Importance

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Abstract

An array of antenna elements is configured in a lattice-like layer, each element being similarly oriented such that the whole of the antenna elements form a homogeneous two-dimensional antenna aperture surface which can be planar or curved to conform to a desired shape. The antenna elements are connected in a one-to-one correspondence to a matching lattice of mutually similar, multiple-port, wave coupling networks physically extending behind the antenna element array as a backplane of the antenna. Each wave coupling network or 'unit cell' couples signals to and/or from its corresponding antenna element and further performs as a phase delay module in a two-dimensional signal distribution network. This invention can be embodied in a conformal, or planar phased array antenna comprising a system of densely-packed resonant cavities feeding a set of resonant slot elements, both configured in an matrix array. Instead of using a corporate feed network to feed each cavity, the array is fed from points on the edges of the array, with each cavity being electromagnetically coupled to each of its adjacent cavities by common wall-coupling means. By adjusting the excitation signal amplitudes and phases at each input feed point on the perimeter, the beam may be steered off the broadside axis in any plane orthogonal to the array aperture.

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First Claim