BROADBAND WAVEGUIDE TO DUAL-COAXIAL TRANSITION
Improved waveguides, transitions, and conductors for propagating electromagnetic energy. A device includes a waveguide port, two or more coaxial waveguides, and a transition disposed between the waveguide port and the two or more coaxial waveguides. The transition combines or divides electromagnetic energy propagating between the waveguide port and the two or more coaxial waveguides.
1 . A device comprising:
a waveguide port;
two or more coaxial waveguides; and
a transition disposed between the waveguide port and the two or more coaxial waveguides, wherein the transition combines or divides electromagnetic energy.
2 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the transition combines or divides the electromagnetic energy based on a direction of the electromagnetic energy propagating through the device, and wherein:
the transition combines the electromagnetic energy propagating from the two or more coaxial waveguides through the transition to the waveguide port; and
the transition divides the electromagnetic energy propagating from the waveguide port through the transition to the two or more coaxial waveguides.
3 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the transition is an impedance transition and comprises one or more impedance matching elements.
4 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the transition is an impedance transition and comprises a plurality of impedance matching elements, and wherein two or more of the plurality of impedance matching elements are mirror images of one another.
5 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the waveguide port is a hollow waveguide port and is configured to connect to a hollow waveguide configured to propagate the electromagnetic energy.
6 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the two or more coaxial waveguides are spaced apart from one another with spacing less than or equal to one wavelength of the working frequency to allow for an antenna element to be disposed between the two or more coaxial waveguides.
7 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the two or more coaxial waveguides are spaced apart from one another with spacing less than or equal to 0 . 5 wavelengths of the working frequency to allow for an electronic scan over a working bandwidth.
8 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more coaxial waveguides comprises an inner conductor and/or an outer conductor with a rectangular cross-sectional geometry.
9 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more coaxial waveguides comprises an inner conductor and/or an outer conductor with an elliptical cross-sectional geometry.
10 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more coaxial waveguides comprises a twin-wire balanced coaxial waveguide inner conductor for feeding a twin-wire balanced coaxial antenna array radiating element.
11 . The device of claim 10 , wherein the twin-wire balanced coaxial waveguide inner conductor comprises a twin coaxial wire in a helical twist formation.
12 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the two or more coaxial waveguides comprise an orthogonal offset relative to one another such that a first coaxial waveguide port is oriented in a first orientation and a second coaxial waveguide port is oriented in a second orientation, and wherein the second orientation is orthogonal to the first orientation.
13 . The device of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the two or more coaxial waveguides comprises two inner conductor wires and a helical transition wherein the two inner conductor wires comprise a helical twist formation.
14 . The device of claim 13 , wherein the helical transition rotates the two wires to an orthogonal orientation such that a first end of the two wires is orthogonal relative to a second end of the two wires.
15 . The device of claim 1 , further comprising a hollow dual ridge waveguide, wherein the hollow dual ridge waveguide comprises a taper to support transition of the electromagnetic energy from the hollow dual ridge waveguide to the transition.
16 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the transition comprises an offset such that the transition operates in one or more of an E-plane or an H-plane of an antenna array radiating element.
17 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the transition is constructed of metal using metal additive manufacturing.
18 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the two or more coaxial waveguides are configured to receive the electromagnetic energy from a radiating element of an antenna, and wherein the transition is configured to transition the electromagnetic energy from the radiating element of the antenna to a low loss passive hollow waveguide combiner.
19 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the transition is configured to transition the electromagnetic energy from a TE10 mode of a hollow single ridge waveguide or a hollow dual ridge waveguide to a transverse electromagnetic (TEM) mode of a coaxial waveguide or a twin-wire balanced coaxial waveguide mode.
20 . The device of claim 1 , wherein each of the waveguide port, the two or more coaxial waveguides, and the transition is constructed with metal additive manufacturing techniques and comprises a single combined unit.
21 - 22 . (canceled)