Raytheon Company

Matthew Fassett

John F Toth

Russell W Hansen

Joseph S Pleva

Jerome Howard Pozgay

Daniel T McGrath

James L Lampen

William F Miccioli

Norbert Sa

Allen L Hieber

Pietro Ventresca

James B Conant

Lawrence R Lewis

Kuang-Yu Wu

Michael L Lewis

James C McRae

Edward G Churchwell

Quirino Balzano

Seymour B Pizette

Wu Kuang-Yu

A system for steering a beam includes a main reflector that receives a signal from a subreflector and reflects the signal in a reflection direction. A prism refracts the signal in a refraction direction. One or more motors adjust a relative orientation between the main reflector and the prism to change a relative orientation between the reflection direction and the refraction direction to steer a beam resulting from the signal.

Rotating screen dual reflector antenna

An antenna is described including a dielectric substrate having a first and second surface and a first sheet of conductive material disposed on the first surface of the first dielectric substrate, the first sheet of conductive material having a plurality of apertures. The antenna further includes a plurality of patch radiator elements disposed adjacent the second surface of the dielectric substrate, each one of the plurality of patch radiator elements disposed diametrically opposed a corresponding one of the plurality of apertures. With such an arrangement, an antenna is provided having broader bandwidth but less feedline radiation.

Patch coupled aperature array antenna

A radar antenna is shown in a first embodiment to have a ground plane and a feed line on opposite sides of a dielectric sheet and a ring-shaped antenna element on another dielectric sheet to form a microstrip assembly wherein such antenna element is capacitively coupled to the feed line. In a second embodiment the radar antenna has a parasitic antenna element on still another dielectric sheet, such parasitic antenna element being in register with the ring-shaped antenna element.

Microstrip antenna with circular ring

A space fed antenna with a folded path to reduce the distance between a phased array and the focal point of such array is shown to be made up of: (a) a first plurality of vertically polarized antenna elements incorporated in the phased array; (b) a second plurality of cross-polarized antenna elements disposed to form a polarization-twisting screen at a distance from the first plurality of vertically polarized antenna elements equal to one-third the focal length of such elements; and (c) a third plurality of latching circulators connected between selected pairs of cross-polarized antenna elements in the polarization-twisting screen so that such pairs also may function as a feed array for the space fed antenna.

Blockage-free space fed antenna

An amplifier using a plurality of solid state diodes as the active elements is shown to comprise a plurality of amplifier channels fed, through a first radial line, by signals to be amplified and connected, through a second radial line, to a load.

Solid state diode amplifier

A radio frequency antenna adapted to provide independently specifiable sum, azimuth, and elevation antenna patterns is disclosed. The antenna includes a plurality of rows of antenna elements each having a corresponding feed network. Each feed network has three row feed ports and couples energy between such feed ports and the corresponding row of antenna elements with independent amplitude and phase distributions. A second feed network couples energy between sum, azimuth, and elevation ports of the antenna and the three row feed ports of the feed networks with independent amplitudes and phase distribution to provide independent sum, azimuth, and elevation antenna patterns.

Monopulse antenna system with independently specifiable patterns

An octave band phase shifter/polarization switch is disclosed which is comprised of a plurality of serially coupled phase bits arranged to provide, in combination, a four bit phase shifter and a polarization switch capable of providing any selected one of six separate polarization senses. The device is fabricated in a stripline package and each of the phase bits is comprised of a hybrid coupler whose output ports are terminated in switchable reactances. Either packaged microwave P-I-N or N-I-P diodes are utilized as the switchable reactances, and bias voltage for the diodes is provided by means of an octave band choke, comprising a dielectrically loaded coil disposed within a center dielectric layer of the stripline package.

Phase shifter and polarization switch

An improved directional antenna for use in an airborne vehicle is shown. The contemplated antenna includes a planar phased array of antenna elements mechanically rotatable about an, axis of rotation, the plane of such array making an acute angle with such axis. The beam from such array may be electronically scanned, within wide limits, regardless of the orientation of the phased array. Also shown is an improved constrained centerfeed for the antenna elements in each row thereof in such array, the disclosed feed incorporating a double ladder arrangement, including wideband couplers, to permit the extensive use of stripline and at the same time to allow practically independent adjustment of azimuth and elevation difference patterns when the phased array is used as an element in a monopulse system. Also shown is an improved hybrid junction for the stripline circuits used in the disclosed antenna system, such hybrid junction being adapted to couple radio frequency energy between two stripline circuits disposed in a top and bottom relationship. Such stripline circuits share a common ground conductor having a circular opening formed therethrough for coupling radio frequency energy between the circuits. The top and bottom stripline circuits have a pair of orthogonally disposed center conductors which couple to the circular opening in the common ground conductor. The top and bottom center conductors are disposed to form an angle of 45 degrees with respect to each other.

Stripline four port hybrid junction

An improved directional antenna for use in an airborne vehicle is shown. The contemplated antenna includes a planar phased array of antenna elements mechanically rotatable about an axis of rotation, the plane of such array making an acute angle with such axis. The beam from such array may be electronically scanned, within wide limits, regardless of the orientation of the phased array. Also shown is an improved constrained centerfeed for the antenna elements in each row thereof in such array, the disclosed feed incorporating a double ladder arrangement, including wideband couplers, to permit the extensive use of stripline and at the same time to allow practically independent adjustment of azimuth and elevation difference patterns when the phased array is used as an element in a monopulse system. Also shown is an improved load for the stripline used in the disclosed antenna, such load being mounted on one ground plane to permit air cooling, with the coupling between the stripline and such load being determined by the orientation, with respect to the center conductor of the stripline, of a coupling slot through the ground plane.

Stripline load for airborne antenna system

A radio frequency switch adapted for operation with radio frequency signals having frequencies above 1,000 MHz is disclosed wherein a pair of strip conductors is disposed in a dielectric between a pair of ground planes, one of such strip conductors being separated from and rotatable with respect to the other one of such strip conductors. The pair of strip conductors is dimensioned to overlap when engaged to effectuate a TEM mode coupling between pairs of ports thereof. Detent means are included to provide an indication when the pair of strip conductors is properly engaged.

Radio frequency switch

An improved directional antenna for use in an airborne vehicle is shown. The contemplated antenna includes a planar phased array of antenna elements mechanically rotatable about an axis of rotation, the plane of such array making an acute angle with such axis. The beam from such array may be electronically scanned, within wide limits, regardless of the orientation of the phased array. Also shown is an improved constrained centerfeed for the antenna elements in each row thereof in such array, the disclosed feed incorporating a double ladder arrangement, including wideband couplers, to permit the extensive use of stripline and at the same time to allow practically independent adjustment of azimuth and elevation difference patterns when the phased array is used as an element in a monopulse system.

Airborne multi-mode radiating and receiving system

A cylindrical array antenna is disclosed wherein rows of antenna elements disposed about the periphery of the antenna each include a feed network coupled to a monopulse arithmetic unit through a radial line power divider and a hemispherical sector selector switching network. Monopulse 'sum' and circumferential 'difference' patterns are obtained by dividing a selected hemispherical sector into four adjacent antenna aperture segments. The antenna elements associated with alternate antenna aperture segments are coupled to the arithmetic unit in like polarity and the antenna elements associated with adjacent antenna aperture segments are coupled to such arithmetic unit in opposite polarity. With such arrangement cross-polarization or 'null filling' effects associated with the cylindrical array antenna are reduced.

Growing community of inventors

Billerica, MA, United States of America

Matthew Fassett