Loop antenna polarization control
AssigneeRockwell Collins, Inc.
InventorGeorge Cooley
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for adjusting polarization of a loop antenna includes a loop antenna with a high impedance autotransformer. The high impedance autotransformer may be connected to the middle of the horizontal leg of a delta loop or the middle of either horizontal leg of a square loop. The feed-point impedance of the loop antenna may be adjusted between about one hundred ohms and ten thousand ohms. The feed-point impedance is adjusted automatically to maximize signal gain. A neural network may be trained to set the feed-point impedance based on environmental conditions and observed periodicity, with a feedback loop based on actual gain or signal strength.
Claims13
A radio comprising:
- a loop antenna;
- a transformer connected to a feed-point of the loop antenna;
- and
- at least one processor connected to the transformer,
- wherein:
- the transformer is configured to apply a variable feed-point impedance to the feed-point between 50 ohms and 5K ohms;
- applying a first feed-point impedance produces a horizontal polarization to the loop antenna;
- applying a second feed-point impedance produces a vertical polarization to the loop antenna;
- and
- the at least one processor is configured to:
- determine a signal strength from the loop antenna;
- iteratively apply different feed-point impedances until the signal strength is greater than a defined threshold;
- identify a periodicity of return signal polarization changes;
- and
- preemptively alter the feed-point impedance to match the polarization of the loop-antenna to the periodic return signal polarization.
A loop-antenna comprising:
- a feed-point;
- a transformer connected to the feed-point and
- at least one processor connected to the transformer,
- wherein:
- the transformer is configured to apply a variable feed-point impedance to the feed-point between 50 ohms and 5K ohms;
- applying a first feed-point impedance produces a horizontal polarization to the loop antenna;
- applying a second feed-point impedance produces a vertical polarization to the loop antenna;
- and
- the at least one processor is configured to periodically alter the feed-point impedance to match the polarization of the loop-antenna to a periodic return signal polarization.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.