WO2015017064A1 - Stacked bowtie radiator with integrated balun - Google Patents
Stacked bowtie radiator with integrated balun Download PDFInfo
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- WO2015017064A1 WO2015017064A1 PCT/US2014/044780 US2014044780W WO2015017064A1 WO 2015017064 A1 WO2015017064 A1 WO 2015017064A1 US 2014044780 W US2014044780 W US 2014044780W WO 2015017064 A1 WO2015017064 A1 WO 2015017064A1
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- balun
- antenna element
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- dielectric
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Classifications
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
- H01Q21/24—Combinations of antenna units polarised in different directions for transmitting or receiving circularly and elliptically polarised waves or waves linearly polarised in any direction
- H01Q21/26—Turnstile or like antennas comprising arrangements of three or more elongated elements disposed radially and symmetrically in a horizontal plane about a common centre
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q19/00—Combinations of primary active antenna elements and units with secondary devices, e.g. with quasi-optical devices, for giving the antenna a desired directional characteristic
- H01Q19/28—Combinations of primary active antenna elements and units with secondary devices, e.g. with quasi-optical devices, for giving the antenna a desired directional characteristic using a secondary device in the form of two or more substantially straight conductive elements
- H01Q19/30—Combinations of primary active antenna elements and units with secondary devices, e.g. with quasi-optical devices, for giving the antenna a desired directional characteristic using a secondary device in the form of two or more substantially straight conductive elements the primary active element being centre-fed and substantially straight, e.g. Yagi antenna
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
- H01Q21/06—Arrays of individually energised antenna units similarly polarised and spaced apart
- H01Q21/061—Two dimensional planar arrays
- H01Q21/062—Two dimensional planar arrays using dipole aerials
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q9/00—Electrically-short antennas having dimensions not more than twice the operating wavelength and consisting of conductive active radiating elements
- H01Q9/04—Resonant antennas
- H01Q9/16—Resonant antennas with feed intermediate between the extremities of the antenna, e.g. centre-fed dipole
- H01Q9/28—Conical, cylindrical, cage, strip, gauze, or like elements having an extended radiating surface; Elements comprising two conical surfaces having collinear axes and adjacent apices and fed by two-conductor transmission lines
Definitions
- RF radio frequency
- phased array antennas are comprised of a plurality of antenna elements or radiators. As is also known, in the design of such antenna elements, a trade-off must typically be made between an operating frequency bandwidth
- an array of dipole elements can be provided a relatively high cross-polarization isolation characteristics in all scan planes; however, bandwidth is limited.
- array antennas provided from notch radiators or Vivaldi radiators are capable or operating over a relatively wide frequency bandwidth, but have a relatively low cross-polarization isolation characteristic off the principal axes.
- Droopy bowtie elements disposed above a ground plane are a well known means for producing nominally circular polarized (CP) reception or transmission radiation patterns at frequencies from VHF to microwave wavelengths.
- Droopy bowtie elements are often coupled to a balun which is realized in a co-axial configuration involving separate subassemblies for achieving balun matching and arm phasing functions.
- Such a design typically results in an integrated antenna-balun assembly having good bandwidth but a poor cross-polarization isolation characteristic.
- such a design is relatively difficult to assemble (high recurring engineering cost) and cannot easily be adapted to different operating frequencies or polarizations (high non-recurring engineering cost).
- an antenna element comprises a dielectric substrate having a general pyramidal shape with a feed point provided at the center.
- the substrate has an inner surface and an outer surface.
- Four driven conductors are disposed over the inner surface of the substrate, each of the driven conductors has a generally triangular shape with one vertex terminating proximate the feed point.
- four passive conductors are disposed over the outer surface of said substrate, each of the passive conductors being opposite to at least one inner conductor.
- each passive conductor may have a smaller surface area compared to corresponding ones of the driven conductors.
- the feed point of the antenna element is electrically coupled to a quad-line vertical balun column.
- the quad-line balun column has a square cross-sectional shape and a central conductive member with first and second opposing ends.
- the central conductive member includes four (4) dielectric balun slabs, each having a first surface disposed over a conductive surface of the central member and a second opposing conductive surface.
- the antenna element driven conductors are fed by the balun and the passive conductors are parasitically coupled to the corresponding ones of the driven conductors.
