Scanning of the Near-field Focused Beam by Changing Frequency

A new antenna array system is introduced which enables the movement of a near-field focused beam by change of frequency. The shift in the beam is achieved by using multi-wavelength transmission lines between successive elements of the array. At the designed frequency the beam is focused at the focal point. Due to the differences in the transmission line lengths feeding the antenna elements, a progressive phase change occurs between these elements. These phase differences between the elements cause a shift in the beam position. An 8×8 patch antenna array system was designed at 2.4 GHz on a microstrip to implement the proposed system. Two substrates were used: one for the patch antenna array and the other one for the feed network and transmission lines. A full-wave simulation model was used to analyze this design and demonstrate the movement of the beam. For this design, the focused beam is moved 310 mm by changing the frequency from 2.2025 GHz to 2.5750 GHz.