Differential time delay shifter, method and system for applying time delay to signal

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to a differential time delay shifter, a method and a system for applying a time delay to a signal. A differential time delay shifter may include a pair of N switches, wherein N is an integer greater than 1. The switch may have a knife contact, N throw contacts, and a knife arm, which selectively connects the knife contact to one of the throw contacts. One throw contact may be a first throw contact at a first switch position, and one throw contact may be a final throw contact at a final switch position. The shifter may also include one or more transmission lines, each of which is electrically connected between two of the N throw contacts. The shifter may also include a source, which is configured to generate an electromagnetic signal. The source may be electrically connected to the knife contact to transmit the signal to the knife contact. The shifter may also include one or more loads, a first load of which is electrically connected to the first throw contact.

Description

[0001] Related Applications

[0002] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62 / 949,152, filed on December 17, 2019. The entire teachings of the above application are incorporated herein by reference. Background Art

[0003] In cellular communication systems, it is desirable to minimize interference between adjacent cell sites to facilitate frequency reuse between cells. Radiation pattern control of base station transmitters is one way to reduce this inter-cell interference. For example, one way to reduce interference between cell sites is to reduce the coverage area of ​​a cell site by tilting the vertical (elevation) pattern of the antenna downward toward the ground. While this can be accomplished by mechanically tilting the antenna downward using an adjustable bracket, the tilt can alternatively be accomplished by steering the transmit beam downward using a phased array antenna configuration.

[0004] Phased array antennas can be used to directionally control electromagnetic (EM) radiation beams. A prior art example of a phased array antenna system is shown in FIG. 1 . An array of antenna elements 12 is driven by a transmitter 14. The feed current of each antenna element flows through a phase shifter 16. When the phase shifts achieved by the phase shifters 16 are all the same, the transmissions from the antenna element array 16 combine to form a wavefront 18 that is perpendicular to the antenna axis 20. If the phase shifts of the phase shifters 16 increase gradually across the array (e.g., from the top to the bottom of the array in FIG. 1 ), the transmissions from the antenna element array 16 combine to form a wavefront 22 that is oriented at an angle θ relative to the antenna axis 20. With the example one-dimensional antenna element array 16, the transmitted EM beam can be controlled in a single plane (e.g., a vertical plane) by varying the phase shifts provided by each phase shifter 16.

[0005] The angle θ of the antenna beam can be changed by changing the phase shift of each individual phase shifter 16. FIG. 2 shows a prior art example of a variable phase shifter 28 that can be used for this purpose. The variable phase shifter 28 includes a wiper arm 36 that can rotate about a pivot coupling 38 so that the distal end of the wiper arm sweeps an arcuate conductive strip 40. The connection between the distal end of the wiper arm 36 and the conductive strip 40 is capacitive. When the wiper arm 36 rotates about the pivot coupling 38, the path length between the first port 30 and the second port 32 and between the first port 30 and the third port 34 changes, which changes the phase of the signal output at the second port 32 and the third port 34.

[0006] Because the phase shifter 28 depicted in FIG2 is a sliding mechanism, the slider arm 36 needs to be physically moved (e.g., rotated) to change the phase at the output port. In order to make the phase shifter of FIG2 remotely controllable, a stepper motor or other such drive mechanism needs to be associated with the slider arm of the phase shifter. The mechanical characteristics of the phase shifter 28 and the associated stepper motor may introduce adverse reliability and performance issues to the transmitter / antenna system. Summary of the invention

[0007] In one aspect, the present invention may be a differential time delay shifter, the differential time delay shifter comprising a pair of N switches, wherein N is an integer greater than 1. The pair of N switches may have a knife contact, N throw contacts, and a knife arm, the knife arm being configured to selectively electrically connect the knife contact to zero or more of the N throw contacts. One of the N throw contacts may be a first throw contact at a first position of the pair of N switches, and one of the N throw contacts may be a final throw contact at a final position of the pair of N switches. The differential time delay shifter may also include one or more transmission lines, each of the one or more transmission lines being electrically connected between two of the N throw contacts. The differential time delay shifter may also include a source configured to generate an electromagnetic (EM) signal. The source may be electrically coupled to the knife contact to transmit the EM signal to the knife contact. The differential time delay shifter may further include one or more loads, a first load of the one or more loads being electrically coupled to the first throw contact.

