Arc Wireless Solutions, Inc.

Ball Corporation

Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.

Other

Steven C Olson

Jeffrey A Godard

Todd A Pett

Chad E Dewey

Michel W Schnetzer

Ajay I Sreenivas

Michael W McRae

Travis Lee Newton

Craig S Leahy

David John Drew

Jeffrey David Goodwin

Kerry R Stewart

An adjustable antenna baffling system includes a mounting plate for antenna radiating elements, baffles, connecting links that connect the baffles to the mounting plate, limit brackets that limit movement of the connecting links, an actuator and a housing. Pushing or pulling a handle on the actuator rotates the connecting links and extends or retracts the baffles to adjust the beamwidth. The housing encloses the components of the system except the handle and a lock tab on the mounting plate. The handle is secured to the lock tab to lock the baffles in the selected position.

Adjustable antenna baffling system

A circuit board mounting system has a mounting plate and standoffs. The mounting plate has several parallel slits. The standoffs have a base with an elongated slot and an upright post. Fasteners through the slot mount the standoffs anywhere along the slits. The standoffs can rotate around the fasteners and translate relative to the fasteners before the fasteners are tightened, so that a post can be located anywhere on the mounting plate. Circuit boards are mounted to the tops of the standoff posts.

Circuit board mounting system

A transition for connecting a coaxial cable to a conductive metal part such as an antenna has a base and a sleeve. The base is pressed into the groundplane of the antenna to provide a permanent conductive and mechanical connection. A low profile transition has a base and a channel portion parallel to the face of the base.

Pressed in cable transition and method

An omnidirectional dual band antenna system includes a radome and an antenna in the radome. The antenna has a linear array of lower frequency band driven elements, a linear array of higher frequency band driven elements and a linear array of parasitic elements, spaced in parallel planes with the array of higher frequency band driven elements in the middle. The parasitic elements couple to the higher frequency band driven elements and reshape the radiation pattern of the higher frequency band driven elements to correct for distortion caused by the lower frequency band driven elements.

Omni-dualband antenna and system

A microstrip fed log periodic antenna has two spaced dipole strips mounted on a ground plane. Each dipole strip has a trunk with a base, tip and alternating arms extending perpendicular to the trunk. One dipole strip includes an integral transmission feed line that extends from the tip, along the trunk of the other dipole strip at constant distance and along the ground plane at a constant distance. The one piece dipole strip with the integral transmission feed line reduces passive intermodulation and simplifies manufacture.

Microstrip fed log periodic antenna

An antenna system includes a ground plane, an aperture array of patch radiating elements and a feed structure. The feed structure has a first and second beam forming networks that each couple to selected radiating elements to form first and second antenna arrays. At least one and less than all of the radiating elements are shared by the first and second antenna arrays.

Partially shared antenna aperture

A radio frequency connector for coupling radio frequency energy into or out of an antenna apparatus includes a ground portion that is both capacitively and conductively coupled to a ground structure within the antenna apparatus. The connector is designed so that radio frequency (RF) signals within the operative frequency range of the antenna apparatus flow predominantly through the capacitive ground connection of the connector, rather than through the conductive ground connection of the connector. Direct current signals and other low frequency signals within the antenna apparatus, on the other hand, have a direct path to ground through the conductive ground connection. Because the RF signals flow predominantly through the capacitive ground connection, the likelihood that passive inter-modulation (PIM) products will be generated within the metal-to-metal junctions of the conductive ground connection is significantly reduced.

Radio frequency connector for reducing passive inter-modulation effects

The present invention relates to an antenna system that is particularly suited for use in communications systems implementing wireless local loops. In its preferred embodiment, the antenna comprises an array of air loaded stacked patch antenna elements suspended above a ground plane. The antennas each operate in a dual slant 45 linearly polarized mode and are fed by air loaded microstrip transmission line feeds. The line widths of the feed lines are uniform throughout the design, thereby eliminating the need for impedance transformers. The electronics for the antenna is located beneath the antenna ground plane to reduce the footprint of the antenna. In addition, a 'connectorless' coupling structure is provided for transferring signals between the antenna elements and the underlying electronics. In one embodiment, an antenna is provided having enhanced sidelobe suppression despite having a limited number of side by side elements in a plane of interest.

Antenna system

The present invention relates to an antenna system that is particularly suited for use in mobile communications applications. The antenna system includes both a transmit array and a receive array in a side by side configuration. In one embodiment, the radiating elements used in each of the arrays consist of air loaded microstrip patch antennas. The elements in each array are linearly arranged and polarization diversity is utilized so that the transmit and receive arrays can be spaced closely together.

An efficient, lightweight, broadband antenna, having high quality circular polarization capabilities, is disclosed for use in a variety of applications. In one embodiment, signals are fed to, or received by, an array of electromagnetically coupled patch pairs arranged in sequential rotation by an interconnect network which is coplanar with the coupling patches of the patch pairs. The interconnect network includes phase transmission line means, the lengths of which are preselected to provide the desired phase shifting among the coupling patches. The complexity of the array and the space required are thus reduced. In one described embodiment, two such arrays are employed, each having four patch pairs. The two arrays are arranged in sequential rotation to provide normalization of the circularly polarized transmitted or received beam. In another embodiment, a lightweight material having a dielectric constant less than about 1.5 is employed in the lower resonant cavity and, preferably, in the upper resonant cavity as well.

Broadband circular polarization antenna

A microstrip patch antenna structure is disclosed having increased bandwidth and reduced coupling while maintaining low profile capabilities. The structure includes a support member having an isolating recess in which an electromagnetically coupled patch pair of antenna elements is positioned, the upper element being substantially flush with the surface of the support member surrounding the recess. To enhance isolation of the elements, the recess walls and the support surface are preferably electrically conductive and connected to ground. Also preferably, the lower element is connected to a microstrip transmission line, coplanar with the lower element and suspended within an isolating channel through the support member. In one aspect of the invention, a transition means is interposed between the transmission line and a connector, which connects the support member to a transmitter/receiver, to permit relative rotation therebetween. The transition means can also include means for capacitively coupling the transmission line with the connector.

Microstrip patch antenna structure

An inexpensive, efficient, broadband, slot-type antenna with unidirectional sensitivity includes a slot-forming means defining a plurality of substantially concentric and generally coplanar annular slots and a non-resonant antenna connection means for transmitting electromagnetic energy to and from the plurality of annular slots. The antenna connection means forms a plurality of non-resonant, radially-extending cavities that are adapted to combine electromagnetic energy received at a plurality of concentric annular slots for transmission from the slots generally in phase and along the central slot axis that lies perpendicular to the two concentric annular coplanar slots. The antenna may also include a plurality of impedance-forming portions distributed around the periphery of at least one or two of the substantially concentric annular slots to enhance both left-handed and right-handed circular polarization, to provide dual linear polarization, and enhance the unidirectional sensitivity of the antenna. Such a plurality of impedance-forming portions may be formed by the slot-forming means as openings or slots at a plurality of locations around one or two of the concentric annular slots and oriented and distributed around their peripheries to correct for variations to polarity and to suppress sideband energy to and from the antenna.

Growing community of inventors

Broomfield, CO, United States of America

Steven C Olson