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. 30, 2002
Filed:
Apr. 27, 2001
Roland Gilbert, Milford, NH (US);
BAE Systems Information and Electronics Systems Integration Inc., Nashua, NH (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a low-cost, frequency-tunable, steerable, reflector array capable of simulating the electromagnetic effects of a parabolic or similarly-shaped reflector on a planar or conformal surface. Simple scatterers such as short circuited dipoles, disposed on a geometrically planar or conformal substrate, are configured from a series of scatterer sub-elements, electrically connected serially to one another by MEMS switches. These connected scatterer sub-elements form a reflective array disposed above a ground plane on the substrate. By properly controlling the length and spacing of the activated dipole elements, it is possible to simulate the equiphase reflection profile of a horn feed or sub-reflector feed of a parabolic or similar reflector. In addition, the array may be steered by selectively controlling the scatterer configurations.