Patent ID: 7868842

Claim:
A base station antenna for a wireless communication system, comprising: a ground plane; a substantially linear array of dipole antenna elements supported by the ground plane extending in a main antenna axis direction, the array configured to emit a beam having a first polarization component defined by E(theta) and a second polarization component defined by E(phi) substantially orthogonal to the first polarization component, wherein the beam exhibits a beamwidth extending across a selected range of azimuth; an antenna feed system configured to deliver RF signals to the antenna elements and receive RF signals from the antenna elements to generate the beam for engaging in duplex communications with a plurality of wireless communication devices utilizing an operational frequency band defined around a center frequency corresponding to a center wavelength; and a pair of beam shaping structures connected to or positioned proximate to the ground plane and positioned proximate to the antenna elements configured to influence the shape of the beam shape to exhibit desired beam shape characteristics, including: the selected range of azimuth equal to at least 45°, E(theta) and E(phi) each exhibiting 3 dB beamwidth across the selected range of azimuth, E(theta) and E(phi) exhibiting 3 dB drop points defining the selected range of azimuth within 5° of each other; and a polarization gain differential between E(theta) and E(phi) of not more than 3 dB across the selected range of azimuth.