Compact Multi-Frequency Radiating Horn with Coaxial Plungers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current radiating horns are bulky and costly due to their large size, which is necessary to accommodate multiple frequency bands, making them unsuitable for mini or micro satellites that require simultaneous operation across a wide frequency spectrum, such as C, Ku, K, and Ka bands, leading to inaccuracies and errors in altimetry and radiometry measurements.
Innovation Solution
A compact multifrequency radiating horn with a side wall featuring concentric annular corrugations and four diametrically opposed coaxial plungers, each dedicated to a specific frequency band, allowing for efficient signal propagation across multiple bands without increasing the horn's size, by injecting and extracting signals closer to the radiating aperture rather than the axial access orifice.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a radiating horn is designed to operate across multiple frequency bands (C, Ku, K, Ka), then the frequency coverage is improved, but the size of the horn must be increased to accommodate the lowest frequency band, making it too bulky for mini or micro satellites
Solution Approach 1:
The radiating horn is divided into multiple independent feed horns, each dedicated to a specific frequency band (C-band, Ku-band, K-band, Ka-band). Each feed horn has its own optimized dimensions and characteristics for its designated frequency range, eliminating the need for a single large horn that must accommodate all frequencies. This segmentation allows each subsystem to be compact while the overall system maintains multi-frequency capability.
2Measurement precision
If several independent instruments are carried on a satellite for different frequency bands, then the measurement precision for each band is improved, but the mass and volume of the payload increase, making it unsuitable for mini or micro satellites
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple feed horns that were previously separate instruments are merged into a single integrated antenna assembly sharing a common reflector. This consolidation maintains the measurement precision of dedicated instruments for each frequency band while significantly reducing the total mass and volume compared to having separate instruments. The common reflector structure eliminates redundant components and allows all frequency bands to share the same mechanical support structure.
3Device complexity
If a single radiating horn is used for multiple frequency bands, then the payload complexity is reduced, but the performance accuracy across different bands deteriorates due to the inability to optimize for each band specifically
Solution Approach 1:
The antenna system is segmented into multiple feed horns, each optimized for its specific frequency band, while maintaining a unified structure. This allows each feed horn to achieve high performance accuracy for its designated band through specific dimensional optimization, while the overall system remains relatively simple compared to having completely separate instruments for each band.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the mouthpiece diameter is increased to accommodate C-band frequencies, then the low frequency operation is improved, but the overall size of the horn increases significantly, penalizing the mass and volume
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single large horn to accommodate C-band frequencies, the system uses a dedicated C-band feed horn with dimensions optimized specifically for that frequency range. This segmented approach allows the C-band feed horn to be compact while maintaining proper low-frequency operation, eliminating the need for an oversized mouthpiece that would be required in a monolithic multi-frequency horn design.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables a compact, lightweight, and cost-effective radiating horn that can operate across multiple frequency bands, reducing the size of the antenna system and improving measurement precision by allowing all instruments to share a common Nadir sighting, thus minimizing errors and maximizing performance.
Implementation Method 1
a radiating horn capable of propagating signals in a frequency spectrum comprising several different frequency bands
Implementation Method 2
by injecting and extracting signals closer to the radiating aperture rather than the axial access orifice
Data Source
Figure 1a
Figure 1b
Figure 2a
AI summary
The radiating horn, capable of propagating signals in a frequency spectrum B1,..., Bi, ...,BN, , B1 being the lowest frequency band, Bi being at least an intermediate frequency band and BN the highest frequency band, comprises a lateral wall with rotational symmetry about a longitudinal axis Z, an axial access orifice (12), called the mouthpiece, and a radiating opening (13), the lateral wall (14) having annular corrugations (15). The radiating horn (10) further comprises four coaxial plungers (16) diametrically opposed in pairs, inserted in a specific dedicated corrugation (17), the four coaxial plungers (16) being equally distributed angularly in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis Z and penetrating into the axial longitudinal conduit (11) of the radiating horn (10), each coaxial plunger (16) being dedicated to the propagation of signals in the lowest frequency band B1 of the spectrum considered.