- an antenna assembly comprises a printed circuit board (PCB), a feed circuit disposed on one surface of the circuit board, an antenna element, and a quad-line balun column electrically coupled to the feed circuit at one end and electrically coupled to the antenna element at an opposite end.
- the antenna element comprises a dielectric radiator block having a height and a cavity region formed therein with the cavity region having a pair of opposing surfaces and a feed point provide at the center point of the cavity.
- the antenna element further comprises a conductive layer disposed on each of the surfaces, each conductive layer coupled to the feed point.
- the quad-line balun column comprises a central member having four conductive surfaces and first and second opposing conductive ends.
- the balun column further comprises four (4) dielectric balun slabs, each having a first surface disposed over a conductive surface of the central member and a second opposing conductive surface.
- the antenna assembly feed circuit comprises a ground conductor coupled to each balun central member conductive surface, a first feed conductor coupled to first balun slab feed conductor, a second feed conductor coupled to second balun slab feed conductor, a third feed conductor coupled to third balun slab feed conductor, and a fourth feed conductor coupled to fourth balun slab feed conductor.
- the antenna assembly further comprises a support structure over which the antenna element is disposed, wherein a first end of the balun is exposed through a first opening in the support structure and a second end of said balun is exposed through a second opening in the support structure.
- a plurality of antenna assemblies are provided, arranged in a two-dimensional array pattern.
- a method for assembling an antenna assembly includes coupling a first end of a quad-line vertical balun column to a circuit board and coupling a second end of the balun to an antenna element.
- FIG. 1 is a an isometric view of an integrated antenna element having a stacked bowtie antenna element and a quad-line balun column;
- FIG. 1 A is an inverted isometric view of the stacked bowtie antenna element of
- FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation of FIG. 1 ;
- FIG. IB is a cross-sectional view of the integrated antenna element of FIG 1 ;
- FIG. 2 is a side view of a partial stacked bowtie antenna element
- FIGS. 3-3B are perspective views of stacked bowtie antenna elements
- FIG. 4 is an isometric view of a partial unit-cell assembly having a quad-line balun, a feed circuit, and a support structure;
- FIG. 4A is a cross-sectional view of the partial unit-cell assembly of FIG. 4.
- FIG. 5 is an isometric view of a quad-line balun
- FIG. 5 A is a top view of the quad-line balun of FIG. 5;
- FIG. 6 is a top view of a feed circuit disposed over a printed circuit board (PCB);
- FIG. 6A is a side view of the PCB of FIG. 6;
- FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an antenna system utilizing a quad-line balun column and a stacked bowtie antenna element
- FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an antenna system utilizing a quad-line balun column and a stacked bowtie antenna element
- FIG. 9 is an isometric view of an "egg crate" support structure for use in an antenna array assembly
- FIGS. 9 A and 9B are isometric views of an antenna array assembly.
- FIG. 9C is a side view of the antenna array assembly in FIGS. 9 A and 9B.
- a quad-line balun column coupled to an antenna element of a particular type, size and/or shape.
- antenna element is a so-called stacked bowtie antenna element, a type of turnstile antenna, having a size and shape compatible with operation at a particular frequency (e.g. 10 GHz) or over a particular range of frequencies (e.g. the L, S, C, and/or X-band frequency ranges).
- a particular frequency e.g. 10 GHz
- frequencies e.g. the L, S, C, and/or X-band frequency ranges.
- an antenna element other than a droopy bowtie antenna element may also be used with a quad line balun column and that the size of one or more antenna elements may be selected for operation at any frequency in the RF frequency range (e.g. any frequency in the range of about 1 GHz to about 100 GHz).
- the types of radiating elements which may be used with a quad- line balun column include but are not limited to bowties, notch elements, dipoles, slots or any other antenna element
- the antenna elements in the array can be provided having any one of a plurality of different antenna element lattice arrangements including periodic lattice arrangements (or configurations) such as rectangular, square, triangular (e.g. equilateral or isosceles triangular), and spiral configurations as well as non-periodic or arbitrary lattice
- balun and/or stacked bowtie antenna element described herein may be used include, but are not limited to: radar, electronic warfare (EW) and communication systems for a wide variety of applications including ship based, airborne, missile and satellite applications.
- EW electronic warfare
- an integrated balun and stacked bowtie antenna element are applicable, but not limited to, military, airborne, shipborne, communications, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and/or commercial wireless applications.
