Planar ultrawideband modular antenna array having improved bandwidth

1. A planar ultrawideband modular antenna (PUMA) array comprising

an unbalanced RF interface;

a dual-offset dual-polarized lattice of horizontal dipole segments directly fed with the unbalanced RF interface; and

a metallic plate capacitively-coupled to the lattice of horizontal dipole segments and pinned to a ground plane with a first plated via.

2. The PUMA array of claim 1 wherein the metallic plate is registered below the lattice of horizontal dipole segments.

3. The PUMA array of claim 1 wherein the dual-offset dual-polarized lattice of horizontal dipole segments includes a first plurality of horizontal dipole segments and a second plurality of horizontal dipole segments, each horizontal dipole segment of the first plurality of horizontal dipole segments being connected to the unbalanced RF interface by a second plated via, and each horizontal dipole segment of the second plurality of horizontal dipole segments being directly connected to the ground plane by a third plated via, the second and third plated vias providing a feed transmission line to excite the dual-offset dual-polarized lattice of horizontal dipole segments.

4. The PUMA array of claim 3 further comprising:

a multi-layer substrate having a first planar surface and an opposing second planar surface, the ground plane being disposed on the first planar surface and the first and second pluralities of horizontal dipole segments being disposed on the second planar surface such that the multi-layer substrate is sandwiched between the dual-offset dual-polarized lattice of horizontal dipole segments and the ground plane, the second and third plated vias extending through the multi-layer substrate.

5. The PUMA array of claim 4 wherein a thickness of the multi-layer substrate is selected such that the first and second pluralities of horizontal dipole segments are separated from the ground plane by a distance of approximately one quarter of a wavelength at a highest operating frequency of the PUMA array.

6. The PUMA array of claim 4 further comprising a plurality of superstrate dielectric layers disposed over the dual-offset dual-polarized lattice of horizontal dipole segments.

7. The PUMA array of claim 4 wherein the multi-layer substrate includes a first dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer disposed above the first dielectric layer, and a third dielectric layer disposed above the second dielectric layer, the first surface being a lower surface of the first dielectric layer, and the second surface being an upper surface of the third dielectric layer.

8. The PUMA array of claim 7 further comprising a first pair of ribs electrically connected to the second plated via and a second pair of ribs electrically connected to the third plated via, the first and second pairs of ribs being oriented to face towards one another, and each of the first and second pairs of ribs including a first rib disposed on an upper surface of the first dielectric layer and a second rib disposed on an upper surface of the second dielectric layer.

9. The PUMA array of claim 3 further comprising a first plurality of horizontal metallic ribs electrically connected to the second plated via, and a second plurality of horizontal metallic ribs electrically connected to the third plated via, the first and second pluralities of horizontal metallic ribs being oriented to face towards one another.

10. The PUMA array of claim 3 wherein each horizontal dipole segment of the first plurality of horizontal dipole segments is larger than each horizontal dipole segment of the second plurality of horizontal dipole segments.

11. The PUMA array of claim 1 wherein the metallic plate has a shape that is one of square, rectangular, circular, oval, and double tip asymmetric ogive.

12. The PUMA array of claim 1 wherein the metallic plate is centered below the lattice of horizontal dipole segments.