Base station antennas with lenses for reducing upwardly-directed radiation

A base station antenna, comprising:

• a plurality of linear arrays of radiating elements;
• and
• a plurality of radio frequency (“RF”) lens, each RF lens mounted forwardly of a corresponding one of the radiating elements,
• wherein each RF lens is asymmetrical about a horizontal axis that bisects its corresponding one of the radiating elements.

A base station antenna, comprising:

• a first backplane that extends along a vertical axis when the base station antenna is mounted for use;
• a first radiating element mounted to extend forwardly from the first backplane;
• and
• a first radio frequency (“RF”) lens mounted forwardly of the first radiating element,
• wherein the first RF lens is configured to focus RF energy emitted by the first radiating element in an elevation plane while defocusing the RF energy emitted by the first radiating element in an azimuth plane.

A base station antenna, comprising:

• a first backplane that extends along a vertical axis when the base station antenna is mounted for use;
• a first radiating element mounted to extend forwardly from the first backplane;
• and
• a first radio frequency (“RF”) lens mounted forwardly of the first radiating element,
• wherein a dielectric thickness of the first RF lens has a generally concave shape along a horizontal cross-section taken through a horizontal center of the first radiating element, and a generally convex shape along a vertical cross-section taken through a vertical center of the first radiating element.