Waveguide to stripline feed

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11223138-B2
Application number	US-201916424951-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2019
Priority date	May 29, 2019
Publication date	Jan 11, 2022
Grant date	Jan 11, 2022

Abstract

An apparatus may include a substrate assembly having a first side and a second side. The apparatus may further include a waveguide antenna element positioned on the first side of the substrate assembly. The apparatus may also include a first reference ground plane positioned on the first side of the substrate assembly and enclosing the waveguide antenna. The apparatus may include a stripline positioned within the substrate assembly. The apparatus may further include a second reference ground plane positioned on the second side of the substrate assembly.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus comprising:
a substrate assembly having a first side and a second side;
a waveguide antenna element positioned on the first side of the substrate assembly on a first substrate of the substrate assembly;
a first reference ground plane positioned on the first side of the substrate assembly on the first substrate of the substrate assembly and enclosing the waveguide antenna element;
a stripline positioned within the substrate assembly on a second substrate of the substrate assembly; and
a second reference ground plane positioned on the second side of the substrate assembly on a third substrate of the substrate assembly.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a waveguide attached to the first side of the substrate assembly, the waveguide enclosing the waveguide antenna element, and the waveguide electrically connected to the first reference ground plane.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the waveguide is a circular waveguide.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more additional substrates positioned between the waveguide antenna element and the stripline, wherein the stripline is proximity coupled to the waveguide antenna element.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
a slot defined within the waveguide antenna element.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
one or more vias electrically shorting the first reference ground plane to the second reference ground plane.

7. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate each include a dielectric material.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising:
bonding layers positioned between each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate.

9. A method comprising:
providing a waveguide antenna element and a first reference ground plane on a first substrate, the first reference ground plane enclosing the waveguide antenna element;
providing a stripline on a second substrate;
providing a second reference ground plane on a third substrate; and
bonding the first substrate, second substrate, and third substrate together to form a substrate assembly having a first side and a second side, wherein the waveguide antenna element and the first reference ground plane are positioned on the first side, and wherein the second reference ground plane is positioned on the second side.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
attaching a waveguide to the first side of the substrate assembly, wherein the waveguide encloses the waveguide antenna element and is electrically connected to the first reference ground plane.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the waveguide is a circular waveguide.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
positioning one or more additional substrates between the waveguide antenna element and the stripline, wherein the stripline is proximity coupled to the waveguide antenna element.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
providing a slot within the waveguide antenna element.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
providing one or more vias electrically shorting the first reference ground plane to the second reference ground plane.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the waveguide antenna element, the first reference ground plane, the stripline, and the second reference ground plane is provided using a subtractive process, an additive process, or a combination thereof.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the subtractive process includes laser etching, milling, wet etching, or a combination thereof, and wherein the additive process includes printing, deposition, or a combination thereof.

17. The method of claim 9 , wherein bonding the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate together comprises:
positioning bonding layers between each of the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate.

18. A method comprising:
receiving an electromagnetic signal from a waveguide at a waveguide antenna element positioned on a first side of a substrate assembly, wherein the waveguide antenna element is enclosed by a reference ground plane positioned on the first side of the substrate, wherein the electromagnetic signal induces a current having a circular behavior within the waveguide antenna element through electromagnetic induction, and wherein the current induces a second current at a stripline proximity coupled to the waveguide antenna element, wherein the waveguide antenna element and the first reference ground plane are positioned on a first substrate of the substrate assembly, wherein the stripline is positioned on a second substrate of the substrate assembly, and wherein the second reference ground plane is positioned on a third substrate of the substrate assembly.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the electromagnetic signal has a frequency of about 10 GHz.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the first substrate, the second substrate, and the third substrate each include a dielectric material.

Assignees

• Boeing Co

Inventors

• Rogers John E

Classifications

• H01P5/107 Primary

  Hollow-waveguide/strip-line transitions · CPC title

• H01Q13/00 Primary

  Waveguide horns or mouths; Slot antennas; Leaky-waveguide antennas; Equivalent structures causing radiation along the transmission path of a guided wave · CPC title

• H01Q1/2283

  mounted in or on the surface of a semiconductor substrate as a chip-type antenna or integrated with other components into an IC package · CPC title