Frequency-tunable metamaterial antenna apparatus
First Claim
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1. A metamaterial (MTM) antenna device, comprising:
- a ground electrode;
an MTM cell comprising an electrode cell patch;
a launch stub, that is electrically conductive, located nearby and electromagnetically coupled to the MTM cell to direct an antenna signal to or from the MTM cell;
a feed line that is electrically conductive and connects to the launch stub to deliver power of the antenna signal to or from the launch stub;
a via line that is electrically conductive and electrically coupled to the MTM cell;
a tuning circuit coupling the via line to the ground electrode;
a control circuit controlling the tuning circuit which changes an electrical length of the antenna between the via line and the ground electrode upon receiving a control signal from the control circuit to change an antenna frequency which varies with the electrical length of the antenna between the via line and the ground electrode; and
a substrate having a first surface and a second, opposing surface,wherein the ground electrode, the MTM cell, the launch pad, the feed line, and the via line are formed on the first surface of the substrate.
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Abstract
Techniques and apparatus based on metamaterial structures to achieve tunable operations of an antenna at different antenna frequencies.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A metamaterial (MTM) antenna device, comprising:
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a ground electrode; an MTM cell comprising an electrode cell patch; a launch stub, that is electrically conductive, located nearby and electromagnetically coupled to the MTM cell to direct an antenna signal to or from the MTM cell; a feed line that is electrically conductive and connects to the launch stub to deliver power of the antenna signal to or from the launch stub; a via line that is electrically conductive and electrically coupled to the MTM cell; a tuning circuit coupling the via line to the ground electrode; a control circuit controlling the tuning circuit which changes an electrical length of the antenna between the via line and the ground electrode upon receiving a control signal from the control circuit to change an antenna frequency which varies with the electrical length of the antenna between the via line and the ground electrode; and a substrate having a first surface and a second, opposing surface, wherein the ground electrode, the MTM cell, the launch pad, the feed line, and the via line are formed on the first surface of the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
wherein the tuning circuit comprises a PIN diode having a first terminal coupled to a mid portion of the via line, located between the first and the second end portions, and a second terminal coupled to the MTM cell, wherein the PIN diode is forward biased in response to a first control signal from the control circuit and reverse biased in response to a second control signal from the control circuit to vary the electrical length of the via line in conducting the antenna signal between MTM cell and the ground electrode.
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7. The device as in claim 1, wherein the substrate is flexible.
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8. A metamaterial (MTM) antenna device, comprising:
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a ground electrode; a plurality of MTM cell segments separated from and adjacent to one another to form an array with a first MTM cell segment on a first end of the array; a launch stub that is electrically conductive and located nearby and electromagnetically coupled to the first MTM cell segment to direct an antenna signal to or from the first MTM cell segment; a feed line that is electrically conductive and is coupled to the launch stub to deliver power to or from the launch stub; a via line that is electrically conductive and is coupled to the first MTM cell segment to the ground electrode; a tuning circuit coupling the plurality of MTM cell segments; a control circuit controlling the tuning circuit to change a length of the array by generating a control signal to control connection between the first MTM cell segment and other MTM cell segments in changing an antenna frequency of the antenna signal based on the length of the array; and a substrate having a first surface and a second, opposing surface, wherein the ground electrode, the plurality of MTM cell segments, the launch stub, the feed and the via line are formed on the first surface of the substrate. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A metamaterial (MTM) antenna device, comprising:
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a dielectric substrate; a ground electrode formed on the substrate; a MTM cell formed on the substrate and comprising a conductive cell patch; a conductive via line formed on the substrate at a location adjacent to and separated from the conductive cell patch, the via line comprising a portion that is electromagnetically coupled to at least a portion of the conductive cell patch and a second portion that is electrically connected to the ground electrode; and a tunable circuit element coupled to the via line and operable to adjust an effective electrical length of the via line to tune a frequency of the MTM cell. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for providing a multi-frequency operation from a single antenna, comprising:
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structuring a Composite Right-Left Handed (CRLH) Metamaterial (MTM) antenna to exhibit antenna resonances at two or more antenna frequencies; electrically coupling the CRLH MTM antenna to a ground electrode; and adjusting the electrical coupling between the CRLH MTM antenna and the ground electrode to change an electrical length of the electrical coupling to change an operating frequency of the CRLH MTM antenna, wherein the CRLH MTM antenna includes multiple metallization layers patterned to form components of the CRLH MTM antenna. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A metamaterial (MTM) antenna device, comprising:
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a multilayer MTM antenna comprising antenna components formed in multiple metallization layers; a tuning circuit comprising two or more conductive paths positioned relative to the multilayer MTM antenna, wherein the two or more conductive paths have different electrical lengths; and a control circuit that is coupled to the tuning circuit and controls the tuning circuit by selecting one of the two or more conductive paths to connect to the multilayer MTM antenna to operate the multilayer antenna at an antenna frequency defined by the selected electrical length of the selected one conductive path while leaving one or more other conductive paths unconnected to the multilayer MTM antenna. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A metamaterial (MTM) antenna device comprising:
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a substrate structure including one or more metallization layers; a ground electrode formed in the one or more metallization layers; a capacitor coupled to the ground electrode, exhibiting low impedances to radio frequency (RF) signals and providing an open circuit to DC signals; and a plurality of conductive parts formed in at least one of the one or more metallization layers, the conductive parts comprising an MTM cell, a feed line including a distal end nearby and capacitively coupled to the MTM cell to direct an antenna signal to or from the MTM cell, and a via line coupled to the capacitor and the MTM cell, wherein the capacitor, the plurality of conductive parts, and at least part of the substrate structure are configured to form a composite left and right handed (CRLH) metamaterial structure that exhibits a plurality of frequency resonances associated with the RF signals. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification