Phased array antenna

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9929472-B2
Application number	US-201314385360-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 6, 2013
Priority date	Mar 14, 2012
Publication date	Mar 27, 2018
Grant date	Mar 27, 2018

Abstract

An antenna element having a vertically stacked structure and a phased array antenna that includes a plurality of antenna elements sharing a common conductive ground plane are described. The phased array antenna also includes a common conductive shell electrically coupled to the common conductive ground plane and extending away there from to encompass the antenna elements. The common conductive shell and the common conductive ground plane together define a common cavity having a common aperture. The phased array antenna also includes a common dielectric superstrate layer disposed over the common cavity at a predetermined distance from the antenna elements and a beam steering system coupled to the antenna elements and configured for steering an energy beam produced by the phased array antenna.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A phased array antenna comprising:
a plurality of antenna elements sharing a common conductive ground plane for the plurality of antenna elements and spaced apart at a predetermined distance from each other;
a common conductive shell electrically coupled to said common conductive ground plane and extending away there from to encompass said plurality of the antenna elements, wherein said common conductive shell and said common conductive ground plane together define a common cavity having a common aperture;
a common dielectric superstrate layer disposed over said common cavity at a predetermined distance from said plurality of the antenna elements; and
a beam steering system coupled to said plurality of the antenna elements and configured for steering an energy beam produced by said phased array antenna,
wherein for deflection angles θ of the radiation beam varied in the range of 0 to 70 degrees a minimal height L g of a gap in the common cavity between said common superstrate layer and a top of said plurality of antenna elements is 0.45λ g , where λ g =λ 0 /√∈ g , ∈ g is the dielectric permittivity of the gap, and λ 0 is the wavelength corresponding to the central operation frequency of said phased array antenna.

2. The phased array antenna of claim 1 , wherein walls of said common conductive shell are perpendicular to said common conductive ground plane.

3. The phased array antenna of claim 1 , wherein walls of said common conductive shell are tilted with respect to said common conductive ground plane.

4. The phased array antenna of claim 1 , wherein said common dielectric superstrate layer is arranged at the common aperture of the common cavity.

5. The phased array antenna of claim 1 , wherein the height L g of the gap in the common cavity between said common superstrate layer and the top of said plurality of antenna elements has a predetermined value that complies with a relationship:

L
g

≈

{

λ
g

⁡

(

x
+

n
2

)

,

where
⁢

⁢
0.6

≤
x
≤
0.65

for
⁢

⁢
0
⁢
°

≤
θ
≤

15
⁢
°

λ
g

⁡

(

0.01
⁢

⁢
θ

+
0.327
+

0.6
⁢

⁢
n

)

,

for
⁢

⁢
15
⁢
°

<
θ
≤

45
⁢
°

y
⁢

⁢

λ
g

,

where
⁢

⁢
0.45

≤
y
≤
0.5

for
⁢

⁢
45
⁢
°

<
θ
≤

Assignees

• Israel Aerospace Ind Ltd
• Starovolski Ana

Inventors

• Rojanski Vladimir
• Starovolski Aharon

Classifications

• H01Q9/0414

  in a stacked or folded configuration · CPC title

• H01Q1/42 Primary

  Housings not intimately mechanically associated with radiating elements, e.g. radome · CPC title

• H01Q3/34

  by electrical means (active lenses or reflecting arrays H01Q3/46) · CPC title

• H01Q21/065

  Patch antenna array · CPC title

• H01Q13/10 Primary

  Resonant slot antennas · CPC title