Lensed antennas for use in cellular and other communications systems
Phased array antennas include a plurality of radiating elements and a plurality of RF lenses that are generally aligned along a first vertical axis. Each radiating element is associated with a respective one of the RF lenses, and each radiating element is tilted with respect to the first vertical axis.
1. A multi-beam antenna, comprising:
a radio frequency (“RF”) lens;
a plurality of radiating elements that are orbitally arranged part of the way around a first side of the RF lens,
wherein the radiating elements are arranged in a plurality of rows and columns, where each row extends in a respective arc in a respective one of a plurality of horizontal planes and each column extends in a respective arc in a respective one of a plurality of vertical planes,
wherein the multi-beam antenna is configured for multi-input-multi-output transmission.
2. The multi-beam antenna of claim 1 , wherein each radiating element comprises an active antenna element.
3. The multi-beam antenna of claim 1 , wherein each radiating element comprises a passive antenna element.
4. The multi-beam antenna of claim 3 , wherein the multibeam antenna is provided in conjunction with a radio that is connected to the multibeam antenna via a switch network of RF switches.
5. The multi-beam antenna of claim 4 , wherein the switch network is configurable to selectively connect the radio to one or more of the radiating elements on a per time slot basis of a time division multiplexing communication scheme.
6. The multi-beam antenna of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of horizontal planes comprise a plurality of substantially parallel planes, and wherein the plurality of vertical planes comprise a plurality of substantially parallel planes.
7. The multi-beam antenna of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of horizontal planes comprise a plurality of substantially parallel planes, and wherein the plurality of vertical planes intersect each other.
8. The multi-beam antenna of claim 1 , wherein the RF lens comprises a spherical RF lens.
9. The multi-beam antenna of claim 1 , wherein the RF lens comprises an elliptical RF lens.
10. The multi-beam antenna of claim 1 , wherein the multibeam antenna includes between four and eight rows of radiating elements that extend in respective arcs in respective ones of the plurality of horizontal planes.
11. The multi-beam antenna of claim 10 , wherein the multibeam antenna includes between four and eight columns of radiating elements that extend in respective arcs in respective ones of the plurality of vertical planes.
12. The multi-beam antenna of claim 8 , wherein the radiating elements in an uppermost of the rows are closer together than are the radiating elements in a middle one of the rows.
13. The multi-beam antenna of claim 1 , wherein each radiating element is mounted on a respective ground plane, and wherein each ground plane is orbitally arranged with respect to the RF lens.
14. A multi-beam antenna, comprising:
a plurality of radiating elements;
a spherical radio frequency (“RF”) lens that is positioned in front of the radiating elements; and
a switching network that is configured to connect a radio to a respective subset of the radiating elements.
15. The multi-beam antenna of claim 14 , wherein each radiating element is positioned so that a center of a radiation pattern that is emitted by the radiating element when excited is substantially directed at a center point of the spherical RF lens.
16. The multi-beam antenna of claim 15 , wherein the subset of radiating elements comprises a single one of the radiating elements.
17. The multi-beam antenna of claim 16 , wherein the subset of the radiating elements comprises a plurality of radiating elements that are connected to the switching network via a corporate feed network.
18. The multi-beam antenna of claim 16 , wherein the radiating elements are orbitally arranged part of the way around the side of the spherical RF lens.
19. The multi-beam antenna of claim 16 , wherein each radiating element is mounted on a respective ground plane, and wherein each ground plane is orbitally arranged with respect to the spherical RF lens.
20. The multi-beam antenna of claim 16 , wherein the radiating elements are arranged to define a first plurality of arcs that extend in horizontal planes and at least one additional arc that extends in vertical plane.