# US 7,746,289 B2 · Point-to-multipoint antenna structure using multiple passive antennas > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 7,746,289 B2 - Document ID: US7746289B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 11/563,001 - Filed: 2006-11-23 - Published: 2008-05-29 - Granted: 2010-06-29 - Earliest claimed: 2006-11-23 - Assignees: Fibertower Corporation - Inventors: Tarun K. Gupta - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7746289B2 ## CPC - H01Q 19/28: using a secondary device in the form of two or more substantially straight conductive elements (log- periodic antennas H01Q11/10; constituting a reflecting surface H01Q19/10) - H01Q 3/24: varying the orientation by switching energy from one active radiating element to another, e.g. for beam switching - H01Q 19/30: the primary active element being centre-fed and substantially straight, e.g. Yagi antenna - H01Q 19/32: the primary active element being end-fed and elongated - H01Q 25/00: Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns (arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern H01Q3/00) - H01Q: ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS (radiators or antennas for microwave heating H05B6/72) ## Abstract A fixed-position transmitter node makes wireless links to two or more fixed-position receiver nodes located within a non-omnidirectional composite coverage volume. The antenna structure for the transmitter node includes an RF power splitter, two or more passive antennas, and an enclosure that houses the antennas. An RF signal is split by the RF power splitter and fed to each of the passive antennas. Each antenna is characterized by its own individual coverage volume, based on that antenna's gain pattern, orientation and RF signal received. The individual coverage volumes of the antennas together in the aggregate define the non-omnidirectional composite coverage volume of the overall antenna structure. In this way, the passive antennas as a group can make the wireless links to the receiver nodes in a directional manner. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A fixed-position transmitter node for making wireless links to two or more fixed-position receiver nodes located within a non-omnidirectional composite coverage volume for the transmitter node, the transmitter node comprising: a radio source that provides an RF signal to be transmitted to the fixed-position receiver nodes via the wireless links; and an antenna structure comprising: an RF power splitter coupled to the radio source, for splitting the RF signal into two or more RF signals; two or more passive narrow-beam antennas coupled to the RF power splitter, the passive narrow-beam antennas making point-to-point wireless links to different fixed-position receiver nodes, wherein each passive narrow-beam antenna is characterized by an individual coverage volume having a narrow beam of approximately 1 to 3 degrees in azimuth directionally oriented toward one of the different fixed-position receiver nodes, and the individual coverage volumes together define the non-omnidirectional composite coverage volume; and an RF transparent enclosure that houses the RF power splitter and the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1, wherein the antenna structure further comprises at least one additional passive antenna coupled to the RF power splitter, the at least one additional passive antenna having a different individual coverage volume than the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1 wherein each of the two more passive narrow-beam antennas has a same individual coverage volume. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1, wherein the passive narrow-beam antennas have individual coverage volumes with a different range. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1, wherein the passive narrow-beam antennas have individual coverage volumes with a same range but different orientation. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1, wherein the antennas structure further comprises at least two broad-beam antennas coupled to the RF power splitter, the at least two broad-beam antennas each making a point-to-multipoint wireless link to different subsets of the receiver nodes. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1, wherein the antenna structure further comprises at least one broad-beam antenna coupled to the RF power splitter, the at least one broad-beam antenna making a point-to-multipoint wireless link to a subset of receiver nodes. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 7 wherein ranges of the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas are longer than a range of the broad-beam antenna. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1 wherein the transmitter node is part of an LMDS network. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1 wherein the transmitter node is part of a PCS cellular network. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 1, wherein an orientation of the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas is mechanically adjustable. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The fixed-position transmitter node of claim 11, wherein the orientation is mechanically adjustable in both azimuth and elevation. ### Claim 13 An antenna structure having a non-omnidirectional composite antenna gain pattern, the antenna structure comprising: an RF power splitter having an input port to receive an RF signal, the RF power splitter splitting the RF signal into two or more RF signals; two or more passive narrow-beam antennas all coupled to receive the RF signals from the RF power splitter, wherein each passive narrow-beam antenna is configured to make a point-to-point wireless link to a different fixed-position receiver node, and wherein each passive narrow-beam antenna is characterized by an individual antenna gain pattern having a narrow beam of less than 30 degrees in azimuth directionally oriented toward one of the different fixed-position receiver nodes, and the narrow-beam passive antennas are positioned with respect to each other so that the individual antenna gain patterns together define the non-omindirectional composite antenna gain pattern; and an RF transparent enclosure that houses the RF power splitter and the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas are positioned so that none of the passive narrow-beam antennas have a same antenna gain pattern oriented in a same direction. