Patent ID: 7400296

Claim:
A phased array antenna system with variable electrical tilt and including an array of antenna elements, the system comprising: a) a divider for dividing a radio frequency (RF) carrier signal into first and second signals, b) a variable phase shifter for introducing a variable relative phase shift between the first and second signals, c) a phase to power converter for converting the relatively phase shifted first and second signals into signals whose powers are a function of the relative phase shift, d) first and second power splitters for dividing the converted signals into at least two sets of divided signals, the total number of divided signals in the sets being at least equal to the number of antenna elements in the array, e) power to phase converters for combining pairs of divided signals from different power splitters to provide vector sum and difference components with appropriate phase for supply to respective pairs of antenna elements located at like distances with respect to an array centre.