[0008] In one embodiment, a second load of the one or more loads may be electrically coupled to the final throw contact. The switch positions of the pair of N switches may be such that: (i) the EM signal is propagated to the first load through M of the one or more transmission lines, and (ii) the EM signal is propagated to the second load through NM of the one or more transmission lines, M being an integer greater than or equal to 0. The M transmission lines may be different from the NM transmission lines. The knife arm may be configured to selectively electrically couple the knife contact to only one of the N throw contacts at a time. The knife arm may be configured to selectively electrically couple the knife contact to two or more of the N throw contacts simultaneously. The knife arm can be configured to (i) not selectively electrically connect the knife contact to the N throw contacts, (ii) selectively electrically connect the knife contact to only one of the N throw contacts at a time, or (iii) selectively electrically connect the knife contact to two or more of the N throw contacts at the same time.

[0009] The differential time delay shifter may also include one or more matching components, which are configured to match the impedance of one of the switch, the load, the source, and the one or more transmission lines with the impedance of another of the switch, the load, the source, and the one or more transmission lines.

[0010] In another aspect, a method of applying a time delay to an electromagnetic (EM) signal may include configuring a pair of N switches, wherein N is an integer greater than 1, so that the pair of N switches has: (i) a blade contact; (ii) N throw contacts; (iii) a blade arm configured to selectively electrically couple the blade contact to one of the N throw contacts, one of the N throw contacts being a first throw contact of a first position of the pair of N switches, and one of the N throw contacts being a final throw contact of a final position of the pair of N switches; and (iv) one or more transmission lines, each of the one or more transmission lines being electrically connected between two of the N throw contacts. The method may also include electrically coupling a source configured to generate the electromagnetic (EM) signal to the blade contact; electrically coupling a first load to the first throw contact, and manipulating the blade arm to electrically couple the blade contact to one of the N throw contacts.

[0011] The method may further include electrically coupling a second load to the final throw contact. The method may further include: causing the EM signal to propagate to the first load through M of the one or more transmission lines, and causing the EM signal to propagate to the second load through NM of the one or more transmission lines, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 0. The method may further include: selectively electrically coupling the knife contact to only one of the N throw contacts at a time. The method may further include: selectively electrically coupling the knife contact to two or more of the N throw contacts at the same time. The method may alternatively include: (i) not selectively electrically coupling the knife contact to the N throw contacts, (ii) selectively electrically coupling the knife contact to only one of the N throw contacts at a time, or (iii) selectively electrically coupling the knife contact to two or more of the N throw contacts at the same time.

[0012] In yet another aspect, an antenna array feed system may include: an antenna array having at least one column of radiating elements; and at least one delay shift network configured to distribute electromagnetic (EM) signals to the antenna array. The at least one delay shift network may include at least one pair of N switches and one or more transmission lines, each of the one or more transmission lines being electrically connected between two of the N throw contacts of the pair of N switches. Each of the radiating elements of the antenna array may be electrically coupled to the throw contacts of the at least one pair of N switches, such that each radiating element is disposed at an endpoint of the one or more transmission lines.

[0013] In one embodiment, the 1-to-N switch may be configured to selectively electrically couple the EM signal to only one of the N throw contacts at a time. The 1-to-N switch may be configured to selectively electrically couple the EM signal to two or more of the N throw contacts simultaneously. The 1-to-N switch may be configured to: (i) not selectively electrically couple the EM signal to the N throw contacts, (ii) selectively electrically couple the EM signal to only one of the N throw contacts at a time, or (iii) selectively electrically couple the EM signal to two or more of the N throw contacts simultaneously.

