Ellipsoidal array antennas with modular unit cells
AssigneeThe Aerospace Corporation
InventorMark J. Lange
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Abstract
Ellipsoidal array antennas that include repeated, modular unit cells are disclosed. The ellipsoidal array antennas may be wide band array antennas with bandwidths exceeding one octave that are capable of handling high radio frequency (RF) power with high polarization purity and low-cost manufacturing for arrays with high element counts. The number of unit cells is given by (Element_Rows+1)*Element_Columns for single polarized arrays. For dual polarized arrays, the number of unit cells is given by (Element_Rows+1)*(Element_Columns+1).
Claims28
An ellipsoidal antenna unit cell, comprising:
- an ellipsoidal radiator comprising a coaxial connector center conductor and a radio frequency (RF) conductor;
- a cylinder located below and operably connected to the ellipsoidal radiator;
- and
- a first connector that originates from between the ellipsoidal radiator and the cylinder, wherein
- the first connector is operably connected to the coaxial connector center conductor and the RF conductor,
- the first connector extends beyond a width of the ellipsoidal antenna unit cell, and
- the first connector is configured to connect the ellipsoidal antenna unit cell to another ellipsoidal antenna unit cell.
A modular ellipsoidal antenna unit cell, comprising:
- an ellipsoidal radiator comprising a coaxial connector center conductor and a radio frequency (RF) conductor;
- a cylinder located below and operably connected to the ellipsoidal radiator;
- a unit cell ground plane operably connected to the cylinder;
- and
- a first connector that originates from between the ellipsoidal radiator and the cylinder, wherein
- the first connector is operably connected to the coaxial connector center conductor and the RF conductor,
- the first connector extends beyond a width of the modular ellipsoidal antenna unit cell,
- the first connector is configured to connect the modular ellipsoidal antenna unit cell to another modular ellipsoidal antenna unit cell, and
- a difference between a width of the ellipsoidal radiator and the unit cell ground plane defines a smallest gap between the modular ellipsoidal antenna unit cell and an adjacent modular ellipsoidal antenna unit cell at a location of a feed point of the first connector.
An ellipsoidal antenna unit cell, comprising:
- an ellipsoidal radiator comprising a coaxial connector center conductor, a first radio frequency (RF) conductor, and a second RF conductor;
- a cylinder located below and operably connected to the ellipsoidal radiator;
- and
- a first connector and a second connector, the first connector and the second connector originating from between the ellipsoidal radiator and the cylinder, wherein
- the first connector and the second connector are operably connected to the coaxial connector center conductor and to the first RF conductor and the second RF conductor, respectively,
- the first connector and the second connector extend beyond a width of the ellipsoidal antenna unit cell,
- the first connector is configured to connect the ellipsoidal antenna unit cell to another ellipsoidal antenna unit cell, and
- the second connector is configured to connect the ellipsoidal antenna unit cell to yet another ellipsoidal antenna unit cell.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.