Various methods and systems for combining the capabilities of beam-forming networks together with the benefit of using spatially multiplexed wireless signals.

A system may include a radio frequency chain configured to process a signal. The system may further include a reconfigurable antenna including multiple antenna feeds, each of the antenna feeds associated with a beam direction. The system may also include a beam selection network configured to couple the radio frequency chain to a first antenna feed of the multiple antenna feeds to generate a first beam in a first direction, and simultaneously couple the radio frequency chain to a second antenna feed of the multiple antenna feeds to generate a second beam in a second direction.

An apparatus and method is provided to correlate radiation beams, such as RF beams, optical beams, and/or acoustic beams. A plurality of sensors are distributed according to a first pattern and disposed adjacent to a first interference region. The plurality of sensors may capture incoming radiation and convert the incoming radiation to a plurality of signals. A plurality of radiating elements are distributed according to a second pattern that differs from the first pattern and are disposed adjacent to a second interference region. A plurality of channels are connected between the sensors and the radiating elements, each channel connecting a corresponding sensor to receive a corresponding signal. Each of the radiating elements is in communication with a corresponding one of the plurality of channels to provide an outgoing radiation corresponding to the signal received by the channel. The second pattern has a relationship to the first pattern such that first and second beams of incoming radiation in the first interference region captured by the plurality of sensors are respectively mapped to corresponding first and second beams of outgoing radiation emitted by the plurality of radiating elements into the second interference region.

Disclosed is an antenna having a plurality of radiators disposed in a ring or arc around a Luneburg lens. Each of the radiators (e.g., flared-notch radiators) has a center radiating axis that intersects with the center of the Luneburg lens. Each of the radiators radiate into the Luneburg lens such that the Luneburg lens substantially planarizes the beam emitted by each radiator (on transmit) and focuses an incoming wavefront into the radiator (on receiver). This not only enables having numerous well-controlled individual beams, it also allows for combining radiators to create well-defined sector beams with minimal sidelobes and fast rolloff.

An antenna system that includes a lens portion having a radiation-side curved surface and a feed-side reception surface, the lens portion structured to focus radio frequency radiations entering from the radiation-side curved surface on a focal point located at the feed reception surface and one or more antenna elements at or near the focal point, the one or more antenna elements being separated from each other by a fractional multiple of a center wavelength of a frequency band of operation, and each antenna element communicatively coupled to one or more radio frequency transmit and/or receive chain and being able to transmit and/or receive data from the radio frequency transmit chain according to a transmission scheme.

An antenna beam tracking system has dynamic interference reduction. The system includes antennas that can form multiple beams, each beam of which can continually track or point its beams independently in various angular directions. A first beam continually tracks and receives (downlink) signals from a desired source or node such as a satellite or terrestrial node which generally has an apparent motion relative to the antenna. A second beam continually tracks and receives potentially harmful interference signals that may arise from different directions. The signals of the second beam are dynamically coupled to the signals in the first beam in such a manner as to effect cancellation or substantial reduction of the interference.

A lens according to the disclosure includes a dielectric having a first surface and a second surface that is spaced from the first surface and that faces the first surface in a direction of a reference axis intersecting the first surface. The dielectric has an equivalent relative dielectric constant that decreases in a direction from the reference axis toward outer circumferences of the first surface and the second surface.

Multi-directional antenna apparatuses, which may include phased array antennas and/or arrays of multiple antennas, and methods for operating these directional antennas. In particular, described herein are apparatuses configured to operate as an access point (AP) for communicating with one or more station devices by assigning a particular directional beam to each access point, and communicating with each station device using the assigned directional beam at least part of the time. Methods and apparatuses configured to optimize the assignment of one or more directional beam and for communicating between different station devices using assigned directional beams are described. Also described are methods of connecting a radio device to an antenna by connecting a USB connector on the radio device to a USB connector on an antenna and identifying the antenna based on a voltage of the ground pin on the antenna's USB connector.

The disclosed structures and methods are directed to antenna systems configured to transmit and receive a wireless signal in and from different directions. A switchable lens antenna has excitation ports radiating radio-frequency (RF) wave into a parallel-plate waveguide structure, and a frequency selective structure (FSS). The antenna presented herein is configured to operate in two modes depending on an initial steering angle of the RF wave propagating in the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When the initial steering angle is about or less than a threshold steering angle, FSS is OFF due to its stubs being electrically disconnected from the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When the initial steering angle is higher than the threshold, FSS is ON with stubs being electrically connected to the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When ON, FSS provides phase variance to the RF wave propagating in the parallel-plate waveguide structure and increases steering angle of the RF wave.

A radio frequency antenna array uses lenses and RF elements, to provide ground-based coverage for cellular communication. The antenna array can include two spherical lenses, where each spherical lens has at least two associated RF elements. Each of the RF elements associated with a given lens produces an output beam with an output area. Each lens is positioned with the other lenses in a staggered arrangement. The antenna includes a control mechanism configured to enable a user to move the RF elements along their respective tracks, and automatically phase compensate the output beams produced by the RF elements based on the relative distance between the RF elements.