Patent ID: 8390518

Claim:
Antenna arrangement for transmitting and/or for receiving electromagnetic radiation, in particular for transmitting and/or for receiving radio wave signals between a base station and a mobile end device, the antenna arrangement comprising; a first antenna element and a second antenna element, said first antenna element and said second antenna element being adapted for transmitting and/or for receiving electromagnetic radiation of a first polarization, a third antenna element, said third antenna element being adapted for transmitting and/or for receiving electromagnetic radiation of a second polarization, said second polarization being different from the first polarization, and a first coupling unit, said first coupling unit being connected to the first antenna element, to the third antenna element and to a first terminal of the antenna arrangement, wherein the first coupling unit is adapted to couple the first terminal selectively to the first antenna element and/or to the third antenna element based on a first control signal, and wherein the first antenna element and the third antenna element are spatially separated from each other such that a first signal being assigned to the first antenna element and a third signal being assigned to the third antenna element are correlated with each other, and further comprising: a fourth antenna element, said fourth antenna element being adapted for transmitting and/or for receiving electromagnetic radiation of the second polarization, and a second coupling unit, said second coupling unit being connected to the second antenna element, to the fourth antenna element and to a second terminal of the antenna arrangement, wherein the second coupling unit is adapted to couple the second terminal selectively to the second antenna element and/or to the fourth antenna element based on a second control signal, and wherein the second antenna element and the fourth antenna element are spatially separated from each other such that a second signal being assigned to the second antenna element and a fourth signal being assigned to the fourth antenna element are correlated with each other, wherein the connections established between the first terminal and the second terminal with their respective coupled antenna elements permit the antenna arrangement to toggle between a first operation mode and a second operation mode in order to carry out beam forming when the antenna elements are assigned to an identical polarization or polarization separation when the antenna elements are assigned to a different polarization.