Feed structures for tapered slot antennas
US6317094A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 24, 1999 |
| Grant date | Nov 13, 2001 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 24, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01Q21/0087
- WIPO fieldTelecommunications
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A suspended microstrip line structure for feeding a tapered slot antenna has a ground layer separated by means of an air gap from a dielectric slab with a strip line conductor feed running on the surface of the dielectric. The strip line may run along the surface of the dielectric which faces away from the ground layer, or the structure may be inverted such that the strip line runs along the surface of the dielectric which faces the ground layer. These suspended microstrip line structures exhibit lower transmission loss. In another embodiment, a printed transmission line having a slot in its ground layer feeds a tapered slot antenna element which lies in a plane which intersects, and so is not parallel to, the printed transmission line structure. The ground layer slots cut the current on the ground of the transmission line and couple energy from the line to the tapered slot antenna element. Altering the configuration of the ground layer slots allows the antenna to efficiently operate within different frequency bands without changing the dimensions or parameters of the tapered slot antenna or the printed transmission line. The printed transmission line is preferably a suspended micr…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.