A method and apparatus for improved switching speed and/or tunability for radio-frequency (RF) devices are described. In one embodiment, a liquid crystal (LC) component comprises an LC structure in a mixture with right-handed (R) and left-handed (S) chiral dopants.

An apparatus is provided that includes: a multi-element reflector, each element comprising a concave reflective surface, the curvature of each element and focal distance of each element being common, the concave reflective surface of each element being configured to steer a radio-frequency beam in a different direction to that of the other elements; and a directional antenna feed, configurable to direct a beam towards each element of the multi-element reflector and positionable to be concurrently spaced said common focal distance from all of the elements of the multi-element reflector. One or more mechanisms are also provided by which, for example, a commercially viable millimeter wave base station can be realised. In particular, antenna arrangements are provided which support a field of view which facilitates establishment and maintenance of an effective communication link between a base station and a user with a desired level of reliability.

A reconfigurable reflectarray antenna (RAA) system includes a reconfigurable RAA and a controller. The RAA includes a metasurface having a dynamically tunable electromagnetic characteristic and is configured to receive a signal of opportunity. The signal of opportunity is generated separately and independently from the reconfigurable RAA system. The controller is in signal communication with the reconfigurable RAA and is configured to generate a control signal configured to dynamically tune the electromagnetic characteristic of the metasurface. The electromagnetic characteristic includes a reflection phase, which when varied, dynamically beam steers the signal of opportunity reflected from the metasurface.

A phased array antenna system configured for communication with a satellite that emits or receives radio frequency (RF) signals travels in a first direction, the antenna system includes a phased array antenna including a plurality of antenna elements distributed in a plurality of M columns oriented in the first direction and a plurality of N rows extending in a second direction normal to the first direction, and a plurality of fixed phase shifters aligned for phase offsets between antenna elements in the first direction and a gain-enhancement system configured for gain enhancement in the second direction of radio frequency signals received by and emitted from the phased array antenna.

A phase shift element includes a first dielectric layer, a conductive layer, a second dielectric layer, a conducting pattern layer, switches, and vertical interconnect accesses (vias). Each conductor of a plurality of conductors of the conducting pattern layer is orthogonal to two other conductors. Each switch is switchable between a conducting position and a non-conducting position. Each via is connected to a single conductor. The first conductive material reflects an electromagnetic wave incident on the conducting pattern layer and on the second dielectric layer. When a switch is in the conducting position, the switch electrically connects two conductors to each other through their respective vias. A plurality of different switch configurations of the switches provide a 2-bit phase quantization on the reflected electromagnetic wave relative to the electromagnetic wave incident on the conducting pattern layer when the electromagnetic wave is incident on the conducting pattern layer.

An antenna for wireless communication includes a spherical reflector and one or more feeds. The spherical reflector includes an inner portion made of material that reflects radiofrequency (RF) beams, and an outer portion positioned on an edge of the inner portion, the outer portion being made of metamaterials that can be controlled to be reflective of or transparent to RF beams. The one or more feeds are configured to form one or more RF beams reflected off the spherical reflector. In some implementations, the antenna includes one or more processors configured to form one or more RF beams using the one or more feeds, and control at least a part of the outer portion of the spherical reflector to reflect an RF beam of the one or more RF beams or be transparent to the RF beam based on the one or more RF beam.

Aspect of the present disclosure provide a device that includes an array of subarrays (AoSA) comprising a plurality of subarrays, each subarray including a plurality of antenna elements and a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) that includes a plurality of configurable elements. The AoSA and the RIS are spaced apart from one another such that each subarray and a corresponding subset of the plurality of configurable elements are in each other's near field. Some embodiments described in the disclosure allow large spacing between antenna elements of the AoSA, thereby enabling lower complexity in circuit implementation for power amplification and phase shifting that may be associated with each antenna element, especially as high frequencies where spacing between antenna elements decreases and in some embodiments, reduces the number of antennas that are used.

Examples disclosed herein relate to an intelligent metamaterial radar. The radar has an Intelligent Metamaterial (“iMTM”) antenna module to radiate a transmission signal with a dynamically controllable iMTM antenna in a plurality of directions based on a controlled reactance and generate radar data capturing a surrounding environment. The radar also has an iMTM interface module to detect and identify a target in the surrounding environment from the radar data and to control the iMTM antenna module.

The present invention discloses a reconfigurable wideband phase-switched screen (PSS) based on an artificial magnetic conductor (AMC). Gap capacitance between patches is controlled by changing the capacitance of varactors, so that periodic units have a plurality of continuous frequency points. A phase difference between two adjacent frequency bands is 143°-217° , so that the periodic structure absorbs incident electromagnetic waves in a wide frequency band, and the broadband PSS is implemented with a relative bandwidth of 45.2%. The AMC structure according to the present invention is simple in structure and easy to process, with a thickness less than one twentieth of the working wavelength, and greatly reduces size and costs.

The disclosure discloses a controllable wave-absorbing metamaterial including a substrate and a metamaterial unit array layer. Each conductive geometric unit includes a first hollow structure, second hollow structures, and conductive geometric structures. The second hollow structures are respectively extended from four vertices of the first hollow structure, and the conductive geometric structure is disposed between each two adjacent second hollow structures. The first end of the second hollow structure is provided with a varactor diode connected to the conductive geometric structures at both sides, the second end of the second hollow structure is provided with a fixed capacitor and a fixed resistor; the fixed capacitor is connected to the conductive geometric structure at one side, and the fixed resistor is connected to the conductive geometric structure at the other side. Therefore, active adjustment on a wave-absorption frequency band can be implemented, and power consumption is very low.