[0014] The antenna array may include at least two columns of radiating elements. The at least one delay shift network may be configured to distribute the EM signal to the at least two columns of radiating elements such that each column of elements experiences the same differential delay pattern. The antenna array may include at least two columns of radiating elements. The at least one delay shift network may be configured to distribute the EM signal to the at least two columns of radiating elements such that each column of elements experiences a different differential delay pattern. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] The foregoing will become apparent from the following more particular description of example embodiments, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the embodiments.

[0016] FIG. 1 shows a prior art example of a phased array antenna system.

[0017] FIG. 2 shows a prior art example of a variable phase shifter.

[0018] Figure 3 An example implementation of a differential delay shifter according to the present invention is shown.

[0019] Figure 4An example simulation model of a differential delay shifter according to the present invention is illustrated.

[0020] Figure 5A and Figure 5B Illustrated with Figure 4 The simulation model is shown with associated simulation results.

[0021] FIG. 6A to FIG. 6D An alternative embodiment of a differential delay shifter according to the present invention is illustrated.

[0022] Figure 7 An example cascade network that can be used to control the delay shift of two axes of a multi-element array is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Following is a description of example implementations.

[0024] The described embodiments are directed to a differential true time delay shifter that can provide a discrete time delay path from an electromagnetic (EM) signal source to a load.

[0025] Figure 3 An example implementation of a differential delay shifter according to the present invention is shown, which includes a single-pole four-throw switch 102, a first transmission line 104, a second transmission line 106, and a third transmission line 108. The switch 102 may include a pole 110 electrically coupled to a pole arm 112, the pole arm 112 being configured to selectively (electrically) couple the pole 112 to one of a first contact 114, a second contact 116, a third contact 118, and a fourth contact 120. The first transmission line 104 (TL1) is electrically coupled between the first contact 114 and the second contact 116. The second transmission line 106 is electrically coupled between the second contact 116 and the third contact 118. The third transmission line 108 is electrically coupled between the third contact 118 and the fourth contact 120. A source 122 (S1) is electrically coupled to the pole 110, a first load (L1) 124 is electrically coupled to the first contact 114, and a second load (L2) 126 is electrically coupled to the fourth contact 120.

[0026] When the switch 102 electrically couples the pole 110 to the first contact 114 , there are transmission paths: (i) from the source 122 directly to the first load 124 , and (ii) from the source 122 to the second load 126 through the transmission lines TL1 104 , TL2 106 , and TL3 108 .

[0027] When the switch 102 electrically couples the pole 110 to the second contact 116 , there are transmission paths: (i) from the source 122 to the first load 124 through the transmission line TL1 104 , and (ii) from the source 122 to the second load 126 through the transmission lines TL2 106 and TL3 108 .

[0028] When the switch 102 electrically couples the pole 110 to the third contact 116 , there are transmission paths: (i) from the source 122 to the first load 124 through the transmission lines TL1 104 and TL2 106 , and (ii) from the source 122 to the second load 126 through the transmission line TL3 108 .

[0029] When the switch 102 electrically couples the pole 110 to the fourth contact 120 , there are transmission paths: (i) from the source 122 through the transmission lines TL1 104 , TL2 106 , and TL3 108 to the first load 124 , and (ii) from the source 122 directly to the second load 126 .