- UAV unmanned aerial vehicles
- an integrated antenna element 10 includes a quad-line balun column 12 (or more simply balun 12) having a first end electrically coupled to a feed point of a stacked bowtie antenna element 14 (herein also referred to as antenna element 14). Since balun column 12 is electrically coupled to the center of antenna element 14, the element is also sometimes referred to as a center-fed stacked bowtie antenna element 14.
- the balun column 12 can be mechanically coupled to the antenna element 14 using any technique known in the art including but not limited to soldering, welding, adhering using epoxy, or friction fitting.
- the antenna element 14 has an opening 14a through which balun column 14 can be inserted. As described further below in conjunction with FIGS. 9-9C, this configuration allows the integrated antenna element 14 to be assembled using commercial pick-and-place robots and, therefore, may reduce recurring costs.
- the antenna element 14 is a three-dimensional structure which may have a truncated pyramidal shape, as shown in FIGS. 1-lB.
- FIG. 1A the antenna element 14 is shown upside down to reveal a cavity 19 formed by the pyramidal shape.
- the antenna element 14 includes a plurality, here four (4), stacked bowtie radiators 20, each having a driven conductor 20b and a passive conductor 20a separated by a dielectric material 20c.
- the antenna element 14 can be a single structure formed by injecting liquid crystal polymer (LCP) into a mold of any suitable shape and size. It will be appreciated that LCP can further serve as the dielectric 20c.
- LCP liquid crystal polymer
- each stacked bowtie radiator 20 is manufactured separately and later secured together (e.g. by epoxy) to form the antenna element 14.
- the dielectric 20c may be either a single piece of dielectric or four separate pieces of dielectric.
- slots may be provided between adjacent stacked bowtie radiators 20 to improve isolation and reduce LPC usage/cost. In a preferred embodiment, such slots have a length of about 180 mils.
- the driven conductors 20b may be provided as four surface-plated metal wings within pyramidal shaped cavity 19 of antenna element 14.
- the metal wings can be formed through any subtractive or additive process known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
- the passive conductors 20a may also be provided as four surface-plated metal wings disposed opposite each driven conductor 20b. For reasons that will be discussed below, each driven conductor 20b may have a larger surface area than each corresponding passive conductor 20a.
- the antenna element 14 is copper platted and copper is selectively removed/etched using a laser to form conductive surfaces 20a and 20b.
- the antenna element 14 has a width/length w 4 (shown in FIG. 1 A) of about 380 mils and a height hi (shown in FIG. IB) of about 140 mils, and the passive conductors 21 have a long edge width w5 of about 284 mils, a short edge width w 6 of about 84 mils, and a tapered edge length of about 147 mils (shown in FIG. 1).
- balun column 12 is electrically coupled to the driven conductors 20b (only two driven conductors 20b are visible in FIG. IB).
- balun column 12 is coupled to the driven conductors 20b via a solder connection.
- solder connection Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, of course, that techniques other than soldering may also be used to couple balun column 12 to conductors 20b. Such techniques, include but are not limited to welding techniques, and conductive epoxy techniques.
- driven conductors 20b are electrically coupled to balun column 12, which in turn is electrically coupled to a feed circuit (not shown), h contrast, passive conductors 20a are not electrically coupled to the feed circuit. Further, each driven conductor 20b is arranged opposite and has a smaller surface area than corresponding ones of the passive conductors 20a.
- each stacked bowtie radiator 20 may have a generally straight shape. In other embodiments, each radiator 20 may have a convex shape or a concave (negative convex) shape. As illustrated in FIGS.
- a convexity factor, ⁇ controls the shape of the driven conductors 20b.
- the convexity factor may typically vary from about 0.2 mm to about -0.2 mm for operation in the X-band frequency range. Such a variation usually has a minor effect on the antenna impedance characteristics but, at the same time, it provides acceptable mechanical tolerances to be established for antenna manufacturing.
- Convexity also provides another design parameter that can be used to optimize element pattern performance with respect to bandwidth. It should, however, be appreciated that regardless of the convexity factor setting, stacked bowtie performance can be toleranced to variations in this factor which make it amenable to established manufacturing processes.
- a convexity factor controls the shape of the driven conductors 20b.
- the stacked bow-tie radiators 20 may have a generally straight shape.
- the radiators 20 may have a convex shape or a concave (negative convex) shape.
