Patent Description:
Cell phone towers, such as <NUM>/LTE cell phone towers, are installed throughout the world to provide a network for wireless communication. In the United States alone, there are currently over two hundred thousand <NUM>/LTE cell towers and over four million throughout the world. A single tower can possess two or more operators and multiple carriers, with each entity employing their own varying antenna arrays (including panel, sector, and other antennas) mounted on platforms that orient the antennas for sector coverage that can range between <NUM>° to <NUM>° sectors.

US patent application <CIT> discloses conformal array and Luneburg lens antenna system. International patent application <CIT> discloses a Luneberg lens antenna device. US patent application <CIT> discloses an antenna system and RF signal interference abatement method. British patent application <CIT> discloses wide-band electromagnetic wave reflectors. German patent application <CIT> discloses multiple beam aerial with transmission and receiving equipment. US patent application <CIT> discloses high gain, multi-beam antenna for <NUM> wireless communications.

The current antenna arrays are generally unsightly since they are large and do not blend into the surroundings. Additionally, since they are located at a high elevation in community/urban areas, such as on top of electrical transmission structures, office buildings or stand-alone towers, the antennas are easily visible. To minimize visual impact, municipalities typically regulate site locations in addition to other aspects of cell tower operations. Many municipalities (e.g., in California and Arizona) even require cell towers to blend into the environment to become less noticeable. As such, cell towers are constructed to appear as pine trees, cacti, or other natural forms.

As the demand for wireless communication continues to expand, so does the need for the wireless communications infrastructure. Accordingly, new cell towers are being added and the capacity of existing cell towers is being increased. With future demand for significantly increased bandwidth, signal capacity of current base station antenna designs is insufficient for the growing customer demand. Thus, current solutions include installing more unsightly cell towers and antennas, such as <NUM>/LTE cell towers. Many municipalities, however, refuse to issue permits for additional sites, which can result in poor reception/transmission, customer frustration, and lost business opportunities. The disclosure provides a new solution to the growing customer demands on cell tower signal capacity.

In one aspect, the disclosure provides a communications system. The communications system includes: (<NUM>) radio equipment, and (<NUM>) a directional antenna coupled to the radio equipment via communications circuitry. The directional antenna having (2A) a Luneburg lens having a spherical shape, and (2B) a curved substrate that conforms to the spherical shape of the Luneburg lens, the curved substrate having a feed network of signal conveyors affixed to a front side and a ground plane back side, wherein the feed network of signal conveyors is a feed network of antennas printed on the front side and the signal conveyors are aligned with the Luneburg lens to communicate radio frequency signals within a sector. The Luneburg lens has a diameter of a first size and the communications system includes at least one more directional antenna that includes a Luneburg lens with a diameter of a second size that differs from the first size.

In another aspect, the disclosure provides a method of communicating using the communications system mentioned above. The method includes: (<NUM>) receiving data via radio frequency signals within a sector defined by the directional antenna, (<NUM>) providing the received data to the radio equipment, and (<NUM>) transmitting within the sector and employing the directional antenna, data received from the radio equipment.

Reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:.

The disclosure provides an improved directional antenna that can be employed on communications structures, such as cell towers. The directional antenna provides an increased communication capacity for both data and voice communications at multiple frequencies in a significantly smaller package than conventional antenna arrays. The resulting communications structures that employ the disclosed directional antenna provide a more visibly appealing option than traditional structures while providing more communications capacity. The directional antennas include miniaturized feed networks and a Luneburg lens to provide highly directional electronic communication antennas.

The disclosed directional antenna possesses materially increased bandwidth (capacity) over current <NUM>/LTE antenna arrays. In addition, the directional antenna array is significantly smaller than current cell tower antenna arrays and reduces scenic clutter. <FIG> show the significantly reduced antenna size due to the miniaturization disclosed herein. The disclosure provides an antenna that is smaller, less intrusive, more attractive, and has more customer capacity compared to antennas presently being used on <NUM>/LTE towers. For example, each directional antenna employing a <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens is capable of hosting up to <NUM> or more current antennas and <NUM> or more carriers in each <NUM>° sector, thereby significantly increasing bandwidth (capacity). Additionally, each <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens version is capable of hosting up to <NUM> or more current antennas and two or more carriers in each <NUM> degree sector. Nevertheless, the features disclosed herein are not limited by Luneburg lens aperture sizes or radio frequencies. For example, <NUM>"-<NUM>" (about <NUM> to <NUM>) Luneburg lenses configured with a <NUM> miniaturized feed network assembly can create a highly effective <NUM> network in the <NUM>-<NUM> frequencies.

