U.S. patent number 3,866,233 [Application Number 05/395,868] was granted by the patent office on 1975-02-11 for dish antenna having switchable beamwidth.
This patent grant is currently assigned to The United States of America as represented by the National Aeronautics. Invention is credited to Richard F. Schmidt.
United States Patent |
3,866,233 |
Schmidt |
February 11, 1975 |
DISH ANTENNA HAVING SWITCHABLE BEAMWIDTH
Abstract
A switchable beamwidth antenna includes a concave parabolic main
reflecting dish which has a central circular region and a
surrounding coaxial annular region. A feed means selectively
excites only the central region of the main dish via a truncated
subreflector for wide beamwidth or substantially the entire main
dish for narrow beamwidth. In one embodiment, the feed means
comprises a truncated concave ellipsoid subreflector and separate
feed terminations located at two foci of the ellipsoid. One feed
termination directly views all of the main dish while the other
feed termination, exciting the main dish via the subreflector,
excites only the central region because of the subreflector
truncation. In the another embodiment, the feed means comprises one
feed termination and a convex hyperboloid subreflector via which
the feed excites the main dish. The subreflector has a fixed
central region via which the feed termination excites the central
region of the main reflector and a retractable surrounding annular
region via which the feed termination excites the annular region of
the main reflector. Beamwidth switching is effected by retracting
the annular region to truncate the subreflector.
Inventors: |
Schmidt; Richard F. (Seabrook,
MD) |
Assignee: |
The United States of America as
represented by the National Aeronautics (Washington,
DC)
|
Family
ID: |
23564878 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/395,868 |
Filed: |
September 10, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
343/761; 343/837;
343/781R |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01Q
3/16 (20130101); H01Q 25/002 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01Q
3/16 (20060101); H01Q 25/00 (20060101); H01Q
3/00 (20060101); H01q 019/14 () |
Field of
Search: |
;343/779,781,840,761,837 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Andrew Corp.; "Microwave Journal," Dec. 1966, p. 94..
|
Primary Examiner: Lieberman; Eli
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Kempf; Robert F. Manning; John
R.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A switchable beamwidth antenna having a wide beamwidth state and
a narrow beamwidth state at a single predetermined frequency, said
beamwith state being responsive to a beamwidth selection command
source comprising:
a main reflecting dish having a boresight axis and a direction of
view along said axis, wherein said dish may be divided with an
imaginary contour coaxial with the boresight axis into a central
portion and an outer portion bordering the central portion; and
single frequency means responsive to the beamwidth selection
command source, exciting substantially only the central portion of
the main dish in the wide beamwidth state, and for exciting both
the central and outer portions of the main dish in the narrow
beamwidth state, said exciting means including a reducible
subreflector defining in the reduced state a truncated subreflector
for exciting only the central portion of the main dish so as to
achieve the wide beamwidth state.
2. The antenna of claim 1 wherein said exciting means
comprises:
a feed positioned to view in the same direction as the main
dish;
a subreflector facing the main dish, said subreflector comprising
the truncated subreflector which is a fixed reflecting central
portion via which the central portion of the main dish is excited
by the feed and a retractable outer reflection portion via which
the outer central portion of the main dish is excited by the feed
only in the narrow beamwidth state; and
means for retracting the outer portion of the subreflector, said
means including an actuator responsive to the beamwidth selection
command.
3. The antenna of claim 2 wherein said main dish is a concave
paraboloid having a focal point in front of the dish; said
subreflector is a convex hyperboloid having first and second
conjugate foci coaxial with the main dish, and said hyperboloid is
located with the first focus at the main dish focal point; said
outer retractable portion of said subreflector is annular in shape
and continuous with said central portion prior to its retraction;
and said subreflector is coaxial with the dish and located at
second focus.
4. The antenna of claim 3 wherein said retracting means comprises
means for axially moving the outer portion of the subreflector.
5. The antenna of claim 4 wherein said retracting means comprises
means for axially moving said subreflector at least four
wavelengths at said single frequency.
