MULTIPLE-PORT PATCH ANTENNA

摘要

A system and method for combining and radiating electromagnetic energy. The invention includes a novel antenna (10) comprising a first dielectric substrate (12) having opposite first (14) and second (16) surfaces, a patch (18) of conducting material disposed on the first surface (14), a ground plane (20) of conducting material disposed on the second surface (16), and at least three input ports (22), each input (22) coupled to the patch (18) at a feed point (26). The feed points (26) are positioned to minimize the total power reflected from each input port (22). In an illustrative embodiment, the feed points (26) are equally distributed around a circle having the same center as the patch (18) and having a radius chosen to minimize the reflections at each input (22). In accordance with the novel method of the present invention, the outputs of multiple sources (54) are combined in the antenna (10) itself, by coupling the sources (54) directly to the antenna (10).