Multiple-beam low-profile low-cost antenna

A novel planar multiple-beam antenna is described. Each RF input radiates a directional beam in a different azimuth direction to achieve 360° coverage in azimuth. Elevation scan was not required; the beams are at a fixed elevation angle. Gain was maximized over 50° to 35° elevation for each beam, with beam maximum at 24° elevation. Measured gain was about 15 dBi and very wideband. Compared with phased arrays, this new antenna is lower cost, wider bandwidth, and uses a low-height planar aperture which provides numerous simultaneous low-elevation beams. A prototype was tested over 8.2-12.2 GHz with vertical linear polarization. The antenna diameter including ground plane and radome was 6.156” (156.4 mm), which is 5.2 wavelengths at 10 GHz, no other ground plane was used. The antenna height including radome is 0.961” (24.4 mm) which is 0.8 wavelengths at 10 GHz.