MULTI-BEAM ANTENNA

摘要

A plurality of antenna end-fire antenna feed elements (14, 14.1) disposed along a contour (30) on a dielectric substrate (16) cooperate with a discrete lens array (100). An electromagnetic wave (20) launched by an antenna feed element (14, 14.1) is received by a first set of patch antennas (102.1) on a first side (104) of the discrete lens array (100), and the associated received signals are propagated through associated delay elements (108) to a corresponding second set of patch antennas (102.2) on the opposite side (106) of the discrete lens array (100) from which the associated received signals are reradiated, wherein the corresponding delays of the associated delay elements (108) are location dependent so as to emulate a dielectric electromagnetic lens (12) and thereby provide for forming an associated beam of electromagnetic energy (20). A signal applied to a corporate feed port (54) is switched to the antenna feed elements (14, 14.1) by a switching network (48), whereby different antenna feed elements (14, 14.1) generate different beams (20) of electromagnetic energy in different directions (42).