Mobile guided surface waveguide probes and receivers

Abstract

The present disclosure is directed to mobile guided surface waveguide probes and receivers. In a representative embodiment, an excitation source such as a generator is coupled to a guided surface waveguide probe. The excitation source and the guided surface waveguide probe are mounted to a rigid frame for transport.

Therefore, the following is claimed: 
     
         1 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a rigid frame; and   a guided surface waveguide probe coupled to the rigid frame, the guided surface waveguide probe comprising a charge terminal and being configured to launch a Zenneck surface wave along a surface of a lossy conducting medium by generating at least one resultant field that synthesizes a wave front incident with the surface at a complex Brewster angle of incidence of the lossy conducting medium.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising an excitation source electrically connected to the guided surface waveguide probe, the excitation source being configured to excite the charge terminal of the guided surface waveguide prove. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2 , wherein the excitation source comprises a guided surface wave receive structure, the guided surface wave receive structure being configured to receive electrical energy from a second Zenneck surface wave generated by a remotely-located guided surface wave, and the charge terminal of the guided surface waveguide probe being excited to generate the at least one resultant field via the electrical energy received via the second Zenneck surface wave. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a feed network electrically coupled to the charge terminal, the feed network providing a phase delay (Φ) that matches a wave tilt angle (Ψ) associated with the complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ i,B ) associated with the lossy conducting medium in the vicinity of the guided surface waveguide probe. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the rigid frame comprises at least one of: an intermodal container, a railroad car, a truck bed, a trailer, a pallet, or a network of beams. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising a non-conductive structure coupled to the guided surface waveguide probe, the non-conductive structure being configured to adjust a height of the charge terminal over the lossy conducting medium. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 6 , wherein the non-conductive structure comprises a telescoping structure or a boom structure. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the charge terminal is one of a plurality of charge terminals. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein a field strength of the guided surface wave decays exponentially as a function of a distance from the guided surface waveguide probe. 
     
     
         10 . A method, comprising:
 elevating a charge terminal of a guided surface waveguide probe over a lossy conducting medium, the guided surface waveguide probe being mounted on a rigid frame, and the charge terminal being coupled to a non-conductive moveable support structure; and   launching a Zenneck surface wave via the guided surface waveguide probe by exciting the charge terminal to generate at least one resultant field that synthesizes a wave front incident with the surface at a complex Brewster angle of incidence of the lossy conducting medium   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the Zenneck surface wave comprises a first Zenneck surface wave and the guided surface waveguide probe comprises a locally-located guided surface waveguide probe, and the method further comprises receiving, via a guided surface wave receive structure mounted on the rigid frame, a second Zenneck surface wave generated by a remotely-located guided surface wave. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein electrical energy of the second Zenneck surface wave is used to excite the charge terminal. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 10 , further comprising providing, to the charge terminal, a phase delay (Φ) that matches a wave tilt angle (Ψ) associated with the complex Brewster angle of incidence (θ i,B ) associated with the lossy conducting medium in the vicinity of the guided surface waveguide probe. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the non-conductive moveable support structure comprises a telescoping structure, and elevating the charge terminal comprises extending the telescoping structure. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the rigid frame comprises at least one of: an intermodal container, a railroad car, a truck bed, a trailer, a pallet, or a network of beams. 
     
     
         16 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a rigid frame;   an excitation source mounted on the rigid frame; and   a guided surface waveguide probe electrically coupled to the excitation source and mounted to the rigid frame, the guided surface waveguide probe being configured to launch a Zenneck surface wave along a surface of a lossy conducting medium by generating at least one resultant field that synthesizes a wave front incident with the surface at a complex Brewster angle of incidence of the lossy conducting medium.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , further comprising a matching network mounted to the rigid frame, the matching network coupling the excitation source to the guided surface waveguide probe, and the matching network being configured to effect a conjugate match for maximum power transfer. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the guided surface waveguide probe comprises a charge terminal coupled to a moveable non-conductive structure configured to adjust a height of the charge terminal over the lossy conducting medium. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the rigid frame comprises at least one of: an intermodal container, a railroad car, a truck bed, a trailer, a pallet, or a network of beams. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the Zenneck surface wave comprises a first Zenneck surface wave, the excitation source comprises a guided surface wave receive structure, the guided surface wave receive structure is configured to receive electrical energy from a second Zenneck surface wave generated by a remotely-located guided surface wave, and the charge terminal of the guided surface waveguide probe is excited to generate the at least one resultant field via the electrical energy received via the second Zenneck surface wave.