Monopole Antenna Assembly with Directive-Reflective Control

A selector module for control of an antenna assembly comprising a driven element, a first set of antenna elements disposed a first distance from the driven element such that each element of the first set of antenna elements is equidistant from adjacent elements of the first set of antenna elements, and a second set of antenna elements disposed a second distance from the driven element such that each element of the second set of antenna elements is equidistant from adjacent elements of the second set of antenna elements, the second distance being larger than the first distance, the selector module comprising:

• a first switch assembly operably coupled to the first set of antenna elements to select one element of the first set of antenna elements as a selected director and to effectively shortening a length of the selected director, and
• a second switch assembly operably coupled to the second set of antenna elements to select one element of the second set of antenna elements as a selected reflector and to effectively lengthen the selected reflector.

A method comprising:

• receiving information indicative of a relative location between an in-flight aircraft and a base station;
• and
• operating a selector module to select individual elements from among concentric sets of antenna elements of an antenna assembly as parasitic elements to form a directive beam from the antenna assembly of the aircraft to the base station based on the information.