Patent ID: 8482465

Claim:
An antenna device comprising: an antenna structure comprising a plurality of antenna elements; a plurality of photoconductive cells, each comprising a semiconductive substrate, configured to selectively connect adjacent antenna elements of the plurality of antenna elements; one or more optical sources coupled to the plurality of photoconductive cells such that an optical illumination from the one or more optical sources is transversally coupled to the semiconductive substrate of one or more photoconductive cells selected from the plurality of photoconductive cells to alter a resonant frequency of the antenna structure; a plurality of patch antenna elements comprising an outer annular region and an inner circular region separated by an annular cavity on a patch substrate, the plurality of photoconductive cells disposed within the annular cavity for selectively connecting the outer annular region and the inner circular region; and a waveguide element placed on a back side of the patch substrate for transversally directing the illumination into each of the selected one or more photoconductive cells.