Shaped Beam Antennas-A Review

Antenna array design variables are: array shape (Linear, circular, planar etc), element spacing, element excitation-amplitude or phase and pattern of array elements. Radiation pattern of an antenna can be changed byaltering the geometrical shape of the reflector. Thismethodis notpreferred because of high cost. Shaped beams can be generated easily by using linear antenna array with excitation control. Reconfigurable antennas canchange their radiation pattern and polarization. This paper reviews the different design approaches of shaped beams.