Balanced antenna

Abstract

A balance antenna is disclosed herein. The balanced antenna comprises a first planar conductor layer forming an first infinite balun, a second planar conductor layer forming a second infinite balun, and a feeding gap. A cable transports a radio signal from the antenna to a radio and from a radio to the antenna. The first infinite balun and the second infinite balun transform an unbalanced transmission line characteristic of the cable to the balanced feeding of the antenna.

Claims

1. A balanced antenna system comprising: a coaxial cable; an antenna comprising a first planar conductor layer forming a first infinite balun, a second planar conductor layer forming a second infinite balun, and a feeding gap; a conducting element between the first planar conductor layer and the second planar conducting layer, wherein the conducting element provides an electrical connection between the first planar conductor layer and the second planar conducting layer; wherein the coaxial cable is routed directly toward the feeding gap; wherein the coaxial cable transports a radio signal from the antenna to a radio and from a radio to the antenna; wherein the first infinite balun and the second infinite balun cancel radiofrequency currents at a point where an outer shielding of the coaxial cable is electrically connected to the antenna; wherein an electric field generated by the antenna is orthogonal to the coaxial cable, and therefore no radiofrequency currents are excited on the coaxial cable itself.

2. The balanced antenna system according to claim 1 wherein the cable is offset from a symmetry axis of the antenna, and positioned to feed the antenna across the feeding gap.

3. The balanced antenna system according to claim 2 wherein the cable exits from the antenna along the symmetry axis.

4. The balanced antenna system according to claim 1 wherein an electromagnetic current excited at the feeding gap of the antenna cannot flow along an outer shielding of the coaxial cable.

5. The balanced antenna system according to claim 1 further comprising a non-conductive support structure.

6. The balanced antenna system according to claim 1 wherein the first infinite balun and the second infinite balun are positioned on the same plane.

7. The balanced antenna system according to claim 1 further comprising an interdigital capacitor between two arms of the first infinite balun or the second infinite balun.

8. The balanced antenna system according to claim 1 further comprising a waveguide at the feeding gap.

9. The balanced antenna system according to claim 1 further comprising a dielectric layer separating the first infinite balun and the second infinite balun, the first infinite balun and the second infinite balun are electrically connected using a plurality of plated via holes.

10. The balanced antenna system according to claim 6 wherein the 1 cable is on a layer different than the first infinite balun and the second infinite balun, and further comprising a microstrip line connected to the cable.

11. The balanced antenna system according to claim 6 wherein the cable is on the same layer as the first infinite balun and the second infinite balun, and further comprising a microstrip line on a different layer and connected to the cable using a via plated hole.

12. A balanced antenna system comprising: a coaxial cable comprising an outer shielding and an inner core; and an antenna comprising an outer infinite balun on a first layer of a printed circuit board, an inner infinite balun on a second layer of the printed circuit board, and a dielectric layer separating the first layer and the second layer; wherein the outer infinite balun and the inner infinite balun are electrically connected together in the area where they overlap by a plurality of plated via holes.

13. The balanced antenna system according to claim 12 further comprising a transmission line electrically connected to the coaxial cable.

14. The balanced antenna system according to claim 12 further comprising a microstrip line connected to the coaxial cable.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 is an illustration of a sleeve and ferrite baluns or chokes of the prior art.

(2) FIG. 2 is an illustration of prior art quarter wavelength baluns used with dipoles from FIG. 1.

(3) FIG. 3 is an illustration of a printed dipole with an integrated quarter wavelength balun of the prior art.

(4) FIG. 4 is an illustration of a microstrip fed printed dipole with an integral balun of the prior art.

(5) FIG. 5 is an illustration of a lop antenna with an integral infinite balun of the prior art.

(6) FIG. 6 is an illustration of a printed loop with an infinite balun of the prior art.

(7) FIG. 7 is an illustration of a loop with a double infinite balun.

(8) FIG. 8 is an illustration of a loop with a double infinite balun.

(9) FIG. 8A is a schematic representation of impedance matching elements.

