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:
Jan. 05, 2010
Filed:
Aug. 20, 2007
Mark David Braunstein, Centreville, VA (US);
Robert Scott Winsor, Round Hill, VA (US);
Peter Charles Freeland, South Riding, VA (US);
Shane William Pixton, Ashburn, VA (US);
Mark David Braunstein, Centreville, VA (US);
Robert Scott Winsor, Round Hill, VA (US);
Peter Charles Freeland, South Riding, VA (US);
Shane William Pixton, Ashburn, VA (US);
ITT Manufacturing Enterprises, Inc., Wilmington, DE (US);
Abstract
An RF beam steering device employs a prism assembly to steer an RF beam and a compensation device to address undesirable movement of the beam steering device. The prism assembly includes a plurality of dielectric prisms each with an associated impedance matching layer. The dielectric prisms are rotated relative to each other to steer the RF beam in a desired direction and further to compensate for movement of the beam steering device itself. The prisms include a plurality of individual panels with drilled or slotted openings that are arranged to create a periodic photonic crystal structure within a defined region. This configuration effectively alters the dielectric constant over any one particular region of a panel, thereby altering the level of diffraction possible for a specified panel thickness. The openings within each stacked panel are overlapped to produce the required level of diffraction and refractive index gradient. Motors rotate the prisms relative to each other to the correct orientation for steering the RF beam in a desired manner.