Transponder device

摘要

A transponder system including first and second arrays of receiving and transmitting antenna elements arranged in spaced apart relationship with a predetermined spacing. The antenna elements of the first array are connected, via respective transmission modules, to respective antenna elements of the second array in accordance with their positions in the arrays thus forming receiving and transmitting pairs of antenna elements. The transmission modules include: a sampler adapted for digitizing signals received by the receiving antenna element of the corresponding pair, a memory for storing a digital representation of the received signals, and a signal generation module operable for generating from the digital representation a signal to be transmitted by the transmitting antenna element of the corresponding pair with a predetermined temporal delay to thereby provide a predetermined angular shift between a waveform of the received input signal and a waveform of the collective output signal.

主权项

1. A transponder system comprising a plurality of antenna elements, said antenna elements comprising first and second arrays of receiving and transmitting antenna elements, each including antenna elements arranged in a spaced apart relationship with a predetermined spacing, wherein:
the antenna elements of the first array are connected to dedicated antenna elements of the second array in accordance with positions of the antenna elements within the arrays, thereby forming receiving and transmitting pairs of antenna elements, operable together to receive an input signal and transmit a collective output signal indicative thereof; the antenna elements of said receiving and transmitting pairs are connected to one another via respective transmission modules, wherein each of the transmission modules comprises: a sampler adapted for digitizing signals received by the receiving antenna element of the corresponding pair, a memory connectable to said sampler and capable of storing digital representation of the received signals, and a signal generation module connectable to said memory and capable of generating from said digital representation a signal to be transmitted by the transmitting antenna element of the corresponding pair; wherein said generating comprises introducing a predetermined temporal delay to the signal to be transmitted with respect to the received signal, to thereby provide a predetermined angular shift between a waveform of the input signal received by said receiving and transmitting pairs and a waveform of the collective output signal that is collectively transmitted by the receiving and transmitting pairs of the transponder system; and wherein at least some of the antenna elements of said pairs are configured for both receiving and transmitting electromagnetic (EM) signals; said at least some of the antenna elements are connected via at least one additional transmission module to form at least one additional pair of receiving and transmitting antenna elements.