Novel low-cost beam-steering techniques

This paper summarizes and compares several techniques for beam steering without the use of conventional ferrite or solid-state phase shifters. Three methods are presented: a microstrip patch antenna array fed by a dielectric image line (DIL) controlled by a reflector plate, a multimicrostrip line fed Vivaldi antenna array controlled by piezoelectric transducers (PETs) and a movable grating film fed by dielectric image line. Both theoretical analyses and experimental measurements have been carried out. The measurement results agree very well with the predictions. These new techniques have many advantages, including low cost, broad bandwidth, low loss, wide scan angle, and simplicity. These low-cost beam-steering techniques should have many applications in microwave and millimeter-wave commercial systems.