Millimeter wave end-fire horizontal polarization broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array and equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a millimeter wave end-fire horizontal polarization broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array and equipment. The array comprises a lower-layer metal surface, a middle metal surface, an upper-layer metal surface, metal through holes, metal blind holes and a feed port, a radiator of the antenna array is composed of rectangular annular patches which are arranged at the front ends of an upper-layer metal surface and a lower-layer metal surface and are provided with concave U-shaped structures, and opening gaps which are etched at the central positions of the front ends of the upper-layer metal surface and the lower-layer metal surface of the substrate integrated waveguide; a plurality of antenna units in the antenna array feed independently through a plurality of feed ports and regulate and control an excitation phase; the metal blind hole is connected with the substrate integrated coaxial line; the substrate integrated coaxial line is composed of a substrate integrated waveguide and a transmission line located on a middle metal face. The substrate integrated waveguide is composed of two layers of dielectric substrates, a bonding layer, an upper-layer metal surface, a lower-layer metal surface and metal through holes. According to the invention, the broadband and wide-angle phase control scanning performance of the array beam in the plane where the array is located is realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention patent relates to the field of mobile communication antennas, and specifically relates to a millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array and device. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of wireless communication technologies, the increasingly complex application scenarios and technical requirements have made the wireless communication technologies based on the microwave band, which have been widely studied and applied, face bottlenecks such as scarce spectrum resources. Against this background, millimeter-wave wireless communication technologies have received extensive attention and research in recent years. As one of the key technologies for realizing 5G and 6G, millimeter-wave communication technologies have richer spectrum resources and bandwidth compared with traditional microwave communications, and have higher data transmission rates and lower latency.

[0003] However, the high-frequency characteristics of millimeter waves make it face high transmission losses, which limits the propagation distance of millimeter-wave signals and their practical applications. Therefore, it is usually necessary to form an array of millimeter-wave antenna elements to increase the gain to compensate for the attenuation during the propagation process. In addition, the short wavelength of millimeter waves results in weak diffraction and scattering capabilities, so the signal coverage range in actual complex environments is limited. Therefore, phased technology is usually adopted to control the radiation beam of the antenna array to dynamically scan within a certain range, thereby improving the transmission distance and signal coverage range of millimeter waves.

[0004] For millimeter-wave phased control, the technical solutions adopted to achieve wide-angle scanning generally include designing millimeter-wave antenna elements with wide beams and forming an array, or improving the gain attenuation of the beam at large scanning angles by reducing the coupling between array elements to achieve wide-angle scanning. However, the above solutions usually require the introduction of additional beam broadening or decoupling structures, which increases the structural complexity and system cost. Moreover, the research on millimeter-wave wide-angle scanning phased control is mainly carried out based on end-fire antennas such as patch antennas, magnetoelectric dipoles, DRAs or metasurface antennas, while the research on millimeter-wave wide-angle scanning phased control based on end-fire antennas is relatively less. However, to achieve full-space signal coverage, end-fire antennas are also indispensable. Moreover, in mobile terminals, end-fire antennas are located at the edge of the device, so compared with side-fire antennas, they can effectively alleviate the influence of user effects or external object occlusion on the radiation performance of the antenna, thereby expanding the coverage range of millimeter-wave signals. In addition, end-fire antennas can achieve end-fire radiation based on a compact structure at a lower profile, making it easy to integrate with the radio frequency circuit system. Therefore, researching millimeter-wave end-fire broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna arrays with excellent performance has important value and significance. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art to a certain extent, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array and device.

[0006] The first technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0007] A millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array, comprising: a lower metal surface, an intermediate metal surface, an upper metal surface, metal vias, metal blind vias, and a feeding port;

[0008] The radiator of the antenna array consists of a rectangular loop patch with an inner concave U-shaped structure at the front end of the upper metal surface and the lower metal surface, and an open slot etched at the center position of the front ends of the upper and lower metal surfaces of the substrate integrated waveguide;

[0009] Multiple antenna elements in the antenna array are independently fed through multiple feeding ports and the excitation phases are regulated;

[0010] The metal blind vias are connected to the substrate integrated coaxial line; the substrate integrated coaxial line is composed of a substrate integrated waveguide and a transmission line located on the intermediate metal surface;

[0011] The substrate integrated waveguide is composed of two dielectric substrates, an adhesive layer, an upper metal surface, a lower metal surface, and metal vias.