6. The antenna of claim 3 wherein said retracting means comprises
means for rotating the outer portion of the reflector surface about
an axis substantially perpendicular to the main dish axis.
7. The antenna of claim 3 wherein said outer portion of said
subreflector is an iris annulus having a retracted position
overlapping the central portion of the subreflector and wherein
said retraction means comprises a motor for axially rotating the
iris.
Description
ORIGIN OF THE INVENTION
The invention described herein was made by an employee of the
United States Government and may be manufactured and used by or for
the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any
royalties thereon or therefor.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates generally to switchable beamwidth or zoomable
antennas and more particularly to a switchable beamwidth antenna
employing a common main reflecting dish operable in at least two
different beamwidth modes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The need frequently arises to augment narrow beamwidth (narrow
field of view) transmitting and/or receiving antennas with a wide
beamwidth "acquisition" mode. Since it is well known that antennas
are reciprocal, having the same characteristics for transmitting as
for receiving, the meaning of "acquisition" shall be detailed with
respect to a receiving antenna with the understanding that
"acquisition" for narrow beamwidth transmitting antennas and for
narrow beamwidth transmitting/receiving antennas such as a radar,
is substantially similar.
In the case of a narrow beamwidth (also referred to as "high
antenna gain") receiving antenna there is great difficulty in
pointing the antenna's narrow field of view in the direction of a
transmitting station which must be done in order for the antenna to
receive. If, at the sacrifice of antenna gain or efficiency, the
antenna is initially switched to a wide field of view (wide
beamwidth), the antenna is more easily pointed to subtend the
transmitting station in the wide field of view. Then, an indication
of pointing error may be derived by simultaneous lobing techniques,
for example, to more precisely point the antenna. Once the antenna
is pointed so that the transmitting station would be in its narrow
field of view, "acquisition" is said to have occurred and the
antenna may be switched to its narrow beamwidth mode to take
advantage of greater antenna gain or efficiency. This narrow
beamwidth may then be maintained, subtending the transmitting
station (or "tracking") by simultaneous lobing techniques. Similar
acquisition may be done to point a radar antenna at a target or a
transmitting antenna at a receiving station.
The acquisition problem is particularly acute for narrow beamwidth
antennas having large main reflector dishes of the type considered
by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for Tracking
and Date Relay Satellites to relay to earth the data collected from
orbiting earth observation satellites. These antennas, operating at
15 Gigahertz, would have a main dish on the order of 17.5 feet in
diameter with a consequent narrow beamwidth of only 0.3.degree..
Initial pointing of the narrow beamwidth antenna of the Data Relay
Satellite toward an Earth Observation Satellite would be quite
difficult to achieve because of significant relative motion between
these satellites. Thus, a means for increasing the beamwidth of the
antenna to effect "acquisition" is required.
Numerous techniques were considered and found to be
unsatisfactory.
In one technique either a feed or a subreflector is axially shifted
in position to defocus the antenna. This technique is not
acceptable because, though the beamwidth is generally widened, the
antenna pattern amplitude and phase characteristics are distorted.
In another technique, a polarization sensitive grating is placed in
front of the main dish to serve as a smaller main dish for a wide
beamwidth mode. This grating, though smaller than the dish, is
sufficiently forward to intercept all radiation coming from a feed.
The grating passes, for example, vertically polarized radiation to
the main dish, producing a narrow beamwidth but reflects horizontal
polarization producing wider beamwidth. Thus, beamwidth can be
switched by switching feed polarization. This technique suffers
from restrictions on feed polarization; in particular, it does not
permit the use of circular polarization which has both horizontal
and vertical polarization components.
Another technique for increasing the beamwidth of the antenna is to
change the frequency of operation. Since beamwidth is inversely
proportional to the area of the main dish measured in wavelengths,
the beamwidth may be decreased by decreasing frequency (increasing
wavelength). This is an undesirable antenna system complication for
satellite users which may also necessitate additional antenna feeds
and consequent increased blockage of the satellite main dish, which
causes a decreased antenna gain or efficientcy of the antenna.
