An apparatus includes a phased array antenna panel and a plurality of beam former circuits. The phased array antenna panel generally comprises a plurality of antenna elements. The plurality of beam former circuits are each mounted on the phased array antenna panel adjacent to a number of the antenna elements. Each beam former circuit has one or more ports directly coupled to each of the adjacent antenna elements. Each beam former circuit may be configured to generate a plurality of radio-frequency output signals at the ports while in a transmit mode and receive a plurality of radio-frequency input signals at the ports while in a receive mode. Each beam former circuit generally implements a hard-wired address.