EP0212963A2 - Omni-directional antenna - Google Patents
Omni-directional antenna Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- EP0212963A2 EP0212963A2 EP86306363A EP86306363A EP0212963A2 EP 0212963 A2 EP0212963 A2 EP 0212963A2 EP 86306363 A EP86306363 A EP 86306363A EP 86306363 A EP86306363 A EP 86306363A EP 0212963 A2 EP0212963 A2 EP 0212963A2
- Authority
- EP
- European Patent Office
- Prior art keywords
- antenna
- lens
- reflector
- array
- rays
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Withdrawn
Links
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q19/00—Combinations of primary active antenna elements and units with secondary devices, e.g. with quasi-optical devices, for giving the antenna a desired directional characteristic
- H01Q19/06—Combinations of primary active antenna elements and units with secondary devices, e.g. with quasi-optical devices, for giving the antenna a desired directional characteristic using refracting or diffracting devices, e.g. lens
- H01Q19/062—Combinations of primary active antenna elements and units with secondary devices, e.g. with quasi-optical devices, for giving the antenna a desired directional characteristic using refracting or diffracting devices, e.g. lens for focusing
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q15/00—Devices for reflection, refraction, diffraction or polarisation of waves radiated from an antenna, e.g. quasi-optical devices
- H01Q15/23—Combinations of reflecting surfaces with refracting or diffracting devices
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q25/00—Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns
- H01Q25/007—Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns using two or more primary active elements in the focal region of a focusing device
Definitions
- an omni-directional lens has perfect circular symmetry in azimuth (Fig. la) and Fig. lb shows the extent to which parallel rays are focussed by such an arrangement viewed in vertical section.
- a dielectric constant ( E) of greater than 4 the radial distance (l) at which rays cross the undiffracted ray which passes through the centre of the lens, is given by
- the surface In elevation the surface may be shaped as desired but an ellipse is convenient since this provides a well focussed beam over a range of elevation angles.
- a ray diagram is shown in Fig. lb.
- a lens as shown in Fig. 1 is not immediately useful because the focal surface is buried inside the lens and cannot be accessed without interfering with the ray paths.
- the focal surface is curved which means that the lens cannot be used directly with a planar array of signal detection elements.
- an antenna providing up to 360° in azimuth for electromagnetic radiation comprising a dielectric lens and a cooperating reflector arrangement arranged to feed a surface array.
- an omni-directional antenna for electromagnetic rays comprising a rotationally-symmetric dielectric lens, a cooperating rotationally-symmetric reflecting surface, and a surface array of elements arranged at the surfacial focus of the combined lens and reflecting surface.
- Fig. 4 shows a modification to the basic lens of Fig. 2.
- the modified antenna has a cusp-shaped reflector 10 which does not interfere with the rays 4, and which focusses local oscillator power from a TMOl mode horn 11. Otherwise the antenna is as described in Fig. 2.
- This allows local oscillator (LO) power to be fed to the elements.
- LO local oscillator
- a single horn 11 supporting the TMO1 mode is used to illuminate the central conical (cusp-like) reflector 10 as shown.
- the TMO1 mode gives rise to a circularly symmetric pattern with a null on boresight.
- the reflector 10 is shaped to direct the LO energy onto the annulus of elements in the array plane.
- the virtual focal line 35 is not at right angles to the hyperbolic axis 34. So as elevation is scanned, defocussing occurs so the arrangement is preferred for a chosen elevation or small range of elevations.
- the discussion above regards the antenna as a quasi-optical system: that is to say the rays of electromagnetic energy are regarded as if they were light rays in a true optical system.
- the lens diameter needs to be about ten wavelengths or more for this analogy to hold true.
Landscapes
- Aerials With Secondary Devices (AREA)
- Variable-Direction Aerials And Aerial Arrays (AREA)
Abstract
Description
- This invention relates to an azimuthally omni-directional antenna suitable particularly but not exclusively for millimetre wave applications.
- In this specification the term omni-directional means significant angles up to and including 360° in azimuth.