[0030] By setting the switch 102 to one of the above four states, the transmission path from the source 122 to the first load 124 can be constructed as TL1, TL1+TL2, or TL1+TL2+TL3, and the transmission path from the source 122 to the second load 126 can be constructed as TL3, TL2+TL3, or TL1+TL2+TL3. Each transmission line TL1104, TL2106, and TL3108 implements a time delay of a signal propagating through the transmission line. The delay is equal to the length of the transmission line divided by the propagation speed of the signal through the transmission line. The final phase delay of the propagating signal depends on the frequency (wavelength) of the signal. For example, assuming the propagation speed is c=3×10 8 , then the 24mm (0.024m) transmission line generates 0.024m / (3×10 8 m / s)=80ps time delay. For a 2 GHz propagating signal with a wavelength of 0.5 ns, a time delay of 80 ps corresponds to a phase delay of approximately 58 degrees. Thus, the time delay produced by a particular set of transmission paths selected by the switch produces a corresponding phase delay. The switch 102 can be characterized by a fifth state in which the pole is not electrically coupled to the throw contact and the pole is electrically isolated from the throw contact.

[0031] The above examples are presented to illustrate the concepts of the present invention and are not intended to be limiting. Embodiments of the present invention may utilize any number of throws (e.g., a single-pole N-throw switch, where N is an integer). The transmission lines (e.g., TL1, TL2, TL3) between the throw contacts of the switch may have any length and are not necessarily equal. The length of the transmission line may be appropriately selected to achieve the desired propagation delay for a particular switch setting. Additional transmission line sections (matching sections) may be included in the differential delay shifter to provide impedance matching (i) between transmission lines, (ii) from the switch 102 to the transmission line, (iii) from the source to the switch, and (iv) from the transmission line to the load. The matching section may increase the length of the transmission path from the source 122 to the loads 124, 126, which corresponds to an increase in the phase delay at the load, as described above.

[0032] Refer to the above Figure 3 The example implementation described assumes that the length of TL1 = the length of TL2 = the length of TL3 = 24 mm, and the frequency range of the signal driven by S1 is 0 to 4 GHz. When the switch 102 connects the pole 110 to the first contact 114, the time delay difference between the signals at S1122 and L1124 will be 0 pS, and the time difference between the signals at S1122 and L2126 will be about 240 pS. When the switch 102 connects the pole 110 to the second contact 114, the time difference between the signals at S1122 and L1124 will be about 80 pS, and the time difference between the signals at S1122 and L2126 will be about 160 pS. When the switch 102 connects the pole 110 to the third contact 116, the time difference between the signals at S1122 and L1124 will be about 160 pS, and the time difference between the signals at S1122 and L2126 will be about 80 pS. When the switch 102 connects the pole 110 to the fourth contact 118, the time difference between the signals at S1122 and L1124 will be approximately 240 pS, while the time difference between the signals at S1122 and L2126 will be approximately 0 pS. Implementations of the example implementation described above are summarized in Table 1.

[0033] Switch Position Time delay at L1 (with respect to S1) Time delay at L2 (with respect to S1) First contact 0pS 240pS Second contact 80pS 160pS The third contact 160pS 80pS Fourth contact 240pS 0pS

[0034] Table 1

[0035] Figure 4 An example simulation model of a differential delay shifter is illustrated, which includes a 1-pole 4-throw switch 202 that distributes a signal from a source P3 222 to a first load P1 224 and a second load P2 226. Although the first load 224 and the second load 226 are depicted as 100 ohm impedance loads in this example embodiment, and the source 222 is depicted as a 50 ohm impedance load, these specific values ​​are examples only and are not intended to be limiting. The switch 202 in this example simulation model is a MM5130 switch from Menlo Microsystems, which features a single-pole 4-throw switch facility. The first transmission line 204 includes a 12 mm, 100 ohm transmission line (line 8) and two matching sections (line 9 and line 3), each matching section having an impedance of Z=zm (matching impedance) and a length of 1 m (matching length). The second transmission line 206 includes a 12 mm, 100 ohm transmission line (line 5) and two matching sections (line 1 and line 2). The third transmission line 208 includes a 12 mm, 100 ohm transmission line (line 7) and two matching sections (line 4 and line 11). The matching section 230 matches the first load 224 to the first section 204 and the switch 202. The matching section 232 matches the second load 226 to the third section 208 and the switch 202. The matching section 234 matches the source 222 to the switch 202.

