Flexible Antenna Arrays for Wireless Communications: Modeling and Performance Evaluation

This paper investigates the potential of flexible antenna arrays (FAAs), capable of dynamically adjusting antenna positions and orientations, for wireless communications. To this end, we develop a mathematical model that elucidates the relationship between the variations in antenna positions and orientations as the array transitions from a flat to a rotated, bent, and folded state, all contingent on the flexible degree-of-freedom. Then, we solve the FAA-enhanced sum-rate problem in the multisector base station with both omni-directional and directional antenna patterns that covers the 360° communication area. In our numerical analysis comparing the optimized FAA to the fixed uniform planar array, we find that FAAs can enhance the sumrate performance. For instance, the bendable FAA achieves a remarkable 156% sum-rate improvement compared to the fixed planar array with the directional pattern.