Viasat, Inc.

Joseph J Luna

Peter S Wyckoff

Luis Astorga

Thomas Stutting

Steven James Franson

Ashitkumar J Tripathi

Jaymin Patel

Chi Wang Shum

One example includes a phased-array antenna system (). The system includes antenna elements () each including an element adjustment circuit () and a radiating element (). A beamforming network () receives a carrier signal and generates element carrier signals. A baseband DSP () generates a plurality of composite beamforming data signals associated with a respective one of the antenna elements () and is generated based on combining individual beamforming data signals. Each of the individual beamforming data signals is associated with a respective beam and is based on combining a data signal associated with the respective beam with an antenna weight associated with the respective beam and the respective one of the antenna elements (). The element adjustment circuit () modulates the associated composite beamforming data signal onto the respective element carrier signal to generate a respective element signal that is provided to the respective radiating element (), such that the beams are generated from the antenna elements ().

Multi-beam antenna system with a baseband digital signal processor

An antenna array may include shielding elements that provide a degree of radiation shielding to other components of the antenna array, such as a substrate of the antenna array. In some examples, the shielding elements may be positioned to overlap with one or more gaps between antenna elements, or one or more gaps between ground elements (e.g., when viewed from a radiation source, when viewed in a direction perpendicular to a substrate). Thus, shielding elements of an antenna array may reflect, absorb, or otherwise dissipate radiation that passes through such gaps before the radiation is incident on the other components of the antenna array, such as the substrate of the antenna array.

Antenna array radiation shielding

One example includes a phased array antenna system. The system includes a beamforming network to receive a beam signal to generate a plurality of element signals, each being provided to a respective one of a plurality of antenna elements. The system also includes a plurality of modulation controllers, each associated with a respective one of the plurality of antenna elements. Each of the modulation controllers can generate a beam code in response to a beamforming signal and a data code in response to a data signal. The system further includes a plurality of element adjustment circuits, each associated with a respective one of the plurality of antenna elements. Each of the plurality of element adjustment circuits can modulate the beam code and the data code onto a respective one of the plurality of element signals to generate a respective adjusted element signal that is provided to a respective radiating element.

Antenna system with a beamforming data modulator

Disclosed is an antenna apparatus including a radiating layer with a plurality of antenna elements forming an antenna array; a semiconductor wafer including multiple tiles each having beamforming circuits; and a multi-layer interposer. The multi-layer interposer may include: a lower dielectric layer adjacent to the substrate; an upper dielectric layer adjacent to the radiating layer; a metal layer between the lower and upper layers and including a plurality of conductive traces; a plurality of first vias extending through both the upper and lower layers and electrically coupling the beamforming circuits to the plurality of antenna elements; and a plurality of second vias extending between the beamforming circuits and the conductive traces to interconnect the tiles.

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Gilbert, AZ, United States of America

Joseph J Luna