Reduced sidelobe four-beam antenna array fed by modified Butler matrix

A novel four-beam antenna array fed by a modified 4×8 Butler matrix is proposed. Four 180° directional couplers in conjunction with a 4×4 Butler matrix are applied to provide a tapered excitation of a linear eight-element switched-beam antenna array. Sidelobes as low as -20 dB for all four beams have been both theoretically and experimentally achieved. A proposed technique of antenna element rotation simplifies the design of a feeding network.