Patent · US Expired

Orientable antenna with conservation of polarization axes

US5796370A · kind A · utility

21Cited by
13References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateJul 16, 1996
Grant dateAug 18, 1998
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 16, 2016

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
  • CPC primaryH01Q19/192
  • WIPO fieldTelecommunications
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

An antenna is orientable, directional and capable of use as a transmit and/or receive antenna. It includes at least one reflector, at least one source of electromagnetic radiation including means for exciting the source with two orthogonal linear polarizations and a mechanical system for positioning and holding the source and the reflector. The orientation of the antenna is made up of depointing and rotation about a preferred direction of propagation of the radiation and the mechanical system enables such rotation while keeping the source fixed, so conserving the orientation of the orthogonal linear polarization. A preferred embodiment of the antenna includes a parabolic main reflector and a hyperbolic auxiliary reflector in a Cassegrain geometry, and the mechanical system enables rotation of both reflectors about the preferred direction of radiation and holds the source fixed to conserve the orthogonal linear polarization axes of the beam. Applications include radar, direct broadcast satellites and telecommunications employing frequency re-use by polarization diversity, especially advantageous in space and airborne applications.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.