Switchable patch antenna

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10971813-B2
Application number	US-201916673852-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 4, 2019
Priority date	Feb 20, 2019
Publication date	Apr 6, 2021
Grant date	Apr 6, 2021

Abstract

A switchable patch antenna comprises a planar conductor having an aperture (hole) formed in the middle of the planar conductor. Radiation of a sinusoidal signal is controlled by comparison of separate impedance values for two components that have separate impedance values. Each of the two components have one end coupled together at the terminal positioned at a center of the aperture and their other ends separately coupled to opposing edges of the aperture. A sinusoidal signal source is also coupled to the terminal positioned at the aperture's center. Further, when the impedance values of both components are substantially equivalent, radiation by the antenna of the provided signal and/or mutual coupling of other signals is disabled. Also, when an impedance value of one of the two components is substantially greater than the other impedance value of the other component, the provided signal is radiated and/or mutual coupling is enabled.

First claim

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
an antenna including:
a planar conductor having an aperture formed in a portion of the planar conductor;
a first component that is coupled between a middle of the aperture and a side of the aperture, wherein the first component provides a first impedance value;
a second component that is coupled between the middle of the aperture and an opposing side of the aperture, wherein the second component provides a second impedance value; and

wherein in response to changing one of the first impedance value or the second impedance value to be non-equal to each other, a signal provided at the middle of the aperture is radiated by the antenna.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , when the signal is radiated by the antenna, further comprising providing a 180 degree phase shift for the radiated signal based on which of the first impedance value or the second impedance value is greater than each other.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of antennas, and wherein a distance between each planar conductor of each antenna is configured between one third and one eleventh of a wavelength of the signal radiated by the plurality of antennas, wherein the distance is provided to reduce mutual coupling between the plurality of antennas.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a plurality of antennas, wherein the plurality of antennas are patch antennas that are arranged on a circuit board for a wireless communication device, and wherein a length of each patch antenna is less than half of a length of a wavelength of the signal provided by the signal source.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a controller that performs actions, comprising:
varying at least one of the first impedance value or the second impedance value to match each other; and
varying at least one of the first impedance value or the second impedance value to non-match each other.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein one of the first impedance value or the second impedance value provides a fixed impedance value and the other of the first impedance value or the second impedance value provides a variable impedance value.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the first impedance value and the second impedance value is arranged to further comprise one of a switch, an electronic switch, a varactor, a fixed impedance device, or a variable impedance device.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the signal source is arranged to further comprise one or more of a signal generator, a waveguide, or an electronic circuit, and wherein the signal is provided at a frequency that is one of a radio signal frequency or a microwave signal frequency.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a direct current (DC) ground that is coupled to the planar conductor, wherein the DC ground is arranged to provide a DC bias to improve one or more of impedance matching and radiation patterns for the antenna.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the aperture further comprises a two-dimensional shape that is one of rectangular, square, triangular, circular, curved, elliptical, quadrilateral, or polygon.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the planar conductor further comprises:
a first planar region and a second planar region that forms the planar conductor, wherein a non-conductive gap is disposed between opposing edges of the first planar region and the second planar region, and wherein a width of the non-conductive gap is minimized to provide a dipole mode for the antenna to radiate the signal.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the apparatus is arranged as a holographic metasurface antenna (HMA) that employs a plurality of the antennas as scattering antennas to radiate a beam based on the provided signal.

13. A method for controlling radiation of a signal, comprising:
providing an antenna that includes a planar conductor, wherein an aperture is formed in a portion of the planar conductor;
providing a first component that is coupled between a middle of the aperture and a side of the aperture, wherein the first component provides a first impedance value;
providing a second component that is coupled between the middle of the aperture and an opposing side of the aperture, wherein the second component provides a second impedance value; and
wherein in response to changing one of the first impedance value or the second impedance value to be non-equal to each other, a signal provided at the middle of the aperture is radiated by the antenna.

14. The method of claim 13 , when the signal is radiated by the antenna, further comprising providing a 180 degree phase shift for the radiated signal based on which of the first impedance value or the second impedance value is greater than each other.

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
providing a plurality of antennas, and wherein a distance between each planar conductor of each antenna is configured between one third and one eleventh of a wavelength of the signal radiated by the plurality of antennas, wherein the distance is provided to reduce mutual coupling between the plurality of antennas.

16. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
providing a plurality of patch antennas that are arranged on a circuit board for a wireless communication device, and wherein a length of each patch antenna is less than half of a length of a wavelength of the signal provided by the signal source.

17. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
employing a controller to perform actions, comprising:
varying at least one of the first impedance value or the second impedance value to match each other; and
varying at least one of the first impedance value or the second impedance value to non-match each other.

18. The method of claim 13 , further comprising:
providing a direct current (DC) ground that is coupled to the planar conductor, wherein the DC ground is arranged to provide a DC bias to improve one or more of impedance matching and radiation patterns for the antenna.

19. The method of claim 13 , wherein the planar conductor further comprises:
a first planar region and a second planar region that forms the planar conductor, wherein a non-conductive gap is disposed between opposing edges of the first planar region and the second planar region, and wherein a width of the non-conductive gap is minimized to provide a dipole mode for the antenna to radiate the signal.

20. A processor readable non-transitory media that includes instructions, wherein execution of the instructions by one or more processors performs actions for controlling radiation of a signal, comprising:
providing an antenna that includes a planar conductor, wherein an aperture is formed in a portion of the planar conductor;
providing a first component that is coupled between a middle of the aperture and a side of the aperture, wherein the first component provides a first impedance value;
providing a second component that is coupled between the middle of the aperture and an opposing side of the aperture, wherein the second component provides a second impedance value; and
wherein in response to changing one of the first impedance value or the second impedance value to be non-equal to each other, a signal provided at the middle of the aperture is radiated by the antenna.

Assignees

• Pivotal Commware Inc

Inventors

• Mccandless Jay Howard
• Black Eric James
• Bekker Isaac Ron

Classifications

• H01Q9/0442

  with particular tuning means · CPC title

• H01Q9/0407 Primary

  Substantially flat resonant element parallel to ground plane, e.g. patch antenna (dipole H01Q9/285; monopole H01Q9/40) · CPC title

• H01Q3/247 Primary

  by switching different parts of a primary active element · CPC title

• H01Q1/521 Primary

  reducing the coupling between adjacent antennas · CPC title

• H01Q1/364

  using a particular conducting material, e.g. superconductor · CPC title