Compact and wideband beam-switching antenna array architecture

An electronic device, comprising:

• a transceiver;
• and
• an antenna element coupled to the transceiver, the antenna element comprising:
• a package substrate comprising a plurality of layers;
• a primary conductive sheet disposed on a first layer of the plurality of layers and being coupled to an antenna feed;
• a secondary conductive sheet disposed on a second layer of the plurality of layers;
• and
• an electromagnetic band gap (EBG) unit cell comprising a first and a second pattern of conductive elements respectively disposed on two different layers of the package substrate,
• wherein the first pattern of conductive elements are coupled to one another within one of the two different layers and form a portion of a first continuous conductive pattern,
• wherein the second pattern of conductive elements are coupled to one another within the other one of the two different layers and form a portion of a second continuous conductive pattern,
• wherein the primary conductive sheet and the secondary conductive sheet are aligned with a first set of two orthogonal axes, and the first continuous conductive pattern and the second continuous conductive pattern are aligned with a second set of two orthogonal axes that are rotated 45 degrees with respect to the first set of two orthogonal axes, and
• wherein the EBG unit cell has dimensions that are larger in size than dimensions of each one of the primary and the secondary conductive sheets and
• wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit and/or receive wireless signals via the antenna element.