A three-sector array with switchable beams

Abstract

A design for beam steering antenna arrays is described. The radiating element of the array is mainly composed of dual coplanar slotted‐patch antennas, a metallic reflector, and several PIN diodes embedded in the slots. By controlling the states of the diodes, the operation of the slotted‐patch antennas can be switched among three modes. These operation modes can generate three radiation beams respectively directed to ϕ = 0°, 40°, and −40° in the H‐plane. On the basis of the pattern reconfigurable antenna element, a three‐sector triangular array operated at 2.2 GHz is developed. The measured results demonstrate that the sector array can provide nine radiation beams which are steerable over a full 360° in the azimuthal plane; in addition, each switched beam has a half‐power beamwidth of about 60° and a cross‐polarization level of lower than −20 dB. Detailed designs of the sector array and its feeding network are presented. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:1357–1361, 2017