Moreover, it is desirable to interface with existing user single
frequency equipment.
Still another technique for increasing beamwidth is to provide two
feeds at one feed point with one feed exciting the entire main
reflector for narrow beamwidth and a second feed exciting a smaller
region of the main reflector for wide beamwidth. There are many
difficulties with this approach the chief one being that if the
second feed is to be sufficiently directive to excite only a
portion of the main reflector, it would have to be geometrically
large; such a large feed would significantly increase blockage of
the main dish reflector decreasing antenna gain or efficiency.
Furthermore, there are obvious difficulties in placing two feeds at
the same point; the second feed must be displaced from the antenna
axis if the first feed is located on the axis. It is desirable to
have the capability of positioning the feed or feeds in both wide
and narrow beamwidth modes on the axis of the antenna.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and
improved switchable beamwidth antenna in which beamwidth switching
is independent of feed polarization, feed directivity, or feed
frequency.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a new
and improved switchable beamwidth antenna employing a main
reflecting dish and feed therefor with a narrow beamwidth mode and
a wide beamwidth acquisition mode wherein the feed or feeds in both
modes can excite the main reflecting dish from the antenna
axis.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a
new and improved switchable beamwidth antenna allowing flexibility
in feed design, for example, permitting the use of electronically
or mechanically scanned feed arrays for scanning the viewing
direction of the antenna.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention includes a switchable beamwidth antenna
having a main reflecting concave parabolic dish and feed means
effectively at a focal point on the dish boresight axis. Since the
beamwidth of an antenna of this type is inversely proportional to
the main dish area, the beamwidth can be increased by operatively
using only a portion of the main dish. For wide beamwidth
operation, the feed means excites only a central circular region of
the main dish via a truncated subreflector while for the narrow
beamwidth mode the entire dish is excited by the feed.
The invention has two main embodiments.
In the first embodiment a Cassegrain configuration is provided by a
convex hyperbolic subreflector having an outer annular region that
is selectively translated along the main dish boresight axis to
excite different areas of the main dish in response to excitation
from a single feed also located on the boresight axis of the main
dish. The outer annular region is translated to an "out of focus"
position in the wide beamwidth mode so that only a central circular
region of the subreflector is operable for exciting the main dish.
Since there is a substantially one to one mapping between the
radiation on the subreflector and radiation on the main reflector,
the feed cannot view the outer annular region of the main dish.
Under such conditions it is said that the subreflector is
"truncated." Hence only the central region of the main dish is
effectively operative and the beamwidth of the antenna is
consequently increased. Thus in the first embodiment, beamwidth
switching is accomplished by mechanically truncating the
subreflector.
In a second embodiment, electrical beam switching attained by
providing a Gregorian configuration wherein a truncated concave
ellipsoid subreflector has a major axis located on the boresight
axis of the parabolic dish. The ellipsoid subreflector has two foci
in front of the subreflector, whereby the subreflector focus
nearest the subreflector is coincident with the focus of the main
dish. A separate feed is provided at each subreflector focus and
may be selectively activated to provide beam switching. A first
feed, located at the main dish focal point, faces the main dish and
excites its entire surface. The second feed, located at the focus
of the ellipsoid furthest from the subreflector, faces the
subreflector and excites the main dish via the subreflector. The
ellipsoid has the characteristic that a real image of the second
feed is formed at its nearer focus whereby, to the main dish, the
second feed also appears to be at the focus of the main dish.
Because of the effective truncation or reduction in size of the
ellipsoid subreflector, the second feed excites only a central
region of the main dish via the subreflector.
The above and still further objects, features, and advantages of
the present invention will become apparent upon consideration of
the following detailed description of several specific embodiments
thereof, especially where taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawing.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING
FIG. 1 is a front view of a main dish of the antenna.