[0012] Furthermore, the antenna array is closely arranged in a one-dimensional uniform linear array configuration by four millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized antenna elements with a unit spacing of 4 mm.

[0013] Furthermore, the shapes and sizes of the two dielectric substrates and the intermediate adhesive layer are the same, and can be regarded as a rectangular stepped dielectric substrate formed by splicing two rectangles with different sizes; the thickness and dielectric constant value of the dielectric substrate will affect the operating frequency and performance of the antenna array, and the widths and lengths of each part of the dielectric substrate will affect the array gain and scanning angle. By selecting an appropriate material and height of the dielectric substrate and adjusting the widths and lengths of each part of the dielectric substrate, the performance such as array gain and scanning angle can be improved;

[0014] The upper metal surface and the lower metal surface of the antenna array have the same structure and shape, and are mirror-symmetric about the axis of the array structure. A single-layer metal surface is respectively covered on the upper surface or the lower surface on both sides of the entire array substrate.

[0015] Furthermore, the radiator of the antenna array consists of an open slot etched at the front end of the substrate integrated waveguide on the upper and lower metal surfaces and a rectangular loop patch with an inner concave U-shaped structure connected to the upper and lower metal surfaces of the substrate integrated waveguide. By combining the radiation modes of the open slot and the rectangular loop patch with an inner concave U-shaped structure, the broadband and end-fire horizontally polarized radiation characteristics are realized;

[0016] Adjust the working frequency of the antenna by adjusting the side length of the rectangular annular patch with an inward concave U-shaped structure to improve impedance matching; adjust the width of both sides of the rectangular annular patch structure with an inward concave U-shaped structure to change the coupling current distribution between the antenna array elements, thereby improving the performance and gain of the AEP of each element in the antenna array and further enhancing the gain and scanning angle of the array;

[0017] The length of the open slot affects the working frequency of the antenna. Generally, the working frequency of the antenna shifts to the low frequency as the length of the open slot increases, and shifts to the high frequency as the length of the open slot decreases; adjust the length of the open slot to achieve impedance matching for the corresponding working frequency band.

[0018] Furthermore, the inward concave U-shaped structure of the antenna array radiator affects the performance and impedance matching of the AEP of each element in the array. By adjusting the length of the inward concave U-shaped structure, the gain, half-power beam width of the AEP of each element in the antenna array and the impedance matching performance of the antenna can be adjusted, so that while maintaining broadband impedance matching for each element, its AEP simultaneously achieves good gain, stable pattern, and wide-beam radiation characteristics without obvious distortion, thereby realizing the broadband and wide-angle scanning performance of the antenna array.

[0019] Furthermore, the middle metal surface of the antenna array constitutes the metal transmission line structure in the middle of the substrate integrated coaxial line. The metal transmission line part of the substrate integrated coaxial line located on the middle metal surface is connected to the blind holes penetrating the substrate; by adjusting the metal transmission line structure located on the middle metal surface, the antenna impedance matching can be improved; the number of metal transmission lines matches the number of antenna elements.

[0020] Furthermore, there is a circular semi-surrounding cavity structure composed of a circle of metal vias in the substrate integrated waveguide. The metal blind hole is located at the center of this cavity. This circular semi-surrounding cavity structure is used to prevent the blind hole from exciting the entire substrate integrated waveguide cavity to form vertical polarization, avoiding the situation that the RF signal at the input port cannot be effectively transmitted to the substrate integrated coaxial line, resulting in the inability to excite the front-end radiator.

[0021] Furthermore, multiple antenna elements in the antenna array are independently fed through multiple feeding ports and the excitation phase is regulated. At the same time, the RF signal input at the port is transmitted to the front-end element radiators through the structure connecting the metal blind holes to the substrate integrated coaxial line; by setting specific excitation phases for the feeding ports of multiple antenna elements, broadband and wide-angle phased beam scanning of the array beam in the plane where the array is located is achieved.

