AN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC ENERGY COUPLER AND AN ANTENNA ARRAY

摘要

An electro-magnetic energy coupler (100) for varying the electro-magnetic energy supplied from an input (102) to an output (104) is described. The coupler (100) comprises an input (102) including a first electro-magnetic energy transmission means (110) and a second electro-magnetic energy transmission means (138) spaced from the first electro-magnetic energy transmission means (110) and electrically connected to it. The coupler (100) also comprises an output (108) electro-magnetically coupled to the input (102). The coupler (100) is arranged such that as the electro-magnetic coupling between the input (102) and output (108) is varied, the input (102) and output (108) remain substantially impedance matched. An antenna array (400, 500, 600) is also described comprising at least one antenna (308, 402, 404, 406) wherein the electro-magnetic energy transmitted to the at least one antenna (308, 402, 404, 406) is controlled by the electro-magnetic energy coupler (100).