Radome having localized areas of reduced radio signal attenuation

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017201017-A1
Application number	US-201715468808-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Mar 24, 2017
Priority date	Nov 11, 2013
Publication date	Jul 13, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

A radome having localized areas of reduced radio signal attenuation includes a body having a first portion and a second portion. The first portion has a reduced radio signal attenuation property in a transmit band and a second portion has a reduced radio signal attenuation property in a reception band.

First claim

1 . A radome for an aircraft, the radome comprising:
a shell having a main body portion, the shell being adapted to form an enclosure when mounted on an aircraft, the enclosure being sized and shaped to house a first radio antenna, wherein the main body portion includes a first portion that has a reduced radio signal attenuation property for a radio signal having a first frequency and a second portion that has a reduced radio signal attenuation property for a radio signal having a second frequency, the radio signal first frequency and the radio signal second frequency being in different frequency bands.

2 . The radome of claim 1 , wherein the first frequency is in one of a Ka frequency band and a Ku frequency band.

3 . The radome of claim 1 , wherein the second frequency is in one of a Ka frequency band and a Ku frequency band.

4 . The radome of claim 1 , further comprising the first radio antenna, which is a mechanically steered phased array antenna, the first radio antenna being located proximate the first portion.

5 . The radome of claim 1 , wherein a radio transmit signal transmitted through the second portion is attenuated at least 2 dB more than the same signal when transmitted through the first portion.

6 . The radome of claim 1 , wherein the first portion is mechanically stronger than the second portion.

7 . The radome of claim 1 , wherein the first portion is formed from one of an A-sandwich, a C-sandwich, a laminate, and a half-wave structure.

8 . The radome of claim 1 , wherein the second portion is formed from one of an A-sandwich, a C-sandwich, a laminate, and a half-wave structure.

9 . The radome of claim 1 , wherein the second portion and the first portion are joined by a cross bridge.

10 . The radome of claim 9 , wherein the cross bridge is formed from one of an A-sandwich, a C-sandwich, a laminate, and a half-wave structure.

11 . The radome of claim 10 , further comprising a plurality of support posts extending from the cross bridge.

12 . The radome of claim 1 , further comprising a skirt portion extending from the first portion.

13 . The radome of claim 12 , wherein the skirt portion is joined to the first portion with an edgeband.

14 . An aircraft having a radome with a localized area of reduced radio signal attenuation, the aircraft comprising:
a fuselage having a first end and a second end; a pair of wings attached to the fuselage, and a radome attached to the fuselage, the radome including;
a shell having a main body portion, the shell forming an enclosure when attached to the fuselage, the enclosure being sized and shaped to house a radio antenna,
wherein the main body portion includes a first portion having a reduced radio signal attenuation property for a radio signal having a first frequency and a second portion that has a reduced radio signal attenuation property for a radio signal having a second frequency, the radio signal first frequency and the radio signal second frequency being in different frequency bands.

15 . The aircraft of claim 14 , further comprising a second radio antenna in the enclosure, the first radio antenna being located proximate the first portion and the second radio antenna being located proximate the second portion.

16 . The aircraft of claim 15 , wherein the first radio antenna and the second radio antenna are mechanically steered phased array antennas.

17 . The aircraft of claim 14 , wherein the shell is attached to one of a dorsal portion of an aircraft and a ventral portion of an aircraft.

18 . The radome of claim 14 , wherein a radio transmit signal transmitted through the second portion is attenuated at least 2 dB more than the same signal when transmitted through the first portion.

19 . The radome of claim 14 , wherein a radio signal received through the first portion is attenuated at least 2 dB more than the same signal when received through the second portion.

20 . The radome of claim 14 , wherein the first frequency is in one of a Ka frequency band and a Ku frequency band, and the second frequency is in the other of the Ka frequency band and the Ku frequency band.

Assignees

• Gogo Llc

Inventors

• Cordone Sean Scott

Classifications

• H01Q15/0013

  said selective devices working as frequency-selective reflecting surfaces, e.g. FSS, dichroic plates, surfaces being partly transmissive and reflective · CPC title

• H01Q1/421

  Means for correcting aberrations introduced by a radome · CPC title

• H01Q1/282

  Modifying the aerodynamic properties of the vehicle, e.g. projecting type aerials · CPC title

• H01Q1/425

  comprising a metallic grid · CPC title

• H01Q5/30

  Arrangements for providing operation on different wavebands · CPC title