The directional antennas can be mounted on various supports or structures at various locations, including a tower, elevated structure (roof top, etc.), terrain elevation, aviation platforms, land vehicles, ships, and space platforms. The directional antennas are connected to radio equipment that then creates a communication network for public, private, commercial, space, and/or military use. As disclosed herein, the directional antennas can also be added to existing cell towers to increase carriers and customers being served while decreasing weight, volume, wind loading, and appearance concerns when compared to adding more existing antenna arrays. The resulting dramatic reduction of existing cell tower antenna arrays, supporting electronics, and platforms combine to require substantial reductions in annual tower climbs to inspect, repair, and replace equipment compared to existing cell tower antenna arrays. Even with a great reduction in scale compared to present day cell tower antenna arrays and associated platforms, communication systems employing the disclosed directional antennas can permit an increase of the number of: carriers; radio frequency signals; defined radio frequency signal regions; and customers being served. Additionally, the defined region or sector of the directional antennas can vary. The directional antenna can be mounted as a <NUM> x <NUM>° or <NUM> x <NUM>° or other sector systems on elevated structures to create <NUM>° coverage.

The Luneburg lens base station antenna (BSA) is a passive beam-forming, highly directional, and high gain antenna that is in early stage usage in the cell tower marketplace. Luneburg lens antennas provide superior beam focusing resulting in multi-beam sector coverage with superior customer separation and frequency reuse. Current Luneburg lens BSA models are not providing sufficient improvement over existing BSA technology and have therefore been relegated to minor roles. The disclosure herein unlocks the unused capabilities of the Luneburg lens BSA by, for example, geospatial placement of signal conveyors that thereby significantly increase bandwidth (capacity) compared to current BSA technologies. Tower climbs can be substantially reduced from current BSA cell tower arrays.

Proper geospatial placement of signal conveyors onto a substrate material is employed to unlock the unused capabilities as each signal conveyor provides its own beam-forming communication sector. For example, the signal conveyors can be patch antennas that are circular in design and adhere to the formula of: Patch Antenna Diameter = <NUM> x Wave Length. In some example, proprietary patch antenna designs can reduce patch antenna diameter to <NUM> x Wave Length. Carrier/customer frequency specifications can be used to determine actual patch antenna diameter. Additionally, individual patch antenna placement can be customized to fit elevation needs of the customers (example: mountainside communities, high rise buildings, etc.).

Continuing the example of patch antennas, tilting of the communications beams can be provided in different ways, including: <NUM>) alignment of all patch antenna focused beams are down tilted during manufacturing so that the tops of the focused beams are parallel to the horizon; and <NUM>) during installation on a cell tower (or other elevated structure), network engineers can specify further tilting requirements if needed. Installation procedures permit beams provided by the directional antenna to be easily tilted by moving the miniaturized feed network assembly slightly up or down in relation to the Luneburg lens.

<FIG> illustrates a diagram of an example of a traditional cell tower <NUM>. The cell tower <NUM> includes a pole <NUM> and three different antenna arrays mounted on the pole <NUM>. Each of the antenna arrays include multiple antennas that are configured to provide <NUM> degree coverage around the pole <NUM>. A first antenna array <NUM> is for a first carrier, a second antenna array <NUM> is for a second carrier, and a third antenna array <NUM> is for a third carrier. The first, second, and third carriers can be, for example, Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T. As discussed above, the cell tower is unsightly. The cell tower <NUM> can include additional structures and components that are typically used with cell towers, such as radio equipment and tower cabling connecting the antenna arrays to the radio equipment as shown in <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates a diagram of an example of a communications system <NUM> having directional antennas constructed according to the principles of the disclosure. The communications system <NUM> also provides <NUM> degree coverage as the cell tower <NUM>. Unlike the cell tower <NUM>, however, communications system <NUM> employs less visually intrusive directional antennas. Additionally, instead of having an antenna array that provides <NUM> degree coverage for a single carrier, the communications system <NUM> includes multiple directional antennas that provide coverage within a defined sector of the <NUM> degrees for all of the carriers. Each of the directional antennas, therefore, can communicate radio frequency signals for multiple carriers within their sector. The communications system <NUM> can replace or complement all the radio frequency functions provided by the cell tower <NUM> employing the directional antennas disclosed herein; including communicating radio frequency signals can that bear voice and data. Additionally, each of the directional antennas can communicate radio frequency signals within their sector over multiple bands for each of the carriers, such as a high band and a low band. The high band can be between approximately <NUM> to <NUM> and the low band can be between approximately <NUM> to <NUM>. The communications system <NUM> includes a support <NUM>, a first directional antenna <NUM>, a second directional antenna <NUM>, and a third directional antenna <NUM>. The first directional antenna <NUM>, the second directional antenna <NUM>, and the third directional antenna <NUM>, are collectively referred to as the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. The communications system <NUM> can also include tower cabling and radio equipment such as discussed above with respect to <FIG> and illustrated in <FIG>.

