Cavity-driven antenna system
AssigneeSmith Technology Development
InventorStephen H. Smith
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electromagnetic wave is transmitted from and received by an antenna system having a cavity member, a passive antenna element and a driver element. The cavity member has a back portion and a wall portion which define a substantially cylindrical interior portion. The antenna element has a first end disposed within the interior portion of the cavity member. The driver element is coupled to the interior portion of the cavity member.
Claims23
An antenna for receiving or transmitting an electromagnetic wave having a carrier frequency and an electric field vector the terminus of which traces a nonlinear path at a frequency between the carrier frequency and zero, comprising:
- a cavity member having a back portion and a wall portion that define a substantially cylindrical interior portion;
- a plurality of driver elements disposed within the interior portion, the plurality of driver elements being arranged in an angular position around a propagation axis and substantially coplanar with a plane perpendicular to the propagation axis;
- and
- a director element having a longitudinal axis substantially parallel with the propagation axis, and having a proximal end disposed within the interior portion of the cavity member and a distal end protruding from the interior portion of the cavity member.
A method of transmitting an electromagnetic wave from a cavity antenna system, the system having a cavity member defining a substantially cylindrical interior portion, a plurality of driver elements disposed within the interior portion, the plurality of driver elements being arranged in an angular position around a propagation axis and substantially coplanar with a plane perpendicular to the propagation axis, and a director element having a longitudinal axis substantially parallel with the propagation axis and having a proximal end disposed within the interior portion of the cavity member and a distal end protruding from the interior portion of the cavity member, the method comprising:
- driving the driver elements with signals having envelopes out of phase with each other based on the angular separation of the driver elements within the interior portion of the cavity member to generate an electromagnetic wave having a carrier frequency and an electric field vector the terminus of which traces a nonlinear path at a frequency between the carrier frequency and zero;
- coupling the electromagnetic wave from the interior portion of the cavity member into the director;
- and
- transmitting the electromagnetic wave from the cavity antenna system.
A method of receiving an electromagnetic wave having a carrier frequency and an electric field vector the terminus of which traces a nonlinear path at a frequency between the carrier frequency and zero, the method comprising:
- receiving at a cavity antenna system the electromagnetic wave, the cavity antenna system having a cavity member defining a substantially cylindrical interior portion, a plurality of driving elements disposed within the interior portion, the plurality of driving elements being arranged in an angular position around a propagation axis and substantially coplanar with a plane perpendicular to the propagation axis, and a director element having a longitudinal axis substantially parallel with the propagation axis and having a proximal end disposed within the interior portion of the cavity member and a distal end protruding from the interior portion of the cavity member;
- coupling the electromagnetic wave from the director element to the interior portion of the cavity member;
- and
- driving the driving elements with the coupled electromagnetic wave.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.