Extending the R-2R lens to 360°

The R.2R lens is a remarkable microwave device that provides perfect focusing, giving multiple simultaneous antenna beams from a circular or cylindrical array. However, the perfect focusing of the R-2R brings with it a serious limitation on angular coverage as a result of the angular doubling that enters when the array elements in the antenna are connected to the launcher elements on the lens periphery. We have now found a way to modify the R-2R concept so that a full circle of array elements can be mapped onto a full circle of beam ports. The new mapping makes use of hybrid junctions and either four or six physical lenses. The interconnections result in
360\deg
of simultaneous antenna beams, each of which can be used both for transmission and for reception.