A multiport planar antenna system with digital reconfigurability to adjust a beam-steering function of the system is described herein. A substrate is provided and a grid of parasitic elements is printed on a surface of the substrate. One or more driven, radiating elements such as monopole or dipole antennas are printed on the substrate proximate the parasitic elements. Switching elements between adjacent parasitic elements are then configured to steer the radiation direction in a particular direction in the azimuth plane. The small form factor of the planar antenna system can be used in a multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) application used by fifth generation (5G) devices such as mobile phones, internet of things (IoT) devices, and vehicles.

An electronically steerable parasitic array radiator (ESPAR) antenna system that includes an ESPAR antenna, a GPS receiver, a GPS low-noise amplifier, a power detector module, and a central processing unit. The GPS receiver is connected to the ESPAR antenna as a separate component. The GPS low-noise amplifier strengthens a signal to propagate through the transmission line and operates in the L1 and L2 GPS bands. The power detector module provides additional amplification for noise quantification. The power detector receives an RF power level and converts the RF power level into a DC voltage output. The central processing unit includes memory that is capable of storing the DC voltage output from the power detector.

Examples are disclosed that relate to changing an antenna pattern via one or more configurable parasitic antennas. One example provides a wireless device comprising a radio, a driven antenna connected to the radio, a ground plane, and one or more parasitic antennas. Each parasitic antenna connects to the ground plane via a switch operable to change an antenna pattern of the driven antenna.

A method for beam steering and beam forming an antenna is disclosed herein that includes illuminating an optical fiber with a light source, thereby transmitting a signal through the optical fiber to an electro-optical switch. The electro-optical switch is actuated with the signal from the light source, thereby switching an electrical load in the electro-optical switch. At least one antenna element in an array of antenna elements is excited with RF radiation radiated by a driven element via an RF transmission line and reradiated from parasitic elements, thereby beam steering and beam forming the antenna.

The disclosed structures and methods are directed to antenna systems configured to transmit and receive a wireless signal in and from different directions. A switchable lens antenna has excitation ports radiating radio-frequency (RF) wave into a parallel-plate waveguide structure, and a frequency selective structure (FSS). The antenna presented herein is configured to operate in two modes depending on an initial steering angle of the RF wave propagating in the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When the initial steering angle is about or less than a threshold steering angle, FSS is OFF due to its stubs being electrically disconnected from the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When the initial steering angle is higher than the threshold, FSS is ON with stubs being electrically connected to the parallel-plate waveguide structure. When ON, FSS provides phase variance to the RF wave propagating in the parallel-plate waveguide structure and increases steering angle of the RF wave.

An antenna assembly includes a driven element, a first set of antenna elements disposed a first distance from the driven element such that each element of the first set of antenna elements is equidistant from adjacent elements of the first set of antenna elements, and a second set of antenna elements disposed a second distance from the driven element such that each element of the second set of antenna elements is equidistant from adjacent elements of the second set of antenna elements, the second distance being larger than the first distance. The antenna assembly includes or is operably coupled to a selector module configured to select one element of the first set of antenna elements as a selected director, and select one element of the second set of antenna elements as a selected reflector by effectively shortening a length of the selected director and effectively lengthening the selected reflector.

Disclosed is an antenna having a toroidal gradient index lens, whereby a radiator may be disposed within the inner hole of the toroid. The antenna may include a mechanism that translates the radiator along the z-axis whereby an “upward” translation of the radiator along the z-axis tilts the antenna's elevation beam pattern downward. The radiator disposed within the hole of the toroid lens may be a dipole or a multi-sector radiator, such as a tri-sector radiator. Disclosed are two variations of the toroidal lens: a toroid shape, and a cylindrical toroidal shape.

Apparatus and methods for antenna arrays for beamforming are disclosed. In certain embodiments, a mobile device includes a front-end system including a plurality of radio frequency signal conditioning circuits, an antenna array including a plurality of controllable antennas each connected to a corresponding one of the plurality of radio frequency signal conditioning circuits, and a control circuit. The plurality of controllable antennas include a first controllable antenna including a plurality of antenna elements interconnected by a plurality of material regions. Additionally, the control circuit is configured to control the plurality of material regions to control an antenna characteristic of the first controllable antenna.

Disclosed is a display device including, from a front face towards a rear face, a panel, a ground plane, and a processing unit connected to the panel and including an antenna for receiving and/or emitting a wave for connection to a wireless network. The display device further includes a plurality of adjustable elements connected to the processing unit, each adjustable element having an impedance which can be modified by the processing unit in order to change the manner in which the wave is reflected and/or transmitted by the adjustable elements, these adjustable elements being located on the rear side of the ground plane.

A system and method reconfiguring an antenna for reducing and/or eliminating the effects of multipath on a phase-based measurement system. The method includes steering an antenna unit into a first direction to cause the antenna unit to generate a first constant tone (CT) signal based on a plurality of multipath signals. The method includes performing a phase measurement on the first CT signal to generate a first phase measurement value. The method includes steering the antenna unit into a second direction to cause the antenna unit to generate a second CT signal based on the plurality of multipath signals. The method includes performing a phase measurement on the second CT signal to generate a second phase measurement value. The method includes determining a change in multipath interference at the antenna unit among the plurality of multipath signals. The method includes re-steering the antenna unit into the first direction.