BigPatents India

A low-cost, steerable, phased array antenna suitable for use in wireless fidelity (WiFi) and other wireless telecommunication networks, in particular multi-hop ad hoc networks, is disclosed. Various embodiments of an antenna assembly that includes a plurality of linear phased array antennas fed by corporate feeds are disclosed. The corporate feeds are implemented as parallel wire transmission lines, such as a coaxial, mstripline, microstrip, or coplanar waveguide (CPW) transmission line. Selectede branches of the corporate feed network include transmission line phase shifters oriented and sized so as to allow a high-permittivity dielectric element to control phase shifting. Thus, the corporate feed forms a phase shifting feed whose phase shift is controllable. Phase shifting can be electromeechanically controlled by controlling the space between the high-permittivity dielectric element and the phase shifting branches of the corporate feed or by electrically controlling the permittivity of the high-permittivity dielectric element.