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the at least two passive narrow-beam antennas are positioned to have a same antenna gain pattern oriented in a same direction. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13, wherein the at least two passive narrow-beam antennas differ in either antenna gain pattern or orientation. ### Claim 17 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13, wherein the at least two passive narrow-beam antennas have a same antenna gain pattern but are oriented in different azimuthal directions. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13, wherein the at least two passive narrow-beam antennas have a same antenna gain pattern but are oriented in different elevation directions. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13, wherein the at least two passive narrow-beam antennas have a same antenna gain pattern but receive RF signals of different power from the RF power splitter. ### Claim 20 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13, further comprising at least one broad-beam antenna coupled to receive the RF signal from the RF power splitter. ### Claim 21 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13, further comprising at least two broad-beam antennas coupled to receive the RF signal from the RF power splitter. ### Claim 22 (depends on 20) The antenna structure of claim 20 wherein the at least one broad-beam antenna has a beam width between 30 to 90 degrees. ### Claim 23 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 further comprising at least one omnidirectional antenna coupled to receive the RF signal from the RF power splitter. ### Claim 24 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein at least two of the individual antenna gain patterns have different maximum gains. ### Claim 25 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas consist of exactly four passive narrow-beam antennas. ### Claim 26 (depends on 25) The antenna structure of claim 25 wherein the four passive narrow-beam antennas are arranged in a 2×2 grid. ### Claim 27 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein an orientation of the two more passive narrow-beam antennas is mechanically adjustable. ### Claim 28 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the RF power splitter splits the RF signal into two or more RF signals of equal power. ### Claim 29 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the RF power splitter splits the RF signal into two or more RF signals of different power. ### Claim 30 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the RF power splitter is a waveguide splitter. ### Claim 31 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the enclosure fits within an 18×18×12 inch rectangular volume. ### Claim 32 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the enclosure is configured to be mounted on a flagpole, a light pole and/or a utility pole. ### Claim 33 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13 wherein the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas include parabolic dish antennas. ### Claim 34 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13, wherein the narrow beam of the individual antenna gain pattern for each of the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas is 10 degrees or less. ### Claim 35 (depends on 13) The antenna structure of claim 13, wherein the narrow beam of the individual antenna gain pattern for each of the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas is approximately 1 to 3 degrees. ### Claim 36 (depends on 27) The antennas structure of claim 27, wherein the orientation is mechanically adjustable in both azimuth and elevation. ### Claim 37 A method for making wireless links to two or more fixed-position receiver nodes located within a non-omnidirectional composite coverage volume for a transmitter node, the method comprising: receiving an RF signal to be transmitted to the fixed-position receiver nodes via the wireless links; splitting the RF signal into two or more RF signals; feeding the RF signals to two or more passive narrow-beam antennas housed within an enclosure, wherein each passive narrow-beam antenna is configured to make a point-to-point wireless link with different ones of the fixed-position receiver nodes, and wherein each passive narrow-beam antenna is characterized by an individual antenna gain pattern having a narrow beam of less than 30 degrees in azimuth directionally oriented toward one of the different fixed-position receiver nodes, and the narrow-beam passive antennas are positioned with respect to each other so that the individual antenna gain patterns together define the non-omindirectional composite antenna gain pattern. ### Claim 38 (depends on 37) The method of claim 37, wherein the narrow beam of the individual antenna gain pattern for each of the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas is 10 degrees or less. ### Claim 39 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, wherein the narrow beam of the individual antenna gain pattern for each of the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas is approximately 1 to 3 degrees. ### Claim 40 (depends on 38) The method of claim 38, wherein the orientation of the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas is mechanically adjustable. ### Claim 41 (depends on 40) The method of claim 40, wherein the orientation of the two or more passive narrow-beam antennas is mechanically adjustable in both azimuth and elevation.