Patent ID: 11916632
Assignee: KYOCERA AVX COMPONENTS (SAN DIEGO), INC.
Field: Telecommunications (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 13:
14. A method of configuring an antenna system comprising an antenna array having a plurality of first antenna elements and a plurality of second antenna elements, the method comprising:
operating, via a control circuit, the plurality of first antenna elements of the antenna array to communicate one or more signals via a communication protocol;
operating, via the control circuit, the plurality of second antenna elements of the antenna array in a first mode in which a first subset of the second antenna elements are configured to provide a secondary function to support communication of the first antenna elements via the communication protocol and a second subset of the second antenna elements are configured to support beam forming or beam steering of the first antenna elements; and
adjusting, via the control circuit, operation of the plurality of second antenna elements of the antenna array from the first mode to a second mode in which one or more of the second antenna elements are configured to provide beam forming or beam steering of the first antenna elements.