| CPC H01Q 3/36 (2013.01) [H01Q 3/26 (2013.01); H01Q 3/267 (2013.01); H01Q 1/246 (2013.01); H01Q 19/10 (2013.01)] | 18 Claims |

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1. A cellular beamforming base station antenna comprising:
a reflector for supporting a plurality of radiating elements on a front side thereof;
said plurality of radiating elements are arranged into a plurality of vertically aligned columns disposed across a width of said reflector, said plurality of radiating elements each also being positioned in one of a plurality of horizontally aligned rows along the length of said reflector;
a plurality of beamformers located on the back of said reflector having outputs that are connected to said plurality of radiating elements on the front side of said reflector, such that elements in any one of said plurality of rows of radiating elements are connected to at least one of said plurality of beamformers and radiating elements in another one of said plurality of rows are connected to another one of said plurality of beamformers,
each of said beamformers having a plurality of input ports for receiving an RF signal to excite a beam from said cellular base station antenna,
wherein said inputs of said plurality of beamformers are connected to a plurality of phase shifters, and then in turn to a calibration circuit which are in turn connected to signal ports located on a bottom of said reflector,
wherein the RF signals from said signal ports pass through the said calibration circuit and said phase shifters before connecting to said inputs of said beamformers on said reflector, such that said cellular beamforming base station antenna produces a high gain beam pattern in certain directions and polarizations, without the need for any electronic beamforming.
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