Impact of the Asymmetric Signal Routing on the Wideband Spatial Behavior of Large Modular Phased Arrays

Phased arrays have typically equal lengths for all antenna paths. This paper compares three phased array architectures for 5/6G applications. The first two arrays present unequal-length feeding networks, while the third array is the corporate-fed one. The first array is fed from the center, while the second is fed from the side. The impacts of the unsymmetrical feeding network on the bandwidths are analyzed and compared to the corporate-fed array. We show that side-fed arrays present higher bandwidths for higher steering angles, while center-fed arrays work better in the broadside region. Moreover, side-fed arrays can also be better than corporate-fed ones near the end-fire region, making them a good alternative to reduce the footprint of the feeding networks. Finally, we illustrate that if the feeding point can be varied as a function of the desired steering angle, the broadband performance of the array can be optimized for different steering angles.