Radio links are traditionally required to be manually directed towards each other in order to communicate, which limits data to be transferred between two specific nodes only, creating a so-called “Point-to-Point” communication. Steerable antennas, on the other hand, enable radio links to be automatically aligned towards each other, resulting in an increased ease-of-use and enabling “Point-to-Multi-Point” communication and development of “mesh networks”. Steerable antennas also enable a directed connection to individual users, which increases the data transfer rate from mobile devices to base stations. Steerable antennas are expected to be a key component in the development of 5G.
An automotive radar is used to locate objects in the vicinity of the car and consists of a transmitter and a receiver. The transmitter sends out radio waves that hit an object and bounce back to the receiver. One of today’s major challenges is to develop steerable antennas for radars with high enough performance at a reasonable cost.