[0036] Figure 5A and Figure 5B Illustrated with Figure 4 The simulation model is shown with associated simulation results. Figure 5A The transmission loss 502 (dB(S[2,3])) between the source 222 and the first load 224 and the transmission loss 504 (dB(S[3,1])) between the source 222 and the second load 226 are shown, showing nearly uniformly distributed (3 dB) power. Figure 5B The time delay difference between the first load 224 and the second load 226 as a function of frequency is shown for each of the four switch positions 506 , 508 , 510 , and 512 .

[0037] The described implementations are directed to a discrete or quantized version of the wiper arm phase shifter described with respect to Figure 2. However, the described implementations provide significantly improved performance at high frequencies (eg, greater than 1 GHz).

[0038] Smaller switches (for example, in Figure 3 and Figure 4 The 1-pole 4-throw switch used in the example embodiment shown) can be combined to form a larger switch, such as Fig. 6A and Figure 6B , although a single switching device having a greater number of throws (eg, 8, 16, or 32 throws) may alternatively be used. Fig. 6A Two 1-pole 4-throw switches are shown combined to effectively form a 1-pole 8-throw switch, which correspondingly has a greater number of transmission lines, which increases the number of phase delays that can be selected. Similarly, Figure 6B Four 1-pole 4-throw switches are shown combined to effectively form a 1-pole 16-throw switch. Fig. 6A and Figure 6B The configuration shown in the example implementation of requires that each individual switch be capable of being in a fifth "no contact" state that isolates the blade contact from any throw contact so that only one switch is active and electrically connects its blade contact to the throw contact at any given time.

[0039] While some embodiments as described above may provide for only one switch to be active at a given time, alternative embodiments may take advantage of the system benefits of closing more than one switch at a given time (which may result in additional phase states not being available when only one switch is active). Similarly, a configuration where no switches are active may disconnect antenna elements, thereby creating new antenna modes that are not available when at least one element is connected to a transmitting source.

[0040] Although the discrete (i.e., quantized) version of the phase shifter described herein can be used to achieve more than one switch activation as described above, an actual wiper arm phase shifter cannot facilitate a similar state. In other words, the wiper arm phase shifter of the prior art can only achieve one wiper position at a time, which corresponds to one switch activation of the described discrete phase shifter implementation. A mechanical wiper arm phase shifter cannot contact two points on the delay line at the same time. Therefore, there is no prior art, and it cannot be considered, to implement more than one switch of a discrete phase shifter.

[0041] Since closing both switch paths simultaneously connects adjacent nodes of the transmission line together, the segment of the transmission line between these nodes becomes a parasitic element in the circuit. This can be thought of as an open stub that is half the length of the loop between adjacent nodes and has an impedance of Zo / 2, where Zo is the impedance through the transmission line. As long as the length of the delay loop is about a quarter wavelength or less (corresponding to a phase step of 90 degrees), the parasitic effects of the open stub can be easily tuned out. For phase steps greater than 90 degrees, the effectiveness of the technique is compromised. In practice, this is not a significant limitation since phase steps are typically less than 90 degrees.

[0042] The differential delay shift network as described herein is not limited to providing adjustment or beam steering in a single axis of an antenna element array. Figure 7 , a cascaded network of delay shifts can be used to control two axes of a multi-element array 702 having two columns of four elements each. In this embodiment, both azimuth and elevation are adjusted. A first delay shift network 704 allows control of the relative signal delays feeding the individual element columns, thereby providing azimuth beam steering. Within each column, an additional delay shift network driven by an RF signal 705 provides elevation beam steering. A first output RF signal 707a from the first delay shift network 704 is provided to a first coupler 742, which separates the first output RF signal 707a and distributes versions of the signal to a first external elevation delay shift network 706 and a first internal elevation delay shift network 708. The second output RF signal 707a from the first delay shift network 704 is provided to a second coupler 744 which splits the second output RF signal 707b and distributes versions of the signal to the second outer elevation delay shift network 712 and the second inner elevation delay shift network 710 .

