Dual-Polarized Two-Dimensional Multibeam Antenna Array With Hybrid Beamforming and its Planarization

A feeding network crossing method is proposed to form an N × N dual-polarized two-dimensional multibeam antenna array (2D-MBAA) with analog-digital hybrid beamforming, which solves the problem of needing additional connection structure between the dual-polarized antenna array and analog feeding network for large-scale antenna arrays. The main design work is focused on the analog-beamformer (ABF) and two structures are proposed. One is vertical-crossed (VC) ABF and the other is parallel-crossed (PC) ABF, and the latter is a more complex design in exchange for a significantly reduced profile. As a verification, a 4×4 dual-polarized 2D-MBAA with PC-ABF has been fabricated and tested. It is operated at 3.45GHz with a bandwidth of about 10%, and it can realize a scanning angle of ±45°.