The support <NUM> is constructed of a sufficient strength to support the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and have a sufficient height to position the three directional antennas at an elevation for cellular communications. As such, the height of support <NUM> can vary depending on installation site. In <FIG>, the support <NUM> is a pole but other supports, such as a lattice tower, a guyed tower, or mounts on structures such as a water tower or a rooftop, can be used. Additionally, a support can be attached to a vehicle for a mobile communications vehicle. In such examples, the support can be retractable so that the directional antennas can be raised and lowered. Due to the difference in size and also weight of the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, compared to the antenna arrays <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, the support <NUM> can be less robust than the pole <NUM>. The directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, can be attached to the support <NUM> via a mount employing bolts or another mechanical type of coupling. In some examples, a u-bolt mount can be used. A mount <NUM> for the first directional antenna <NUM> is denoted in <FIG> as an example.

The directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, are arranged to provide <NUM> degree coverage with each one communicating radio frequency signals within a different sector. For example, each of the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, can be configured to provide <NUM> degree coverage and positioned on the support <NUM> to cover a different <NUM> degrees of the <NUM> degrees.

Each of the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, includes a Luneburg lens and a feed network of signal conveyors that are located within an outer cover that provides protection against the elements. Outer cover <NUM> of the third directional antenna <NUM> is denoted as an example in <FIG>. The Luneburg lens of each of the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, has a diameter of <NUM> inches (about <NUM>). Luneburg lenses of different diameter are used in other communications structures. Regardless the diameter, the feed network is printed to a substrate that is then curved and conforms to the spherical shape of the Luneburg lens. The angle of each sector of the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, corresponds to an arc length of the curved substrate that includes the feed network. In comparison to <FIG>, each antenna of each of the antenna arrays <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, is a feed point of one of the feed networks of the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>. Thus, each of the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, communicates radio frequency signals for multiple carriers within their sector. In some examples, a carrier or carriers may choose to have dedicated directional antennas for their use.

The feed network includes signal isolation features such that the carriers do not interfere with each other. Additionally, carriers enjoy the inherent isolation of feed points due to the physical beam-forming characteristics of the Luneburg lens. Advantageously, this assists in the co-location of multiple carriers on a single Luneburg lens. This provides a different architecture wherein multiple carriers are on a single antenna instead of each having its own platform and antennas as shown in <FIG>.

The communications system <NUM> is smaller, less intrusive, is more attractive, and has more customer capacity compared to such cell towers as cell tower <NUM>. Each <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg Lens is capable of hosting up to <NUM> or more current antennas and <NUM> or more carriers in each <NUM>° sector. This greatly increased data and voice transmit/receive capacity per cell tower will benefit the cellular industry. The disclosed features have the potential to reduce the number of cell towers a carrier is currently using. As noted above, Luneburg lenses of other sizes can also be used, such as a <NUM> inch (about <NUM>) diameter Luneburg lens. Each <NUM>" (about <NUM>) diameter Luneburg Lens can host up to <NUM> or more current antennas and two or more carriers in each <NUM> degree sector. The disclosed directional antennas are not limited by Luneburg Lens aperture sizes or radio frequencies. Example, smaller diameter Luneburg Lenses configured with a <NUM> mid-band frequency miniaturized feed network can help create a highly effective <NUM> network, etc..

The directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, advantageously use the geospatial placement of the signal conveyors that are optimized for maximum gain of each associated radio set that results in greater data and voice capacity when compared to existing Luneburg Lens antenna technologies. The Luneburg lens's passive beam-forming does not require electronic beam steering. Tower climbs will be substantially reduced, as any casual observer can assess from the <FIG> drawing, since there is much less hardware installed up on the communications system <NUM>.