- the shape of dielectrics 20c and passive conductors 20a can be adapted to generally match the shape of the driven conductors 20b.
- changing the convexity factor changes the radiator shape from a convex shape, to a straight shape, to a concave shape.
- the convexity factor may typically vary from about 0.2 mm to about -0.2 mm for operation in the X-band frequency range. Such a variation usually has a minor effect on the antenna impedance characteristics but, at the same time, it provides acceptable mechanical tolerances to be established for antenna manufacturing. Convexity also provides another design parameter that can be used to optimize element pattern
- an antenna element 14 (FIG. 3) has a convexity factor ( ⁇ ) set equal to zero.
- ⁇ convexity factor
- the element 14 and corresponding driven conductors 20b, dielectric 20c, and passive conductors (not shown) are said to be straight or non-convex.
- An antenna element 14' in FIG. 3 A is provided having a convexity factor ( ⁇ ) set equal to 0.06.
- element 14' and corresponding driven conductors 20b', dielectric 20c', and passive conductors (not shown) have a positive convexity and are said to be convex, hi FIG.
- an antenna element 14" is provided having a convexity factor ( ⁇ ) set equal to -0.06.
- element 14" and corresponding driven conductors 20b", dielectric 20c", and passive conductors (not shown) have a negative convexity and are thus said to be concave.
- a support structure 30 is disposed over a printed circuit board (PCB) 40.
- a feed circuit 42 is disposed (e.g. printed) onto a surface of the PCB 40, as shown.
- a quad-line balun column 12 has a first end electrically coupled to feed circuit 42 and mechanically coupled to PCB 40.
- Feed circuit 42 may be coupled to other RF circuits (not shown on FIG. 4A), here through via holes 44 for example.
- balun column 12 may be electrically coupled to feed circuit 42 via solder connections 46.
- the solder connections 46 could, of course, also provide mechanical coupling.
- the first end of the balun column includes a post, such as post 72 in FIG. 5, which may fit inside a post receptor, such as receptor 48 in FIG. 6 to secure the balun column to the PCB.
- the feed circuit 42 is discussed more fully below in conjunction with FIGS. 6 and 6 A.
- balun column 12 further has a second end which may be exposed through, and extend past, an opening in the support structure 30, as shown. It should be appreciated that the second end of balun column 12 can be electrically and mechanically coupled to an antenna element, such as antenna element 14, as shown in FIGS. 1-lB.
- a support structure for ease of reference, the combination of a support structure, a feed circuit, a balun column, and a stacked bowtie antenna (not shown in FIG. 4) may hereinafter be referred to as a "unit cell.”
- the support structure 30 or portions thereof is/are fabricated using injection molding techniques. However, it should be appreciated that other techniques known in the art may be used to fabricate the support structure 30.
- the support structure 30 has conductive surfaces (e.g. metallized walls), thereby providing electrical isolation and suppress surface wave mode coupling between adjacent unit cells within an array antenna (such as the array shown in FIG. 9B).
- the support structure 30 has a height h 2 of 160 mils., a thickness d 2 of 30 mils., and a width/length w 3 of 440 mils.
- Column 12 includes a plurality of, here four (4), dielectric substrates 15a-15d (only dielectric substrates 15b and 15c being visible in Fig. 4A) with each substrate 15a-15d having conductors 13 a- 13d (only conductors 13 a- 13c visible in Fig. 4 A) disposed thereon with each of the conductors 13a- 13d having a first end coupled to a corresponding one of four radiators 20 and a second end coupled to a conductor 42 on PCB 40.
- conductors 13 a- 13d are provided having a width equal to the width of the respective substrates 15a-15d on which they are disposed. In other embodiments, the width of conductors 13a- 13d is less than the width of the respective substrates. In general, the width of conductors 13 a- 13d are selected to provide desired impedance and isolation characteristics.
- the balun column 70 includes a central conductive member 78 having a square cross-sectional shape.
- Dielectric substrates 82a-82d are disposed over external surfaces of the central member 78.
- dielectric substrates 82a-82d are composed of Rogers RT/duroid 6010 PTFE dielectric material.
- Dielectric substrates 82a-82d may be secured to central member 78 using solder, glue, epoxy, welding or any other fastening technique well-known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
- dielectric substrates 82a-82d are each provided having conductive material 80a-80d (conductors 80a and 80d not visible in FIG. 5) disposed on one surface, but not on the opposing surface. This is because the central member 78 is provided as an opposing conductor.
