Conical lens for antenna array

Abstract

The present disclosure provides an antenna system that includes an active electronically steered array and a truncated conical dielectric lens with a dome positioned over the array to improve wide-angle scan performance. The conical lens has a thickness that increases along an elevation direction and is configured to introduce an elevation-dependent phase delay that enables scan amplification, such that a reduced scan angle of the array produces a larger effective far-field scan angle. In example embodiments, the conical lens may be formed from a high-dielectric-constant material to reduce lens size and mass while achieving a desired time-delay profile. The conical geometry may intrinsically produce a substantially uniform or focused wavefront in elevation, while azimuth non-uniformities introduced by the lens may be compensated using array beamforming.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.