Phased array antennas having switched elevation beamwidths and related methods
AssigneeCommScope Technologies LLC
InventorsMichael Brobston, Jonathon C. Veihl
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Abstract
A phased array antenna includes a first transceiver, a plurality of first radiating elements that are arranged in a first linear array, a first feed network electrically interposed between the first radiating elements and the first transceiver, and a first switch that is coupled along the first feed network, where a state of the first switch is selectable to adjust a number of the first radiating elements that are electrically connected to the first transceiver.
Claims21
A phased array antenna, comprising:
- a first transceiver;
- a plurality of first radiating elements;
- a first feed network electrically interposed between the first radiating elements and the first transceiver;
- a first switch that is coupled along the first feed network;
- wherein a state of the first switch is selectable to adjust a number of the first radiating elements that are electrically connected to the first transceiver.
A method of operating a phased array antenna having a plurality of radiating elements arranged in a two-dimensional array having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, the method comprising:
- selecting an azimuth pointing direction of an antenna beam generated by the phased array antenna on a time slot-to-time slot basis by phase weighting the RF signals that are provided to the radiating elements in the respective columns by respective ones of a plurality of transceivers;
- and
- selecting an elevation beamwidth of the antenna beam generated by the phased array antenna on the time slot-to-time slot basis by using switches to select a number of radiating elements in each column that are electrically connected to the respective transceivers.
A phased array antenna, comprising:
- a first transceiver;
- a first plurality of radiating elements that are electrically connected to the first transceiver;
- a second plurality of radiating elements that are configured to be selectively connected to the first transceiver,
- wherein the phased array antenna has a first elevation beamwidth when the second plurality of radiating elements are connected to the first transceiver and has a second elevation beamwidth that is greater than the first elevation beamwidth when the second plurality of radiating elements are disconnected from the first transceiver.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.