Intelligent metamaterial radar having a dynamically controllable antenna

Abstract

Examples disclosed herein relate to an intelligent metamaterial radar. The radar has an Intelligent Metamaterial (“iMTM”) antenna module to radiate a transmission signal with a dynamically controllable iMTM antenna in a plurality of directions based on a controlled reactance and generate radar data capturing a surrounding environment. The radar also has an iMTM interface module to detect and identify a target in the surrounding environment from the radar data and to control the iMTM antenna module.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A radar system, comprising:
 an Intelligent Metamaterial (“iMTM”) antenna comprising an impedance-matched feed network comprising a distributed varactor network, the iMTM antenna configured to transmit a signal and generate radar data capturing an environment, the iMTM antenna further configured to provide a plurality of phase shifts in the signal via the distributed varactor network; and   an iMTM interface module configured to detect and identify a target in the environment from the radar data and to control the iMTM antenna.   
     
     
         2 . The radar system of  claim 1 , wherein the iMTM antenna further comprises a plurality of iMTM cells and a plurality of subarrays, wherein different subsets of the plurality of iMTM cells are arranged into different subarrays of the plurality of subarrays. 
     
     
         3 . The radar system of  claim 2 , wherein each iMTM cell in the plurality of iMTM cells comprises a varactor configured to provide a plurality of phase shifts in the signal based on a change in the applied voltage to one or more variable reactance parameters in one or more iMTM cells of the plurality of iMTM cells. 
     
     
         4 . The radar system of  claim 1 , wherein the iMTM antenna further comprises a transmission array configured into a plurality of super elements. 
     
     
         5 . The radar system of  claim 4 , wherein the transmission array is coupled to the impedance-matched feed network. 
     
     
         6 . The radar system of  claim 4 , wherein the plurality of super elements is formed by a plurality of slots in the transmission array. 
     
     
         7 . The radar system of  claim 4 , wherein the iMTM antenna further comprises a reactance control module comprising a phase shift network. 
     
     
         8 . A method for operating an Intelligent Metamaterial (“iMTM”) antenna in a radar system, the method comprising:
 transmitting, via the iMTM antenna, a signal comprising one or more radio frequency (RF) beams to an environment; 
 creating, via the iMTM antenna, a plurality of phase shifts in the signal corresponding to a change in a radiation pattern caused by an applied voltage to one or more variable reactance parameters of one or more iMTM cells of the iMTM antenna; 
 receiving reflected RF beams from the environment; 
 generating radar data from the reflected RF beams; and 
 identifying a target in the environment based on the generated radar data. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the iMTM antenna comprises a plurality of iMTM cells configured into a plurality of subarrays. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein different subsets of the plurality of iMTM cells are arranged into different subarrays of the plurality of subarrays. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , further comprising:
 controlling a reactance of each iMTM cell in the plurality of iMTM cells; and   generating a phase shift based on the controlled reactance.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the reactance is controlled via an impedance-matched feed network of the iMTM antenna. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the signal is transmitted through the impedance-matched feed network and a transmission array coupled to the impedance-matched feed network. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the transmission array comprises a plurality of super elements formed by a plurality of slots in the transmission array. 
     
     
         15 . An Intelligent Metamaterial (“iMTM”) antenna, comprising:
 an impedance-matched feed network comprising a distributed varactor network; and 
 an array of iMTM cells comprising a plurality of iMTM cells and a plurality of subarrays configured to transmit a signal comprising a plurality of RF beams having a plurality of phase shifts,
 wherein each iMTM cell of the plurality of iMTM cells provides a phase shift that corresponds to a change in a radiation pattern caused by an applied voltage to one or more variable reactance parameters of the iMTM cell. 
 
 
     
     
         16 . The iMTM antenna of  claim 15 , wherein different subsets of the plurality of iMTM cells are arranged into different subarrays of the plurality of subarrays. 
     
     
         17 . The iMTM antenna of  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a transmission array coupled to the impedance-matched feed network, the transmission array configured into a plurality of super elements that are formed by a plurality of slots in the transmission array.   
     
     
         18 . The iMTM antenna of  claim 15 , wherein the impedance-matched feed network comprises a reactance control module having a phase shift network, the phase shift network comprising the distributed varactor network. 
     
     
         19 . The iMTM antenna of  claim 18 , wherein each iMTM cell of the plurality of iMTM cells comprises a reactance control device configured to generate the phase shift according to a reactance of the reactance control device. 
     
     
         20 . The iMTM antenna of  claim 19 , wherein the plurality of phase shifts are generated by the reactance control device in each iMTM cell and the reactance control module, the reactance control device generating a phase shift in a first direction and the reactance control module generating a phase shift in a second direction different from the first direction.