In one embodiment, the <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens antenna replace up to <NUM> or more current sector antennas located in each <NUM>° cell tower sector -- a dramatic miniaturization of the existing cell tower antenna array landscape and reduction of scenic clutter. Each <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens shown in <FIG> is replacing the <NUM> sector antennas shown in <FIG>. In addition, using the <NUM> inch (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens as an example, the disclosed directional antennas can increase antenna feed points by as much as <NUM>% over other <NUM>" (about <NUM>) models in use today, and can equal the antenna feed points associated with <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lenses currently in use, thereby replacing the <NUM> pound (about <NUM>), <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens with the much lighter <NUM> pound (about <NUM>), <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens while preserving customer capacity. The disclosed <NUM> pound (about <NUM>), <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens antenna can replace up to <NUM> or more current antennas located in each <NUM>° cell tower sector -- a dramatic miniaturization of the existing cell tower antenna array landscape. The <NUM>" (about <NUM>) example is designed as an add-on sector antenna array (see <FIG>) capable to permit additional carriers to join existing cell towers with minimal intrusion of tower space and the environment. The <NUM>" (about <NUM>) directional antenna can also serve as a standalone antenna solution, accommodating two or more carriers. In some applications, the directional antenna, such as the <NUM>" (about <NUM>) directional antenna, can be mounted on vehicles with telescoping towers to provide a substantial mobile cell tower capability for high density events, national disasters, and military uses.

<FIG> illustrates a diagram of an example of a directional antenna <NUM> constructed according to the principles of the disclosure. The directional antenna <NUM> includes a curved substrate <NUM>, a Luneburg lens <NUM>, and a protective shell <NUM>. The directional antenna <NUM> can be employed in a communications structure, such as the directional antennas <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, of <FIG>. The Luneburg lens <NUM> is <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens.

The curved substrate <NUM> is shaped to conform to the spherical shape of the Luneburg lens <NUM>. The curved substrate <NUM> has a feed network of signal conveyors <NUM> affixed to a front side and a back side that is a ground plane. The ground plane back side has been removed in this illustrated example for clarity. The signal conveyors <NUM> form a miniaturized feed network that is printed on the curved substrate <NUM>. The signal conveyors <NUM> are feed points that are aligned with the Luneburg lens to communicate (i.e., transmit and receive) radio frequency signals within a sector. In one example the signal conveyors <NUM> are patch antennas. The feed network of signal conveyors <NUM> provide multiple feed points for different frequency bands represented by different sized circles in <FIG>. The signal conveyors <NUM> for a first band are represented by the smaller circles and the signal conveyors <NUM> for a second band are represented by the larger circles. A representative of the smaller circles and larger circles are denoted as signal conveyor <NUM> and signal conveyor <NUM>. Though the size of the signal conveyors <NUM> change in <FIG> as they move away from the vertical zero degree axis, this simply represents the curvature of the curved substrate <NUM> as it wraps around the Luneburg lens <NUM>. Each of the signal conveyors <NUM> for the first band are of substantially the same size (e.g., have the same diameter) and each of the signal conveyors <NUM> for the second band are of substantially the same size as illustrated in <FIG>. The diameter of the signal conveyors <NUM> corresponds to the frequency of communication. For example, the first band can be a low band that is between approximately <NUM> to <NUM> and the second band can be a high band that is approximately <NUM> to <NUM>. As such, signal conveyor <NUM> has a larger diameter than signal conveyor <NUM>. The curved substrate <NUM> includes a signal interface on the front side that is used as a connection point for the different signal conveyors <NUM>. The signal interface is shown in <FIG>.

The Luneburg lens <NUM> has a spherical shape in which the curved substrate <NUM> is conformed. As such, the curved substrate <NUM> can be positioned proximate the Luneburg lens <NUM> as illustrated. The curved substrate <NUM> is spaced, e.g., distally spaced, from the Luneburg lens <NUM> at a distance and location in order to provide optimum focusing of radio beams for communicating through the Luneburg lens <NUM>. The distance, or gap width, can be determined by an operator of the directional antenna <NUM> and can be based on such factors as size of Luneburg lens, refractive properties of Luneburg lens, frequency of communication, etc..

