit, through the combined aperture of the first and second miniature horn antennas, a sum pattern when the sum input port is selected and a difference pattern when the difference input port is selected, and wherein the front of the assembly comprises of substantially only the first aperture and the second aperture. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification