An arbitrary dielectric constant end-fire leaky-wave antenna based on subarray alternation

Abstract

The application discloses an arbitrary dielectric constant end-fire leaky-wave antenna based on subarray alternation, which comprises an upper metal, a dielectric substrate and a lower metal arranged in sequence from top to bottom; the upper metal comprises a first metal wire and a first subarray alternately arranged on both sides of the first metal wire; the lower metal comprises a second metal wire and a second subarray alternately arranged on both sides of the second metal wire; the first subarray and the second subarray are symmetric to the axis of the first metal wire and the second metal wire; and the subarrays of the first subarray and the second subarray contain the same number of one or more radiation units. The antenna can generate a stable end-fire radiation pattern through space-1 harmonic radiation, can realize the end-fire leaky-wave antenna on a lower dielectric constant dielectric substrate, can reduce the processing difficulty, and can realize a higher gain length ratio and a larger gain bandwidth.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of electromagnetic waves and antenna technology, and in particular to an arbitrary dielectric constant end-leakage antenna based on alternating subarrays. Background Technology

[0002] End-fire leaky wave antennas offer advantages such as high gain, low profile, and simple structure, making them widely used in radiometers, automotive radar systems, and other fields. However, current end-fire leaky wave antenna designs suffer from low gain-to-length ratios and manufacturing difficulties. Traditional end-fire leaky wave antennas employ a combined feed line and element design, where the array's radiation performance is influenced by both the feed line and the elements. This results in uneven distribution of the antenna array's radiating aperture, making it difficult to achieve a high gain-to-length ratio. Furthermore, traditional end-fire leaky wave antennas are designed based on air dielectric or high-dielectric-constant substrates, leading to complex assembly and high manufacturing difficulty. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the existing technology described above and to provide an end-emitting leaky wave antenna with arbitrary dielectric constant based on alternating subarrays. This invention can reduce the requirements for the dielectric constant of the substrate in end-emitting leaky wave antennas, making them easier to manufacture, while simultaneously improving the antenna's gain-to-length ratio.

[0004] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0005] An arbitrary dielectric constant end-emitting leaky wave antenna based on alternating subarrays includes an upper metal layer, a dielectric substrate, and a lower metal layer arranged sequentially from top to bottom; the upper metal layer includes a first metal line and a first subarray arranged alternately on both sides of the first metal line; the lower metal layer includes a second metal line and a second subarray arranged alternately on both sides of the second metal line; the first subarray and the second subarray are symmetrical with respect to the axis of the first metal line or the second metal line; each subarray of the first subarray and the second subarray contains the same number of one or more radiating elements.

[0006] Optionally, when each subarray of the first and second subarrays contains a radiating element, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate is greater than 4 and less than 9.

[0007] Optionally, when each subarray of the first and second subarrays contains multiple radiating elements, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate is in the range of 1 to 4.

[0008] Preferably, the end-fire antenna utilizes spatial -1st harmonic radiation, and its propagation constant satisfies For the -1st harmonic, the propagation constant satisfies ;in, β Let be the propagation constant. d The subarray spacing of the first subarray and the second subarray is... εr The dielectric constant of the substrate is . k 0 This is the phase constant.

[0009] Preferably, the first subarray and the second subarray have the same subarray spacing and satisfy the subarray spacing requirement. ;in, d The spacing between subarrays, ε r The dielectric constant of the substrate is . k 0 This is the phase constant.

[0010] Preferably, when a subarray includes multiple radiating elements, the radiating elements in the subarray have the same spacing, and the spacing between the radiating elements satisfies the following conditions: ;in, d The spacing between subarrays, N ( N ≥ 1) represents the number of radiating elements within the subarray.

[0011] Preferably, the radiating unit operates in a non-resonant state.

[0012] Preferably, the radiating element simultaneously couples energy from the upper metal wire, the lower metal wire, and space.

[0013] Preferably, the radiating element has no impact on the matching performance of the transmission line composed of the upper and lower metal lines.

[0014] Preferably, the subarray radiation patterns of the first and second subarrays can suppress the sidelobes generated by the array factor, so as to make the antenna array radiation a stable end-fire pattern.

[0015] As can be seen from the above technical solution, compared with the prior art, the present invention provides an arbitrary dielectric constant leakage antenna based on subarray alternation, which has the following beneficial effects:

[0016] By employing a novel alternating subarray design, the high dielectric constant requirement of the substrate for traditional end-fire leaky wave antennas is reduced. The radiating elements simultaneously couple energy from the metal wire and space, improving the uniformity of the radiating aperture and achieving higher end-fire gain and a higher gain-to-length ratio within the same array area. Furthermore, the end-fire leaky wave antenna described in this invention can achieve a larger gain bandwidth. Attached Figure Description

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the first structure of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2This is a top view of the first structure of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 This is a theoretical relationship diagram between the first structure subarray radiation pattern, the array factor radiation pattern, and the array radiation pattern of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 This is the first structural reflection coefficient and gain diagram of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in this embodiment of the invention.

[0021] Figure 5 This is the first structural radiation pattern of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in this embodiment of the invention.

[0022] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the second structure of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 7 This is a theoretical relationship diagram between the second structure subarray pattern, array factor pattern, and array pattern of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in the embodiments of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 8 This is a top view of the second structure of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 9 This is the second structure reflection coefficient and gain diagram of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 10 This is the second structural radiation pattern of the subarray alternating end-fire leaky wave antenna provided in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0027] In the figure: 1. First dielectric substrate; 2. First metal line; 3. First subarray; 4. Second metal line; 5. Second subarray; 6. Second dielectric substrate; 7. Third metal line; 8. Third subarray; 9. Fourth metal line; 10. Fourth subarray. Detailed Implementation

[0028] The present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are merely illustrative of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention.

[0029] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0030] like Figure 1 As shown, the first embodiment of the present invention is an arbitrary dielectric constant end-emitting leaky wave antenna based on alternating subarrays, which includes an upper metal layer, a first dielectric substrate and a lower metal layer arranged sequentially from top to bottom. The upper metal layer includes a first metal line 2 and a first subarray 3 arranged alternately on both sides of the first metal line. The lower metal layer includes a second metal line 4 and a second subarray 5 arranged alternately on both sides of the second metal line. The first subarray and the second subarray are symmetrical with respect to the axes of the first metal line and the second metal line.

[0031] In this embodiment, the arbitrary dielectric constant end-emitting leaky wave antenna based on alternating subarrays utilizes spatial -1st harmonic radiation, and its propagation constant satisfies... For the -1st harmonic, the propagation constant satisfies .in, β Let be the propagation constant. d The spacing between subarrays, ε r The dielectric constant of the substrate is . k 0 This is the phase constant.

[0032] Furthermore, the subarray spacing of the first subarray 3 and the second subarray 5 is the same, and satisfies the subarray spacing requirement. .in, d The spacing between subarrays, ε r The dielectric constant of the substrate is . k 0 This is the phase constant.

[0033] The radiating element spacing within the subarrays of the first subarray 3 and the second subarray 5 is the same, and the radiating element spacing satisfies... .in, d The spacing between subarrays, N ( N ≥ 1) represents the number of radiating elements within the subarray.

[0034] Preferably, the radiating elements within the subarrays of the first subarray 3 and the second subarray 5 operate in a non-resonant state. The radiating elements do not affect the matching performance of the transmission line formed by the first metal line and the second metal line, and simultaneously couple energy from the upper metal line, the lower metal line, and space.

[0035] In this application, the first dielectric substrate 1 is a Rogers 5880 substrate with a dielectric constant of 2.2 and a substrate size of 147.7 mm × 11 mm × 0.508 mm.

[0036] like Figure 2 The image shown is a top view of each layer in the first embodiment.

[0037] In this application, the arbitrary dielectric constant end-emitting leaky wave antenna based on alternating subarrays comprises five alternating first subarrays 3 and five alternating second subarrays 5. The first subarrays 3 and the second subarrays 5 each contain the same number of six radiating elements. The subarray spacing is 27.6 mm, the radiating element spacing is 4.6 mm, the radiating element dimension along the Y direction is 4.5 mm, and the radiating element dimension along the Z direction is 4.3 mm.

[0038] like Figure 3 As shown, according to the pattern product theorem, the subarray pattern of the antenna is multiplied by the array factor, and the high sidelobes of the array factor are eliminated, thus achieving a stable end-fire pattern for the array.

[0039] like Figure 4 As shown, the antenna test has a -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 8.55-9.9 GHz, a maximum gain of 14.1 dBi, a gain-to-length ratio of 6.0, and a 3 dB gain bandwidth of 13.0%.

[0040] like Figure 5 The image shows the normalized radiation patterns of the antenna's E-plane and H-plane in the first embodiment.

[0041] like Figure 6 As shown, the second embodiment of the present invention, based on an arbitrary dielectric constant end-emitting leaky wave antenna with alternating subarrays, includes an upper metal layer, a second dielectric substrate, and a lower metal layer arranged sequentially from top to bottom. The upper metal layer includes a third metal line 7 and a third subarray 8 alternately arranged on both sides of the third metal line. The lower metal layer includes a fourth metal line 9 and a fourth subarray 10 alternately arranged on both sides of the fourth metal line. The third and fourth subarrays are symmetrical with respect to the axes of the third and fourth metal lines.

[0042] The arbitrary dielectric constant end-emitting leaky wave antenna based on alternating subarrays utilizes spatial -1st harmonic radiation, and its propagation constant satisfies... For the -1st harmonic, the propagation constant satisfies .in, β Let be the propagation constant. d The spacing between subarrays, ε r The dielectric constant of the substrate is . k 0This is the phase constant.

[0043] Furthermore, the subarray spacing of the third subarray 8 and the fourth subarray 10 is the same, and satisfies the subarray spacing requirement. .in, d The spacing between subarrays, ε r The dielectric constant of the substrate is . k 0 This is the phase constant.

[0044] The radiating element spacing within the subarrays of the third subarray 8 and the fourth subarray 10 is the same, and the radiating element spacing satisfies... .in, d The spacing between subarrays, N ( N ≥ 1) represents the number of radiating elements within the subarray.

[0045] Preferably, the radiating elements within the subarray operate in a non-resonant state, and the radiating elements have no impact on the matching performance of the transmission line formed by the upper and lower metal lines, while simultaneously coupling energy from the upper and lower metal lines and space.

[0046] In this application, the second dielectric substrate 6 is a 10.5 TFA-1020 substrate with a dielectric constant of 2.2 and a substrate size of 176.6 mm × 9.03 mm × 0.635 mm.

[0047] like Figure 7 The image shown is a top view of each layer in the second embodiment. In this application, the arbitrary dielectric constant end-emitting leaky wave antenna based on alternating subarrays comprises twenty alternately arranged third subarrays 8 and twenty alternately arranged fourth subarrays 10. Each third subarray 8 and fourth subarray 10 contains only one radiating element. The subarray spacing is 8.4 mm, the radiating element has a dimension of 3.4 mm along the Y direction, and a dimension of 6 mm along the Z direction.

[0048] like Figure 8 As shown, according to the pattern product theorem, the subarray pattern of the antenna is multiplied by the array factor to achieve a stable end-fire pattern.

[0049] like Figure 9 As shown, the antenna test has a -10 dB impedance bandwidth of 8.5-10.5 GHz, a maximum gain of 14.4 dBi, a gain-to-length ratio of 5.4, and a 3 dB gain bandwidth of 8.6%.

[0050] like Figure 10 The image shows the normalized radiation patterns of the antenna's E-plane and H-plane in the second embodiment.

[0051] The foregoing has shown and described the basic principles, main features, and advantages of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic features of the present invention.

[0052] Therefore, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-limiting in all respects, and the scope of the invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description. Thus, it is intended that all variations falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalents of the claims be included within the invention.

[0053] Furthermore, it should be understood that although this specification describes embodiments, not every embodiment contains only one independent technical solution. This narrative style is merely for clarity. Those skilled in the art should consider the specification as a whole, and the technical solutions in each embodiment can also be appropriately combined to form other embodiments that can be understood by those skilled in the art.

Claims

1. A leaky wave antenna with arbitrary dielectric constant based on alternating subarrays, characterized in that, The system comprises an upper metal layer, a dielectric substrate, and a lower metal layer arranged sequentially from top to bottom. The upper metal layer includes a first metal line and a first sub-array arranged alternately on both sides of the first metal line. The lower metal layer includes a second metal line and a second sub-array arranged alternately on both sides of the second metal line. The first and second sub-arrays are symmetrical with respect to the axis of the first or second metal line. Each sub-array of the first and second sub-arrays contains the same number of one or more radiating elements. When each sub-array contains one radiating element, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate is greater than 4 and less than 9. When each sub-array contains multiple radiating elements, the dielectric constant of the dielectric substrate is between 1 and 4. The spacing between the first and second sub-arrays is the same. When a sub-array contains multiple radiating elements, the spacing between the multiple radiating elements is the same.

2. The arbitrary dielectric constant end-leakage wave antenna based on alternating subarrays according to claim 1, characterized in that, The arbitrary dielectric constant end-emitting leaky wave antenna utilizes spatial -1st harmonic radiation, and its propagation constant satisfies... For the -1st harmonic, the propagation constant satisfies ,in, β Let be the propagation constant. d The spacing between subarrays, ε r The dielectric constant of the substrate is . k 0 is the phase constant.

3. The arbitrary dielectric constant end-leaking wave antenna based on alternating subarrays according to claim 1, characterized in that, Subarray spacing of the first subarray and the second subarray ,in, d The spacing between subarrays, ε r The dielectric constant of the substrate is . k 0 is the phase constant.

4. The arbitrary dielectric constant end-leakage wave antenna based on alternating subarrays according to claim 1, characterized in that, The spacing between the radiating elements satisfies ,in, d The spacing between subarrays, N This represents the number of radiating elements within the subarray. N ≥ 1.

5. The arbitrary dielectric constant end-leakage wave antenna based on alternating subarrays according to claim 1, characterized in that, The radiating element operates in a non-resonant state.

6. The arbitrary dielectric constant end-leakage antenna based on alternating subarrays according to claim 1, characterized in that, The radiating element simultaneously couples energy from the upper metal wire, the lower metal wire, and space.

7. The arbitrary dielectric constant end-leakage wave antenna based on alternating subarrays according to claim 1, characterized in that, The radiating element has no impact on the matching performance of the transmission line composed of the upper and lower metal lines.

8. A leaky wave antenna with arbitrary dielectric constant end based on alternating subarrays according to claim 1, characterized in that, The subarray patterns of the first and second subarrays suppress the sidelobes generated by the array factor, so as to make the antenna array radiation stable end-fire pattern.

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