Granted Patent B2

US 12,614,856 · App. 18/212,138 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Inventors: Cagdas Varel (Seattle, WA); Steven Howard Linn (Hillsboro, OR)

Assignee: Kymeta Corporation

H01Q15/0086H01Q21/0056H01Q21/061H01Q21/08

Abstract

Claims (33)

1 . An antenna comprising:

an antenna aperture having a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) radiating antenna elements located in a plurality of rings; and

matrix drive circuitry coupled to the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements to drive the antenna elements, wherein the matrix drive circuitry to uniquely address each of the antenna elements using a matrix of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, and further wherein the plurality of rows is coupled to a first number of antenna elements of the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements and the plurality of columns is coupled to a second number of antenna elements of the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements, where the first and second numbers are different,

wherein rings in the plurality of rings are equal in number to a number of rows in the plurality of rows, and wherein the plurality of columns is equal in number to a sum of:

a product of two times the number of rows and

three.

2 . The antenna of claim 1 wherein each row of the plurality of rows is longer than each column in the plurality of columns.

3 . The antenna of claim 1 wherein the plurality of RF radiating elements comprise metamaterial RF radiating antenna elements.

4 . An antenna comprising:

an antenna aperture having a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) radiating antenna elements located in a plurality of rings; and

matrix drive circuitry coupled to the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements to drive the antenna elements, wherein the matrix drive circuitry to uniquely address each of the antenna elements using a matrix of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, and further wherein the plurality of rows is coupled to a first number of antenna elements of the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements and the plurality of columns is coupled to a second number of antenna elements of the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements, where the first and second numbers are different,

wherein the plurality of rows comprises a number of rings in the plurality of rings and the plurality of columns comprises

a sum of

the number of elements in the inner most ring of the plurality of rings and

a product of two times a result of subtracting one from the number of rings.

5 . A method for laying out matrix drive circuitry for use in an antenna having a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) radiating antenna elements located in a plurality of rings, the matrix drive circuitry to uniquely address each of the antenna elements using a matrix of a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, the method comprising:

determining a number of rows in the plurality of rows and a number of columns in the plurality of columns, and wherein the number of rows is equal in number to a number of rings in the plurality of rings, and wherein the number of columns is equal in number to a sum of:

a product of two times the number of rows and

three;

determining a number of antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements to be coupled to each column in the plurality of columns;

determining antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements to be coupled to each column in the plurality of columns; and

determining antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements to be coupled to each row in the plurality of rows.

6 . The method of claim 5 wherein determining the element number for each column in the plurality of columns comprises setting the element number equal to a total number of rings in the plurality of rings.

7 . The method of claim 5 wherein determining antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements to be coupled to each column in the plurality of columns comprises assigning columns along grid lines and/or diagonally to have same number of elements on all columns.

8 . The method of claim 5 wherein determining antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements to be coupled to each row in the plurality of rows comprises assigning rows along grid lines and/or diagonally to have a same number of elements on all rows.

9 . The method of claim 5 wherein the plurality of columns and plurality of rows are addressed with a non-grid addressing structure, and wherein determining antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements to be coupled to each column in the plurality of columns and determining antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements to be coupled to each row in the plurality of rows are performed based on an grid locations in an x-y grid.

10 . The method of claim 9 wherein determining the antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements to be coupled to each row in the plurality of rows comprises:

(a) assigning a row number from the antenna element with the lowest grid-y within the unassigned antenna elements for each row;

(b) connecting the Nth element of each column to the same row;

(c) connecting a closest Nth element on any column to a current location;

(d) moving a location of the new element on the row and determining a closest Nth antenna element on any column;

(e) connecting and moving until the Nth antenna elements on all columns are assigned; and

(f) assigning row N+1 from the antenna element with the lowest grid-y within the unassigned antenna elements and repeat (b)-(e) until all antenna elements are assigned to a row.

Assignments (3)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (37)