Compact Waveguide Power Combiner for Dual-Polarized Antennas
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dual-polarized antenna arrays using waveguide elements face challenges with grating lobes and increased inter-element distance due to the complexity and space requirements of waveguide feed networks, particularly in constrained environments like avionics, leading to reduced antenna efficiency and performance.
Innovation Solution
A scalable waveguide architecture with unit cells having corporate waveguide networks that connect divided waveguides of each antenna element to common waveguides, allowing for a small inter-element distance without increasing the overall inter-element distance between adjacent unit cells, using ridged and non-ridged waveguide components to minimize grating lobes and enhance efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If waveguide feed networks are used to connect antenna elements, then signal transmission efficiency is improved, but the inter-element distance increases leading to grating lobes
Solution Approach 1:
The waveguide feed network is segmented into multiple stages (e.g., 4:1, 8:1, 16:1 combiners) that progressively combine signals from antenna elements. This segmentation allows the feed network to serve multiple elements efficiently while maintaining a compact overall structure that minimizes inter-element distance and prevents grating lobes.
2Loss of energy
If waveguide feed networks are used to connect antenna elements, then signal transmission efficiency is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple waveguide feed networks are merged into a integrated structure where common waveguides serve multiple antenna elements across different polarizations. The feed network combines signals from multiple elements through staged combiners, reducing the number of separate components needed and simplifying the overall system while maintaining efficient signal transmission.
3Area of stationary object
If dual-polarized arrays share a common excitation port among multiple antenna elements, then space is reduced, but antenna efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
Waveguide combiners act as intermediary devices that enable multiple antenna elements to share common excitation ports while maintaining signal integrity. The combiners efficiently divide and combine signals between the common ports and individual antenna elements, allowing space reduction through sharing while preventing efficiency loss through proper impedance matching and signal distribution.
Data Source
AI summary
A waveguide architecture for a dual-polarized antenna including multiple antenna elements. Aspects are directed to dual-polarized antenna architectures where each antenna element includes a polarizer having an individual waveguide with dual-polarization signal propagation and divided waveguides associated with each basis polarization. The waveguide architecture may include unit cells having corporate waveguide networks associated with each basis polarization connecting each divided waveguide of the polarizers of each antenna element in the unit cell with a respective common waveguide. The waveguide networks may have waveguide elements located within the unit-cell boundary with a small or minimized inter-element distance. Thus, unit cells may be positioned adjacent to each other in a waveguide device assembly for a dual-polarized antenna array without increased inter-element distance between antenna elements of adjacent unit cells. Antenna waveguide ports may be connected to unit cell common waveguides using elevation and azimuth waveguide networks of the corporate type.