L-3 Communications Corporation

Jonathan C Landon

Brandon Gregory Walsh

Johnny M Harris

Zachary C Bagley

Osama Sami Haddadin

Rory Kim Sorensen

Michael C Hollenbeck

A transmitter or receiver can include a phased array antenna system in which multiple characteristics of a transmitted or received beam can be controlled electronically. For example, in embodiments that include a transmitter, dual outputs of N signal modifiers can be connected to orthogonal inputs of N dual-orthogonally polarized antenna elements. Each signal modifier can modify the amplitude and phase of a communications signal in two parallel signal paths to produce two signal components each of which is an amplitude-modified/phase-shifted version of the communication signal. Multiple characteristics of the combined beam can be simultaneously controlled by setting the amplitude and/or phase-shift parameter values in the dual signal paths in the signal modifiers to combined values that individually affect each of the multiple characteristics of the combined beam.

Electronically controlled polarization and beam steering

An antenna system can impart orbital angular momentum (OAM) to an incident electromagnetic (EM) signal from a feed antenna. The antenna system can include a partial OAM antenna with a reflective surface that has only part of a full OAM shaped surface. The antenna system can thus reflect the incident EM signal as a partial OAM beam rather than a full OAM beam.

Antenna for transmitting partial orbital angular momentum beams

Electromagnetic (EM) feeds can illuminate a standard primary reflective antenna with a plurality of feed beams each having a different orbital angular momentum (OAM) or polarization. The reflective antenna, which can be a non-OAM antenna, can reflect the feed beams and thereby produce a composite OAM transmission comprising each of the feed beams. A non-OAM primary antenna can thus transmit a plurality of OAM feed beams as a composite OAM transmission.

Providing a non-zero orbital angular momentum feed beam to a reflective antenna

A transmit antenna or antennas can be configured to transmit a composite orbital angular momentum (OAM) radio frequency (RF) beam comprising a plurality of individual OAM RF signals each having a different OAM mode. An array of antennas for receiving and resolving the composite OAM beam into the individual OAM signals can be located entirely within a relatively small sector of a far field pattern of the composite OAM beam. A processing module connected to the antennas of the receive array can resolve the composite OAM beam into its individual OAM signals using angular resolution. The transmit antenna can transmit the individual OAM signals&#x2014;and thus the composite OAM beam&#x2014;as full OAM signals or partial-beam OAM signals.

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Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America

Jonathan C Landon