- The prior art employs a lens antenna which is shaped as shown in Fig. lc with an elliproidal rotationally-
symmetric face 10. This focusses parallel receivedrays 11 onto a basal planar array at thefocal surface 12 without the focal surface interfering with the ray paths. - However this arrangement has the disadvantage that only rays received predominantly parallel to the lens axis are well focussed in the basal plane. It therefore cannot be used to provide 360° coverage in the azimuthal plane except by employing multiple such units with associated high cost, size, weight.
- In its simplest form an omni-directional lens has perfect circular symmetry in azimuth (Fig. la) and Fig. lb shows the extent to which parallel rays are focussed by such an arrangement viewed in vertical section. For a dielectric constant ( E) of greater than 4, the radial distance (ℓ) at which rays cross the undiffracted ray which passes through the centre of the lens, is given by
-
- In elevation the surface may be shaped as desired but an ellipse is convenient since this provides a well focussed beam over a range of elevation angles. A ray diagram is shown in Fig. lb.
- A lens as shown in Fig. 1 is not immediately useful because the focal surface is buried inside the lens and cannot be accessed without interfering with the ray paths. In addition, the focal surface is curved which means that the lens cannot be used directly with a planar array of signal detection elements.
- The object of the present invention is to provide an antenna producing multiple independent beams covering up to 360° in azimuth from one lens with lower cost, size and weight.
- According to the present invention there is provided an antenna providing up to 360° in azimuth for electromagnetic radiation comprising a dielectric lens and a cooperating reflector arrangement arranged to feed a surface array.
- According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided an omni-directional antenna for electromagnetic rays comprising a rotationally-symmetric dielectric lens, a cooperating rotationally-symmetric reflecting surface, and a surface array of elements arranged at the surfacial focus of the combined lens and reflecting surface.
- Such an antenna can provide uniform 360a- coverage in azimuth and a specified performance in elevation. The angles of arrival of received signals can be determined from voltages on elements of the array. Additional reflecting surfaces can be provided to allow direct injection of local oscillator power to the array so that simple elements with integrated mixers may be employed.
- An important aspect is the arrangement of refracting and reflecting surfaces to produce an omni-directional antenna which can use a planar array of elements to provide directional information.
- Another important aspect lies in the method of using additional reflectors and feed for the injection of local oscillator power.
- Such an arrangement is particularly suitable for mm wave systems.
- In order that the invention can be clearly understood, reference will now be made to the remainder of the accompanying drawings, in which:
- Fig. 2 shows an antenna design in vertical cross-section according to an embodiment of the invention;
- Fig. 3 show focussing diagrams comprising the performance of the antenna of Figs. l(a) and l(b);
- Fig. 4 shows a modification of the antenna of Fig. 2, and
- Figs. 5 and 6 are alternative embodiments of the invention.
- Reference will now be made to Fig. 2 which shows an antenna of dielectric material e.g. optically smooth to e.g. one tenth of a wavelength ceramic or even plastics material. The antenna comprises the combination of a
lens 1 andreflector 2 in a unitarydielectric body 3. Thelens 1 is elliptic in vertical cross-section and thereflector 2 conical and the rays 4 are focussed onto ahorizontal image plane 5 at which is arranged a surface in this case planar, array of dipole elements. The axis of the elevation ellipse is tilted so that rays are directed downwards sufficiently to enter inside therelector cone 2 as shown. The angle of thecone 2 is chosen so that reflection results in the rays 4 being focussed onto thehorizontal image plane 5. Both the reflecting and refracting surfaces may be shaped in elevation in order to optimise focussing in that plane. In addition, the condition that ε should be greater than 4 to obtain a suitable focus is relaxed. - A further advantage of this arrangement is that reflection from the concave surface gives rise to improved focussing over the basic circular lens of Fig. 1. This can be seen from simple calculations for a limiting two-dimensional case (no downward movement of rays).
