Patent ID: 8301027

Claim:
An apparatus for projecting an electromagnetic beam, the apparatus comprising: an array of electromagnetic emitters, the emitters configured to generate electromagnetic beams; an array of lenses positioned to project the electromagnetic beams to the selectable far-field position, the array of electromagnetic emitters further comprising subarrays of N electromagnetic emitters per subarray, each subarray sharing a common lens, the electromagnetic emitters within each subarray having a first separation pitch between the adjacent electromagnetic emitters, the lenses in the array of lenses having a second separation pitch between the adjacent lenses, and the subarrays having a third separation pitch between the adjacent subarrays, the first and second separation pitches being different from each other and having a difference which, in combination with the focal lengths of the lenses, defines a step size in projecting the electromagnetic beams to a selectable far-field position within an angular coverage area.