Dominant H-field multiband loop antenna including passive mixer

• US 10,658,736 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2016
• Issued: 05/19/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Dabrowski, Ted Ronald, Savage, Larry Leon, Smith, Robert Alan
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Hai V
• Assistant Examiner(s): Bouizza, Michael M
• Application Number:
  US15/344,525
• Publication Number:
  US 20180131079A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,290 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/247 with frequency mixer, e.g. for direct satellite reception or Doppler radar
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/28 Adaptation for use in or on aircraft, missiles, satellites, or balloons
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/38 formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support patch antennas H01Q9/0407; microstrip dipole antennas H01Q9/065; microstrip slot antennas H01Q13/106; transmission line microstrip antennas H01Q13/206; manufacturing reflecting surfaces using insulating material for supporting the reflecting surface H01Q15/142
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 23/00 Antennas with active circuits or circuit elements integrated within them or attached to them
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 7/00 Loop antennas with a substantially uniform current distribution around the loop and having a directional radiation pattern in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the loop

Abstract

An antenna. The antenna includes a plurality of loop antennas sharing a common gap. The antenna also includes a nonlinear mixing component connected to the gap and configured to collect energy from at least one of the plurality of loop antennas.

Claims

1. An antenna comprising:

a plurality of loop antennas sharing a common gap, wherein the gap is between a first end and a second end of each loop antenna of the plurality of loop antennas; and

a nonlinear mixing component positioned within the gap and directly connected to both the first end and the second end of each loop antenna of the plurality of loop antennas, wherein the nonlinear mixing component is configured to collect energy from at least one of the plurality of loop antennas.

2. The antenna of claim 1, wherein the nonlinear mixing component comprises a diode.

3. The antenna of claim 1, wherein the nonlinear mixing component is selected from the group consisting of carbon nanotubes, graphene, and a doped material.

4. The antenna of claim 1, wherein exactly one of the plurality of loop antennas is configured to radiate at a mixed product frequency of input frequencies provided via other ones of the plurality of loop antennas.

5. The antenna of claim 1, wherein the plurality of loop antennas all comprise reactive near field (H-field) antennas.

6. The antenna of claim 1, wherein all of the plurality of loop antennas are connected to a common substrate.

7. The antenna of claim 6, wherein the common substrate is hand flexible.

8. An antenna comprising:

a substrate;

a first loop antenna attached to the substrate, the first loop antenna having a first perimeter;

a second loop antenna attached to the substrate, the second loop antenna having a second perimeter, the second perimeter connected to the first perimeter, the second loop antenna substantially inside the first loop antenna;

a third loop antenna attached to the substrate, the third loop antenna having a third perimeter, the third perimeter connected to the first perimeter at about a junction where the first perimeter is connected to the second perimeter, the third loop antenna substantially outside the first loop antenna; and

a mixing component attached to the substrate at the junction and positioned within a gap between a first end and a second end of the first loop antenna, a first end and a second end of the second loop antenna, and a first end and a second end of the third loop antenna, wherein the mixing component is directly connected to the first end and the second end of the first loop antenna, the first end and the second end of the second loop antenna, and the first end and the second end of the third loop antenna.

9. The antenna of claim 8, wherein the mixing component comprises a nonlinear mixing component.

10. The antenna of claim 9, wherein the mixing component comprises a diode.

11. The antenna of claim 8, wherein the mixing component is selected from the group consisting of carbon nanotubes, graphene, and a doped material.

12. The antenna of claim 8, wherein the first loop antenna, the second loop antenna, the third loop antenna, and the mixing component together form a reactive near field (H-field)antenna.

13. The antenna of claim 8, wherein the first loop antenna is configured to resonate at a mixed product frequency of the second loop antenna and the third loop antenna.

14. The antenna of claim 13, wherein the mixing component mixes a first frequency of the second loop antenna and a second frequency of the third loop antenna.

15. The antenna of claim 14, wherein the mixing component comprises a radio frequency exciter for the first loop antenna.

16. The antenna of claim 8, wherein the second loop antenna and the third loop antenna use W-band frequencies and the first loop antenna has a resonant dimension of an X-band frequency.

17. The antenna of claim 8, wherein the second loop antenna is smaller than the third loop antenna, and wherein the first loop antenna is larger than both the second loop antenna and the third loop antenna.

18. The antenna of claim 8, wherein each of the first loop antenna, the second loop antenna, and the third loop antenna have corresponding shapes that are either the same as or different than other ones of the corresponding shapes, and wherein the corresponding shapes are selected from the group consisting of circles, ellipsoids, rectangles, and linear dipoles.

19. A detection system comprising:

a plurality of objects, each of the plurality of objects comprising a corresponding antenna, and wherein each corresponding antenna comprises;

a corresponding plurality of loop antennas sharing a corresponding common gap, wherein the corresponding common gap is between a first end and a second end of each loop antenna of the corresponding plurality of loop antennas; and

a corresponding nonlinear mixing component positioned within the common corresponding gap and directly connected to both the first end and the second end of each loop antenna of the corresponding plurality of loop antennas, wherein the corresponding nonlinear mixing component is configured to collect energy from at least one of the corresponding plurality of loop antennas;

a transmitter transmitting a signal, wherein when the signal is received at a particular set of the corresponding plurality of loop antennas, a unique mixed product signal is generated based on a specific design of the particular set of the corresponding plurality of loop antennas;

a receiver configured to receive the unique mixed product signal;

a computer configured to identify the unique mixed product signal as belonging to a specific one of the plurality of objects; and

an alert system connected to the computer and configured to alert a user when the unique mixed product signal has been received.

20. The detection system of claim 19, wherein each of the corresponding plurality of loop antennas comprise:

a corresponding substrate;

a corresponding first loop antenna attached to the corresponding substrate, the corresponding first loop antenna having a first perimeter;

a corresponding second loop antenna attached to the substrate, the corresponding second loop antenna having a second perimeter, the corresponding second perimeter connected to the first perimeter, the corresponding second loop antenna being substantially inside the corresponding first loop antenna;

a corresponding third loop antenna attached to the substrate, the corresponding third loop antenna having a third perimeter, the third perimeter connected to the first perimeter at about the common gap where the first perimeter is connected to the corresponding second perimeter, the corresponding third loop antenna being substantially outside the corresponding first loop antenna; and

wherein the corresponding mixing component is attached to the substrate, at the common gap.