Beam Steering with 5.75 GHz Dual Polarized Optically Transparent Patch Antenna Arrays

The ever-expanding demand for wireless communications faces many challenges. As the necessity for wireless communications increases, inevitably, the impact wireless communication systems have on their environment will also increase. The location where communication systems can be placed is limited by their physical size. For this reason, there is a demand for unobtrusive hardware in order to grow the wireless communication infrastructures. One method to reduce obstructiveness is by using optically transparent antennas. Performance limiting factors associated with wireless communications are mitigated by implementing steerable antennas. This paper presents a vertically and a horizontally-polarized, optically transparent patch antenna arrays for beam-steering applications designed using a highly conductive mesh wire on Lexan substrate to operate in the 5-6 GHz unlicensed band. These arrays were modeled in HFSS, fabricated, and tested in an anechoic chamber. Measured results show that transparent antenna arrays are able to steer the beams at desired four angles ±7° and ±22°.