Patent ID: 8130161

Claim:
An antenna control system comprising: a remotely controllable antenna unit to be positioned at an elevated position at a frame structure adjacent to a base station in a cellular mobile telephone system, said antenna unit including at least one row of antenna elements, located at predetermined fixed positions along said row, being fed by a common signal for emitting and receiving microwave signals in a main lobe in a cell associated with said base station, the general angular direction of said main lobe being controllable by adjusting the phase of said common signal so as to achieve a predetermined phase difference of said common signal at the various antenna elements in said row, and electro-mechanical means for effecting said phase adjustment, wherein the various antenna elements in said row are coupled by fixed transmission lines to a central feeding point for said common signal, said adjustment of said phase of said common signal is achieved by means of a linearly movable operating element connected to dielectric body portions influencing the signal velocity along said fixed transmission lines, and said electro-mechanical means comprising an operating element actuator for linearly displacing said movable operating element with said dielectric body-portions, and control electronics including: input means for receiving command signals transmitted from a remote control unit, means for determining if any received command signal is intended for the antenna unit, means for converting said command signal intended for the antenna unit into a corresponding control signal for said operating element actuator, and means for controlling said actuator based on the control signal in order to displace said linearly movable operating element with said dielectric body portions so as to make a corresponding adjustment of said phase of said common signal at each antenna element, thereby controlling the general angular direction of said main lobe.