[0043] In an example embodiment having four radiating elements in each column, each column includes two outer elements (e.g., element 720 and element 728 in the first column, and element 730 and element 738 in the second column), and two inner elements (e.g., element 722 and element 724 in the first column, and element 732 and element 734 in the second column). The first outer elevation delay shift network 706 drives the two outer elevation elements 720, 728 in the first column, and the second outer elevation delay shift network 712 drives the two outer elevation elements 730, 738 in the second column. Similarly, the first inner elevation delay shift network 708 drives the two inner elevation elements 722, 724 in the first column, and the second inner elevation delay shift network 710 drives the two outer elevation elements 732, 734 in the second column.

[0044] Typically, the individual columns will be controlled to experience the same differential delay, but the columns can be set to different elevation angles depending on the desired radiation pattern by adjusting the delay shifters individually.

[0045] Example embodiments of the present invention may utilize a microelectromechanical system (MEMS) switch (e.g., the MM5130 switch described herein) with a low parasitic full series switch element to implement switch 102. Such a MEMS switch makes the implementation of the circuit much simpler than using a more conventional solid-state switch incorporating a shunt circuit element. Although the use of a MEMS switch may provide certain advantages, this example use of a MEMS switch-based architecture is not intended to be limiting.

[0046] Switch-based implementations of the differential delay shifters described herein are not described in the prior art because the deployed antenna devices are typically operated as frequency division duplex (FDD). FDD systems can transmit and receive signals simultaneously, so nonlinearities must be mitigated to control passive intermodulation (PIM). Since ohmic switch contacts can produce significant nonlinearities and, therefore, unacceptably high PIM values, switch-based phase shifters have traditionally been implemented using capacitively coupled sliders as described herein. Therefore, switch-based phase shifter architectures are not considered for antenna devices because of their nonlinearities and incompatibility with FDD systems.

[0047] Because emerging cellular architectures (e.g., 5G systems) may utilize time division duplex (TDD) communications (TDD communications do not transmit and receive EM signals simultaneously), the switch-based differential delay shifter implementations described herein may have important uses for antenna downtilt applications.

[0048] While example embodiments have been particularly shown and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made in the example embodiments without departing from the scope of the embodiments as covered by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A differential time delay shifter, the differential time delay shifter comprising: A pair of N switches, wherein N is an integer greater than 1, the pair of N switches having a knife contact, N throw contacts, and a knife arm, the knife arm being configured to selectively and electrically couple the knife contact to zero or more of the N throw contacts, one of the N throw contacts being a first throw contact at a first position of the pair of N switches, and one of the N throw contacts being a final throw contact at a final position of the pair of N switches; one or more transmission lines, each of the one or more transmission lines being electrically connected between corresponding two of the N throw contacts; a source configured to generate an electromagnetic (EM) signal, the source being electrically coupled to the blade contact to transmit the EM signal to the blade contact; one or more loads, a first load of the one or more loads being electrically coupled to the first throw contact; and one or more matching components configured to match an impedance of one of the pair of N switches, the one or more loads, the source, and the one or more transmission lines to an impedance of another of the pair of N switches, the one or more loads, the source, and the one or more transmission lines.

2. The differential time delay shifter according to claim 1, wherein: A second load of the one or more loads is electrically coupled to the final throw contact.

3. The differential time delay shifter according to claim 2, wherein: The switch positions of the pair of N switches are such that: (i) the EM signal is propagated to the first load through M transmission lines of the one or more transmission lines, and (ii) the EM signal is propagated to the second load through NM transmission lines of the one or more transmission lines, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 0.

4. The differential time delay shifter according to claim 3, wherein: The M transmission lines are different from the NM transmission lines.

