Meta-structure based reflectarrays for enhanced wireless applications

1. A reflectarray antenna for enhanced wireless applications, the reflectarray antenna comprising:

a ground conductive plane;

a dielectric substrate coupled to the ground conductive plane; and

a patterned conductive plane coupled to the dielectric substrate and comprising an array of cells in a predetermined configuration that is able to generate an antenna gain,

wherein a first cell in the array of cells comprises a rectangular reflector element, a second cell in the array of cells comprises a dipole reflector element, and a third cell in the array of cells comprises a hexagonal reflector element, and

wherein each cell in the array of cells is configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) signal and to generate an RF return beam and reflect the RF signal along a predetermined direction.

2. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , wherein the antenna gain represents a passive constructive behavior of RF return beams emitted by the array of cells.

3. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined configuration is based on a link budget determination.

4. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , wherein the rectangular reflector element has dimensions different from dimensions of the dipole reflector element.

5. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , wherein the array of cells further comprises a fourth cell, the fourth cell having a reflector element with a shape and dimensions that are different from those of the rectangular reflector element and the dipole reflector element.

6. The reflectarray antenna of claim 5 , wherein the reflector element of the fourth cell comprises one of a square shape, a trapezoid shape, or a dot shape.

7. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , wherein the rectangular reflector element and the dipole reflector element each comprise a meta-structure (MTS) reflector element.

8. The reflectarray antenna of claim 4 , wherein the dimensions of the rectangular reflector element are ⅓ of a wavelength of the received RF signal or the reflected RF signal.

9. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , further comprising:

a removable cover that is non-permanently coupled to the patterned conductive plane.

10. The reflectarray antenna of claim 9 , wherein the removable cover includes content on an outer surface of the cover, the content comprising one or more of a message associated with a roadway navigation or an advertisement.

11. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , further comprising:

a mounting plane coupled to a first surface of the ground conductive plane, the ground conductive plane having a second surface coupled to the dielectric substrate.

12. The reflectarray antenna of claim 11 , further comprising:

a rotation unit coupled to the mounting plane and configured for adjusting an orientation of the reflectarray antenna in one or more directions.

13. The reflectarray antenna of claim 12 , wherein the rotation unit is powered and controlled by a control circuit coupled to the rotation unit or by a solar cell coupled to the rotation unit.

14. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , wherein each of the patterned conductive plane, the ground conductive plane and the dielectric substrate includes a bendable printed circuit board material that allows the reflectarray antenna to conform its shape to a non-planar surface when mounted to the non-planar surface.

15. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , wherein the patterned conductive plane comprises a plurality of subarrays configured to redirect the received RF signal in respective ones of a plurality of directions.

16. A stackable reflectarray structure comprising a plurality of stackable reflectarrays having at least one layer of removable reflectarrays, wherein the plurality of stackable reflectarrays comprises the reflectarray antenna of claim 1 .

17. The reflectarray antenna of claim 11 , wherein the mounting plane is non-permanently fastened to a surface via one or more fasteners.

18. The reflectarray antenna of claim 1 , wherein the array of cells further comprises a third cell, the third cell comprising a hexagonal reflector element.

19. A reflectarray antenna, comprising:

a dielectric substrate; and

a patterned conductive plane coupled to the dielectric substrate and comprising an array of cells in a predetermined configuration that is able to generate an antenna gain,

wherein a first cell in the array of cells comprises a rectangular reflector element, a second cell in the array of cells comprises a dot reflector element, and a third cell in the array of cells comprises a hexagonal reflector element, and

wherein each cell in the array of cells is configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) signal and to generate an RF return beam and reflect the RF signal along a predetermined direction.

20. A stackable reflectarray antenna, comprising:

a plurality of reflectarray antennas disposed in a stack configuration, wherein each reflectarray antenna in the plurality of reflectarray antennas comprises:

a dielectric substrate; and

a patterned conductive plane coupled to the dielectric substrate and comprising an array of cells in a predetermined arrangement configured to generate an antenna gain,

wherein a first cell in the array of cells comprises a rectangular reflector element, a second cell in the array of cells comprises a dipole reflector element, and a third cell in the array of cells comprises a hexagonal reflector element, and

wherein each cell in the array of cells is configured to receive a radio frequency (RF) signal and to generate an RF return beam and reflect the RF signal along a predetermined direction.