FIG. 2 is a schematic drawing in cross-section of a first
embodiment of the switchable beamwidth antenna having a main dish
and a partially retractable subreflector wherein the antenna is
shown in the narrow beamwidth mode;
FIG. 3 is similar to FIG. 2, but with the antenna in the wide
beamwidth mode;
FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing in cross-section of a second
embodiment of the switchable beamwidth antenna having a main dish
and a truncated subreflector, wherein the antenna is shown in the
narrow beamwidth mode;
FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration of the second embodiment of FIG.
4 in the wide beamwidth mode;
FIG. 6 is a schematic drawing in cross-section of a first
embodiment for partially retracting the subreflector of FIGS. 2 and
3;
FIG. 7 is a schematic drawing in cross-section of a second
embodiment for partially retracting the subreflector of FIGS. 2 and
3;
FIG. 8 is a schematic drawing in front view of a third embodiment
for partially retracting the subreflector of FIGS. 2 and 3;
FIG. 9 is a design graph indicating the antenna beamwidth for the
second embodiment of the switchable beamwidth antenna in the wide
beamwidth mode of FIG. 5, versus the subreflector diameter (or
degree of truncation); and
FIG. 10 is a schematic drawing in front view of a multi-frequency
feed.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
In FIG. 1, the front view of a main dish 15 of an antenna is
illustrated as being divided by an imaginary circle into a central
circular region 16 and a surrounding annular region 18. The
inventive beamwidth switching antenna embodiments take advantage of
the realization that there is substantially a one to one mapping
between radiation on a subreflector and radiation on the main dish
15. If a feed excites, i.e., views or illuminates, the entire main
dish 15, a narrow beamwidth is produced, while if the feed excites
only the central region 16, a wide beamwidth pattern is derived. In
order for a feed which is not highly directive to excite only the
central region 16, the feed excites the main reflector via a
subreflector. In particular, this subreflector must be truncated or
reduced in size with respect to what its size would be in the usual
antenna configuration. The truncated subreflector can be achieved
by effectively removing an outer annular region which would
ordinarily be responsive to the radiation that maps into the outer
annular region 18 of the subreflector 15.
Referring to FIGS. 2-5, the inventive beamwidth switching antenna
embodiments will be described primarily by utilizing the principles
of geometric optics for ease of understanding. It should be
understood that geometric optics provide only an approximation and
that the more complex, more comprehensive principles of diffraction
theory must be occasionally referred to in order to fully describe
the invention. It should also be noted that antennas are reciprocal
devices having the same beamwidth characteristics for reception and
transmission. The description shall, for convenience only,
primarily describe the antenna of the invention as a transmitting
device, but it is to be understood that the term excitation refers
to either receiving or transmitting, as is the usual practice of
the art.
In FIGS. 2 and 3 there is illustrated a relatively large reflecting
concave paraboloid dish 15, a smaller convex hyperboloid
subreflector, and a feed 19 in Cassegrain configuration. The main
dish 15, subreflector 17, and feed 19 are coaxial with antenna
boresight axis 20, with subreflector 17 facing main dish 15 while
feed 19 faces the subreflector. The feed 19, supplied with
microwave radiation from source 21 via a conduit or waveguide 23,
illuminates subreflector 17 with a cone of radiations bounded by
rays 23a and 25a; the cone optimally subtends an angle
.theta..sub.1 to just illuminate the entire subreflector. This cone
of radiation is reflected by subreflector 17 toward the main dish
15. Due to the convexity of the main subreflector 17, the reflected
cone bounded by rays 23b and 25b, which impinge the main reflector
15, has an included angle .theta..sub.2 greater than .theta..sub.1
; this greater included angle should optimally just subtend the
main dish. Rays 23c and 25c define the cone of radiation reflected
from main dish 15 and transmitted down boresight axis 20. The
included angle of this finally transmitted cone of radiation or
beam is zero, relative to boresight axis 20, the transmitted rays
23c and 25c being parallel by geometric optic principles.