- the dielectric substrates 82a-82d and respective conductive surfaces 80a-80b form four adjacent coplanar microstrip transmission lines sharing the same ground provided by the central conductive member 78 (i.e. each disposed on side surfaces of the central conductive member).
- balun column 70 is the same or similar to balun column 12 in FIGS. 1 -lB, 4, and 4A, in which case conductors 80a-80d may correspond to conductors 13a- 13d respectively.
- the central conductive member 78 is provided having a square or rectangular cross-sectional shape and is provided as a solid metal conductor (e.g. a copper or brass bar). In other embodiments, the central conductive member need not be solid (e.g. it could be hollow or partially hollow). Also, the central conductive member 78 may be provided from a nonconductive material and have a conductive coating or a conductive surface disposed thereover to provide a central conductive member 78.
- the central conductive 78 member is provided from a machining technique.
- the conductive member 78 may be formed via a molding technique (e.g. injection molding). Other techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art may also be used to provide a central conductive member.
- conductors 80a-80d have a width substantially equal to the width of the respective dielectric substrates 82a-82d on which the conductors 80a-80d are disposed. In other embodiments, each conductor 80a-80d may have a width which is less than the width of the respective dielectric substrates 82a-82d on which it is disposed.
- a mounting post 72 may be provided upon the column 70 for mechanically coupling to a PCB.
- the mounting post 72 is made of a conductive material and therefore also provides electrical coupling to central conductive member 78 and a feed circuit, such as feed circuit 42 shown in FIG. 6.
- the mounting post 72 could be made of non-conductive material and a separate means for electrically coupling the central conductive member 78 to a feed circuit may be provided.
- balun column 70 may affect its operating performance.
- each dielectric substrate may affect its operating performance.
- each dielectric substrate may affect its operating performance.
- the central conductive member 82a-82d has height hi, width w 2 , and thickness dj, as shown.
- wi is chosen to be 50 mils.
- w 2 is chosen to be 25 mils.
- di is chosen to be 10 mil.
- hi is chosen to be 300 mils. It should be appreciated that, in general, the height hi should be chosen based on the desired operating frequency range.
- the quad line balun includes coplanar microstrip transmission lines provided from Rogers RT/duroid 6010 PTFE ceramic laminate having a relative dielectric constant ( ⁇ ) in the range of about 10.2 to about 10.9 and a loss tangent of about 0.0023.
- the laminate is provided having a conductive material disposed on opposing surfaces thereof.
- the conductive material may be provided as 1 ⁇ 2 oz. of rolled copper or electrodeposited (ED) copper, for example.
- the transmission lines are cut, etched or otherwise provided from a dielectric sheet, as double-sided strips, and then coupled to a central conductive member using a soldering technique or other suitable attachment technique.
- the transmission lines may be soldered to the central conductive member 78.
- balun column 70 provides a higher isolation between two turnstile antenna elements than prior art baluns or feeds since two pairs of feeding transmission lines are shielded.
- the balun transmission lines may each have a characteristic impedance of about 30 Ohms per port, assuming that opposite are fed out of phase by 180 deg. This means a 60 Ohm impedance per one dipole antenna that is fed with two ports in series, which should provide a good impedance match to a stacked bowtie radiator such as that discussed in conjunction with Figs 1 -3B above.
- a balun constructed as described is suitable for operation over the L-Band, S-band, C-band, and X-band frequency ranges, without changing balun dimensions (excepting length).
- a feed circuit 42 is disposed (e.g. printed) onto a surface of a PCB 40, as shown.
- the feed circuit 42 includes four feed lines 42a-42d which can each be electrically coupled one of four coplanar transmission line conductors provided upon a quad-line balun column, such as conductors 80a-80d in FIG. 5.
- the feed circuit 42 also includes a center conductor 48 which can be electrically coupled to a quad- line balun column central conductive member, such as member 78 in FIG. 5.
- Such electrical couplings can be made, for example, using a solder reflow technique to form a conductive solder joints.
- the feed lines 42a-42d and center conductor 48 can be provided upon the PCB using either a subtractive or an additive PCB manufacturing process.
- the PCB 40 may provide or be electrically coupled to additional RF circuitry (not shown), such as an RF distribution circuit.
