A steerable 60GHz array antenna using a reconfigurable dielectric phase shifter

A steerable array of patch antennas is designed for wireless communication at 60GHz. The antenna utilizes a novel dielectric phase shifting technique, previously presented by J. Cha et al. [1]. The propagation constant of a fixed portion of 60GHz coplanar waveguide transmission line is altered by the presence of ceramic slabs. A mechanism for introducing relative phase delay is designed based on this effect and both discrete and continuous slab height range is explored. The electrical characteristics and far field patterns are numerically approximated using Ansoft HFSS. A prototype antenna is fabricated and preliminary test results are gathered.