Very compact TM01 mode extractor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9929471-B2
Application number	US-201315029838-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 21, 2013
Priority date	Oct 21, 2013
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

A mode extractor for extracting TM01 mode from an electromagnetic signal, including a first and second turnstile junction, each of the turnstile junctions having first port, four second ports of rectangular waveguide which are mutually orthogonal and orthogonal to first port and matching section provided at least partially in center region of respective turnstile junction, center region being located at intersection of first port and four second ports wherein first and second turnstile junction are arranged so that longitudinal axes of their first ports are aligned with each other and their first ports are facing in opposite directions, each of the second ports of first turnstile junction is electromagnetically coupled to corresponding one of second ports of second turnstile junction, and a coaxial coupling device is inserted into matching section of first turnstile junction so that a portion of coaxial coupling device extends into first port of first turnstile junction.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A mode extractor for extracting a TM01 mode from an electromagnetic signal, comprising a first turnstile junction and a second turnstile junction, each of the turnstile junctions having a first port, four second ports of rectangular waveguide which are mutually orthogonal and orthogonal to the first port, and a matching section provided at least partially in a center region of the respective turnstile junction, the center region being located at an intersection of the first port and the four second ports,
wherein the first turnstile junction and the second turnstile junction are arranged so that longitudinal axes of their first ports are aligned with each other and their first ports are facing in opposite directions,
each of the second ports of the first turnstile junction is electromagnetically coupled to a corresponding one of the second ports of the second turnstile junction, and
a coaxial coupling device is inserted into the matching section of the first turnstile junction so that a portion of the coaxial coupling device extends into the first port of the first turnstile junction.

2. The mode extractor according to claim 1 , wherein the rectangular waveguides of the second ports of the first and second turnstile junctions have a cross-section aspect ratio of less than 1:2.

3. The mode extractor according to claim 1 , wherein the rectangular waveguides of the second ports of the first and second turnstile junctions have a cross-section aspect ratio between (1:4−x/2) and (1:4+x/2), with x≤0.4.

4. The mode extractor according to claim 1 , wherein the second ports of the first turnstile junction are electromagnetically coupled to the corresponding second ports of the second turnstile junction by intermediate sections of rectangular waveguide that extend in parallel to the longitudinal axis of the first port of the first turnstile junction.

5. The mode extractor according to claim 4 , wherein each of the intermediate sections of rectangular waveguide has a first step portion at its one end and a second step portion at its other end, the first and second step portions each reducing a respective cross-section of the intermediate section of rectangular waveguide.

6. The mode extractor according to claim 1 , wherein the first port of the first turnstile junction has a constricted portion which surrounds the portion of the coaxial coupling device that extends into the first port of the first turnstile junction, and which has a smaller cross-section than the first port of the second turnstile junction.

7. The mode extractor according to claim 6 , wherein the first port of the first turnstile junction has a dilated portion which is located between the constricted portion and the center region of the first turnstile junction and which has a larger cross-section than the first port of the second turnstile junction.

8. The mode extractor according to claim 1 , wherein
the matching section of the first turnstile junction is symmetric about the longitudinal axis of the first port of the first turnstile junction,
the coaxial coupling device is inserted into the matching section of the first turnstile junction through a back wall of the first turnstile junction, which is located on a far side of the first turnstile junction from the first port of the first turnstile junction, and
the coaxial coupling device extends through the matching section of the first turnstile junction along a center line of the matching section into the first port of the first turnstile junction.

9. The mode extractor according to claim 8 , wherein
the matching section of the first turnstile junction comprises one or more matching parts which are concentric to each other, and each of which is a metallic cylinder, cuboid, or frustum,
the one or more matching parts are arranged so as to be symmetric about the longitudinal axis of the first port of the first turnstile junction, and at least one of the one or more matching parts protrudes into the first port of the first turnstile junction, and
the coaxial coupling device extends through the one or more matching parts along their center axes into the first port of the first turnstile junction.

10. The mode extractor according to claim 8 , wherein
the matching section of the first turnstile junction comprises first and second matching parts which are concentric to each other, and each of which is a metallic cylinder, cuboid, or frustum,
the first and second matching parts are arranged so as to be symmetric about the longitudinal axis of the first port of the first turnstile junction, and at least one of the first and second matching parts protrudes into the first port of the first turnstile junction, and
the coaxial coupling device extends through the first and second matching parts along their center axes into the first port of the first turnstile junction.

11. The mode extractor according to claim 8 , wherein the coaxial coupling device is coupled into a rectangular waveguide or to a coaxial cable arranged between the back wall of the first turnstile junction and a back wall of the second turnstile junction, the back wall of the second turnstile junction being located on a far side of the second turnstile junction from the first port of the second turnstile junction.

12. The mode extractor according to claim 1 , wherein the coaxial coupling device is a coupling stub or a pin of a coaxial line.

13. The mode extractor according to claim 1 , wherein the first ports of the first and second turnstile junctions are circular waveguides.

14. The mode extractor according to claim 13 , wherein the first matching part is a first metallic cylinder arranged on a back wall of the first turnstile junction, and the second matching part is a second metallic cylinder having a smaller diameter than the first metallic cylinder and being arranged on top of the first metallic cylinder.

15. An antenna assembly comprising a user-link feed chain, an antenna horn and the mode extractor according to claim 1 .

16. The antenna assembly according to claim 15 , wherein the mode extractor is arranged between the user-link feed chain and the antenna horn along a signal path.

Assignees

• ESA

Inventors

• Fonseca Nelson

Classifications

• H01P5/08

  for linking dissimilar lines or devices (H01P1/16, H01P5/04 take precedence; linking lines of the same kind but with different dimensions H01P5/02) · CPC title

• G01S7/4026 Primary

  Antenna boresight · CPC title

• H01P5/19

  of the junction type · CPC title

• H01P1/16

  for mode selection, e.g. mode suppression or mode promotion; for mode conversion · CPC title

• H01P5/103

  Hollow-waveguide/coaxial-line transitions · CPC title