(10) FIG. 9 is an illustration of surface current density of an un-balanced fed dipole type antenna (A) and a balanced antenna (B).

(11) FIG. 10 is graph of an un-balanced fed dipole type antenna varying the cable length.

(12) FIG. 11 is a graph of a balanced antenna varying the cable length.

(13) FIG. 12 is an illustration of a coupling of electronic noise or interferers from a PCB to an antenna via a feeding cable.

(14) FIG. 13 is a graph that shows a maximum coupling across a wide frequency span between the noise or interferer source and the antenna, comparing a conventional un-balanced dipole type antenna and a balanced antenna.

(15) FIG. 14 is an illustration of an embodiment of a balanced antenna.

(16) FIG. 14A is an illustration of an embodiment of a balanced antenna.

(17) FIG. 15 is an illustration of a second embodiment of a balanced antenna with meandered outer loop.

(18) FIG. 15A is an illustration of a second embodiment of a balanced antenna with meandered outer loop.

(19) FIG. 16 is an illustration of an embodiment of a balanced antenna with interdigital capacitors.

(20) FIG. 16A is an illustration of an embodiment of a balanced antenna with interdigital capacitors.

(21) FIG. 17 is an illustration of a balanced antenna with a part of a cable replaced by a CPW.

(22) FIG. 18 is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with an inner balun on a bottom layer.

(23) FIG. 18A is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with an inner balun on a bottom layer.

(24) FIG. 18B is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with an inner balun on a bottom layer.

(25) FIG. 18C is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with an inner balun on a bottom layer.

(26) FIG. 19 is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with outer and inner balun and a cable on a top layer, and a microstrip feeding line a bottom layer.

(27) FIG. 19A is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with outer and inner balun and a cable on a top layer, and a microstrip feeding line a bottom layer.

(28) FIG. 19B is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with outer and inner balun and a cable on a top layer, and a microstrip feeding line a bottom layer.

(29) FIG. 19C is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with outer and inner balun and a cable on a top layer, and a microstrip feeding line a bottom layer.

(30) FIG. 20 is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with outer and inner balun and a cable on a top layer, and a microstrip feeding line a bottom layer.

(31) FIG. 20A is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with outer and inner balun and a cable on a top layer, and a microstrip feeding line a bottom layer.

(32) FIG. 20B is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with outer and inner balun and a cable on a top layer, and a microstrip feeding line a bottom layer.

(33) FIG. 20C is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with outer and inner balun and a cable on a top layer, and a microstrip feeding line a bottom layer.

(34) FIG. 21 is an illustration of a balanced antenna on a two layer PCB with an open ended microstrip feeding line.

(35) FIG. 22 is an illustration of a multiple band balanced antenna design.

(36) FIG. 23 is an illustration of a balanced antenna inserted into a PCB and connected to a radio transceiver using a microstrip.

(37) FIG. 23A is an illustration of a balanced antenna inserted in a larger PCB and connected to a radio transceiver using a microstrip.

(38) FIG. 24 is a schematic representation of an electronically switchable antenna arrangement, wherein A and B represent two balanced antennas.

(39) FIG. 25 is an illustration of a switchable balanced antenna mirrored pair with a RF switch and separate control lines.

(40) FIG. 26 is an illustration of a switchable balanced antenna pair with a coaxial cable orthogonal to the antennas' plane.

(41) FIG. 26A is an illustration of a switchable balanced antenna pair with a coaxial cable orthogonal to the antennas' plane.

(42) FIG. 27 is a bias tee diplexer schematic.

(43) FIG. 28 is an illustration of switchable balanced antenna mirrored pair with a RF switch and a control line diplexed on a coaxial cable.

(44) FIG. 29 is a circuit diagram of a switchable balanced antenna pair with a PIN diodes RF switch and a control line diplexed on a coaxial cable.

(45) FIG. 30 is circuit diagram for a switchable balanced antenna pair with an RF switch and separate control line and delay lines implemented as P-networks of lumped components.

(46) FIG. 31 is an illustration of gain radiation patterns for a balanced antenna mirrored pair in the two states.

