Electrically Conformal Antenna Array With Planar Multipole Structure for 2-D Wide Angle Beam Steering

Electrically conformal antenna arrays (ECAA) for 2-dimensional (2-D) beamforming configured by wide beamwidth multipole radiation elements are proposed. Unlike the conventional conformal antenna array with physically curved shape, the proposed arrays are planar structures with wide-angle beam steering. The wide range of beam steering with a low gain variation allows the planar array structure to achieve the electrically conformal phased array patterns. In order to verify the ECAA concept, two different types of ECAA in a 1 × 8 configuration using planar multipole antenna elements were fabricated at 5.8 GHz and compared to the conventional patch array. Each multipole element had half-power-beamwidth (HPBW) wider than 110° at both E- and H-planes with the maximum HPBW of 175°. The first type of ECAA showed a measured peak gain of 10.8 dBi with a measured half power steering angle of 155° while maintaining a side lobe level (SLL) less than -10 dB. Further, the second ECAA showed a measured peak gain of 12.8 dBi with a measured half power steering angle of 144° while keeping the SLL less than -10 dB. These scan angles of the first and second types were extended about 66.7% and 54.8%, respectively from the conventional patch array with the same size. Lastly, two types of 8 × 8 array modules for 2-D beam steering were verified at 5.8 GHz and the first type showed a maximum peak gain of 21.0 dBi. Further, the 2-D half power steering angles in E- and H-planes of the second type were about 145° and 137°, respectively.