Patent Grant
8390529
The present invention relates to the field of antenna technology and particularly to a PCB spiral antenna and feed network for ELINT applications.
Currently available Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) Direction Finding (DF) systems have relied upon 2-18 Gigahertz (GHz), cavity-backed spiral antennas. These cavity-backed spiral antennas are bulky, expensive and not amenable to conformal mounting. For example, currently available Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) cavity-backed spiral antennas may be about 2 inches deep, and may include a layer of absorber material to absorb the back-wave radiating off the spiral. Although these currently available COTS cavity-backed spiral antennas may have excellent 2-18 GHz Voltage Standing Wave Ratio (VSWR) and gain patterns, they may suffer from the effects of hand assembly, which drives up the price for the phase-matched sets required for ELINT DF systems. Further, these currently available COTS cavity-backed spiral antennas may not meet desired specifications for ELINT DF systems.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a spiral antenna suitable for implementation with ELINT DF systems which obviates the problems associated with currently available spiral antenna implementations.
Accordingly, an embodiment of the present invention is directed to an integrated antenna and feed network assembly, including: an antenna; and a feed network, the feed network being electrically connected to the antenna, wherein the integrated antenna and feed network assembly is a printed circuit board assembly.
A further embodiment of the present invention is directed to an integrated antenna and feed network assembly, including: an antenna, the antenna including an RF substrate, the antenna further including an antenna element, the antenna element being a metal foil layer configured upon a first surface of the RF substrate, the antenna further including an antenna ground plane, the antenna ground plane being configured upon a second surface of the RF substrate, the second surface being located generally opposite the first surface; and a feed network, the feed network being electrically connected to the antenna, the feed network including a first RF substrate, the feed network further including a second RF substrate, the feed network further including a feed, the feed being connected to the first RF substrate and the second RF substrate, the feed being configured between the first RF substrate and a first surface of the second RF substrate, the feed network further including a feed ground plane, the feed ground plane being configured upon a second surface of the second RF substrate, the second surface of the second RF substrate being located generally opposite the first surface of the second RF substrate, wherein the antenna and the feed network assembly is a printed circuit board assembly.
A still further embodiment of the present invention is directed to an integrated antenna and feed network assembly, including: a spiral antenna, the antenna including a PCB substrate, the antenna further including an antenna element, the antenna element being a copper foil layer patterned upon a first surface of the PCB substrate, the antenna further including an antenna ground plane, the antenna ground plane being configured upon a second surface of the PCB substrate, the second surface being located generally opposite the first surface; a feed network, the feed network being electrically connected to the antenna, the feed network including a first PCB substrate, the feed network further including a second PCB substrate, the feed network further including a feed, the feed being connected to the first PCB substrate and the second PCB substrate, the feed being configured between the first PCB substrate and a first surface of the second PCB substrate, the feed network further including a feed ground plane, the feed ground plane being configured upon a second surface of the second PCB substrate, the second surface of the second PCB substrate being located generally opposite the first surface of the second PCB substrate, the integrated antenna and feed network assembly further including a plurality of vias formed therein, said vias longitudinally extending from the antenna element, through the PCB substrate of the antenna, through the antenna ground plane, through the first PCB substrate of the feed network, and to the feed for electrically connecting the antenna and the feed network; an RF connector, the RF connector being configured for connecting the integrated antenna and feed network assembly to a receiver via a coax cable; and a radome, the radome being connected to the antenna element, wherein the integrated antenna and the feed network assembly is a printed circuit board assembly.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not necessarily restrictive of the invention as claimed. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the general description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
The numerous advantages of the present invention may be better understood by those skilled in the art by reference to the accompanying figures in which:
Reference will now be made in detail to the presently preferred embodiments of the invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
In a current exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the spiral antenna 102 may include an antenna element 104 and a Radio Frequency (RF) substrate 106, the antenna element 104 being connected to the RF substrate 106. For instance, the antenna element 104 may be a metal layer, a metallization layer, and/or a metal foil layer (ex.—copper foil layer) which has been formed upon (ex.—patterned upon) a first surface 108 (ex.—a top surface 108) of the RF substrate 106. In further embodiments of the present invention, such as the integrated antenna and feed assembly 300 shown in
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the spiral antenna 102 may further include a ground plane 110 (ex.—an antenna ground plane 110). The ground plane 110 may be connected to a second surface 112 (ex.—a bottom surface 112) of the RF substrate 106, the second surface 112 being oriented generally opposite the first surface 108. In further embodiments of the present invention, the ground plane 110 may be a metal layer, a metallization layer, and/or a metal foil layer (ex.—a 95% copper foil layer) which has been formed upon (ex.—patterned upon) the bottom surface 112 of the RF substrate 106. In still further embodiments, the spiral antenna 102 may further include a radome 114. The radome 114 may be connected to (ex.—may at least substantially enclose or cover) the antenna element. For example, the radome 114 may be constructed of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) material.
In a current exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the assembly 100 may further include a feed network 116. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the feed network 116 may include a first RF substrate 118, a second RF substrate 120 (ex.—PCB substrates 118, 120) and a feed 122. The first PCB substrate 118 of the feed network 116 may be connected to the ground plane 110 of the spiral antenna 102. In further embodiments, the feed 122 may be connected or embedded between the first PCB substrate 118 and the second PCB substrate 120 of the feed network 116. The second PCB substrate 120 may include a first surface 126 (ex.—a top surface 126) and a second surface 128 (ex.—a bottom surface 128), the second surface 128 being oriented generally opposite the first surface 126. In still further embodiments of the present invention, the feed network 116 may further include a ground plane 124 (ex.—a feed ground plane 124). In further embodiments of the present invention, the ground plane 124 may be a metal layer, a metallization layer, and/or a metal foil layer (ex.—a 95% copper foil layer) which has been formed upon (ex.—patterned upon) the bottom surface 128 of the second PCB substrate 120.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the feed 122 of the feed network 116 may be a Balun feed (ex.—a stripline Balun feed 122). Further, the stripline Balun feed 122 may be configured for functioning as a 2-18 Gigahertz (GHz) Balun, thereby allowing the feed network 116 to be a 2-18 GHz Balun feed network 116. Still further, the stripline feed 122 may be a shielded stripline feed 122, thereby allowing the feed network 116 to provide a shielded stripline configuration or topology. Alternative embodiments of the present invention may implement microstrip or co-planar waveguide topologies for the feed network 116. Although the microstrip or co-planar waveguide topologies may be more prone to parasitic radiation effects than the shielded stripline topology, the microstrip or co-planar waveguide topologies may provide a suitable low cost feed network configuration over a lower range of frequencies (ex.—500 Megahertz (MHz) to 6 GHz). In further embodiments of the present invention, the feed 122 may include (ex.—may implement) one or more of the following components: Lange couplers; a tapered line Balun; a Marchand stripline balun; cascaded ninety degree hybrids; Wilkinson splitters with Shiffman phase shifters; cascaded one-hundred-eighty degree couplers; tapered coupled lines; and/or Marchand-type baluns.
In at least one current exemplary embodiment of the present invention, as shown in
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the integrated antenna and feed network assembly 100 may further include an RF connector 132 (ex.—a surface mount RF connector) which is configured for being connected to (ex.—mounted upon) the assembly 100. In further embodiments of the present invention, the surface mount RF connector 132 is further configured for being connected to the feed network 116 (ex.—the feed 122). In still further embodiments of the present invention, the integrated antenna and feed network assembly 100 may further include a RF transceiver 134 (ex.—RF receiver). In further embodiments, the RF receiver 134 may be electrically connected to the RF surface mount connector 132 via a coaxial cable 136.
In current exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the antenna 102 of the integrated antenna and feed network assembly 100 may include Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) components (ex.—may be a COTS antenna 102). In further embodiments of the present invention, the antenna 102 may be a uni-directional antenna 102. In further embodiments of the present invention, both the antenna 102 and the feed network 116 may be planar.
Thus, in current exemplary embodiments of the present invention, such as described above, the integrated antenna and feed network assembly 100 provides a spiral antenna 102 which is PCB-compliant or PCB-based (ex.—is integrated with or embedded in a PCB substrate 106). The above-described embodiments of the integrated antenna and feed network assembly 100 further provides a feed network 116 which is PCB-compliant or conformal. For instance, the feed 122 may be integrated with or embedded between PCB substrates 118, 120, as shown in
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, the integrated antenna and feed network 100 may be suitable for Electronics Intelligence (ELINT) applications (ex.—may be implemented as part of an ELINT Direction Finding (DF) system) may be compliant with desired ELINT DF specifications. Further, the integrated antenna and feed network 100 of the present invention may be utilized in ELINT DF systems which implement Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). For example, the integrated antenna and feed network 100 of the present invention may be installed via a conformal, wing-tip installation scheme onto aircraft implemented in ELINT DF systems (ex.—installed on business jet class platforms).
Referring to
It is believed that the present invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood by the foregoing description. It is also believed that it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the components thereof without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention or without sacrificing all of its material advantages. The form herein before described being merely an explanatory embodiment thereof, it is the intention of the following claims to encompass and include such changes.
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