Paraboloid main dish 15 has a focal point 27 on axis 20 behind the
subreflector 17, whereby if dish 15 were illuminated directly from
this point, rays 23c and 25c would be parallel. Hyperboloid
subreflector 17 has two foci, one focus 29 in front of the
subreflector and one focus 31 in back. Back focus 31 is located at
the parabola focal point 27, whereby the radiation from the feed 19
appears to come from the back focal point to produce collimated or
parallel antenna output radiation. (If the back focus 31 were not
located at the main dish focal point 27, deep nulls would be
present in the antenna pattern because of defocusing.) Thus, a
virtual image of feed 19 is formed by the subreflector 17 at the
main dish focal point 27.
Although the output radiation appears parallel by geometric optical
principles, in fact, the exit beam actually diverges due to
diffraction. The beamwidth angle of this exit beam is inversely
proportional to the radius of the main dish 15 measured in
wavelengths at the operating frequency of the antenna.
The subreflector 17 is partitioned into a fixed central circular
region 33, coaxial with axis 20, and a retractable annular region
35 coaxially surrounding the central region. In response to a
beamwidth command signal 39, linear actuator 37 axially moves the
annular region 35 a distance "d" to an out of focus position,
preferably in back of the fixed central region 33. This movement
effects a broadening of the beamwidth of antenna 18. Radiation
within a reduced angle .theta..sub.3 of the cone of radiation from
feed 19 is intercepted by the fixed central region 33. The cone of
reduced angle, which just subtends the outer boundaries of the
subreflector central portion 33 is bounded by rays 43a and 45a.
Reflection of this cone of radiation by the subreflector causes a
cone of radiation with included angle .theta..sub.4 bounded by rays
43b and 45b to impinge on the main dish 15 at a reduced radius. The
outer annular region 18 of the main reflector is not illuminated.
The transmitted beam, bounded by rays 43c and 45c, appears to have
come from a smaller radius dish 15, i.e., from the central circular
region 16 of the main dish. There is thus an increase of beamwidth
given by diffraction theory due to a reduction of the apparent area
of main dish 15.
Rays 23a and 25a which do not strike any part of the subreflector
17 are negligible in the antenna far field because of low feed
directivity. Similarly, any rays (not shown) striking the retracted
annular region 35 of the subreflector cause diverging or
uncollimated rays to be reflected from the main dish. A computer
simulation, further discussed infra, has shown the retraction
distance "d" should be at least four wavelengths to preclude any
significant effect of the subreflector retracted annular region 35
on the resultant wide beamwidth antenna pattern.
FIGS. 4 and 5 are cross-sectional illustrations of a second
embodiment 49 of the switchable beamwidth antenna of the invention
wherein two feeds 51 and 53 and a truncated or reduced size concave
ellipsoid subreflector 55, located on the antenna boresight axis
20, cooperate with the main reflecting concave paraboloidal dish 15
in a Gregorian configuration. Feed 53 is located at the main dish
focal point 27 facing the main dish. In FIG. 4, source 21 supplies
the feed 53 with radio frequency or microwave radiation via conduit
23 and microwave switch 57 in response to a narrow beamwidth
command issued to switch 57. Feed 53 directly illuminates the main
dish 15 with a cone of radiation having the included angle
.theta..sub.2, bounded by rays 59a and 61a, which optimally just
illuminates the entire main dish. Upon reflection of this cone by
main dish 15, a collimated output beam, bounded by rays 59b and
61b, is produced having an initial large radius, equal to the dish
radius, and a corresponding narrow beamwidth given by diffraction
theory.
