US 12,482,955 B1
Integrated antenna system with corporate feed network and antenna array
Andrew L. Casperson, Charleston, SC (US); and Anthony J. Jensen, Thornton, CO (US)
Assigned to FIRST RF Corporation, Boulder, CO (US)
Filed by FIRST RF Corporation, Boulder, CO (US)
Filed on Nov. 7, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/982,180.
Int. Cl. H01Q 21/06 (2006.01); H01Q 5/371 (2015.01); H01Q 9/04 (2006.01); H01Q 21/22 (2006.01)
CPC H01Q 21/065 (2013.01) [H01Q 5/371 (2015.01); H01Q 9/0421 (2013.01); H01Q 21/22 (2013.01)] 32 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. An integrated antenna system, comprising:
a first patch, a second patch, and one or more internal patches comprising electrically conductive material, each of the first patch, second patch, and one or more internal patches having a radiator sub-patch and a feed-network sub-patch;
wherein:
the first patch, second patch, and one or more internal patches are co-planar;
the one or more radiator sub-patches of the one or more internal patches are located between the radiator sub-patches of the first and second patches to form an array of tapered-slot antenna elements;
the radiator sub-patch of each internal patch, of the one or more internal patches, tightly couples a neighboring pair of the tapered-slot antenna elements;
the first patch, second patch, and one or more internal patches are electrically isolated from each other;
the radiator sub-patches of the first patch, second patch, and one or more internal patches have no spatial overlap;
the feed-network sub-patches of the first and second patches are positioned to form an initial gap therebetween and cooperate with the initial gap to create an initial transmission line; and
the feed-network sub-patches of the first patch, second patch, and one or more internal patches further form a corporate feed network that is fed by the initial transmission line and feeds the array of tapered-slot antenna elements.