Low profile antenna for satellite communication
A low profile receiving and/or transmitting antenna includes an array of antenna elements that collect and coherently combine millimeter wave or other radiation. The antenna elements are physically configured so that radiation at a predetermined wavelength band impinging on the antenna at a particular angle of incidence is collected by the elements and collected in-phase. Two or more mechanical rotators may be disposed to alter the angle of incidence of incoming or outgoing radiation to match the particular angle of incidence.
1. An antenna system comprising:
at least two antenna arrangements, each accommodating a transverse axis;
a mechanism for rotating the arrangements in order to track a target in the azimuth plane, and rotating each arrangement about its transverse axis in order to track the target in the elevation plane; and
a mechanism for moving the transverse axes one with respect to the other so as to maintain substantially no gaps between antenna apertures as viewed for any elevation angle within a selectable elevation angle range.
2. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein said antenna arrangements are planar element arrays.
3. The antenna system according to claim 2 , wherein said planar element arrays are planar phased arrays.
4. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein said elevation angles are identical for all antenna arrangements and spacing between pairs of neighboring axes is identical.
5. The antenna system of claim 4 , wherein said arrangements substantially comply with the following equation:
D=W /sin( e )
wherein D represents distance between said axes, e represents said elevation angle, and W represents width of each antenna arrangement.
6. The antenna system according to claim 1 , wherein said arrangements provide either or both of transmit and receive modes.
7. The antenna system according to claim 1 , wherein each one of said antenna arrangements comprises more than one planar element array antenna module.
8. The antenna system according to claim 7 , wherein said planar element array antenna modules are planar phased array antenna modules.
9. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein said target is a selected satellite, and wherein said antenna is configured to be fitted on a mobile vehicle, for communicating with satellite signals during stationary and moving states thereof.
10. The antenna system according to claim 9 , wherein said vehicle is any of: train, bus, SUV, RV, boat and car.
11. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein said target is a selected satellite, and wherein said antenna is configured to be fitted on an aircraft for communicating with satellite signals during stationary and moving states thereof.
12. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein antenna gain and side lobe levels are maintained within a predefined range for any elevation angle within a predefined range of elevation angles.
13. The antenna system according to claim 12 , wherein the antenna gain and side lobe levels are maintained substantially the same for any elevation angle within a predefined range of elevation angles.
14. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the relationship between (a) spacing between the axes and (b) corresponding elevation angles is selected to optimize gain and side lobes for a whole field of view.
15. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein the relationship between (a) spacing between the axes and (b) corresponding elevation angles is fixed to optimize projections towards the target for certain elevation angles.
16. The antenna system of claim 1 , wherein said antenna system is configured to be fitted on an aircraft or mobile vehicle.
17. An antenna system comprising:
at least two antenna arrangements, each accommodating a transverse axis;
a mechanism for rotating the arrangements in order to track a target in the azimuth plane, and rotating each arrangement about it transverse axis in order to track the target in the elevation plane; and
a mechanism for moving the transverse axes one with respect to the other so as to maintain substantially no gaps between antenna apertures for any location where a target is in the field of view of the antenna system.
18. The antenna system of claim 17 , wherein said antenna arrangements are planar element arrays.
19. The antenna system according to claim 18 , wherein said planar element arrays are planar phased arrays.
20. The antenna system of claim 17 , wherein said elevation angles are identical for all antenna arrangements and spacing between pairs of neighboring axes is identical.
21. The antenna system of claim 20 , wherein said arrangements substantially comply with the following equation:
D=W /sin( e )
wherein D represents distance between said axes, e represents said elevation angle, and W represents width of each antenna arrangement.
22. The antenna system according to claim 17 , wherein said arrangements provide either or both of transmit and receive modes.
23. The antenna system according to claim 17 , wherein each one of said antenna arrangements comprises more than one planar element array antenna module.
24. The antenna system according to claim 23 , wherein said planar element array antenna modules are planar phased array antenna modules.
25. The antenna system of claim 17 , wherein said target is a selected satellite, and wherein said antenna is configured to be fitted on a mobile vehicle for communicating with satellite signals during stationary and moving states of said vehicle.
26. The antenna system according to claim 25 , wherein said vehicle is any of: train, bus, SUV, RV, boat and car.
27. The antenna system of claim 17 , wherein said target is a selected satellite, and wherein said antenna is configured to be fitted on an aircraft for communicating with satellite signals during stationary and moving states thereof.
28. The antenna system of claim 17 , wherein antenna gain and side lobe levels are maintained within a predefined range for any elevation angle within a predefined range of elevation angles.
29. The antenna system according to claim 28 , wherein the antenna gain and side lobe levels are maintained substantially the same for any elevation angle within a predefined range of elevation angles.
30. The antenna system of claim 17 , wherein spacing between axes and corresponding elevation angles is selected to optimize gain and side lobes for a whole field of view.
31. The antenna system of claim 17 , wherein spacing between the axes and respective elevation angles is fixed to optimize projections towards the target for certain elevation angles.
32. The antenna system of claim 17 , wherein said antenna system is configured to be fitted on an aircraft or mobile vehicle.