- The position (ℓ) of crossovers from the centre of the lens is evaluated. Plots of ℓ/R as a function of d/R are shown in Fig. 3 for two values off-and various values of R /R where R' is the radius of the reflecting circle. A horizontal straight line corresponds to perfect focussing and it can be seen that the plots with reflection (Fig. 3B corresponding to the Fig. 2 embodiment) approach that condition more closely than those without reflection (Fig. 1 and Fig. 3A).
- In order to allow wide elevation coverage the lens could be made in sections with separate array planes for different parts of the elevation range; for example an upper and lower half could deal separately with positive and negative elevations.
- Fig. 4 shows a modification to the basic lens of Fig. 2. The modified antenna has a cusp-
shaped reflector 10 which does not interfere with the rays 4, and which focusses local oscillator power from aTMOl mode horn 11. Otherwise the antenna is as described in Fig. 2. This allows local oscillator (LO) power to be fed to the elements. This permits the use of arrays which employ this form of LO injection. Asingle horn 11 supporting the TMO1 mode is used to illuminate the central conical (cusp-like)reflector 10 as shown. The TMO1 mode gives rise to a circularly symmetric pattern with a null on boresight. Thereflector 10 is shaped to direct the LO energy onto the annulus of elements in the array plane. - Fig. 5 shows a vertical cross-section through a further embodiment in which an antenna has an elliptical lens 30 shown receiving
parallel rays hyperbolic reflector 33 shown in vertical cross-section has an axis at 34 (in reality a conical imaginary surface) which crosses with the virtualfocal line 35 at F1 (in reality an imaginary cylindrical surface). - The function of the hyperbolic section reflector is to drive F2 further away from the reflector than would one having a plane section (for which f2 = fl) so that f 2 is greater than f l.
- The virtual
focal line 35 is not at right angles to thehyperbolic axis 34. So as elevation is scanned, defocussing occurs so the arrangement is preferred for a chosen elevation or small range of elevations. - Fig. 6 shows another embodiment of an antenna according to the invention. The
lens 40 which is elliptic refracts therays 41 ontohyperbolic reflector 42. Thehyperbole axis 43 crosses thefocal line 44 of theellipse 40 at 45, and localoscillator injection horn 46 is located adjacent the element array at thefocal surface 47. The advantage of this arrangement are that the elements would be close together, the elements are at the bottom of the lens system so the signal connections can be provided easily, and the local oscillator feed can be provided by rear-fed techniques. - The discussion above regards the antenna as a quasi-optical system: that is to say the rays of electromagnetic energy are regarded as if they were light rays in a true optical system. The lens diameter needs to be about ten wavelengths or more for this analogy to hold true.
- The antenna would normally be optically opaque. The "optical" accuracy of the surfaces would need to be about one tenth of a wavelength.
- The elements in the array referred to would preferably be arranged so that different elements receive rays from different directions and hence provide directional information relative to the antenna. Thus for twenty beams there would be twenty elements.
- The element signals i.e. the received electromagnetic waves and the injected local oscillator would be mixed to provide an intermediate frequency.