(47) FIG. 32 is an illustration of a switchable balanced antenna pair rotated 90 degrees for polarization diversity.

(48) FIG. 33 is an illustration of gain radiation patterns for a balanced antenna rotated pair in the two states, with the arrow indicating the polarization direction.

(49) FIG. 34 is an illustration of a multiple antenna arrangement wherein each antenna is a balanced antenna.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(50) As shown in FIG. 7, the object of the present invention is an improvement of the printed loop with an infinite balun design. Starting from the infinite balun loop antenna, the basic aspects of the invention can be summarized as: 1)To avoid running the coaxial cable or the transmission line along the perimeter of the loop, the cable is routed directly towards the feeding gap or the loop arms are modified moving the feeding gap towards the cable, or a combination of both; 2) The cable is offset from the symmetry axis of the antenna and bent in a way convenient to feed the antenna across the gap; 3) A second conducting element is created which mirrors the path followed by the cable to maintain the electrical symmetry of the structure; and 4) The cable exit from the antenna structure is along the symmetry axis.

(51) In this arrangement, as shown in FIG. 7, the conductors can be understood as forming two infinite baluns, one small infinite balun 24 and one large infinite balun 22. Because of the intrinsic symmetry of the structure and using the superposition principle and the current conservation at the point a where the cable 26 is first electrically connected to the antenna 20, one can see that the electromagnetic currents 23 and 25 excited at the gap 30 of the antenna cannot flow along the outer shielding of the coaxial cable.

(52) The proposed antenna structure 20 is conveniently realized on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB), but it is also realized using other techniques like Flexible Printed Circuit (FPC), stamped metal, Laser Direct Structuring (LDS) and others.

(53) The antenna design using the double infinite balun has the further advantage of incorporating a (printed) matching circuit that is used to adjust the impedance matching of the antenna 20. The schematic representation of the matching circuit 40 having capacitor 32 and resistors 34 (L1) is given in FIGS. 8 and 8A. L1 introduces an asymmetry in the structure, so it is typically desirable to keep it small.

(54) The property of the proposed design of having a much reduced level of radiofrequency currents on the cable is demonstrated by simulating the surface currents density using an electromagnetic simulator.

(55) FIG. 9 compares the surface current density 50 and 51 for an unbalanced fed dipole (A) and an antenna (B) designed according to the present invention. In both cases the antenna area is 19.011.0 mm, the cable length is 80 mm and the operating frequency is 5500 MHz. It is apparent that the current density 51 on the cable is reduced by at least a factor 5 using the present invention. As the radiation is proportional to the square of the current density, one can expect the radiation from the cable to be reduced by 14 dB or more.

(56) Another demonstration of the effectiveness of the design principle described here is seen analyzing the effect of different cable lengths on the feeding point impedance of the antenna. The graph 100 of FIG. 10 shows the variation of the S11 parameter of a conventional un-balanced fed dipole type antenna as the cable length is varied between 1 mm and 130 mm; the antenna area is 19.011.0 mm and the operating frequency is 5500 MHz. For comparison, in the graph 110 of FIG. 11, it is shown the S11 of an antenna of the same size but designed according to the principles proposed here and for the same range of cable lengths. It is clear from the graphs then the proposed design offers a much greater independence of the feeding point impedance from the feeding cable length than a conventional design.

(57) A further advantage of the proposed idea is related to the noise rejection properties of the balanced antenna. In a typical electronic device utilizing antennas there can be many sources of electromagnetic noise and interferers (clocks, voltage regulators, digital buses, voltage controlled oscillators (VCOs) etc.). If such noise is picked up by the antenna and transferred to the radio receiver it can give raise to several problems like increase in the noise floor and degradation of the receiver sensitivity, desensitization or even blocking of the receiver and other negative effects. As shown in FIG. 12, if the antenna 121 is connected to the receiver 120 or transceiver using a coaxial cable 122 (or another type of transmission line), such a cable can pick-up the noise/interferer passing near its source. The noise/interferer signal can then efficiently propagate towards the antenna in the form of radio-frequency currents on the outer shielding of the cable itself. If the antenna has a poor rejection of the cable currents, the noise/interferer can then easily enter to the inner coaxial transmission line of the cable via the feeding gap and reach the receiver. The phenomenon is illustrated in FIG. 12.