- the feed lines 42a-42d may be electrically coupled to the additional RF circuitry via holes 44a-44d (hole 42a not shown in FIG. 6A).
- the holes 44a-44d may be provided in the PCB 40 via a machining operating (e.g. via a punching technique, a milling technique, or via any other technique known to those of ordinary skill in the art).
- PCB 40 also includes a balun post receptor which accepts a balun column post, such as post 72 in FIG. 5, to secure the balun column to the PCB.
- the center connector 48 may herein also be referred to as the balun post receptor 48.
- the balun post receptor 48 may be a recess which extends entirely through the PCB 40 (e.g. as a through hole) or may extend only partway into the PCB.
- the balun post receptor 48 may be provided in the PCB 40 by any process known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
- the balun column post 72 and post receptor 48 have complimentary cross-sectionals shapes such that the balun column post mates with the receptor, thereby securing the balun 70 (in FIG.
- the post 72 may be knurled and may be press fit into receptor 48. It should be appreciated that other means, including but not limited to fasteners and brackets, may also be used to secure a balun column to the PCB 40.
- FIG. 7 three reference planes and three separate microwave network elements of the complete quad-line balun-based antenna radiator are shown.
- the feeding balun for only one antenna element is shown.
- the antenna model in FIG. 7 simplifies as shown in FIG. 8.
- FIG. 8 a block diagram of a complete quad-line balun-based antenna radiator with a symmetric antenna load is shown. It should be noted that to promote clarity in the drawing, the balun for only one antenna element is shown.
- the power divider may be provided as either a T-divider or a Wilkinson power divider.
- L is a length of the quad line balun length
- Zo is the characteristic impedance of the quad line balun
- Zj is the termination impedance of the quad line balun
- the ratio of input voltage V in to output voltage Vx of the quad line balun is found from the ABCD matrix of a two-port network, in the form,
- phase shifter a simple ⁇ /2 delay line may be used, whose transmission line model is also given by Equations 1 and 2.
- an antenna array assembly 96 (also sometimes referred to herein as antenna array 96, array antenna 96, or more simply array 96) is shown in various stages of an assembly process, described hereinbelow.
- antenna array 96 comprises a plurality of unit cells, here twelve (12) unit cells arranged in a 2x6 rectangular lattice shape.
- Each of unit cells may be the same as or similar to the unit cell described above in conjunction with FIG. 4 and includes a balun column 92, a stacked bowtie antenna element 94, and a support structure 90a.
- Each support structure 90a includes two openings at opposing ends.
- the plurality of unit cell support structures 90a are provided by a single "egg crate" support structure 90.
- the egg crate 90 is formed via an injection molding technique, however it should be appreciated that other fabrication techniques can also be used.
- the egg crate 90 may be bonded to a PCB (not shown in FIGS. 9-9C) having a plurality of feed circuits.
- the feed circuits may be arranged on the PCB such that, when the egg crate 90 is disposed over the PCB, each feed circuit is exposed through one opening of a corresponding support structure 90a.
- the array 96 is provided having a length L, a width W and a thickness T. In one particular embodiment, for operation in the X-band frequency range, the array 96 is provided having 8 rows and 16 columns. It should be appreciated that array 96 may be used as a subarray in a larger array structure provided form a plurality of such subarrays 96.
- FIGS. 9-9C illustrate an exemplary array shape and array lattice geometry
- array shapes other than rectangular or substantially rectangular shapes could also be used.
- circular, elliptical or other regular or even non-regular shapes may be used.
- array geometries other than rectangular or triangular may also be used.
- the array is here shown having a square shape and a particular number of antenna elements, an antenna array having any array shape and/or physical size or any number of antenna elements may also be used.
- the array shape and/or physical size may be determined by a number of factors, including bandwidth requirements, polarization requirements, power requirements, and/or desired scan volume.
- a radome may be disposed over the array 96 to protect it from weather and/or conceal it from view.
- the empty egg crate 90 has a plurality of support structures 90a and may be bounded to a PCB having a plurality of feed circuits (not shown).
- a balun column 92 having a post at one end is inserted through each support structure 90a and into a balun column post receptor provided as part of a corresponding one of the feed circuits.
- an antenna element 94 having an opening through which the balun column can be inserted (such as antenna element 14 in FIG.
- array 96 assembly process may proceed in a different order from than described hereinabove.
- the antenna assembly 94 may be placed upon the support structure 90a before the balun column is inserted.