5. The differential time delay shifter according to claim 1, wherein: The blade arm is configured to selectively and electrically couple the blade contact to only one of the N throw contacts at a time.

6. The differential time delay shifter according to claim 1, wherein: The blade arm is configured to selectively and electrically couple the blade contact to two or more of the N throw contacts simultaneously.

7. The differential time delay shifter according to claim 1, wherein: The knife arm is configured to (i) not selectively electrically connect the knife contact to the N throw contacts, (ii) selectively electrically connect the knife contact to only one of the N throw contacts at a time, or (iii) selectively electrically connect the knife contact to two or more of the N throw contacts at the same time.

8. A method of applying a time delay to an electromagnetic (EM) signal, the method comprising: A pair of N switches is configured, where N is an integer greater than 1, so that the pair of N switches has: (i) Knife contact; (ii) N throwing contacts; (iii) a knife arm configured to selectively and electrically couple the knife contact to one of the N throw contacts, wherein the one of the N throw contacts is a first throw contact at a first position of the pair of N switches, and the other of the N throw contacts is a final throw contact at a final position of the pair of N switches; (iv) one or more transmission lines, each of the one or more transmission lines being electrically connected between two of the N throw contacts; electrically coupling a source configured to generate the electromagnetic EM signal to the blade contact; and electrically coupling a first load to the first throw contact, manipulating the blade arm to electrically couple the blade contact to one of the N throw contacts; and one or more matching components configured to match an impedance of one of the pair of N switches, the first load, the source, and the one or more transmission lines to an impedance of another of the pair of N switches, the first load, the source, and the one or more transmission lines.

9. The method according to claim 8, further comprising: (i) not selectively electrically connecting the knife contact to the N throw contacts, (ii) selectively electrically connecting the knife contact to only one of the N throw contacts at a time, or (iii) selectively electrically connecting the knife contact to two or more of the N throw contacts at the same time.

10. An antenna array feeding system, the antenna array feeding system comprising: An antenna array having at least one column of radiating elements; at least one delay shift network configured to distribute electromagnetic (EM) signals to the antenna array, the at least one delay shift network comprising (i) at least one pair of N switches, and (ii) one or more transmission lines, each of the one or more transmission lines being electrically connected between two of the N throw contacts of the pair of N switches; Each radiating element in the at least one column of radiating elements of the antenna array is electrically coupled to a throw contact of the at least one one-to-N switch such that each radiating element is disposed at an end point of the one or more transmission lines; as well as one or more matching components configured to match an impedance of one of the at least one one-to-N switch, the load, the source, and the one or more transmission lines to an impedance of another of the at least one one-to-N switch, the load, the source, and the one or more transmission lines.

11. The antenna array feeding system according to claim 10, wherein: The at least one 1-to-N switch is configured to selectively electrically couple the EM signal to only one of the N throw contacts at a time.

12. The antenna array feeding system according to claim 10, wherein: The at least one one-to-N switch is configured to selectively and electrically couple the EM signal to two or more of the N throw contacts simultaneously.

13. The antenna array feeding system according to claim 10, wherein: The at least one one-to-N switch is configured to: (i) not selectively electrically couple the EM signal to the N throw contacts, (ii) selectively electrically couple the EM signal to only one of the N throw contacts at a time, or (iii) selectively electrically couple the EM signal to two or more of the N throw contacts simultaneously.

14. The antenna array feeding system according to claim 10, wherein: The antenna array includes at least two columns of radiating elements, and the at least one delay shift network is configured to distribute the EM signal to the at least two columns of radiating elements such that each column of elements experiences the same differential delay pattern.

15. The antenna array feeding system according to claim 10, wherein: The antenna array includes at least two columns of radiating elements, and the at least one delay shift network is configured to distribute the EM signal to the at least two columns of radiating elements such that each column of elements experiences a different differential delay pattern.

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