Claims (8)
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
GB8520815 | 1985-08-20 | ||
GB8520815 | 1985-08-20 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
EP0212963A2 true EP0212963A2 (en) | 1987-03-04 |
EP0212963A3 EP0212963A3 (en) | 1988-08-10 |
Family
ID=10584038
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
EP86306363A Withdrawn EP0212963A3 (en) | 1985-08-20 | 1986-08-18 | Omni-directional antenna |
Country Status (3)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP0212963A3 (en) |
JP (1) | JPS62110303A (en) |
IL (1) | IL79773A0 (en) |
Cited By (6)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0859428A2 (en) * | 1996-12-20 | 1998-08-19 | AT&T Corp. | Composite rooftop antenna for terrestrial and satellite reception |
WO2007136289A1 (en) | 2006-05-23 | 2007-11-29 | Intel Corporation | Millimeter-wave chip-lens array antenna systems for wireless networks |
US8149178B2 (en) | 2006-05-23 | 2012-04-03 | Intel Corporation | Millimeter-wave communication system with directional antenna and one or more millimeter-wave reflectors |
EP2471296A1 (en) * | 2009-08-28 | 2012-07-04 | Belair Networks Inc. | Vault antenna for wlan or cellular application |
US8320942B2 (en) | 2006-06-13 | 2012-11-27 | Intel Corporation | Wireless device with directional antennas for use in millimeter-wave peer-to-peer networks and methods for adaptive beam steering |
WO2021144626A1 (en) * | 2020-01-17 | 2021-07-22 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Mmwave dielectric waveguide beam former/redirector |
Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE1917675A1 (en) * | 1969-04-05 | 1970-10-15 | Deutsche Bundespost | Dielectric omnidirectional antenna |
FR2334216A1 (en) * | 1975-12-05 | 1977-07-01 | Thomson Csf | Omnidirectional aerial with wide pass band - has horn shape with reflector partially covering mouth of horn |
DE2614133A1 (en) * | 1976-04-01 | 1977-10-06 | Siemens Ag | Variable beam direction aerial - has several discrete radiators forming a flat phase controlled multiple aerial beneath Luneberg lens |
US4682179A (en) * | 1985-05-03 | 1987-07-21 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Omnidirectional electromagnetic lens |
Family Cites Families (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
JPS5233939B2 (en) * | 1971-09-30 | 1977-08-31 | ||
JPS5237906B2 (en) * | 1972-07-13 | 1977-09-26 | ||
JPS5020644A (en) * | 1973-06-22 | 1975-03-05 | ||
JPS5834961B2 (en) * | 1975-06-05 | 1983-07-30 | 三菱電機株式会社 | Musikosei antenna |
US4333082A (en) * | 1980-03-31 | 1982-06-01 | Sperry Corporation | Inhomogeneous dielectric dome antenna |
-
1986
- 1986-08-18 EP EP86306363A patent/EP0212963A3/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1986-08-19 IL IL79773A patent/IL79773A0/en unknown
- 1986-08-20 JP JP61195145A patent/JPS62110303A/en active Pending
Patent Citations (4)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
DE1917675A1 (en) * | 1969-04-05 | 1970-10-15 | Deutsche Bundespost | Dielectric omnidirectional antenna |
FR2334216A1 (en) * | 1975-12-05 | 1977-07-01 | Thomson Csf | Omnidirectional aerial with wide pass band - has horn shape with reflector partially covering mouth of horn |
DE2614133A1 (en) * | 1976-04-01 | 1977-10-06 | Siemens Ag | Variable beam direction aerial - has several discrete radiators forming a flat phase controlled multiple aerial beneath Luneberg lens |
US4682179A (en) * | 1985-05-03 | 1987-07-21 | The United States Of America As Represented By The Secretary Of The Army | Omnidirectional electromagnetic lens |
Cited By (13)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
EP0859428A2 (en) * | 1996-12-20 | 1998-08-19 | AT&T Corp. | Composite rooftop antenna for terrestrial and satellite reception |
EP0859428A3 (en) * | 1996-12-20 | 2000-03-29 | AT&T Corp. | Composite rooftop antenna for terrestrial and satellite reception |
CN101427422B (en) * | 2006-05-23 | 2013-08-07 | 英特尔公司 | Millimeter-wave chip-lens array antenna systems for wireless networks |
CN101427422A (en) * | 2006-05-23 | 2009-05-06 | 英特尔公司 | Millimeter-wave chip-lens array antenna systems for wireless networks |
US8149178B2 (en) | 2006-05-23 | 2012-04-03 | Intel Corporation | Millimeter-wave communication system with directional antenna and one or more millimeter-wave reflectors |
