Six degrees of freedom ground exploiting vector sensor antenna (6Ge antenna)
An antenna comprising: a ground plane having a center; six receive ports mounted to the ground plane in a circular configuration around the center and separated from each other by approximately 60 degrees; three conductive half-loops, disposed in mutually orthogonal planes, wherein each half-loop has two ends that are connected to separate receive ports; and three 180° hybrids, each 180° hybrid having two input ports, a delta output port, and a sum output port, wherein the two input ports of each 180° hybrid are connected to the two receive ports of one of the half-loops.
1. An antenna comprising:
a ground plane having a center;
six receive ports mounted to the ground plane in a circular configuration around the center and separated from each other by approximately 60 degrees;
three conductive half-loops, each respectively disposed in one of three mutually orthogonal planes, wherein each half-loop has two ends and wherein each end is respectively connected to one of the six receive ports; and
three 180° hybrids, each 180° hybrid having two input ports, a delta output port, and a sum output port, wherein the two input ports of each 180° hybrid are respectively connected to the two receive ports of one of the half-loops.
2. The antenna of claim 1 , further comprising six 4:1 impedance transformers, one of which connected between each receive port and corresponding input port.
3. The antenna of claim 2 , wherein each of the 4:1 impedance transformers is an unbalanced-unbalanced transformer.
4. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein each half-loop is a half-octagon.
5. The antenna of claim 4 , wherein each half-loop has a 0.5 meter radius.
6. The antenna of claim 5 , wherein each half-loop is made of copper tubing having a 1.254 cm diameter.
7. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein each half-loop is a half-circle.
8. The antenna of claim 1 , wherein the half-loops are positioned such that they do not touch each other.
9. The antenna of claim 1 wherein each of the three mutually orthogonal planes is approximately positioned at a 54° angle from the ground plane.
10. An antenna comprising:
a ground plane having a center;
six receive ports mounted to the ground plane in a circular configuration around the center and separated from each other by approximately 60 degrees;
three conductive half-loops, each respectively disposed in one of three mutually orthogonal planes, wherein each half-loop has two ends and wherein each end is respectively connected to one of the six receive ports;
three 180° hybrids, each 180° hybrid having two input ports, a delta output port, and a sum output port, wherein the two input ports of each 180° hybrid are respectively connected to the two receive ports of one of the half-loops;
six 4:1 impedance transformers, one of which connected between each receive port and corresponding input port; and
six low noise amplifiers (LNAs), each LNA being connected to a respective delta output port or sum output port such that every delta output port and every sum output port is connected to a corresponding LNA, and wherein an output of each LNA is provided to a separate receiver.
11. The antenna of claim 10 , wherein each 4:1 impedance transformer is connected to its corresponding input port via a 0.5 meter cable, each sum output port is connected to its corresponding LNA via a 2 meter cable, each delta output port is connected to its corresponding LNA via a 2 meter cable, and the output of each LNA is provided to its corresponding receiver via a 30 meter cable.
12. An antenna comprising:
a ground plane having a center;
six receive ports mounted to the ground plane in a circular configuration about the center and separated from each other by approximately 60 degrees, each receive port having an impedance;
three conductive, ground symmetric half-loops, disposed in mutually orthogonal planes in which each half-loop is approximately positioned at a 54° angle from the ground plane, wherein each half-loop has two ends, and each end is connected to a separate receive port;
six transformers, one connected to every receive port;
three 180° hybrids, one for every half-loop, each 180° hybrid having an impedance, two input ports, a delta output port, and a sum output port, wherein the two input ports of each 180° hybrid are connected to the two transformers that are connected to the two receive ports of one of the half-loops, and wherein each transformer is configured to transform the impedance of the receive port to match the impedance of the 180° hybrid to which each transformer is connected;
six low noise amplifiers (LNAs), wherein each delta output port and sum output port is connected to a different LNA, wherein each LNA is configured to produce an amplified signal; and
six receivers, wherein each receiver is configured to receive the amplified signal from one of the six LNAs.
13. The antenna of claim 12 , wherein the transformers are 4:1 impedance transformers.
14. The antenna of claim 13 , wherein each of the 4:1 impedance transformers is an unbalanced-unbalanced transformer.
15. The antenna of claim 14 , wherein each 4:1 impedance transformer is connected to its corresponding input port via a 0.5 meter cable, each sum output port is connected to its corresponding LNA via a 2 meter cable, each delta output port is connected to its corresponding LNA via a 2 meter cable, and the amplified signal of each LNA is provided to its corresponding receiver via a 30 meter cable.
16. The antenna of claim 12 , wherein each half-loop is a half-octagon.
17. The antenna of claim 12 , wherein each half-loop is a half-circle.
18. The antenna of claim 17 , wherein each half-loop has a 0.5 meter radius.
19. The antenna of claim 18 , wherein each half-loop is made of copper tubing having a 1.254 cm diameter.
20. The antenna of claim 12 , wherein the half-loops are positioned such that they do not touch each other.