Design Services
Switched beam antenna for a Mesh network
Objectives
Design and develop a 360° 16-beam antenna for operation at 5.8GHz in a Mesh network field trial. The signals must be assignable to any beam.
Challenge
Design needs to be simple, low-cost and compact.
Results
A cube design was developed, with a 4×2 array of low-cost dielectric resonator antenna elements on each of four faces. The internal circuitry included a Butler Matrix to switch between beams and used no connectors to the antenna elements, ensuring low-cost and minimal signal loss. Over 100 of the antennas were deployed in a successful field trial during 2003.
Client
Radiant Networks, a UK-based start-up developing wireless Mesh networks for last-mile applications. They were acquired in 2004.