Guided Surface Waveguide Probe Impedance Matching
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current technologies lack practical structures for efficiently launching open surface guided waves over lossy conducting media, such as the Earth, with existing theoretical analyses remaining unimplemented due to the absence of effective structures for this purpose.
Innovation Solution
The development of guided surface waveguide probes that position a charge terminal over a lossy conducting medium, adjusting phase delays and load impedances to match the complex Brewster angle and image ground plane impedance, enabling the excitation of electric fields that couple into a guided surface waveguide mode along the medium.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional antenna structures are used to transmit signals via radio waves, then radiation fields can be launched, but efficient coupling into guided surface waveguide modes over lossy conducting media cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by adjusting the phase delay of the feed network to match the wave tilt angle (complex Brewster angle) and adjusting the load impedance to match the image ground plane impedance. These parameter adjustments enable mode-matching between the antenna structure and the guided surface waveguide mode, achieving efficient energy coupling over lossy conducting media without requiring complex structural modifications
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary feed network with adjustable phase delay and impedance matching components between the antenna and the lossy conducting medium. This intermediary structure mediates the energy transfer by transforming the radiation fields into guided surface waveguide modes through controlled phase and impedance relationships, resolving the contradiction between coupling efficiency and structural simplicity
2Productivity
If phase delay and load impedance are adjusted to match complex Brewster angle and image ground plane impedance, then mode-matching and energy coupling are maximized, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic adjustment mechanisms for phase delay and load impedance that can be tuned to match the complex Brewster angle and image ground plane impedance. These dynamic elements allow the system to adapt to different operating conditions and medium characteristics, maximizing energy transmission efficiency while maintaining manageable complexity through controlled adjustability rather than fixed complex structures
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
This approach allows for the efficient launch and propagation of guided surface waves along lossy conducting media, achieving mode-matching and maximizing energy coupling into the waveguide mode, thereby overcoming the limitations of previous technologies.
Implementation Method 1
adjusting a phase delay (Φ) of a feed network connected to the charge terminal to match a wave tilt angle (Ψ) corresponding to a complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ i,B ) associated with the lossy conducting medium
Implementation Method 2
exciting the charge terminal with an excitation voltage via the feed network, where the excitation voltage establishes an electric field that couples into a guided surface waveguide mode along a surface of the lossy conducting medium
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4~5A
AI summary
Disclosed are various embodiments for transmitting and receiving energy conveyed in the form of a guided surface-waveguide mode along the surface of a lossy medium such as, e.g., a terrestrial medium excited by a guided surface waveguide probe.