Antenna systems having radiating elements therein that are paired with high performance broadband planar lenses

1. An antenna, comprising:

a radiating element on a forward-facing surface of an underlying reflector; and

a multi-element broadband lens in front of and within a radio frequency (RF) transmission path of the radiating element, said multi-element broadband lens comprising a plurality of lens elements of unequal size arranged into a two-dimensional array such that a centermost portion of the two-dimensional array consists of lens elements having the largest size relative to remaining ones of the lens elements within the multi-element broadband lens on the periphery of the centermost portion.

2. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein the multi-element broadband lens comprises first lens elements having first RF characteristics and second lens elements having second RF characteristics, which are different from the first RF characteristics.

3. The antenna of claim 2 , wherein the first lens elements are arranged as a plurality of the first lens elements, which are encircled by an array of the second lens elements that are smaller in layout footprint relative to the first lens elements.

4. The antenna of claim 2 , wherein the first lens elements are arranged as a two-dimensional array of the first lens elements; and wherein the second lens elements extend along at least two sides of the two-dimensional array of the first lens elements.

5. The antenna of claim 4 ,

wherein at least one of the first lens elements comprises a first LC circuit within the RF transmission path;

wherein at least one of the second lens elements comprises a second LC circuit within the RF transmission path; and

wherein the at least one of the first lens elements includes a forward-facing metal layer, a rear-facing metal layer, and an intermediate metal layer extending between the forward and rear-facing metal layers.

6. The antenna of claim 5 , wherein an inductance in the second LC circuit is less than an inductance in the first LC circuit.

7. The antenna of claim 4 , wherein each of the first lens elements comprises a metal layer having a corresponding first slot therein; and wherein each of the second lens elements comprises a metal layer having a corresponding second slot therein, which is smaller than the first slot.

8. The antenna of claim 2 , wherein the multi-element broadband lens is embedded within a planar substrate, which comprises a dielectric layer and first and second pluralities of electrically conductive layers on first and second opposing surfaces of the dielectric layer, respectively.

9. The antenna of claim 2 , wherein the multi-element broadband lens is embedded within a printed circuit board (PCB) comprising at least two layers of patterned metallization.

10. The antenna of claim 1 , further comprising:

a second multi-element broadband lens extending between the multi-element broadband lens and the radiating element.

11. The antenna of claim 10 , wherein the multi-element broadband lens extends at a first distance from the radiating element, and the second multi-element broadband lens extends at a second distance from the radiating element, which is less than the first distance.

12. The antenna of claim 11 , wherein the first distance is in a range from 0.75 times λ/n to 1.25 times λ/n, where λ is a wavelength corresponding to a center frequency (f c ) of a broadband radio-frequency (RF) signal transmitted by the radiating element when active, and n equals two or four; and wherein the second distance is in a range from 0.75 times λ/2n to 1.25 times λ/2n.

13. The antenna of claim 12 , wherein the multi-element broadband lens is configured to include an M×N array of lens elements, where M is a positive integer greater than two, and N is a positive integer greater than two.

14. An antenna, comprising:

a radiating element on a forward-facing surface of an underlying reflector; and

a multi-element broadband lens in front of and within a radio frequency (RF) transmission path of the radiating element, said multi-element broadband lens comprising:

a two-dimensional array of first lens elements having first RF characteristics; and

second lens elements that have second RF characteristics different from the first RF characteristics and extend along at least two sides of the two-dimensional array of the first lens elements;

wherein at least one of the first lens elements comprises a first LC circuit within the RF transmission path, and at least one of the second lens elements comprises a second LC circuit within the RF transmission path; and

wherein the at least one of the first lens elements includes a forward-facing metal layer, a rear-facing metal layer, and an intermediate metal layer that extends between the forward and rear-facing metal layers and has a first serpentine-shaped slot therein.

15. The antenna of claim 14 , wherein the at least one of the second lens elements includes a forward-facing metal layer, a rear-facing metal layer, and an intermediate metal layer, which extends between the forward and rear-facing metal layers and has a second serpentine-shaped slot therein that is smaller than the first serpentine-shaped slot.

16. The antenna of claim 14 , further comprising:

a second multi-element broadband lens extending between the multi-element broadband lens and the radiating element.

17. The antenna of claim 16 , wherein the multi-element broadband lens extends at a first distance from the radiating element, and the second multi-element broadband lens extends at a second distance from the radiating element, which is less than the first distance.

18. The antenna of claim 17 , wherein the first distance is in a range from 0.75 times λ/n to 1.25 times λ/n, where λ is a wavelength corresponding to a center frequency (f c ) of a broadband radio-frequency (RF) signal transmitted by the radiating element when active, and n equals two or four; and wherein the second distance is in a range from 0.75 times λ/2n to 1.25 times λ/2n.

19. The antenna of claim 18 , wherein the multi-element broadband lens is configured to include an M×N array of lens elements, where M is a positive integer greater than two, and N is a positive integer greater than two.

20. An antenna, comprising:

a radiating element on a forward-facing surface of an underlying reflector;

a first multi-element broadband lens in front of and within a radio frequency (RF) transmission path of the radiating element; and

a second multi-element broadband lens extending between the first multi-element broadband lens and the radiating element;

wherein the first multi-element broadband lens extends at a first distance from the radiating element, and the second multi-element broadband lens extends at a second distance from the radiating element, which is less than the first distance;

wherein the first distance is in a range from 0.75 times λ/n to 1.25 times λ/n, where λ is a wavelength corresponding to a center frequency (f c ) of a broadband radio-frequency (RF) signal transmitted by the radiating element when active, and n equals two or four;

wherein the second distance is in a range from 0.75 times λ/2n to 1.25 times λ/2n; and

wherein the first and second multi-element broadband lenses are separated from each other by a first air gap within the RF transmission path, and the radiating element and the second multi-element broadband lens are separated from each other by a second air gap within the RF transmission path.