The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jul. 24, 2018
Filed:
Dec. 14, 2015
Space Systems/loral, Llc, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Peter S. Simon, Camarillo, CA (US);
Michael Aliamus, San Jose, CA (US);
Behzad Tavassoli Hozouri, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Robert Jones, Union City, CA (US);
Michael Grall, Santa Cruz, CA (US);
Space Systems/Loral, LLC, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
A spacecraft communications payload includes a beam forming network (BFN), wherein the BFN includes a first feed waveguide and a first set of branch waveguides, each branch waveguide in the first set operating in a frequency band having a characteristic waveguide wavelength λ. A proximal portion of the first set of branch waveguides is communicatively coupled with the first feed waveguide. A distal portion of the first set of branch waveguides is communicatively coupled by way of an array of slots with a plurality of radiating elements. A separation distance between adjacent slots in the array is approximately equal to λ, and the array of slots is configured as a honeycomb-like triaxial lattice. In some implementations, a compact BFN may be configured to simultaneously operate at two different polarizations ('dual-polarized') and/or frequency bands ('dual-band').