A Configurable Multiport Wire Antenna for Wideband Beamforming and Beam Scanning

In this letter, we introduce a design methodology to implement a generic multiport aperture that can provide far more design flexibility compared to regular phased arrays. Using a small-scale abstraction of the multiport network we develop a scalable circuit-level interpretation of the radiator that overcomes the need for full-wave design and simulation of the aperture. As a proof of concept, we develop an 11-port wired antenna prototype with the ability to adjust its center frequency while synthesizing a desired far-field pattern only by modulating the excitation phasors applied to the input ports. Measurements show the proposed multiport antenna can directly synthesize, radiate, and steer the beam across (5 to 18) GHz with a gain of around 8 dBi and a sidelobe level of -9 dB. The proposed computationally efficient design approach and the measured prototype open the door to implementing large-scale multiport configurable apertures.