Antenna units, radiation and beam shape of antenna units, and methods thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12424738-B2
Application number	US-201917763207-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 24, 2019
Priority date	Dec 24, 2019
Publication date	Sep 23, 2025
Grant date	Sep 23, 2025

Abstract

Monodirectional antennas may be arranged to radiate in a near omni-directional pattern. By incorporating switches into the antenna arrangement, the antennas can be controlled to selectively radiate from a common radiofrequency feed. These arrangements may be packaged in a housing, which may aid both in antenna performance and in antenna installation. According to another aspect of the disclosure, housings may include a plurality of antennas, and one or more procedures may be implemented to determine a codebook to radiate from the circular arrangement according to various beam constrains.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An antenna unit, comprising:
a plurality of slot antennas, each of the plurality of slot antennas arranged on a common plane around a common axis perpendicular to the common plane, to radiate in a unique directional pattern, away from the common axis, wherein the plurality of slot antennas are arranged in a circular manner on the common plane;
a housing, comprising a bottom surface and a side structure, wherein the housing houses the plurality of slot antennas, and wherein the housing defines a generally hollow space adjacent to a top or bottom surface of each of the plurality of slot antennas; and
one or more switches, configured to selectively connect one or more of the plurality of slot antennas to, or disconnect one or more of the plurality of slot antennas from, a common radiofrequency feed.

2. The antenna unit of claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of slot antennas are configured to radiate perpendicularly to the common axis.

3. The antenna unit of claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of slot antennas are each configured to radiate in a unidirectional pattern.

4. The antenna unit of claim 1 , wherein the housing further comprises a cover, wherein the plurality of slot antennas are configured to be mounted in the housing such that at least a portion of the side structure is between the plurality of slot antennas and the cover.

5. The antenna unit of claim 4 ,
wherein the housing comprises a plurality of walls, substantially perpendicular to the plurality of slot antennas, wherein each of the plurality of walls is mounted between two of the plurality of slot antennas.

6. The antenna unit of claim 1 ,
wherein the one or more switches comprise one or more transistors, configured to selectively connect one or more of the plurality of slot antennas to, or disconnect one or more of the plurality of slot antennas from, a common radiofrequency feed depending on a control signal.

7. The antenna unit of claim 1 ,
wherein the one or more switches comprise one or more phototransistors, configured to receive a light signal and to selectively connect one or more of the plurality of slot antennas to, or disconnect one or more of the plurality of slot antennas from, the common radiofrequency feed depending on the received light signal.

8. The antenna unit of claim 7 , further comprising:
a plurality of light emitting elements and a controller, wherein the plurality of light emitting elements are each configured to generate a light signal for one of the one or more phototransistors, and wherein the controller is configured to generate a control signal to control the one or more light emitting elements.

9. The antenna unit of claim 1 ,
wherein the plurality of slot antennas are configured to approximate an omni-directional radiation pattern, when each of the plurality of slot antennas are connected to the common radiofrequency feed.

10. A method of antenna direction control, comprising:
controlling one or more switches to selectively connect one or more of a plurality of slot antennas to, or disconnect one or more of the plurality of slot antennas from, a common radiofrequency feed, wherein each of the plurality of slot antennas are arranged on a common plane around a common axis perpendicular to the common plane, to radiate in a unique directional pattern, away from the common axis; and
wherein the plurality of slot antennas are arranged in a circular manner on the common plane, wherein the plurality of slot antennas are housed in a housing comprising a bottom surface and a side structure, wherein the housing defines a generally hollow space adjacent to a top or bottom surface of each of the plurality of slot antennas.

11. The method of antenna direction control of claim 10 , wherein the one or more switches are one or more transistors, further comprising:
selectively connecting one or more of the plurality of slot antennas to, or disconnecting one or more of the plurality of slot antennas from, a common radiofrequency feed using the one or more transistors, depending on a control signal.

12. The method of antenna direction control of claim 10 , wherein the one or more switches are one or more phototransistors, further comprising:
receiving one or more a light signals via the one or more phototransistors and selectively connecting one or more of the plurality of slot antennas to, or disconnecting one or more of the plurality of slot antennas from, the common radiofrequency feed depending on the received light signal using the one or more phototransistors.

13. The method of antenna direction control of claim 12 , further comprising:
generating a light signal for one of the one or more phototransistors using one or more light emitting elements.

Assignees

• Intel Corp

Inventors

• Suh Seong-Youp John
• Huusari Timo Sakari
• Yamada Shuhei
• Orhan Oner
• Camacho Perez Jose Rodrigo

Classifications

• H01Q1/1271

  for mounting on windscreens · CPC title

• H01Q1/325

  characterised by the location of the antenna on the vehicle · CPC title

• H01Q25/00

  Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns (arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern H01Q3/00) · CPC title

• H01Q21/20

  the units being spaced along or adjacent to a curvilinear path {(slotted waveguide arrays H01Q21/005; circularly or helically slotted waveguides H01Q21/0062)} · CPC title

• H01Q13/18

  the slot being backed by, or formed in boundary wall of, a resonant cavity (longitudinally slotted cylinder H01Q13/12 ){; Open cavity antennas} · CPC title