Phased array antenna apparatus and method

Abstract

The present invention provides phased array antenna apparatus () for operation in frequencies above six gigahertz. The apparatus () comprises: a plurality of sub-arrays () together configured to form a phased array antenna, each sub-array () comprising at least four antenna elements (), each antenna element () for receiving an input signal from the sub-array () and comprising: an antenna () for transmission of the input signal; and a signal modification component () to adjust a phase of the input signal during propagation to the antenna (); and a plurality of power amplifiers (), wherein each sub-array () is provided with a one of the plurality of power amplifiers (), wherein each sub-array () is arranged to be provided with an amplified input signal, and each antenna element () of the sub-array () is configured to be provided with the amplified input signal of the respective sub-array () as the input signal to the antenna element (), and wherein the power amplifier () for each sub-array () is configured to receive a phased array input signal for amplification and to output the respective amplified input signal to the respective sub-array (). The power amplifier () for each sub-array () may be physically separate and distinct from each sub-array ().