The protective shell <NUM> covers the miniaturized feed network <NUM> on the curved substrate <NUM>. The protective shell <NUM> can be curved or can include a curved portion that corresponds to the curved substrate, and can be made of a conventional material that protects the components without interfering with the communications. The curved substrate <NUM> with the miniaturized feed network <NUM> and the protective shell <NUM> can be referred to collectively as a curved assembly. <FIG> provides additional details of a feed network of signal conveyors <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a diagram of the feed network <NUM> of <FIG> positioned with respect to the Luneburg lens <NUM>. The feed network <NUM>, or the feed points thereof, is spaced from and aligned with the <NUM>" Luneburg lens <NUM> to provide an antenna that can host up to <NUM> or more antenna feeds and three or more carrier companies. The diameters of the signal conveyors of the feed network <NUM> e.g., patch antenna feed diameters, and positioning of the signal conveyors with respect to the Luneburg lens <NUM> can vary according to the frequencies being used, the requirements of the customer, and the elevations in the sectors being serviced. The numerals within each feed point correspond to a different carrier.

<FIG> illustrates an example of the curved substrate <NUM> before being conformed to the curvature of the Luneburg lens <NUM>. A signal interface <NUM> is also shown as part of the curved substrate <NUM>. The signal interface <NUM> provides connection points for the signal conveyors <NUM> for external connections, such as communications circuitry to the radio equipment. In this example, the signal conveyors <NUM> are patch antennas (patch antennas <NUM> for this example) that are circular in design and are printed on the curved substrate <NUM> before curving thereof. As such, the signal interface <NUM> can be printed circuitry that is connected to the patch antennas <NUM>.

The diameter of the patch antennas <NUM> is a percentage of the wavelength used for communicating RF signals. In some examples, the diameters are twenty to twenty five percent of the communicating wavelengths. As noted above, carrier/customer frequency specifications can determine the actual diameters of the patch antennas <NUM>. Additionally, the patch antennas <NUM> can be printed on the curved substrate according to alignment lines that are then used to align the curved substrate <NUM> with the Luneburg lens <NUM> to provide desired beam tilts. In <FIG>, an alignment line that corresponds to the equator of the Luneburg lens <NUM> is used and the high band of the patch antennas <NUM> are printed along the equator alignment line. The curved substrate <NUM> can then be aligned with the equator of the Luneburg lens <NUM>, employing the alignment line, to provide a built-in tilt. Other customized tilting can be provided when printing the patch antennas <NUM> on the curved substrate. For example, the patch antennas <NUM> can be printed such that the alignment line is between the low and high band patch antennas <NUM>. Additionally, the spacing or gap between where the patch antennas are printed and the alignment line can vary. The spacing between each of the patch antennas <NUM> can also vary depending on carrier requests or installation designs. The alignment line also does not have to be used with the equator of the Luneburg lens <NUM>. In other words, the alignment line can be used to align the curve substrate <NUM> at five (or another desired offset) degrees above the equator. In one example, <NUM>° beams are down tilted in manufacturing <NUM>°, and <NUM>° beams are down tilted in manufacturing <NUM>°, thereby creating parallel to the horizon beam tops. Accordingly, the signal conveyors can be positioned on the curved substrate <NUM> and aligned with the Luneburg lens <NUM> to provide a manufactured down tilt of beams for communicating the radio frequency signals within the sector. In addition to the tilting during manufacturing, the directional antenna <NUM> can also be tilted during installation. Radio signals can be transmitted and received inside the defined regions created by the patch antennas <NUM>. The spacing and positioning of the patch antennas <NUM> feed points can be altered as required, for example, by changes in frequency, polarity, Luneburg lens diameter, technology innovation, and customer needs. The beams and coverage created by the patch antennas <NUM> feed points can also vary by hosting dual patch antenna feeds, tri patch antenna feeds, quad patch antenna feeds, and other innovations in signal conveyor technology feed points.

