Antenna assemblies

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9972886-B2
Application number	US-201415124996-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2014
Priority date	Mar 26, 2014
Publication date	May 15, 2018
Grant date	May 15, 2018

Abstract

According to various aspects, exemplary embodiments are disclosed of antenna assemblies. In an exemplary embodiment, an antenna assembly generally includes a feed network and a ground plane. Radiating dipoles or dipole radiating elements are along or on opposite sides of the feed network and the ground plane. The radiating dipoles or dipole radiating elements may be operable simultaneously and may co-locate radio frequency currents for a first frequency band and a second frequency band.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An antenna assembly comprising:
a first radiating board including one or more dipole radiating elements;
a second radiating board including one or more dipole radiating elements;
a network board between the first and second radiating boards such that the first and second radiating boards are respectively spaced apart from upper and lower surfaces of the network board and/or are parallel to the network board, the network board including a feed network and a ground plane; and
one or more interconnect boards operable for providing an electrical connection between the feed network and the dipole radiating elements of the first and second radiating boards;
whereby the dipole radiating elements are operable simultaneously and co-locate radio frequency currents for a first frequency band and a second frequency band.

2. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein each said dipole radiating element is simultaneously operable for the first and second frequency bands, whereby radio frequency currents for the first frequency band and radio frequency currents for the second frequency band are co-located on each said dipole radiating element.

3. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more dipole radiating elements of the first radiating board comprise a first plurality of dipole radiating elements along the first radiating board; and
the one or more dipole radiating elements of the second radiating board comprise a second plurality of dipole radiating elements along the second radiating board; and
the one or more interconnect boards comprise a plurality of interconnect boards, each said interconnect board operable for providing an electrical connection between the feed network and a corresponding pair of the dipole radiating elements of the first and second radiating boards, whereby each said pair of the dipole radiating elements is electrically connected with the feed network by the corresponding interconnect board.

4. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a radome having a cylindrical shape, a radome cap coupled to a first end of the radome, and a connector at a second end of the radome and configured for connection with a coaxial cable, wherein the network board, first and second radiating boards, and interconnect boards are positioned within and enclosed in an internal space defined by the radome, the radome cap, and the connector.

5. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more dipole radiating elements of the first radiating board comprise four dipole radiating elements along the first radiating board; and
the one or more dipole radiating elements of the second radiating board comprise four dipole radiating elements along the second radiating board;
whereby each said dipole radiating element is operable as a single dipole element for the first frequency band and as two dipole elements for the second frequency band, and/or whereby the dipole radiating elements are operable as a four dipole 2.4 GHz array co-located with an eight dipole 5 GHz array with both arrays using the same radiating elements.

6. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein the antenna assembly is omnidirectional in the horizon for the first frequency band from about 2.4 GHz to about 2.5 GHz and the second frequency band from about 5.15 GHz to about 5.9 GHz.

7. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the one or more dipole radiating elements of the first radiating board comprise four dual band dipole radiating elements along the first radiating board; and
the one or more dipole radiating elements of the second radiating board comprise four dual band dipole radiating elements along the second radiating board;
whereby the dipole radiating elements are operable as a four dipole 2.4 GHz array co-located with a four dipole 5 GHz array with both arrays using the same radiating elements.

8. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the network board, the first and second radiating boards, and the interconnect boards are within a radome;
the network board is operable as a reflector for the antenna assembly; and
the one or more interconnect boards are operable as a balun.

9. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein each said dipole radiating element includes:
a first portion having one or more dipole slots; and
a second portion having one or more dipole slots and separated from the first portion by a spaced distance; and
each said dipole radiating element is configured such that there are currents that flow in a same direction along each of the first and second portions for the first and second frequency bands and such that there are also slot currents that flow around the one or more dipole slots for the second frequency band.

10. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein the feed network is configured to be symmetric with a feed point centered relative to the one or more interconnect boards, whereby the symmetric feed results in same phase currents at each corresponding pair of the dipole radiating elements of the first and second radiating boards.

11. The antenna assembly of claim 1 , wherein:
the feed network comprises one or more microstrip lines along a first side of the network board;
the ground plane comprises an electrically-conductive laminate along a second side of the network board;
the network board, the first and second radiating boards, and the interconnect boards are within an internal space defined by a radome having a cylindrical shape, a radome cap coupled to a first end of the radome, and a connector at a second end of the radome and configured for connection with a coaxial cable; and
the antenna assembly further comprises a collar that provides a mechanical coupling between the connector and the radome, a sleeve coupled to the second end of the radome between the collar and the radome, a pad positioned on an end portion of the network board to help stabilize and hold the network board in place within the radome and/or inhibit vibrations, and choke that couples the connector to the network board and increases bandwidth of the antenna assembly.

12. An antenna assembly comprising:
a feed network;
a ground plane;
an array of radiating dipoles including:
a first plurality of radiating dipoles; and
a second plurality of radiating dipoles spaced apart from the first plurality of radiating dipoles;

wherein the feed network and the ground plane are between the first and second pluralities of radiating dipoles such that the first and second plurality of radiating dipoles are respectively spaced apart from upper and lower sides of the ground plane and are parallel to the ground plane;
whereby the radiating dipoles are operable simultaneously and co-locate radio frequency currents for a first frequency band and a second frequency band.

13. The antenna assembly of claim 12 , wherein each said radiating dipole is simultaneously operable for the first and second frequency bands, whereby radio frequency currents for the first frequency band and radio frequency currents for the second frequency band are co-located on each said radiating dipole.

14. The antenna assembly of claim 12 , further comprising:
a first radiating board including the first plurality of radiating dipoles;
a second radiating board including the second plurality of radiating dipoles;
a network board between the first and second radiating boards such that the first and second radiating boards are respectively spaced apart from upper and lower surfaces of the network board and/or are parallel to the network board, the network board including the feed network and the ground plane;
a plurality of interc

Assignees

• Laird Technologies Inc

Inventors

• Petropoulos Athanasios

Classifications

• H01Q1/523

  between antennas of an array · CPC title

• H01Q1/48

  Earthing means; Earth screens; Counterpoises · CPC title

• H01Q5/30

  Arrangements for providing operation on different wavebands · CPC title

• H01Q21/00

  Antenna arrays or systems (arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system H01Q3/00) · CPC title

• H01Q1/42

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