In FIG. 5, feed 51, facing the ellipsoidal subreflector 55,
illuminates the main dish via the subreflector to produce a wide
beamwidth. The ellipsoidal subreflector has a major axis that is
coincident with boresight axis 20, and on which lie a near focus 63
and a far focus 65 that are positioned between the concave sides of
the subreflector and main dish 15. The subreflector 55 is
positioned with its near focus 63 coincident with the main dish
focal point 27, and the feed 51 is positioned at the subreflector
far focus 65. Microwave source 21 supplies energy to feed 51 via
conduit 23 and switch 57 in response to a wide beamwidth command
issued to the switch 57. The feed 51 illuminates the subreflector
with a cone of radiation having a small included angle,
.theta..sub.5, which optimally just subtends the subreflector. This
cone of radiation is bounded by rays 67a and 69a. Due to the
concavity of the subreflector, the radiation reflected therefrom,
defined by rays 67b and 69b, goes through a focus at the
subreflector near focal point 63. Therefore, a cone of radiation
with included angle .theta..sub.4 aimed at the main reflector
appears to be initiated from the focal point 63. This cone of
radiation strikes the dish 15 at a reduced radius. A reduced radius
collimated beam bounded by rays 69c and 67c is produced because the
subreflector is truncated or of too small a size for the feed to
illuminate the outer annular region 18 of the main dish. To
illuminate the entire main reflector from feed 65 via subreflector
55, the subreflector would have to be larger by an annular region
71 (shown in FIG. 4, dashed). Thus, in this second embodiment,
beamwidth switching is accomplished by electrically switching
microwave excitation from source 21 between feed 53 for wide
beamwidth and feed 51 for narrow beamwidth.
Referring next to FIG. 6, a first embodiment 71 is shown for
retracting the outer annular region 35 of the hyperboloid
subreflector 17 of FIGS. 2 and 3. Subreflector 17 is spaced axially
from the main dish 15 by a spider or group of struts 73. Struts 73
hold the fixed central portion 33 of the subreflector and support
the mechanism for axially retracting the subreflector's annular
region 35. The central portion 33 of the subreflector has a front
convex reflecting surface 75 and a back substantially flat surface
77. The retractable, outer annular region 35 has a front flat
surface 79, corresponding to the flat surface 77 and a surrounding
convex annular region 81 which merges with convex surface 75 in the
non-retracted position. A rotary, reversible motor 89 is supported
by a cage 91, joined to struts 73. The motor 89, in response to
beamwidth command 39, axially moves the central region back surface
77 and the annular region 35 front surface 79 into abutment when
there is a narrow beamwidth command, and axially separates these
surfaces a distance d when there is a wide beamwidth command. This
axial movement or translation is effected by a worm 85 driven by
the motor at one end, and which is journaled at the other end in
bearing 87 at the back surface 77 of the fixed central region 33.
Worm 85 is threaded into a hole 95 in the center of annular region
35. To prevent rotation of annular region 35, it is keyed to the
cage 91 via holes 93 in the annular region.
FIG. 7 is an illustration of a second embodiment 93 for retracting
region 35 wherein region 35 is formed as a metallic hyperbaloidal
slice 79 that is hinged for rotation about axis 95, perpendicular
to axis 20. Axis 95 is located at an extreme of the annular surface
81. Motor 97 rotates annulus 79 about axis 95 in response to
beamwidth command 39. When a narrow beamwidth is commanded, surface
77 and 79 abut; when a broad beamwidth is commanded, these surfaces
are preferably separated by 90.degree.. Solenoid actuated catches
97 and 99, supported by extensions 101 and 103 of the struts 73,
retain the annulus 79 in the retracted or unretracted position.
When a change of beamwidth is commanded, both catches, also
responsive to beamwidth command 39, unlock to permit the rotation
of plate 79 by motor 97 to the commanded position.
In FIG. 8, still another embodiment 105 is shown for truncating the
subreflector 17 wherein region 35 is composed of a metal iris 107.
Iris 107 is axially rotated by a motor (not shown) between a
retracted position in which the iris, covering a portion of the
fixed central region 33, leaves the surrounding annular region 38
vacant, and an extended position where the iris 107 fills the
region 38.
With respect to the various techniques shown for truncating the
convex subreflector 17 to produce two beamwidth modes, it should be
understood that these techniques can be used to further truncate
the concave subreflector 55 of FIGS. 4 and 5 to produce three
beamwidth modes.