<FIG> illustrates a diagram of a portion of an example directional antenna <NUM> constructed according to the principles of the disclosure. The directional antenna <NUM> includes a Luneburg lens <NUM> that has a diameter of <NUM> inches (about <NUM>). As with <FIG>, one skilled in the art will understand that the diameters of the feed points and positioning of the feed points with respect to the Luneburg lens <NUM> can vary according to such factors as the frequencies being used, the requirements of the customer, and the elevations in the sectors being serviced. Additionally, the numerals within each feed point correspond to a different carrier. The directional antenna <NUM> can host up to <NUM> or more antenna feeds from current cell tower antenna arrays and two or more carrier companies. The directional antenna <NUM> can also serve multiple bands. As with <FIG>, some of the signal conveyors <NUM> are for a first band and some are for a second band. Those for a first band are represented by the light circles and those for the second band are represented by the dark circles. A representative one of the light circles and larger circles are denoted as signal conveyor <NUM> and signal conveyor <NUM>. The first and second bands can be the high band and the low band of frequencies as denoted with respect to <FIG>. The diameter of the signal conveyors <NUM> for each of the different bands are the same and the change in diameter size is used to illustrate placement of the signal conveyors <NUM> along the curvature of the Luneburg lens <NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates a diagram that shows the directional antenna <NUM> and wiring, referred to as communications circuitry <NUM>, connecting the different signal conveyors of the feed network <NUM> to their respective radio equipment. The communications circuitry <NUM> includes printed circuitry, wiring, connectors, and electronics necessary to convey radio frequency signals between (to/from) the signal conveyors of the feed network <NUM> to the corresponding radio equipment. More specifically, the geospatially placed, dual carrier, signal conveyors of the feed network <NUM> are coupled to their corresponding radio equipment via the communications circuitry <NUM> and carrier # <NUM> or carrier # <NUM> switching units, units <NUM> and <NUM>. These switching units <NUM>, <NUM>, can provide multiple functions and preserve proprietary carrier electronic signals. The switching units <NUM>, <NUM>, can provide manual and remote switching that creates larger signal beams (combines two or more beams) when customer capacity requirements can be served with fewer radio sets, and restores smaller signal beams when needed. The switching units <NUM>, <NUM>, can also be used to add RF front end transmit power and connect the electronic radio signals to carrier radio sets located either close to the switching units <NUM>, <NUM>, or at another location, such as the base of the support. The carrier switching units <NUM>, <NUM>, can be altered as required due to changes in frequency, polarity, Luneburg lens diameter, technology innovation, number of carriers, and customer needs.

In one example, the carrier # <NUM> and carrier #<NUM> switching units <NUM>, <NUM>, can include a processor, data storage, circuitry, and other components that are configured to automatically connect signal conveyors together or disconnect signal conveyors to change a defined region of a sector or within a sector. The processor can be directed by an algorithm to make the changes based on customer demand within a sector. For example, some of the signal conveyors of the feed network <NUM> can be combined by wiring and connected to the same radio equipment to form larger defined regions of radio signal coverage if the larger defined region does not require, due to lower customer density, smaller defined region coverage. If the customer density increases, the wiring can be modified to activate smaller defined regions. Conversely, if customer density decreases, the wiring can be modified to activate larger defined regions. The switching units <NUM>, <NUM>, can also be used to manually change connections regarding the signal conveyors. For example, the switching units <NUM>, <NUM>, can include a terminal board wherein a technician can manually stack or otherwise combine signal conveyors thereby creating dual or multiple feed points from a single location.

<FIG> illustrates a diagram that compares the cell tower <NUM> to the communications system <NUM> with both having added a <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens directional antenna array <NUM>. <FIG> illustrates how efficiently more capacity can be added to existing cell towers, such as cell tower <NUM>, and to communications system <NUM> that have directional antennas. Each of the <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens directional antennas of the directional antenna array <NUM> can host up to <NUM> or more current antennas and two or more carriers in each <NUM> degree sector, a dramatic miniaturization and higher capacity of current antenna arrays.

Cell tower <NUM> includes tower cabling <NUM> and radio equipment <NUM>. The tower cabling <NUM> and radio equipment <NUM> can be conventional components that communicate and process the radio frequency signals for the carriers. Communications system <NUM> also includes cabling <NUM> and radio equipment <NUM> that is connected to the directional antenna array <NUM> and the other antenna arrays via the cabling <NUM>. The cabling <NUM> and the radio equipment <NUM> can provide additional communication capacity compared to the tower cabling <NUM> and the radio equipment <NUM> due to the additional transmit and receive capability of the communications system's <NUM> directional antennas. The cabling <NUM> can be part of the communications circuitry as discussed above with respect to <FIG>. In one example the cabling includes coaxial cables.

Those skilled in the art to which this application relates will appreciate that other and further additions, deletions, substitutions and modifications may be made to the described embodiments, within the scope of the appended claims.