US8193994B2 (en) | 2006-05-23 | 2012-06-05 | Intel Corporation | Millimeter-wave chip-lens array antenna systems for wireless networks |
US8395558B2 (en) | 2006-05-23 | 2013-03-12 | Intel Corporation | Millimeter-wave reflector antenna system and methods for communicating using millimeter-wave signals |
WO2007136289A1 (en) | 2006-05-23 | 2007-11-29 | Intel Corporation | Millimeter-wave chip-lens array antenna systems for wireless networks |
US8320942B2 (en) | 2006-06-13 | 2012-11-27 | Intel Corporation | Wireless device with directional antennas for use in millimeter-wave peer-to-peer networks and methods for adaptive beam steering |
EP2471296A1 (en) * | 2009-08-28 | 2012-07-04 | Belair Networks Inc. | Vault antenna for wlan or cellular application |
EP2471296A4 (en) * | 2009-08-28 | 2014-08-13 | Belair Networks Inc | Vault antenna for wlan or cellular application |
EP3352294A1 (en) * | 2009-08-28 | 2018-07-25 | Ericsson WiFi Inc. | Vault antenna for wlan or cellular application |
WO2021144626A1 (en) * | 2020-01-17 | 2021-07-22 | Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) | Mmwave dielectric waveguide beam former/redirector |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
IL79773A0 (en) | 1986-11-30 |
EP0212963A3 (en) | 1988-08-10 |
JPS62110303A (en) | 1987-05-21 |
Similar Documents
Publication | Publication Date | Title |
---|---|---|
US4333082A (en) | Inhomogeneous dielectric dome antenna | |
US3755815A (en) | Phased array fed lens antenna | |
US4488156A (en) | Geodesic dome-lens antenna | |
US4769646A (en) | Antenna system and dual-fed lenses producing characteristically different beams | |
US3170158A (en) | Multiple beam radar antenna system | |
US4642651A (en) | Dual lens antenna with mechanical and electrical beam scanning | |
US6825814B2 (en) | Antenna | |
US5534880A (en) | Stacked biconical omnidirectional antenna | |
US5268680A (en) | Combined infrared-radar detection system | |
US4458249A (en) | Multi-beam, multi-lens microwave antenna providing hemispheric coverage | |
US3936835A (en) | Directive disk feed system | |
US3189907A (en) | Zone plate radio transmission system | |
US6556174B1 (en) | Surveillance radar scanning antenna requiring no rotary joint | |
US4825222A (en) | Omnidirectional antenna with hollow point source feed | |
US3958246A (en) | Circular retrodirective array | |
US3881178A (en) | Antenna system for radiating multiple planar beams | |
EP0212963A2 (en) | Omni-directional antenna | |
US4823143A (en) | Intersecting shared aperture antenna reflectors | |
US3343171A (en) | Geodesic lens scanning antenna | |
US3737909A (en) | Parabolic antenna system having high-illumination and spillover efficiencies | |
US4574287A (en) | Fixed aperture, rotating feed, beam scanning antenna system | |
GB2188166A (en) | Curved reflector having zones with different focal points | |
US3984840A (en) | Bootlace lens having two plane surfaces | |
US3927408A (en) | Single frequency, two feed dish antenna having switchable beamwidth | |
Love | Spherical reflecting antennas with corrected line sources |
Legal Events
Date | Code | Title | Description |
---|---|---|---|
PUAI | Public reference made under article 153(3) epc to a published international application that has entered the european phase |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009012 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A2 Designated state(s): CH DE FR GB IT LI NL SE |
|
PUAL | Search report despatched |
Free format text: ORIGINAL CODE: 0009013 |
|
AK | Designated contracting states |
Kind code of ref document: A3 Designated state(s): CH DE FR GB IT LI NL SE |
|
17P | Request for examination filed |
Effective date: 19881208 |
|
STAA | Information on the status of an ep patent application or granted ep patent |
Free format text: STATUS: THE APPLICATION IS DEEMED TO BE WITHDRAWN |
|
18D | Application deemed to be withdrawn |
Effective date: 19910301 |
|
RIN1 | Information on inventor provided before grant (corrected) |
Inventor name: MCEWEN, COLIN DOUGAL Inventor name: PEARSON, ALAN Inventor name: NORRIS, ANDREW PETER Inventor name: WADDOUP, WILLIAM DAVID |