Multibeam Antenna Systems for Wireless Communications
Summary
Multibeam antenna systems employ arrays of radiating elements and tailored beamforming networks to generate several simultaneous beams, thereby enhancing spectral efficiency, coverage and link reliability. At sub-6 GHz and millimetre-wave bands, these systems underpin high-capacity cellular networks, satellite links and emerging non-terrestrial platforms. Progress in analogue, digital and hybrid beamforming architectures has enabled agile steering, multi-user multiplexing and interference mitigation. Architectures such as Butler, Blass and Nolen matrices, as well as true-time-delay networks and Rotman lenses, have been refined for compactness and broad bandwidths. Innovations in differential feeding, metamaterial transmission lines and integrated switching further reduce form factors while improving polarisation purity and sidelobe suppression. Global deployment scenarios range from dense urban small cells and aeronautical platforms to rural broadband via high-altitude platforms, emphasising the role of multibeam arrays in bridging digital divides and supporting future 6G services.
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Multibeam Antenna Systems for Wireless Communications publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in multibeam antenna systems for wireless communications across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Multibeam antenna system: An arrangement of radiating elements and associated beamforming network designed to generate multiple simultaneous beams to enhance coverage, capacity and spectral reuse.
Beamforming network: A passive or active interconnection of couplers, phase shifters and delays that controls amplitude and phase across array elements to steer or shape beams.
Butler matrix: A fixed analogue beamforming network comprising hybrid couplers and phase-shifting sections that produces a predefined set of orthogonal beams.
Orthogonal beamforming: A strategy where beams are designed to be mutually orthogonal in phase or space to minimise inter-beam interference and simplify receiver processing.
Zero-forced beamforming: A precoding technique that imposes deep nulls in the radiation pattern towards undesired directions or users to suppress interference and improve link isolation.
References
- Millimeter-Wave Dual-Polarized Differentially Fed 2-D Multibeam Patch Antenna Array. IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation (2020).
- Circuit Type Multiple Beamforming Networks for Antenna Arrays in 5G and 6G Terrestrial and Non-Terrestrial Networks. IEEE Journal of Microwaves (2021).
- Design of True Time Delay Millimeter Wave Beamformers for 5G Multibeam Phased Arrays. Electronics (2020).
- Compact Metamaterial Based $4\times4$ Butler Matrix With Improved Bandwidth for 5G Applications. IEEE Access (2020).
- A 28-GHz Switched-Beam Antenna with Integrated Butler Matrix and Switch for 5G Applications. Sensors (2021).
- Orthogonal Versus Zero-Forced Beamforming in Multibeam Antenna Systems: Review and Challenges for Future Wireless Networks. IEEE Journal of Microwaves (2021).
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