Design and Implementation of a 3D Beam Steering Antenna for Cellular Frequencies

To address the issue of pattern reconfigurability in both azimuth and elevation plane, a 3D beam steering antenna was designed and implemented. This paper presents a 3D active frequency-selective surface (AFSS) reflector fed by an omnidirectional antenna. In our design, the 920 MHz hexagonal AFSS reflector was able to steer its beam in 12 different directions by switching PIN diodes in the square loop unit cells. It covers 0 degrees to 360 degrees in the azimuth plane and +/-25 degrees in the elevation plane. In the actual setup, the antenna gain ranged from 7.1 to 8.7 dBi in the azimuth plane and 3 to 5.2 dBi in the elevation plane. The 3D reconfigurability of the implemented antenna could be beneficial for cellular communications particularly in high-rise areas