[0022] Further, the substrate integrated waveguide cavity of the antenna array contains multiple pairs of metal vias for improving the impedance matching of the antenna; the multiple pairs of metal vias are located in the substrate integrated waveguide cavity and symmetrically located on both sides of the metal transmission line; broadband impedance matching is achieved by adjusting the via diameter, the center spacing of each pair of vias, and the position of each pair of vias in the substrate integrated waveguide cavity.

[0023] Further, the operating frequency of the antenna is adjusted by adjusting the width of the substrate integrated rectangular waveguide of a single antenna element, and the diameter of the metal through-holes and the center distance between two adjacent metal through-holes of the substrate integrated waveguide of the antenna array will determine the electromagnetic wave leakage problem.

[0024] The second technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0025] A communication device includes the millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array as described above.

[0026] Compared with the existing technology, the beneficial effects and advantages of the present invention are as follows:

[0027] The antenna array of the present invention is fabricated by using a double-layer dielectric substrate, metal through-holes and metal blind holes, with a compact structure, low profile and easy integration. Each unit radiator of the antenna array of the present invention realizes broadband end-fire horizontally polarized radiation based on a rectangular annular patch with an inner concave U-shaped structure and the opening gaps at the front ends of the upper and lower metal surfaces of the substrate integrated waveguide. At the same time, the antenna array of the present invention adjusts the distribution of the coupled currents between units by adjusting the side widths of the rectangular annular patches with an inner concave U-shaped structure in each unit radiator of the array, thereby reducing the influence of the coupling on the AEP performance of each unit, and realizing the improvement of the performance such as the array gain and the scanning angle. And, by further adjusting the length of the inner concave U-shaped structure, the performance such as the gain, half-power beam width of the AEP of each unit in the antenna array and the impedance matching of the antenna can be adjusted, so that while maintaining broadband impedance matching for each unit, the AEP thereof simultaneously realizes good gain, stable radiation pattern and wide-beam radiation characteristics without obvious distortion, and there is no need to rely on additional decoupling or beam broadening structures, avoiding the problems of increased structural complexity and processing cost. Based on the above principles and characteristics, the antenna array realizes good broadband and wide-angle scanning performance in the millimeter-wave band and has high application value. Description of the Drawings

[0028] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following introduces the drawings of the related technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art. It should be understood that the drawings introduced below are only for conveniently and clearly expressing some embodiments of the technical solutions in the present invention, and those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0029] Figure 1 This is a perspective structure diagram of the antenna array in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 This is a front structure diagram of the antenna array in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0031] Figure 3 This is a front structure diagram of the antenna array in the embodiment of the present invention after removing the upper metal surface;

[0032] Figure 4 This is a simulation result diagram of the port reflection coefficients of antenna elements 1 and 2 in the antenna array in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] Figure 5 This is a simulation result diagram of the AEP of antenna elements 1 and 2 in the antenna array in the embodiment of the present invention at 24.4 GHz, 28.5 GHz, and 33 GHz;

[0034] Figure 6 This is a simulation result diagram of the gain of the antenna array changing with frequency in the embodiment of the present invention;

[0035] Figure 7 This is a simulation result diagram of the array scanning performance of the antenna array at 24.4 GHz, 28.5 GHz, and 33 GHz in the embodiment of the present invention.

[0036] Reference numerals: 1 - upper metal surface located on the upper surface of the upper substrate; 2 - lower metal surface located on the lower surface of the lower substrate; 3 - intermediate metal surface located on the upper surface of the lower substrate; 6 - metal through hole; 7 - metal blind hole; 8 - feeding port; 9 - lower substrate; 10 - adhesive layer; 11 - upper substrate. Detailed implementation manners

[0037] The embodiments of the present application are described in detail below. Examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, where the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present application and should not be construed as a limitation to the present application. For the step numbers in the following embodiments, they are only set for the convenience of explanation and illustration, and no limitation is imposed on the order between the steps. The execution order of each step in the embodiments can be adaptively adjusted according to the understanding of those skilled in the art.