In one aspect, the disclosure provides an antenna for miniaturized, highly directional electronic communication. One embodiment provided herein includes: (<NUM>) a curved miniaturized feed network assembly (of multiple patch antennas) located proximate a portion of a Luneburg lens and configured with the Luneburg lens to transmit radio frequency signals within a defined region or receive radio frequency signals that originate within the defined region, with said miniaturized feed network being affixed to a curved substrate material with a ground plane backing that conforms to the Luneburg lens, (<NUM>) supporting electronics, power supply, and radio/wireless transceivers, (<NUM>) a protective shell/s, (<NUM>) a Luneburg lens located within a protective shell, and (<NUM>) a tower, elevated structure (roof top, etc.), terrain elevation, aviation and aerial platforms, vehicles, ships, and space platforms.

The Luneburg lens base station antenna (BSA) is a passive beam-forming, highly directional, and high gain antenna that is in early stage usage in the cell tower marketplace. Luneburg lens antennas provide superior beam focusing resulting in multi-beam sector coverage with superior customer separation and frequency reuse. Current Luneburg lens BSA models are not providing sufficient improvement over existing BSA technology and have therefore been relegated to minor roles. The unused capabilities of the Luneburg lens BSA is unlocked herein by, for example, geospatial placement of patch antennas that then create significantly more communications beams that provide more customer capacity compared to existing BSA technologies. The Luneburg lens's uses passive beam-forming (does not require electronic beam steering). Tower climbs will be substantially reduced, as any casual observer can assess from the <FIG> drawing -- where there is much less hardware installed up on the cell tower.

In one example, a <NUM>" (about <NUM>) of Luneburg lens antenna disclosed herein can replace up to <NUM> or more current sector antennas located in each <NUM>° cell tower sector -- a dramatic miniaturization of the existing cell tower antenna array landscape. In the <FIG> drawing, each <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens shown is replacing the <NUM> sector antennas shown. In addition, the <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens antenna can increase antenna feed points by as much as <NUM>% over other <NUM>" (about <NUM>) models in use today, and can equal the antenna feed points associated with <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lenses currently in use, thereby replacing the <NUM> pound (about <NUM>), <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens with the much lighter <NUM> pound (about <NUM>), <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens while preserving customer capacity. The <NUM> pound (about <NUM>), <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens antenna provided herein can replace up to <NUM> or more current antennas located in each <NUM>° cell tower sector -- a dramatic miniaturization of the existing cell tower antenna array landscape. The <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens antenna is designed such that it can be used as an add-on sector antenna array (see <FIG>) capable to permit additional carriers to join existing cell towers with minimal intrusion of tower space and the environment. The <NUM>" (about <NUM>) Luneburg lens antenna can also serve as a standalone BSA solution, accommodating two or more carriers. In some applications, the directional antenna, such as the <NUM>" (about <NUM>) directional antenna, can be mounted on vehicles with telescoping towers to provide a substantial mobile cell tower capability for high density events, national disasters, and military uses.

A portion of the above-described apparatus, systems or methods, such as some of the functions of the carrier switching units, may be embodied in or performed by various digital data processors or computers, wherein the computers are programmed or store executable programs of sequences of software instructions to perform one or more of the steps of the methods. The software instructions of such programs may represent algorithms and be encoded in machine-executable form on non-transitory digital data storage media, e.g., magnetic or optical disks, random-access memory (RAM), magnetic hard disks, flash memories, and/or read-only memory (ROM), to enable various types of digital data processors or computers to perform one, multiple or all of the steps of one or more of the above-described methods, or functions, systems or apparatuses described herein.

Claim 1:
A communications system (<NUM>), comprising:
radio equipment (<NUM>, <NUM>); and
a directional antenna (<NUM>, <NUM>) coupled to the radio equipment (<NUM>, <NUM>) via communications circuitry (<NUM>), wherein the directional antenna (<NUM>, <NUM>) includes:
a Luneburg lens (<NUM>) having a spherical shape; and
a curved substrate (<NUM>) that conforms to the spherical shape of the Luneburg lens (<NUM>), the curved substrate (<NUM>) having a feed network of signal conveyors (<NUM>) affixed to a front side and a ground plane back side, wherein the feed network of signal conveyors (<NUM>) is a feed network of patch antennas printed on the front side of the curved substrate and the signal conveyors (<NUM>) are aligned with the Luneburg lens (<NUM>) to communicate radio frequency signals within a sector,
wherein the Luneburg lens (<NUM>) has a diameter of a first size and the communications system (<NUM>) includes at least one more directional antenna (<NUM>) that includes a Luneburg lens (<NUM>) with a diameter of a second size that differs from the first size.