Modular steerable active phased array antenna at 2.4 GHz

Phased array antennas can cover a wide range of applications, e.g. localizing passive tags. Depending on the specifications for antenna gain, beam width and scanning range, different types and numbers of antenna elements are required. This kind of flexibility is provided by a customizable approach consisting of a control module and backplanes that carry RF and antenna modules where amplitude and phase shifting needed for beamforming takes place. Furthermore, an initial calibration of the antenna has to be carried out in order to compensate for tolerances in the manufacturing process. In this paper, a 4×4 array is realized and presented which allows full 2D beamsteering. Comprehensive measurement results are shown and discussed.