[0038] The terms used in the embodiments of the present application are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the embodiments of the present application. The singular forms "a", "the", and "said" used in the embodiments of the present application and the appended claims are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In addition, unless otherwise clearly defined, terms such as "set", "installed", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, and those skilled in the art can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in the present invention in combination with the specific content of the technical solution.

[0039] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that for the orientation description, such as the orientation or positional relationship indicated by up, down, front, back, left, right, etc., is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.

[0040] In the description of the present application, the meaning of "several" is one or more, the meaning of "multiple" is two or more, and understandings such as "greater than", "less than", and "exceeding" do not include the number itself, and understandings such as "above", "below", and "within" include the number itself. If the first and second are described only for the purpose of distinguishing technical features, they should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the quantity of the indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the sequence relationship of the indicated technical features.

[0041] In the description of the present application, "and / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects and indicates that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character " / " generally represents an "or" relationship between the associated objects before and after.

[0042] Term Explanation:

[0043] AEP: Active Element Pattern, active element pattern.

[0044] Based on the existing technical problems, the present invention provides a millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array, which is composed of four millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized antenna elements closely arranged in a one-dimensional uniform linear array configuration with a unit spacing of 4 mm. The radiators of each unit of the antenna array are based on a rectangular annular patch with an inner concave U-shaped structure and an open slot at the front ends of the upper and lower metal surfaces of the substrate integrated waveguide to achieve broadband end-fire horizontally polarized radiation. Each unit in the antenna array is independently fed through four feeding ports located on the lower metal surface and the excitation phase is adjusted. At the same time, the radio frequency signal input at the port is transmitted to the radiators of each front-end unit through the structure connecting the metal blind hole and the substrate integrated coaxial line to achieve phased array beam scanning. On this basis, by adjusting the side width of the rectangular annular patch with an inner concave U-shaped structure in the radiator of each unit of the array, the distribution of the coupling current between the units is adjusted, thereby reducing the influence of the coupling on the performance of the active element pattern (AEP) of each unit, and improving the performance such as the array gain and the scanning angle. Moreover, by further adjusting the length of the inner concave U-shaped structure, the performance such as the gain, half-power beam width of the AEP of each unit in the antenna array and the impedance matching of the antenna can be adjusted, so that while maintaining broadband impedance matching for each unit, its AEP simultaneously achieves good gain, stable pattern and wide-beam radiation characteristics without obvious distortion. Based on the above principles and characteristics, when the units of the millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized phased antenna array are fed with equal amplitude, by setting the specific excitation phases of the four antenna unit feeding ports, the broadband and wide-angle phased scanning performance of the array beam in the plane where the array is located is achieved, and it can be widely applied to the field of antenna engineering technology.

[0045] The following is a detailed explanatory description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0046] As Figure 1 、 Figure 2 and Figure 3 shown, this embodiment provides a millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array, including: a lower metal surface 2 located on the lower surface of the lower substrate, an intermediate metal surface 3 located on the upper surface of the lower substrate, an upper metal surface 1 located on the upper surface of the upper substrate, a metal through hole 6, a metal blind hole 7, a feeding port 8, a lower substrate 9, an intermediate adhesive layer 10, and an upper substrate 11.

[0047] Among them, the antenna array radiator includes an upper metal surface, a rectangular annular patch with an inner concave U-shaped structure at the front end of the lower metal surface, and an open slot etched at the center position of the upper and lower metal surfaces of the substrate integrated waveguide. Each antenna element in the antenna array is independently fed through four feeding ports located on the lower metal surface and the excitation phase is regulated. The metal blind hole is connected to the substrate integrated coaxial line. The substrate integrated coaxial line is composed of a substrate integrated waveguide and a transmission line located on the middle metal surface. The substrate integrated waveguide is composed of two dielectric substrates, an adhesive layer, an upper metal surface, a lower metal surface and metal vias. The size of the metal vias and the distance between the vias determine the electromagnetic wave leakage problem.

[0048] In one embodiment, as Figure 2 、 Figure 3 shown, in each antenna element, there are three pairs of metal vias in the substrate integrated waveguide cavity for improving the impedance matching of the antenna array, and these three pairs of metal vias are symmetrically located on both sides of the transmission line.

[0049] As a specific implementation manner, the antenna array is composed of four millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized antenna elements closely arranged in a one-dimensional uniform linear array configuration with a unit spacing of 4 mm.

[0050] As a specific implementation manner, the thickness and dielectric constant value of the dielectric substrate of the antenna array will affect the operating frequency of the antenna. Therefore, both dielectric substrates are selected as Rogers 4003C dielectric substrates with a thickness h s = 0.813 mm, the dielectric constant of this substrate is 3.55, and the loss tangent is 0.0027. The above two substrates are bonded through a Rogers 4450F dielectric substrate with an intermediate thickness h p = 0.1 mm. The dielectric constant of this adhesive layer is 3.52 and the loss tangent is 0.004. The shapes and sizes of the two dielectric substrates and the adhesive layer are the same and can be regarded as a rectangular stepped shape composed of two rectangles with different sizes spliced together. Since the width and length of the dielectric substrate will affect the array gain and scanning angle, the widths of the two rectangular steps are designed as W sub = 26 mm and W sub2 = 18 mm respectively, and the lengths are L sub2 = 15.5 mm and L sub = 13.389 mm respectively.

[0051] As a specific implementation manner, the diameter of the metal vias of the substrate integrated waveguide in the array is d via = 0.4 mm, the center distance s between adjacent metal vias is 0.75 mm, and the size of the metal vias and the distance between the vias determine the electromagnetic wave leakage problem. The width W of the substrate integrated rectangular waveguide of a single antenna element siwis 4 mm, and this width will affect the operating frequency band of the antenna. The total length L of the substrate integrated waveguide siw is 17.2 mm.

[0052] As a specific implementation manner, the upper and lower metal surface structures of the antenna array are the same in shape and are mirror-symmetric about the axis of the array structure. A single-layer metal surface is respectively covered on the upper surface or the lower surface on both sides of the entire array substrate, and its width W r is 4 mm.

[0053] As a specific implementation manner, there is a circular semi-surrounding cavity structure composed of a circle of metal vias in the substrate integrated waveguide of the antenna array. There is a metal blind via at the center position of the circular cavity. The diameter of the metal blind via is d hfeed = 0.35 mm. This blind via penetrates the lower substrate and is connected to the substrate integrated coaxial line on the middle metal surface. The circular semi-surrounding cavity structure is used to prevent the blind via from exciting the entire substrate integrated waveguide cavity to form vertical polarization, avoiding the situation that the RF signal at the input port cannot be effectively transmitted to the substrate integrated coaxial line, resulting in the front-end radiator not being excited. The diameter of the semi-surrounding circular cavity, the diameter of the used vias, the diameter of the blind via, and the structural parameters of the substrate integrated coaxial line will all affect the antenna impedance matching. The diameter d of this circular cavity c is 3.3 mm, and the diameter d of the metal vias forming the circular cavity cvia is 0.325 mm. The lengths l1, l2, l3, l4, l5 of each part of the substrate integrated coaxial line are 12.4 mm, 0.8 mm, 1.6 mm, 1.7 mm, 0.7 mm respectively, and the widths w1, w2, w3, w4, w s are 0.4 mm, 0.3 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.2 mm, 0.2 mm respectively.

[0054] As a specific implementation manner, each unit in the antenna array is independently fed through four feeding ports on the lower metal surface and the excitation phase is regulated. At the same time, the RF signal input at the port is transmitted to the front-end unit radiators through the structure connecting the metal blind via and the substrate integrated coaxial line. When each unit of the antenna array is fed with equal amplitude, by setting the feeding phase difference between every two adjacent units from antenna unit 1 to antenna unit 4 to vary within the range of 0° to ±140°, the wide-angle scanning performance of the array beam in the plane where the array is located can be achieved.

[0055] As a specific implementation manner, the radiator of the antenna array is composed of an open slot etched at the front end of the substrate integrated waveguide and a rectangular ring patch with an inner concave U-shaped structure connected to the upper and lower metal surfaces. The radiation modes of the open slot and the rectangular ring patch with the inner concave U-shaped structure are combined to achieve the end-fire horizontal polarization radiation characteristic. The width of the open slot is ws = 0.2 mm, with a length of l s = 1.2 mm, the length l of the opening gap s will affect the operating frequency of the antenna. Overall, the operating frequency of the antenna shifts towards the lower frequency as l s increases and towards the higher frequency as l s decreases.

[0056] As a specific implementation, the side length of the rectangular loop patch with an inwardly concave U-shaped structure of the antenna array is l d = 2.606 mm, l d will affect the operating frequency of the antenna. Overall, the operating frequency of the antenna shifts towards the lower frequency as l d increases and towards the higher frequency as l d decreases. The width of both sides of the rectangular loop patch with an inwardly concave U-shaped structure is d x = 1.104 mm, the front width is d y = 0.2 mm, and its side width d x will affect the coupled current and electric field distribution between the antenna array elements, thereby affecting the performance and gain of the AEP of each element in the antenna array. When the width d of both sides of the rectangular loop patch x = 1.104 mm, the current on both sides of the loop patch on the excitation element will concentrate on the inner sides of both sides of the loop patch, thereby equivalently increasing the coupling path of the current on the excitation element to other elements, resulting in a smaller coupled current. Therefore, the AEP of each element in the array is improved and the array gain is increased.

[0057] As a specific implementation, the inwardly concave U-shaped structure of the antenna array will also affect the performance and impedance matching of the AEP of each element in the array. By adjusting the length of the inwardly concave U-shaped structure of the antenna, the gain, beam width of the AEP of the array element can be regulated, and the distortion of the AEP can be improved, thereby enhancing the performance of the AEP to better achieve the broadband wide-angle scanning performance of the array. In addition, the length of the inwardly concave U-shaped structure will also affect the impedance matching of the antenna array. Overall, the gain of the AEP increases as l y1 increases, while its beam width narrows as l y1 increases, and at the same time, the distortion of the AEP decreases as l y1 increases. In order to achieve the broadband and wide-angle scanning performance of the array, on the basis of maintaining a reasonable gain, the AEP needs to have good wide-beam radiation characteristics at the same time. Therefore, considering factors such as the gain, beam width, and distortion of the AEP, the lengths of each part of the inwardly concave structure are designed as l y1 = 1.999 mm and l y2 = 0.796 mm, and the widths of each part are respectively w x1 = 0.649 mm and wx2 = 0.345 mm.

[0058] As a specific implementation, introducing three pairs of matching vias into the substrate integrated waveguide cavity of the antenna array can further improve the antenna impedance matching, thereby achieving broadband radiation characteristics. The diameters of the three pairs of matching vias are all d m = 0.475 mm, and the spacings of the three pairs of matching vias from left to right are w m1 = 1.882 mm, w m2 = 2.625 mm, w m3 = 2.111 mm, and the intervals between every two pairs of matching vias are l m1 = 3.923 mm, l m2 = 3.926 mm.

[0059] Figure 4 This is the simulation result diagram of the port reflection coefficients of antenna elements 1 and 2 of the antenna array of the present invention. It can be seen from Figure 4 that the -10 dB impedance bandwidth of the antenna array is 24.4 - 33 GHz, and the relative bandwidth is 30%, achieving broadband impedance matching.

[0060] Figure 5 This is the simulation result diagram of the AEP of antenna elements 1 and 2 in the antenna array of the present invention at 24.4 GHz, 28.5 GHz, and 33 GHz. Combining Figure 5 it can be seen that in the 1×4 array, at 24.4, 28.5, and 33 GHz, the AEP gains of antenna element 1 and antenna element 2 are 2.55 / 2.48 dBi, 4.35 / 4.4 dBi, and 5.97 / 4.96 dBi respectively, and the half-power beam widths are 143° / 144°, 130° / 139°, and 104° / 135° respectively. Although there is a certain distortion in the AEP of antenna element 1 at 33 GHz, resulting in the half-power beam width not exceeding 120°, overall, the proposed antenna array still achieves good AEP wide-beam radiation characteristics in the relatively wide frequency band of 24.4 - 33 GHz (30%).

[0061] Figure 6 This is the simulation result diagram of the gain of the antenna array of the present invention varying with frequency; Figure 7 This is the simulation result diagram of the array scanning performance of the antenna array of the present invention at 24.4 GHz, 28.5 GHz, and 33 GHz. Combining Figures 6 to 7It can be seen that the gain of the antenna array is 8.3 - 10.5 dBi at 24.4 - 33 GHz. The scanning angles of the antenna array at 24.4 GHz, 28.5 GHz, and 33 GHz are -68° - 63°, -64° - 64°, and -60° - 60° respectively, and the gain fluctuations are all less than 3 dBi, and the SLLs are all less than -5 dB, achieving good broadband and wide-angle scanning performance.

[0062] In summary, the present invention discloses a millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized broadband wide-angle scanning phased antenna array, which is composed of four millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized antenna elements closely arranged in a one-dimensional uniform linear array configuration with a unit spacing of 4 mm. The radiation bodies of each unit of the antenna array are based on a rectangular annular patch with an inwardly concave U-shaped structure and an open slot at the front ends of the upper and lower metal surfaces of the substrate integrated waveguide to achieve broadband end-fire horizontally polarized radiation. Each unit in the antenna array is independently fed through four feeding ports located on the lower metal surface and the excitation phase is regulated. At the same time, the radio frequency signal input at the port is transmitted to the radiation bodies of each front-end unit through the structure connecting the metal blind holes and the substrate integrated coaxial line to achieve phased array beam scanning. On this basis, by adjusting the side width of the rectangular annular patch with an inwardly concave U-shaped structure in the radiation body of each unit of the array, the coupling current distribution between units is adjusted to reduce the influence of coupling on the AEP performance of each unit, realizing the improvement of performance such as the array gain and scanning angle. And by further adjusting the length of the inwardly concave U-shaped structure, the gain, half-power beam width of the AEP of each unit in the antenna array and the impedance matching performance of the antenna can be adjusted, so that while maintaining broadband impedance matching for each unit, its AEP simultaneously achieves good gain, stable radiation pattern, and wide-beam radiation characteristics without obvious distortion, and there is no need to rely on additional decoupling or beam broadening structures, avoiding the problems of increased structural complexity and processing cost. Based on the above principles and characteristics, the antenna array achieves a scanning angle of more than ±60° within a bandwidth of 24.4 - 33 GHz (30%), the gain fluctuation is less than 3 dBi during the scanning process, the SLL is less than -5 dB, and the array has a gain of 8.3 - 10.5 dBi, realizing good broadband and wide-angle scanning performance in the millimeter-wave band and having high application value.

[0063] In the description of this specification, the description referring to terms such as "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples", etc. means that the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described in connection with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. In this specification, the schematic expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described can be combined in a suitable manner in any one or more embodiments or examples. In addition, without contradiction, those skilled in the art can combine and combine the different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of different embodiments or examples.

[0064] The above embodiments are only for illustrating the technical concept and features of the present invention, and the purpose is to enable those of ordinary skill in the art to understand the content of the present invention and implement it accordingly, and it cannot be used to limit the protection scope of the present invention. All equivalent changes or modifications made according to the essence of the content of the present invention should be covered within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angular scanning phased antenna array, characterized in that: include: Lower metal surface, middle metal surface, upper metal surface, metal through hole, metal blind hole and feeding port; The radiator of the antenna array is composed of a rectangular ring patch with a concave U-shaped structure at the front end of the upper metal surface and the lower metal surface, and an open gap etched at the center position of the front end of the upper and lower metal surfaces of the substrate integrated waveguide; Multiple antenna units in the antenna array are independently fed through multiple feeding ports and the excitation phase is regulated; the metal blind hole is connected to the substrate integrated coaxial line; the substrate integrated coaxial line is composed of a substrate integrated waveguide and a transmission line located on the middle metal surface; The substrate integrated waveguide is composed of two layers of dielectric substrates, an adhesive layer, an upper metal surface, a lower metal surface and metal through holes.

