Thales

Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique

Alcatel

Université De Rennes 1

Institut National Des Sciences Appliquees De Rennes

Centre National Detudes Spatiales

Centralesupelec

Université De Rennes

Nantes Université

Institut National Des Sciences Appliques

Insa De Rennes

Alcatel Lucent

Institut National Des Sciences Appliquees

Hervé Legay

Jean-Philippe Fraysse

Etienne Girard

Ronan Sauleau

Ségolène Tubau

Mauro Ettorre

Gérard Caille

Frederic Croq

Renaud Chiniard

Daniele Bresciani

Thierry Rostan

Maria Garcia Vigueras

Nelson Fonseca

Raphael Gillard

Raphaël Gillard

Béatrice Salome

Eric Labiole

Michel Pauchet

Adrien Cottin

Pierre Bosshard

Jean-Didier Gayrard

Bernard Jecko

Patrick Dumon

Afshin Ziaei

Marc Thevenot

Michel Gomez-Henry

Thierry Dusseux

Claude Drevon

Robert Staraj

Thierry Monediere

Régis Chantalat

Marie-Laure Boucheret

Alexandre Laisne

Ludovic Leger

Friedman Tchoffo Talom

Thierry Dean

Ronan Moulinet

Léonin Lassauce

Charalampos Stoumpos

Bertrand Boin

Florian Vidal

Juan Duran Venegas

Jean-Marc Carrere

Georges Kossiavas

Antoine Calleau

Emmanuelle Husse

Thierry Pierre

Béatrice Pinte

David Cadoret

Carlos Molero Jimenez

George Goussetis

Wenxing Tang

François Doucet

Shoaib Muhammad

Patrick Pottier

Patrick Potier

Hassan Salti

Tony Makdissy

Erwan Fourn

Guillaume Fondi De Niort

David Nevo

Philippe Monfraix

Danièle Bresciani

Michel Soudet

Yoann Jacquet

Guillaume Lathiere

Michel Charrier

Cecile Guiraud

Daniel Bresciani

Chloé Schaffauser

Barbara Bonnet

Frédéric Croq

A device for controlling radiofrequency beams of a given polarization, the device includes a set of at least one cell, comprising a support frame and at least one interconnection internal to the frame. The frame is inscribed within a prism, having a given axis Z' andfaces connected to one another byedges oriented along the axis Z′. The frame comprisescorner elements, each having a rim coincident with an edge and being arranged such that the frame has, on each face, a slot (440-) extending along the axis Z′. The interconnectioncomprises inductive rods, each comprising two ends of which a first end is connected to a rim, the second ends being connected to one another at a connection point positioned in the centre of the frame in a plane orthogonal to the axis Z′. Each cell is configured to carry out polarization-invariant transmission and/or reflection of beams.

Device for controlling RF electromagnetic beams according to their frequency band, and manufacturing method

An active-array multi-beam antenna includes radiating elements and a hybrid device for forming directive beams. The hybrid device comprises an analogue stage divided into a plurality of analogue beam-forming networks forming like regional beams, and a digital stage suitable for forming the directive beams from the regional beams. A first sub-array is associated with first radiating elements. A second sub-array is associated with second radiating elements. The second sub-array has the same dimensions as the first sub-array. The second sub-array partially overlaps the first sub-array.

Active-array multi-beam antenna comprising a hybrid device for forming directive beams

A quasi-optical beam former includes a set of beam ports, a set of network ports, a quasi-optical device and at least one parallel-plate waveguide extending between the beam ports and the network ports, the beam ports and/or the network ports being superposed in at least two stages, each of the at least two stages being separated by a conductive plane common to two adjacent stages, the quasi-optical beam former comprising a resistive film placed in the continuity of the conductive plane.

Quasi-optical beam former with superposed parallel-plate waveguide

A multibeam analogue former of several two-dimensional radiofrequency beams of continuously variable sizes and/or aiming directions for a reconfigurable two-dimensional active array antenna, includes a first set of analogue multibeam formers of fixed one-dimensional beams, of identical structure, superposed and connected at the output to rows of elementary radiating feeds of a planar antenna array in a first axial direction X. The analogue multibeam former comprises a second set of second one-dimensional analogue formers of radiofrequency beams that are continuously variable in size and/or in aiming direction in second angular aiming directions By along a second axial direction Y. Each second analogue former is formed by a divider with a single input and R output branches in transmission mode, each output branch of the divider including an amplitude and phase control point. Each second analogue former of the second set is connected to at least one access column of the first set of first analogue formers, an access column being formed by R access terminals to the input channels of the same rank j of the first analogue formers.

