Compact Conical Phased Array with Wide Space Coverage and Low Mutual Couplings

Usually flat linear phased arrays with uniform feeds have limited beam scanning coverage, especially not able to scan to the endfire direction. In this paper, we propose an elevated phased array in a stair-like configuration with an overall elevation of 30°. Eight wideband stacked patches are allocated in different stairs leading to different heights, but in a linear direction. With such an elevated linear phased array, a wide beam scanning is obtained from the broadside to the endfire directions. Moreover, the mutual couplings between each element are reduced significantly as well due to the suppression of surface waves between elements. Furthermore, by deploying such a stair-like phased array symmetrically and into a circular scenario, a conical phased array is achieved with wide space coverage from -90° to 90° in the elevation and from 0° to 360° in the azimuth.