Patent ID: 11888237
Assignee: AIRSPAN IP HOLDCO LLC
Field: Telecommunications (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 16:
17. A method of controlling an antenna beam of an antenna apparatus, the method comprising:
providing a strip of antenna elements extending in a first dimension;
providing a plurality of beamforming networks, wherein each beamforming network is arranged, when coupled to the strip of antenna elements, to cause an associated beam pattern of the beamforming network to be generated by the strip of antenna elements; and
employing switching circuitry to allow any one of the plurality of beamforming networks to be inserted between the strip of antenna elements and a signal processing interface used for connection to signal processing circuitry;
arranging each beamforming network to couple a first node of the beamforming network with multiple second nodes of the beamforming network in accordance with a coupling pattern of that beamforming network;
providing each beamforming network within a corresponding layer of a multi-layered structure, with the switching circuitry enabling connection to be switched between different layers of the multi-layered structure in order to switch operation of the antenna apparatus between different beamforming networks;
wherein when the switching circuitry causes a given beamforming network of the plurality of beamforming networks to be inserted between the strip of antenna elements and the signal processing interface, the signal processing interface is coupled to the first node, each antenna element is coupled to an associated one of the multiple second nodes, and the coupling pattern of the given beamforming network causes the associated beam pattern to be generated by the strip of antenna elements.