9.4    Patch Antenna Array Beam Steering

The  button in Antenna Array tab and Model->Patch Antenna Array >Patch Antenna Array Beam Steering... command from main menu or Beam Steering… button from Patch Antenna Array dialogue invoke Patch Antenna Array – Beam Steering dialogue for including and setting the required direction of main radiation beam for the patch antenna array.

The direction of main radiation beam can be steered by defining φ and θ angles, for which QW-Modeller automatically calculates two-dimensional progression of the excitation signal delay (corresponding to phase shift) within all patches.

A two-dimensional phase progression among the array elements is  given by the following equations:

phase_shift_x=k*d_x*sin(θ)*cos(φ)

phase_shift_y=k*d_y*sin(θ)*sin(φ)

where:

k is phase constant defined as 2*π/λ

d_x=S_x+W and d_y=S_y+L (for rectangular and geometry patch)

d_x=S_x+D1 and d_y=S_y+D2 (for circular patch)

After relating the phase shifts with delay values (Delay_x and Delay_y) an effective delay of the excitation signal for particular patch in the array of N_x × N_y size is calculated according to the following equation:

Delay_ij=i*Delay_x + j*Delay_y

where:

i=0……N_x

j=0……N_y