Patent ID: 7684776

Claim:
A wireless communication device, comprising: an antenna array comprising a first antenna and a second antenna; a first gain modulator coupled to the first antenna and a second gain modulator coupled to the second antenna, the first and second gain modulators each comprising: a first signal path comprising a phase shift element to bidirectionally shift a phase of a signal passing through the first signal path a predetermined fixed amount, and a first variable gain device to bidirectionally vary an amplitude of the signal passing through the first signal path; and a second signal path comprising a second variable gain device to bidirectionally vary an amplitude of a signal passing through the second signal path, each of the amplitude of the signal passing through the first signal path and the amplitude of the signal passing through the second signal path being capable of being independently and simultaneously controlled with respect to the amplitude of the signal of the other signal path, the first signal path of the first gain modulator being summed with the second signal path of the second gain modulator to form a summed signal comprising an amplitude that is based on the sum of the amplitudes of the signals in the first and second signal paths and comprising a phase that is based on the predetermined fixed phase shift, and the summed signal being coupled to a respective one of the first antenna or the second antenna; and a processor capable of adjusting the amplitude of the signal passing through at least one of the first signal path and the second signal path of at least one of the first gain modulator and the second gain modulator or combinations thereof, in accordance with a beam forming computation to transmit a signal of a desired characteristic, or receive a signal, or combinations thereof by the first antenna and the second antenna.