Antenna assembly including two-dimensional surface wave fed array for azimuth gain control

An antenna assembly comprising:

• a circuit board including an integrated circuit configured to process a radio frequency (RF) signal, and a conductive trace extending from the integrated circuit;
• a waveguide plate over the circuit board, the waveguide plate including a waveguide configured to guide the RF signal at least one of to and from the conductive trace;
• and
• a conductive top plate over the waveguide plate, the conductive top plate including,
• an outer surface and an inner surface facing the waveguide plate, the outer surface is opposite to the inner surface,
• a plurality of slots aligned with the waveguide and extending through the conductive top plate, the plurality of slots aligned along the conductive top plate in a Y-direction, and
• cavities defined by the conductive top plate and recessed below the outer surface of the conductive top plate, each one of the cavities including a bottom surface between the outer surface and the inner surface of the conductive top plate, rows of the cavities are beside the plurality of slots on opposite sides of the plurality of slots, the cavities of each one of the rows are aligned in the Y-direction parallel to the plurality of slots and spaced apart in the Y-direction, the rows are spaced apart in an X-direction that is perpendicular to the Y-direction, each slot of the plurality of slots is unaligned with the cavities in the X-direction.

An antenna assembly comprising:

• a circuit board including an integrated circuit configured to process a radio frequency (RF) signal, and a conductive trace extending from the integrated circuit;
• a waveguide plate over the circuit board, the waveguide plate including a waveguide configured to guide the RF signal at least one of to and from the conductive trace;
• and
• a conductive top plate over the waveguide plate, the conductive top plate including,
• an outer surface and an inner surface facing the waveguide plate, the outer surface is opposite to the inner surface,
• a plurality of slots aligned with the waveguide and extending through the conductive top plate, the plurality of slots aligned along the conductive top plate in a Y-direction,
• cavities defined by the conductive top plate and recessed below the outer surface of the conductive top plate, rows of the cavities are beside the plurality of slots, the cavities of each one of the rows are aligned in the Y-direction parallel to the plurality of slots and spaced apart in the Y-direction, and each one of the rows is spaced apart in an X-direction that is perpendicular to the Y-direction, and
• troughs defined by the conductive top plate and recessed below the outer surface of the conductive top plate, each one of the troughs extends in the Y-direction and is between adjacent ones of the rows of the cavities.