2. The millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The antenna array consists of four millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized antenna units closely arranged in a one-dimensional uniform linear array configuration with a unit spacing of 4 mm.

3. The millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The two dielectric substrates and the adhesive layer in the middle are of the same shape and size, and can be regarded as a rectangular stepped dielectric substrate formed by splicing two rectangles of different sizes; The upper metal surface and the lower metal surface of the antenna array have the same structure and shape, and are mirror-symmetrical with the center of the array structure as the axis.

4. The millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The radiator of the antenna array is composed of an open slot located on the upper and lower metal surfaces and etched at the front end of the substrate integrated waveguide, and a rectangular ring patch with a concave U-shaped structure connected to the upper and lower metal surfaces of the substrate integrated waveguide. The radiation mode of the open slot and the rectangular ring patch with a concave U-shaped structure is combined to achieve broadband, end-fire horizontal polarization radiation characteristics; The antenna operating frequency is adjusted by adjusting the side length of the rectangular ring patch with a concave U-shaped structure to improve impedance matching; the coupling current distribution between antenna array units is changed by adjusting the width of the two side sides of the rectangular ring patch structure with a concave U-shaped structure, thereby improving the performance and gain of the AEP of each unit in the antenna array and thus improving the gain and scanning angle of the array; The length of the opening gap affects the antenna operating frequency. The antenna operating frequency generally shifts toward low frequency as the length of the opening gap increases, and shifts toward high frequency as the length of the opening gap decreases. The impedance matching of the corresponding operating frequency band is achieved by adjusting the length of the opening gap.

5. The millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The middle metal surface of the antenna array constitutes the metal transmission line structure in the middle of the substrate integrated coaxial line, and the metal transmission line part of the substrate integrated coaxial line located on the middle metal surface is connected to the blind hole penetrating the substrate; the antenna impedance matching can be improved by adjusting the metal transmission line structure located on the middle metal surface; the number of metal transmission lines matches the number of antenna units.

6. The millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the substrate integrated waveguide, there is a circular semi-enclosed cavity structure composed of a circle of metal vias, and the metal blind hole is located at the center of the cavity. The circular semi-enclosed cavity structure is used to prevent the blind hole from exciting the entire substrate integrated waveguide cavity to form vertical polarization, thereby avoiding the inability of the front-end radiator to be excited due to the inability of the RF signal of the input port to be effectively transmitted to the substrate integrated coaxial line.

7. The millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that: Multiple antenna units in the antenna array are independently fed through multiple feeding ports and the excitation phase is adjusted. At the same time, the RF signal input from the port is transmitted to the radiators of each unit at the front end through a structure connected to the substrate integrated coaxial line through a metal blind hole; by setting specific excitation phases for the feeding ports of multiple antenna units, broadband, wide-angle phased beam scanning of the array beam within the plane where the array is located is achieved.

8. The millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The substrate integrated waveguide cavity of the antenna array contains multiple pairs of metal vias for improving the impedance matching of the antenna; the multiple pairs of metal vias are located in the substrate integrated waveguide cavity and are symmetrically located on both sides of the metal transmission line; broadband impedance matching is achieved by adjusting the via diameter, the center spacing of each pair of vias and the position of each pair of vias in the substrate integrated waveguide cavity.

9. The millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide-bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that: The antenna operating frequency is adjusted by adjusting the width of the substrate integrated rectangular waveguide of a single antenna unit. The diameter of the metal through hole of the substrate integrated waveguide of the antenna array and the center distance between two adjacent metal through holes will determine the electromagnetic wave leakage problem.

10. A communication device, characterized in that: It comprises the millimeter-wave end-fire horizontally polarized wide bandwidth angle scanning phased antenna array as described in any one of claims 1 to 9.

Images