US 12,218,435 B2
Multi-beam on receive electronically-steerable antenna
Angelo Aprile, Pomezia (IT); Giorgio Isella, Pomezia (IT); and Eleonora Troysi, Pomezia (IT)
Assigned to LEONARDO S.P.A., Rome (IT)
Appl. No. 17/616,984
Filed by LEONARDO S.P.A., Rome (IT)
PCT Filed Dec. 18, 2020, PCT No. PCT/IB2020/062195
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 6, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2021/124256, PCT Pub. Date Jun. 24, 2021.
Claims priority of application No. 102019000024577 (IT), filed on Dec. 18, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0344809 A1, Oct. 27, 2022
Int. Cl. H01Q 25/00 (2006.01); H01Q 3/34 (2006.01); H01Q 21/22 (2006.01)
CPC H01Q 3/34 (2013.01) [H01Q 21/22 (2013.01); H01Q 25/002 (2013.01)] 16 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A planar or quasi-planar Multi-Beam on Receive Electronically Steerable Antenna (MBR ESA) comprising:
a transmit (Tx) array comprising a phased array of Tx antenna elements and having, in a Tx array plane, a first geometric aperture with one or more first pairs of parallel opposite sides;
a receive (Rx) array comprising a phased array of Rx antenna elements and having, in an Rx array plane either coplanar with or parallel to the Tx array plane, a second geometric aperture with one or more second pairs of parallel opposite sides;
the first geometric aperture of the Tx array is rotated relative to the second geometric aperture of the Rx array to such an extent that one or more first pairs of parallel opposite sides of the first geometric aperture of the Tx array are inclined or tilted relative to one or more second pairs of parallel opposite sides of the second geometric aperture of the Rx array by a non-zero angle other than, in particular lower than, 90°;
the MBR ESA further comprises an Antenna Controller designed to cause the Tx antenna elements to transmit an RF Tx beam having a Tx pattern with a wide Tx beamwidth, and the Rx antenna elements to simultaneously receive multiple RF beams processable to simultaneously synthesize multiple Rx beams from the multiple RF beams, the multiple Rx beams having Rx patterns with Rx beamwidths individually narrower than the Tx beamwidth;
a number of Tx antenna elements is lower than a number of Rx antenna elements;
the Tx beam has a lower directivity than individual ones of the multiple Rx beams so as to result in the Tx beam having a wider azimuthal and/or elevational beamwidth than the individual ones of the multiple Rx beams; and
the Tx array has a gain lower than the Rx array.