Practical dimensions for the inventive embodiments have been
determined in conjunction with a 5 foot focal length, 12.5 foot
diameter main parabolic dish 15 for 15 Gigahertz (0.0656 foot
wavelength) operation. The narrow beamwidth of such a dish without
subreflector truncation is approximately 0.30.degree.. A minimum of
50 percent beamwidth increase is desired in the wide beamwidth
(truncated subreflector) mode.
For the first embodiment, the back focus 27 of hyperboloid
subreflector 17 is 0.426 feet in back of the subreflector and its
front focus 29 is 1.114 feet in front of the subreflector. Prior to
truncation the subreflector 17 is 1.25 feet in diameter, while the
fixed central region 33 is 0.65 feet in diameter to achieve a
beamwidth of 0.45.degree. in the retracted position. The retraction
distance d is preferably at least four wavelengths or 0.2624
feet.
For the second embodiment, the near focus 63 of ellipsoid
subreflector 55 is 1.25 feet in front of the subreflector, and its
further focus 65 is 5.00 feet in front of the subreflector. If the
subreflector were not truncated, it would be 2.8 feet in diameter.
Truncation of the feed to approximately 2 feet in diameter yields a
50 percent increase in beamwidth.
FIG. 9 is a design curve for the second embodiment with the
beamwidth in degrees as ordinate and the diameter of the
subreflector 55 as abscissa. As can be seen, a smooth curve is
obtained which can yield a multiplication of the beamwidth by a
factor up to 3 as the subreflector is truncated. This Gregorian
embodiment 49 is particularly attractive because of the
instantaneous and reliable nature of the electronic switching of
microwave switch 57.
As mentioned earlier, geometric optic principles are approximate in
nature and diffraction theory must be resorted to in order to fully
describe the invention. The numerical embodiments of the invention
were verified using a computer simulation which accounted for the
diffraction effects between the subreflector and the main dish and
for the diffraction effects at the main dish. The subreflectors
were divided up into plural square regions, each having sides of
0.3 wavelengths, and the main dish was also divided into plural
square regions having sides of 2 wavelengths. The square regions
were considered to be coherence areas. The radiation from a feed
with assumed radiation patterns was collected in each square region
on the subreflector and a resultant source obtained for each
square. The radiation from each of these sources was collected in
each square of the main reflector and a second set of sources on
the main reflector was thereby obtained. The pattern of far field
radiation from these second sources was then calculated to obtain
the far field pattern of the antenna with various sized
subreflectors. These patterns verified that the design curve of
FIG. 9 is indeed a smooth curve.
The simulation also showed that in the Cassegrain embodiment of
FIGS. 2 and 3 sharp interference resonances existed if the distance
d is less than four wavelengths. The resonances then became
harmonic and not sharp for distances greater than four
wavlengths.
FIG. 10 shows a nested multifrequency feed 111 adapted to be used
with the invention. Four large S band horns 113 abut to define a
square four feed array centered about axis 20. Nested at the
interior corners of the horns 113 are four smaller X-band horns 115
which abut to form a smaller square array centered about axis 20.
The antenna of the invention is adaptable to multifrequency
operation by using such a nested feed. Also, the square four feed
array is adaptable to either amplitude or phase simultaneous lobing
or monopulse techniques for determining antenna pointing errors.
For simultaneous lobing, it is important that the phase and
amplitude of signals received at each of the four horns be equal
when the transmitter of the signal is located on axis 20. It is
further important that these parameters smoothly vary as the
transmitting source departs from the antenna axis by an angle.
Computer simulation has verified that these parameters vary
smoothly for source angles ranging from zero to well in excess of
half the beamwidth.
Having described embodiments of my invention it is clear that
numerous modifications of these embodiments are possible within the
invention's spirit and scope. Of particular import is the fact that
antennas are reciprocal devices useful for transmitting, receiving,
or both. It is intended that the invention not be limited except by
the following claims which are generic to transmitting and/or
receiving antennas.
* * * * *