Two-dimensional analogue multibeam former of reduced complexity for reconfigurable active array antennas

A radiating element includes at least two feeding guides and one horn common to at least two feeding guides and having an excitation interface, each feeding guide comprising a port guide and an excitation guide connected to the port guide by a port interface and connected to the common horn by the excitation interface, each excitation guide being flared in the direction from the port interface to the excitation interface, each excitation guide not having an axis of symmetry, the two feeding guides being disposed symmetrically relative to one another.

Multiple-port radiating element

A circularly polarized radiating element includes at least one excitation aperture for a wave that is linearly polarized with what is referred to as an excitation first polarization, a frequency selective surface and a metasurface comprising a two-dimensional and periodic array of metasurface cells, the excitation aperture opening onto the metasurface, the metasurface cells all being oriented identically with respect to the excitation polarization and configured to: reflect an incident wave having the excitation polarization in order to form a reflected wave polarized with the excitation polarization, and depolarize and reflect the incident wave in order to form a reflected wave polarized with the orthogonal polarization, having a phase difference substantially equal to &#xb1;90&#xb0; with respect to the reflected wave polarized with the excitation polarization, and having an amplitude substantially equal to the amplitude of a wave radiated by the frequency selective surface, generated from the reflected wave polarized with the excitation polarization.

Circularly polarised radiating element making use of a resonance in a Fabry-Perot cavity

A polarizing screen includes an arrangement of at least one, electrically conductive, polarizing cell, which at least one cell is frequency- and polarization-selective, for transforming the polarization of the electric component E of the transverse electromagnetic (TEM) wave, received with linear polarization, into an electromagnetic wave with circular polarization. The four lateral walls of each section of waveguide forming a polarizing cell are each open over their entire length due to a median continuous slot, parallel to the direction of propagation of the incident electromagnetic wave, so as to form four angled electrically conductive plates. Each polarizing cell includes electrically conductive interconnection rods which interconnect the lateral walls and the four angled plates so that they are partially or completely rigidly connected and which form one or more electrical discontinuities, which are arranged at the ends of or inside the section of waveguide forming the polarizing cell and form one or more inductive or capacitive loads, or one or more (LC) resonators equivalent to an inductor and a capacitor connected in parallel or in series. The longitudinally open slots of the lateral walls and the elementary electrical discontinuities of each polarizing cell include geometric shapes and dimensions which provide total transmission of the incident wave, which is associated with a phase anisotropy of +90&#xb0; or &#x2212;90&#xb0; according to the components Eand E.

Broadband polarizing screen with one or more radiofrequency polarizing cells

A compact bipolarization is provided power dividers for a radiofrequency power source. The divider according to the invention includes four identical orthomode transducers, eight identical waveguides, each waveguide comprising two bends, four identical T-shaped junctions, four identical twists and two power distributors; the four orthomode transducers being of parallelepipedal shape with a square base, each transducer comprising, on each of two adjacent lateral faces, a waveguide connected to the lower face of the transducer; the four transducers being positioned so as to form a square, each transducer being connected to two junctions that are perpendicular to one another, the set of four junctions forming a Greek cross; each pair of junctions that are situated in one and the same plane being connected, by way of two twists, to the two outputs of a power distributor comprising a single input.

Power divider for an antenna comprising four identical orthomode transducers

A polarizing reflector for broadband antennas includes a flat dielectric substrate, a patch array layer formed by a bi-dimensionally periodic lattice of thin metallic patches along first and second perpendicular directions x, y, and a ground layer. All the patches have a same shape elongated along the second direction y and form electric dipoles when electrically excited along the second direction y. For each row the patches of the said row are interconnected by an elongated metallic strip oriented along the first direction x and having a width c. The geometry of the patch array, the thickness h and the dielectric permittivity &#x3b5;of the substrate, and the width c of the elongated metallic strips are tuned so that the patch array including the elongated metallic strips induces a fundamental aperture mode and a complementary fundamental dipolar mode along two orthogonal TE and TM polarizations within a single operating frequency band or two separate operating frequency bands, and the differential phase between the two fundamental modes over the single or the first and second frequency bands being equal to +90&#xb0; or to an odd integer multiple of &#xb1;90&#xb0;. The polarizing reflector can comprise also a curved substrate and a patch array layer formed by a bi-dimensionally lattice of metallic patches along first curvilinear rows and second curvilinear columns.