(58) For reciprocity, as the balanced antenna proposed here excites very little current on the feeding cable, it also provides much better rejection of noise and interferers coming from the cables towards the antenna than a conventional design; moreover, as the antenna is intrinsically balanced at any frequency, the effect is present also at frequencies far away from the operating frequencies of the antenna.

(59) The effect was demonstrated in an experiment, where the noise or interferer source was simulated by means of a small loop antenna placed near the surface of a PCB in several different positions, and the coupling to the cable-fed antenna was measured. The graph 130 in FIG. 13 shows the maximum coupling across a wide frequency span between the noise or interferer source and the antenna, comparing a conventional un-balanced dipole type antenna and a balanced antenna designed according to the proposed idea; the cable length and position was identical for both antennas. The same graph shows the difference between the two coupling factors, which can be interpreted as the noise rejection improvement provided by the new balanced antenna: it is clear that the new antenna provides a significantly improved noise rejection over a very wide band of frequencies. It is worth noticing that the relative improvement is less in the operating band of the antenna (4900 MHz to 5900 MHz in the example) as in that case most of the coupling occurs directly over the air.

(60) A first embodiment of the invention is illustrated in FIGS. 14 and 14A. In this embodiment, the antenna 20 has both the outer and the inner infinite baluns 22 and 24 are on the same layer. The feeding cable 26 enters the antenna 20 along the symmetry axis and then runs along one of the arm of the inner balun 24 to reach the feeding gap 30; the outer shielding of the cable 26 is electrically connected to the inner balun 24 conductor; at the feeding gap 30 the inner core of the coaxial cable 26 is exposed and electrically connected to the other arm of the inner balun 24 across the gap 30. Unlike the well-known loop antenna with infinite balun, the cable 26 does not run along the longer outer perimeter of the loop.

(61) In a second embodiment of the antenna, illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 15A, the shape of the outer loop is changed to alter the resonant frequency of the antenna or its impedance at a given frequency; for instance the outer loop can be meandered to make it electrically longer and lower resonant frequency without increasing the overall size of the antenna 20.

(62) In another embodiment of the invention, illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 16A, the resonant frequency and the feed point impedance of the antenna 20 is adjusted by inserting an interdigital capacitor 29 between the two arms of the inner or outer infinite balun 22 and 24. The infinite baluns 22 and 24 are on the same layer of the base 21.

(63) In another embodiment of the antenna, lumped passive components (inductors or capacitors) are added to the antenna to modify its resonant frequency or feed point impedance.

(64) In another embodiment of the antenna, illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 17A, part of the cable 26 close to the feeding gap 30 is replaced by a Co-Planar Waveguide (CPW) 53 or similar transmission line in order to reduce the length and the bending of the feeding cable 26.

(65) In another embodiment, illustrated in FIGS. 18, 18A, 18B and 18C, the outer balun 22 is realized on one layer (e.g. top layer of a PCB 21), while the inner balun 24 is realized on a different layer (e.g. bottom layer of the PCB 21); the two layers can be separated by a dielectric layer; the two baluns 22 and 24 are electrically connected together in the area where they overlap, for instance by means of plated via holes; the part of the coaxial cable 26 which runs along one arm of the inner balun is replaced by either a microstrip line running on the same layer of the outer layer, or by a strip-line running on an intermediate layer, or another type of transmission line; the cable 26 can be straight and its outer shielding is electrically connected to the balun conductor on the first layer, while the inner core of the cable 26 is electrically connected to the transmission line. In this way it is not necessary to pre-form or bend the coaxial cable 26 and electrically connect it to the inner balun 24 along its path.

