Selective antenna system combining phased array and lens devices

An antenna 300 comprises radiating elements 342 arranged in an array 341 with sub-arrays 344. Each sub-array 344 has individual power supply control means and phase shifters allowing it to generate a signal beam in a predetermined direction. The signal beams generated by the sub-arrays 344 are arranged to be received and directed by an electromagnetic lens 310. Different sub-arrays 344 may generate signal beams in different directions. The lens 310 may be a spherical or hemi-spherical or semi-spherical dielectric material Luneburg lens or fish-eye Maxwell lens and where the focal length of the lens is inside the said lens at a given focal distance. The length of the feed network conductive lines may be used to adjust the phase of the signal reaching the radiating elements 342 of a sub-array 344 consisting of four elements 342. The array 341 may be formed on a planar printed circuit board 340 and the lens 310 may be integrally formed with the antenna casing 320. The antenna 300 may provide a simple compact antenna which is cheap and easy to manufacture which can operate efficiently to transfer data at a high bit rate using high- frequency signals.