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IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation
Volume 46 Number 6, June 1998

Table of Contents for this issue

Complete paper in PDF format

Base-Station Tracking in Mobile Communications Using a Switched Parasitic Antenna Array

Stephanie L. Preston, Student Member, IEEE, David V. Thiel, Senior Member, IEEE, Trevor A. Smith, Student Member, IEEE, Steven G. O'Keefe, Member, IEEE, and Jun Wei Lu, Member, IEEE

Page 841.

Abstract:

Base-station tracking in mobile communications benefits from a directional antenna and so requires direction finding technology. A novel technique for electronically directing the radiation pattern of an antenna array employs a directional array with only one active element and three parasitic elements operating near resonance. Three different methods of direction finding are assessed; a coarse angular location method, a precise angular location method assuming one incident beam, and a precise angular location method with multiple incident beams. An array with n elements, if used in conjunction with a relatively simple controller, can be used to resolve n-1 signals. This technology can be implemented using both wire and patch antenna-array elements and either linear or circular polarization can be used, lending the technology to applications in both terrestrial and satellite communications systems.

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