Multi-beam metasurface antenna

An antenna comprising:

• a metasurface having a single feed port to provide a feed wave, and a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) radiating antenna elements to generate, in response to the feed wave, a plurality of beams simultaneously in different directions in response to a first modulation pattern for holographic beamforming applied to the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements to establish all beams of the plurality of beams such that antenna elements of the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements contribute to all beams in the plurality of beams concurrently;
• and a controller coupled to an aperture to generate the first modulation pattern, wherein the first modulation pattern is a combination of a plurality of modulation patterns, each modulation pattern in the plurality of modulation patterns being for a distinct one of the plurality of beams, the controller being operable to generate each modulation pattern for each beam of the plurality of beams as a unique holographic beamforming pattern, combine the unique holographic beamforming patterns for the plurality of beams into the first modulation pattern, and send the first modulation pattern to the aperture.

A method for controlling an antenna having an aperture with a plurality of radio-frequency (RF) radiating antenna elements, the method comprising:

• creating a first modulation pattern for beamforming to be applied to the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements to generate a plurality of beams simultaneously in different directions with antenna elements of the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements contributing to all beams in the plurality of beams concurrently, wherein the first modulation pattern is a combination of a plurality of modulation patterns, each modulation pattern in the plurality of modulation patterns being for a distinct one of the plurality of beams;
• generating each modulation pattern for each beam of the plurality of beams as a unique holographic beamforming pattern and combining the unique holographic beamforming patterns for the plurality of beams into the first modulation pattern, and
• sending the first modulation pattern to the aperture to cause the plurality of RF radiating antenna elements to generate a plurality of beams simultaneously.