Robert Boschgmbh

Thomas Wixforth

Christian Passmann

Wolfgang Detlefsen

Eberhard Gschwendtner

Jean Parlebas

Mark Wiegmann

A vehicle navigational receiver module includes a first planar antenna for receiving navigational radio signals, a signal processing circuit that is connected to the antenna, as well as a ground plane. In addition, a second planar antenna for receiving a telematic radio signal is arranged so as to at least partially overlap the first planar antenna and is connected to a second signal processing circuit.

Combined receiver and transponder module

A spiral antenna which can be supplied in different modes with different transmission characteristics is described. The spiral antenna includes four approximately parallel, electrically conducting spiral arms. The spiral arms are each connected to a coplanar conductor at their inner spiral arm ends for supplying and/or receiving signals.

Spiral antenna

An integrated waveguide component has at least one planar microwave conductor with at least one interruption point, a mechanically shiftable microwave conductor segment provided for each of the interruption points, a substrate plate above which the microwave conductor is disposed, a further substrate plate above which the microwave conductor segment is disposed, so that the microwave conductor segment is shiftable parallel to the substrate plate by displacement of the further substrate plate to establish or adjust an effective length, spanning the interruption point of the microwave conductor segment in accordance with the desired phased shift between an input signal are the output signal, the microwave conductor segment being disposed on a side remote from the microwave conductor of the further substrate plate, so that the further substrate plate performs not only a carrier function for the microwave conductor segment but simultaneously a function of a dielectric for an inductive and/or capacitive coupling of the microwave conductor to the microwave conductor segment.

Integrated waveguide component

A method of calibrating a group antenna with minimal effort includes sending a respective calibrating signal over corresponding transmitting branches (TX,, TX,, . . . , TXm) one after the other; detecting superimposed signal components coupled into respective individual antenna elements (A,, A,, . . . , Am) of the group antenna for each calibrating signal sent over the transmitting branches in the receiving branches (RX,, RX,, . . . , RXm) belonging to the respective individual antenna elements; deriving amplitude and phase variations of transmission functions of all transmitting branches (TX,, TX,, . . . , TXm) or receiving branches (RX,, RX,, . . . , RXm) relative to a transmission function of a reference transmitting or receiving branch from received signals including the superimposed signal components detected in the corresponding receiving branches (RX,, RX,, . . . , RXm) for all calibrating signals; and adjusting amplitude adjusting elements (ATX,, ATX,, . . . , ATXm) and phase adjusting elements (PTX,, PTX,, . . . , PTXm) in the respective individual transmitting branches (TX,, TX,, . . . , TXm) or in the receiving branches (RX,, RX,, . . . , RXm) so that the amplitude and phase variations derived in step c) are minimized.

Method of calibrating a group antenna

A planar microwave antenna for receiving radio and television satellite signals, in which the antenna is associated with a main beam direction that is freely adjustable regardless of the position of the main plane of the antenna. The antenna is rotatable about its vertical axis, which is perpendicular to the main plane, and the main beam direction is adjustable in a plane running perpendicular to the main plane by adjusting phase shifting elements acting on the individual signals in the form of essentially U-shaped draw-out lines. The antenna may be a two-shell design, in which each of the two shells have individual antenna elements that are directed in different main mutually perpendicular directions. A decoupling element, which may include a round, hollow-cored conductor, may be mounted so that it is rotatable relative to the main plane of the antenna so that any linear polarization direction can be set.

Microwave flat antenna

A method and apparatus for calibrating transmission and reception paths of a group antenna with an adaptive radiation pattern is provided, in which one transmission signal after the other is transmitted over each transmission path (DA1, . . . ,DAN; Tx1, . . . ,TxN; DP1, . . . ,DPN), a signal portion is decoupled from each transmission signal and the decoupled portion of at least one transmission signal is divided into as many equal parts of equal strength and equal phase as reception paths present. These equal parts of the decoupled transmission signal portion are coupled into the respective reception paths and the strengths and phases of the equal parts transmitted over the respective reception paths (DP1, . . . ,DPN; Rx1, . . . ,RxN; AD1, . . . ,ADN) are measured. The transmission factors of all other ones transmission paths and reception paths are determined from known transmission factor values for them and the measured strengths and phases of the equal parts of the at least one transmission path. Deviations of the resulting transmission factors are compensated by changing weighting factors of a radiation pattern network (Tx-BFN, Rx-BFN).

Growing community of inventors

Hildesheim, Germany

Thomas Wixforth