(66) In an alternative embodiment, illustrated in FIGS. 19, 19A, 19B and 19C, both the inner 24 and outer baluns 22 are on the same layer but the coaxial cable 26 is placed on a different layer; the outer shielding of the cable 26 is electrically connected to the conductors on the first layer, for instance by means of plated via holes, while the inner core of the cable is connected to a microstrip line 26a or similar transmission line which runs parallel to one arm of the inner balun 24, crosses the gap and then is electrically connected to the second arm of the inner balun 24, for instance by means of another plated via hole.

(67) In an alternative embodiment, illustrated in FIGS. 20, 20A, 20B and 20C, both the inner balun 24 and outer balun 22 are on the same layer and also outer shielding of the coaxial cable 26 is electrically connected directly to the same layer; the inner core of the cable 26 is then connected, by elongating it or by means of a plated via hole or similar, to a microstrip line 26a or similar transmission line on a different layer which runs parallel to one arm of the inner balun 24, crosses the gap 30 and then is electrically connected to the second arm of the inner balun 24, for instance by means of a via hole 57.

(68) In another embodiment similar to the previous two, the end of the microstrip line 26a is not galvanically connected to the inner balun 24 or outer balun 26, but rather left open in a way similar to a Marchand balun, as illustrated in FIG. 21.

(69) In another embodiment, the outer loop is modified by adding conducting structures and features so that the antenna, beside resonating at the fundamental mode determined by the electrical length of the outer balun 22 loop, it also resonates at one or more higher frequency modes; as long as the electrical symmetry of the antenna is preserved, the antenna will remain balanced even at the higher frequency modes. In FIG. 22, an example of balanced antenna 20 resonating at two well separated frequencies is given.

(70) In all the above embodiments, the coaxial cable 26 has to be intended interchangeable with any other type of microwave transmission line (e.g. Microstrip line 26a, stripline, CWP). For instance, the balanced antenna 20 could be realized as part of a larger PCB 60 which contains the radio transceiver and other electronic components, the balanced antenna 20 could then be connected to the radio front-end by means 61 of a microstrip line or a stripline, provided the electrical symmetry is preserved in the grounding connection. An example of this embodiment is illustrated in FIGS. 23 and 23A.

(71) As the antenna disclosed here is self-balanced and decoupled from the transmission line used to feed it, it is particularly suitable for using to create compact multi antenna modules for diversity or smart-antenna applications. In a first example of a compact multi-antenna module 240, schematically represented in FIG. 24, two antennas A and B are arranged in a mirrored planar configuration, preferably using PCB technology, separated by a narrow area containing an RF switch for selecting which antenna is momentarily connected to the radio transceiver via a coaxial cable or other transmission line. The feeding cable 26 can exit in the same plane as the antennas of the compact multi-antenna module 250 shown in FIG. 25, or perpendicularly to the plane as in the compact multi-antenna module 260 shown in FIG. 26.

(72) A bias tee diplexer schematic 270 is shown in FIG. 27.

(73) FIG. 28 is an illustration of switchable balanced antenna mirrored pair 280 with a RF switch and a control line diplexed on a coaxial cable 26.

(74) The RF switch status is controlled by the radio transceiver, which dynamically selects the antenna to use based on some algorithm designed to optimize some parameter of the radio link, for instance RSSI, data transmission speed, level of the interferers received, beamforming with a different antenna and so on. The switch can be connected to the radio transceiver by means of one or more separated control wires, which can also provide the power supply to the switch.

(75) In a preferred arrangement, the switch is designed so that it can be controlled using a single ON/OFF signal, and the (low frequency) control signal is superimposed to the RF signal along the transmission line using the well know bias-tee diplexer.

(76) This arrangement is convenient because no additional control wire is required and therefore the integration of the antenna in the host device is simplified and cost reduced.

(77) A detailed example of RF switch that can be controlled using a single ON/OFF signal multiplexed on the RF feeding transmission line is provided in the schematic 290 of FIG. 29. The switch is implemented using two PIN diodes, one in series configuration and the second one in shunt configuration; the wavelength transmission line between the two diodes is required to ensure that in the ON state (bias applied, both diodes conducting) the RF signal is not shorted to ground at the J0 node and the RF signal can flow unimpeded through the diode in series towards Antenna B.

