Claims
- 1. A phased array antenna comprising:
an input; a feed network electrically coupled to the input; a plurality of radiating elements; a plurality of voltage tunable phase shifters for receiving signals from the feed network and providing phase shifts for the signals prior to transmitting the signals to the radiating elements, wherein each phase shifter includes:
a microstrip line mounted on a first side of a first layer of tunable dielectric material; first and second ports adjacent first and second ends of the microstrip line; a biasing electrode for applying control voltage to the tunable dielectric layer, the biasing electrode mounted on a second side of a first layer of tunable dielectric material; a second layer of dielectric material having a first surface positioned adjacent to the biasing electrode; a ground electrode positioned adjacent to a second surface of the second layer of dielectric material; and a radio frequency block circuit coupling the microstrip line to the ground electrode; and a controller for controlling the phase shift provided by the phase shifters.
- 2. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein the radiating elements are mounted in a first plane and the phase shifters are positioned outside of the first plane.
- 3. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein the feed network comprises a plurality of dividers/combiners for distribution of the signals, said dividers/combiners being fabricated on a dielectric substrate layer.
- 4. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein the controller supplies a DC control voltage to each of said phase shifters through control lines.
- 5. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein the radiating elements are spaced from each other by a distance ranging from about 0.5 to about 1.0 wavelength of a signal to be transmitted by the antenna.
- 6. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein said antenna is a one-dimensional scan phased array antenna.
- 7. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein said antenna is a two-dimensional scan phased array antenna.
- 8. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein multiple ones of the phase shifters are mounted on the composite substrate.
- 9. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein the radiating elements are connected to form sub-arrays, and each of the phase shifters is electronically coupled to one of the sub-arrays.
- 10. The phased array antenna of claim 1, further comprising:
a feed line assembly electronically coupled to the phase shifters, the feed line assembly including a first plurality of patch elements for coupling the signals to the radiating elements.
- 11. The phased array antenna of claim 10, wherein the first plurality of patch elements are connected in a plurality of parallel linear arrays, each of the linear arrays electronically coupled to one of the phase shifters.
- 12. The phased array antenna of claim 1, further comprising:
a radial waveguide including first and second parallel plates, said input extending through the first plate, and the second plate including a plurality of openings for coupling the signals between the input and the phase shifters.
- 13. The phased array antenna of claim 12, wherein the first and second plates are substantially circular.
- 14. The phased array antenna of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of transmission lines coupling the dividers/combiners to the phase shifters.
- 15. The phased array antenna of claim 14, wherein each of the transmission lines comprises one of a microstrip line, a strip line, a cable, a waveguide line, and a co-planar line.
- 16. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of radiating elements comprises one of a microstrip patch element, a slot element, a printed dipole element, and a helical element.
- 17. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein each of said phase shifters is connected to one of said radiating elements by one of a micro strip line, a cable, a strip line, a finline, a co-planar line, and a waveguide line.
- 18. The phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein said phase shifters include reflection type phase shifters.
- 19. A phased array antenna comprising:
an input; a plurality of radiating elements mounted in a first plane; a feed antenna electrically coupled to the input for illuminating the plurality of radiating elements; a plurality of continuously voltage tunable reflection type phase shifters mounted in a second plane; a plurality of coupling elements for coupling signals between the radiating elements and the phase shifters; and a controller for controlling the phase shift provided by the phase shifters, wherein each phase shifter includes:
a microstrip line mounted on a composite substrate having a tunable dielectric layer; first and second ports adjacent first and second ends of the microstrip line; first and second matching elements positioned at the first and second ports; and biasing electrodes for applying control voltage to the tunable dielectric layer, the biasing electrodes forming a gap extending parallel to the microstrip line on a first side of the tunable dielectric layer opposite the microstrip line.
- 20. The phased array antenna of claim 19, wherein each of the phase shifters includes:
a transmission line mounted on the tunable dielectric layer; the transmission line having an input at a first end and an being open circuited at a second end.
- 21. The phased array antenna of claim 19, wherein each of the phase shifters includes:
a transmission line mounted on the tunable dielectric layer; the transmission line having an input at a first end and first and second arms connected to a second end; each of the first and second arms terminating in an open circuit.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/621,183, filed Jul. 21, 2000, now pending.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09621183 |
Jul 2000 |
US |
Child |
10361271 |
Feb 2003 |
US |