Design of a pattern reconfigurable antenna for wide-angle scanning phased array applications

In this article, a pattern reconfigurable antenna is proposed for wide beam scanning phased array applications. Different from the wide beamwidth unit design, the large beam scanning range of the proposed antenna array is realized by the reconfigurable radiation patterns with the different tilted angles of the antenna unit. The tilted beams can enhance the total beam coverage range of the antenna unit with high directivity, thus increasing the beam scanning range of the antenna array. The tilted beams are realized by the combination of the concentric circular and annular patch antennas. A PIN diode-loaded reconfigurable feeding network is designed to feed the patches with reconfigurable phase differences. The feeding network can achieve a good impedance matching effect and guarantee the symmetry of the tilted beams. To verify the beam scanning performance of the proposed antenna, a 1 x 4 linear array is fabricated and measured. The results prove that the antenna can achieve +/- 61 degrees beam scanning range with +/- 78 degrees 3 dB beam coverage range and the maximum sidelobe level (SLL) of -8.0 dB. The characteristics include low-profile, high efficiency, low SLL, and wide beam scanning range making it a very attractive choice for phased array antenna applications.