Polarizing reflector for multiple beam antennas

A quasi-optical beamformer includes a power distributor composed of a succession of parallel-plate dividers extending in a YZ-plane from a first stage to a last stage, each parallel-plate divider comprising, in each of the stages of the corporate structure located under a higher stage, first and second parallel-plate waveguide branches leading to respective parallel-plate dividers of the following stage of the corporate structure, the beamformer furthermore including a plurality of lenses extending longitudinally along the X-axis in at least one stage of the power distributor, so as to apply a delay that is continuously variable along the X-axis, the lenses being placed in each of the branches of the dividers of at least one stage in the power distributor.

Antenna integrating delay lenses in the interior of a distributor based on parallel-plate waveguide dividers

An excitation assembly comprises a symmetrical OMT and two splitters respectively connected to two pathways of the OMT. The OMT comprises a cross junction comprising a central waveguide parallel to an axis Z and four lateral ports oriented in two directions X, Y, the first splitter consisting of an input waveguide and of two output ports coupled to two lateral ports, oriented in the direction X, by respective connection waveguides. The first splitter is located on a lateral side of the OMT, orthogonally to the direction X, and its two output ports are formed one above the other in a lateral wall of the input waveguide, the upper output port being placed facing a first lateral port of the OMT to which it is connected by the first connection waveguide. The difference in electrical length between the two connection waveguides is equal to &#x3bb;/2.

Compact bipolarization excitation assembly for a radiating antenna element and compact array comprising at least four compact excitation assemblies

An antenna architecture comprises a hybrid beamformer comprising on the one hand, Ny stacked quasi-optical beamformers, each quasi-optical beamformer comprising a parallel-plate waveguide furnished with a linear radiating aperture and integrating a lens and internal horns furnished with beam access ports, each quasi-optical beamformer forming beams in two, transmission and reception, frequency bands, in a first direction in space, and on the other hand, at least one electronic beamformer comprising a combining device linked to Nx phase and amplitude control chains, each phase and amplitude control chain being connected to a respective beam access port of each quasi-optical beamformer, the electronic beamformer forming beams in a second direction in space, orthogonal to the first direction.

Active antenna architecture with reconfigurable hybrid beamforming

A beamformer comprises a transmission line fed by at least one input feed source, the transmission line comprising two stacked metal plates extending, along two directions, longitudinal X and transverse Y. The transmission line further comprises at least one protuberance extending in the directions X, Y, and in a direction Z orthogonal to the plane XY, the protuberance comprising a metal insert extending in the directions X and Y and extending height-wise in the direction Z, the insert comprising a base fastened to one of the two metal plates and a free end and having a contour of variable length between the two lateral edges of the transmission line. In the protuberance, the transmission line is adjoining the insert and forms, in the direction Z, a circumvolution around the insert.

Quasi-optical beamformer with lens and plane antenna comprising such a beamformer

A compact Butler matrix consists a planar multilayer structure comprising N parallel metal plate waveguides PPW, stacked one on top of the other, two adjacent waveguides PPW comprising a common wall consisting of one of the metal plates. The couplers, the phase-shifters and the crossover devices of the Butler matrix consist of metasurfaces incorporated in the metal plates. The planar two-dimensional beam-former can comprise a Butler matrix with waveguides PPW associated with optical lenses incorporated in each waveguide PPW. Alternatively, the planar two-dimensional beam-former can comprise an upper stage consisting of a Butler matrix with waveguides PPW, and a lower stage comprising waveguides PPW equipped with incorporated reflectors, the two stages being connected in series.

Compact butler matrix, planar two-dimensional beam-former and planar antenna comprising such a butler matrix

A radiating element is provided, for example for array antenna, having stacked resonant cavities of P&#xe9;rot-Fabry type, of compact structure, a lower cavity being fed by excitation means, the radiating element being characterized in that corrugations are formed substantially below a first earth plane delimiting in its lower part the upper resonant cavity. A radiating element structure of improved compactness is also proposed, whose upper cavity is surmounted by a polarizing radome.

Compact radiating element having resonant cavities

Growing community of inventors

Plaisance du Touch, France

Hervé Legay