Patent ID: 10249950

Abstract:
In some embodiments, an antenna system includes antenna elements for transmitting and/or receiving electromagnetic radiation. The antenna elements may be connected to a feed via a plurality of tunable impedance elements. At least some of the tunable impedance elements may have nonlinear responses to impedance tuning that can be numerically approximated by nonlinear impedance-tuning parameter curves with a cumulative number of selectable nonlinear coefficients. Control inputs to nonlinearly vary impedance values of the tunable impedance elements allow for the selection of distinct impedance patterns that correspond to distinct field patterns attainable by the antenna system. The number of field patterns attainable is a function of the number of control inputs and a cumulative number of selectable nonlinear coefficients. Thus, a selection of tunable impedance elements and control inputs may be made to attain a target number of field patterns to serve a desired coverage area.