An Edge-Tapered Antipodal Beam Switching Antenna with 360° Azimuthal Beam Steering

A low profile, compact, and wideband electronic beam-switching antenna (EBSA) array is presented that can scan 360° in the azimuthal plane by using only four switching states. This antenna array is pattern reconfigurable and planar, which confirms its suitability for wideband applications in the X/Ku band such as satellite, radar, and vehicular communications. The proposed design can produce almost a flat gain with a half-power beamwidth greater than 90°, requiring only 4 array elements for 360° beam switching. The proposed EBSA offers an impedance bandwidth of 60% while maintaining a mutual coupling below -30 dB between array elements. Gain is maintained between 6-8dBi with a slight fluctuation over the scanning angles and intended frequency band.