A switched sector beam planar antenna

A planar dipole array antenna which can achieve four sector radiation patterns in the azimuth plane is presented. The antenna is composed of four double-sided printed dipoles arranged symmetrically around the center feed probe. The quarter-wavelength parallel strips line is particularly designed to play different roles in the sector beamforming. A high directivity sector beam can be obtained through the use of appropriate switches placed between the dipole elements and the feed network. Prototypes of the proposed antenna operating in the 2.4GHz band were designed and constructed. Measured and simulated results are used to demonstrate the performance of the antenna.