- the integrated antenna element design, the scalable phased array antenna architecture, and the assembly techniques describe above allow commercial fabrication and assembly processes to be leveraged, thereby reducing recurring engineering costs.
- the stacked bowtie antenna element can be fabricated using injection molding and copper plating/etching techniques.
- the balun column and coplanar transmission lines can be mass produced using a cast and automated soldering techniques.
- automated assembly techniques such as commercial pick-and-place robots and solder re-flow lines, may be used to easily and inexpensively assemble unit cells, sub-array assemblies, and entire phased array antennas.
- phased array antenna architecture and fabrication technique described herein offers a cost effective solution for design, fabrication, and assembly of phased arrays antennas that can be used in a wide variety of radar missions or communication missions for ground, sea and airborne platforms.
- a plurality of elements may be shown as illustrative of a particular element, and a single element may be shown as illustrative of a plurality of a particular elements. Showing a plurality of a particular element is not intended to imply that a system or method implemented in accordance with the concepts, structures and techniques described herein must comprise more than one of that element or step. Nor is it intended by illustrating a single element that the concepts, structures and techniques are/i s limited to embodiments having only a single one of that respective element. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the numbers of a particular element shown in a drawing can be, in at least some instances, are selected to
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KR1020167004944A KR101679543B1 (en) | 2013-08-01 | 2014-06-30 | Stacked bowtie radiator with integrated balun |
AU2014296755A AU2014296755B2 (en) | 2013-08-01 | 2014-06-30 | Stacked bowtie radiator with integrated balun |
EP14740122.8A EP3028341B1 (en) | 2013-08-01 | 2014-06-30 | Stacked bowtie radiator with integrated balun |
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US13/956,875 | 2013-08-01 | ||
US13/956,875 US9306262B2 (en) | 2010-06-01 | 2013-08-01 | Stacked bowtie radiator with integrated balun |
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Cited By (2)
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CN108963441A (en) * | 2018-07-24 | 2018-12-07 | 复旦大学 | Vivaldi antenna battle array |
WO2020231501A1 (en) * | 2019-05-13 | 2020-11-19 | Raytheon Company | Automated radar assembly system |
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CN110691474B (en) * | 2019-09-23 | 2021-02-12 | 京信通信技术(广州)有限公司 | Welding method of radiation unit |
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US20110291907A1 (en) * | 2010-06-01 | 2011-12-01 | Raytheon Company | Droopy bowtie radiator with integrated balun |
WO2012102576A2 (en) * | 2011-01-27 | 2012-08-02 | Ls Cable Ltd. | Broad-band dual polarization dipole antenna and antenna array |
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- 2014-06-30 AU AU2014296755A patent/AU2014296755B2/en active Active
- 2014-06-30 EP EP14740122.8A patent/EP3028341B1/en active Active
- 2014-06-30 WO PCT/US2014/044780 patent/WO2015017064A1/en active Application Filing
- 2014-06-30 KR KR1020167004944A patent/KR101679543B1/en active IP Right Grant
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US4668956A (en) * | 1985-04-12 | 1987-05-26 | Jampro Antennas, Inc. | Broadband cup antennas |
US5418544A (en) * | 1993-04-16 | 1995-05-23 | Apti, Inc. | Stacked crossed grid dipole antenna array element |
US20110291907A1 (en) * | 2010-06-01 | 2011-12-01 | Raytheon Company | Droopy bowtie radiator with integrated balun |
WO2012102576A2 (en) * | 2011-01-27 | 2012-08-02 | Ls Cable Ltd. | Broad-band dual polarization dipole antenna and antenna array |
Cited By (3)
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CN108963441A (en) * | 2018-07-24 | 2018-12-07 | 复旦大学 | Vivaldi antenna battle array |
WO2020231501A1 (en) * | 2019-05-13 | 2020-11-19 | Raytheon Company | Automated radar assembly system |
US11123867B2 (en) | 2019-05-13 | 2021-09-21 | Raytheon Company | Automated radar assembly system |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
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EP3028341B1 (en) | 2019-06-26 |
AU2014296755A1 (en) | 2016-02-11 |
EP3028341A1 (en) | 2016-06-08 |
KR20160037205A (en) | 2016-04-05 |
KR101679543B1 (en) | 2016-11-24 |
AU2014296755B2 (en) | 2016-09-22 |
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