(78) In a further improvement of the invention, a phase delay is inserted between the switch ports and one or both antennas, with the purpose of altering the phase relation between the two antennas and therefore altering the combined radiation pattern. This might be necessary when the two antennas are arranged very close together and therefore the coupling between the antennas is high; when the RF switch is in a state so that, for instance, antenna A is selected, part of the signal transmitted from antenna A is coupled to antenna B and reaches the unselected port of the switch; unless the RF switch is designed so that it is absorptive, the unselected port of the switch has typically either an impedance similar to a short circuit (very low) or an open circuit (very high), and therefore the signal is reflected back to the antenna and re-radiated; the signal re-radiated by antenna B interferes with that radiated by antenna A altering the overall radiation pattern. The delay line(s) can be used to alter the phase relations between the primary and secondary radiation and generate a more desirable radiation pattern. Said delay line can be realized by means of a given length of transmission line, e.g. a microstrip; alternatively, the delay line can be realized using its well-known lumped components approximation, for instance in T or P configuration. An illustration of this arrangement is given in the schematic 300 of FIG. 30.

(79) In FIG. 31 is given an example of the gain radiation pattern that can be generated by the two antennas, showing that mirrored patterns with the broadside radiation 310a and 310b in opposite directions can be achieved, which is advantageous in many diversity or smart antenna applications. In general, the polarization vector of the two antennas in this arrangement is the same.

(80) In a second example of multiple balanced antenna arrangement, illustrated in FIG. 32, the two antennas A and B are arranged in the same plane but rotated 90 degrees one respect to the other. In this case the radiation patterns generated by the two antennas have different polarization, which can be advantageous in some applications, e.g. polarization diversity. The radiation patterns 330a and 330b relative polarization vectors are illustrated in FIG. 33.

(81) The concept is expanded by arranging the two antennas at different angles, or more than two antennas on the same assembly 340, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 34. An RF switch with a number of ports matching the number of antennas has to be used in that case.

(82) He, U.S. Pat. No. 9,362,621 for a Multi-Band LTE Antenna is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(83) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,215,296 for a Switch Multi-Beam Antenna Serial is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(84) Salo et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,907,971 for an Optimized Directional Antenna System is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(85) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,570,215 for an Antenna device with a controlled directional pattern and a planar directional antenna is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(86) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,570,215 for an Antenna device with a controlled directional pattern and a planar directional antenna is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(87) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,423,084 for a Method for radio communication in a wireless local area network and transceiving device is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(88) Khitrik et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,336,959 for an Information transmission method for a wireless local network is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(89) Khitrik et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,043,252 for an Information transmission method for a wireless local network is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(90) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,184,601 for a METHOD FOR RADIO COMMUNICATION INA WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK WIRELESS LOCAL AREA NETWORK AND TRANSCEIVING DEVICE is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(91) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,627,300 for a Dynamically optimized smart antenna system is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(92) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,486,832 for a Direction-agile antenna system for wireless communications is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(93) Yang, U.S. Pat. No. 8,081,123 for a COMPACT MULTI-LEVEL ANTENNA WITH PHASE SHIFT is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(94) Nagaev et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,292,201 for a Directional antenna system with multi-use elements is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(95) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,696,948 for a Configurable directional antenna is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(96) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,965,242 for a Dual-band antenna is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(97) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 7,729,662 for a Radio communication method in a wireless local network is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(98) Abramov et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,248,970 for an OPTIMIZED DIRECTIONAL MIMO ANTENNA SYSTEM is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(99) Visuri et al., U.S. Pat. No. 8,175,036 for a MULTIMEDIA WIRELESS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS AND METHODS is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(100) Yang, U.S. Patent Publication Number 20110235755 for an MIMO Radio System With Antenna Signal Combiner is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(101) Yang et al., U.S. Pat. No. 9,013,355 for an L SHAPED FEED AS PART OF A MATCHING NETWORK FOR A MICROSTRIP ANTENNA is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

(102) From the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof, and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, numerous changes modification and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claim. Therefore, the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims.