Passive series-fed electronically steered dielectric travelling wave array

Abstract

The invention discloses a passive series-fed electronically steered dielectric travelling wave array. According to the invention, a low cost passive electronic scanning array based on a Dielectric Traveling Wave Array (DTWA) technology that uses micro-actuated control of a waveguide transmission medium feeding the array elements to steer the array beam. Array gain is achieved by coherently combining element outputs with very low loss, weighted waveguide directional couplers. By modifying the propagation delay of the dielectric-filled waveguide through the introduction of a variable air gap, the radiated phase of the coupled patch array elements is changed, steering the beam accordingly. Since the circuitry is passive and bi-directional, the same antenna array can be used on receive or transmit unlike an active phased array that requires transmit / receiver switching. The design has been validated at Ku-Band through brassboard testing and is scalable with simulation at Ka-Band, steering the beam over a Field of Regard (FoR) of + / - 50o with nearly uniform gain. The approach provides phase control without active components at each individual array element, which significantly reduces the cost of a phased array by at least an order of magnitude.

Description

[0001] Cross References to Related Applications [0002] This application may relate to U.S. Patent Application Serial Nos. US 13 / 372,122, US 13 / 372,117, US 13 / 357,448, and US 14 / 193,072, as well as patent applications including WO 2012 / 109652, US 2012 / 0274528, US2012 / 0206310, and US2012 / 0744375. Published patent application documents. technical field [0003] This patent relates to series-fed phased array antennas, and in particular to coupler(s) disposed between the radiating antenna elements of the array and waveguide(s) with adjustable wave propagation constants. Background technique [0004] Military, commercial and consumer users demand ever-increasing data bandwidth, both inside and outside terrestrial data networks. Bandwidth demands are doubling every two (2) to three (3) years, and satellites expected to meet these demands are launched to provide data services with economies of scale. While sufficient satellite bandwidth is available at this time, existing satell...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0007] However, series-fed arrays are usually frequency sensitive and thus lead to bandwidth constraints

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