Ku frequency band emission array element active phased array antenna

Abstract

The invention provides a Ku-band transmitting array element active phased-array antenna, and belongs to the technical field of phased-array antennas. Comprising an antenna panel and a power supply control panel, the power supply control panel is interconnected with the antenna panel through a direct insertion type connector, one side of the antenna panel is an antenna unit, the other side of the antenna panel is a transmitting unit, the antenna unit is divided into a left array plane and a right array plane, and the two array planes are respectively divided into a left-hand polarization plane and a right-hand polarization plane; and the antenna panel adopts a patch antenna form in which RO4350B and an M6 base material are mixed and pressed. A traditional three-dimensional layout mode is abandoned, a planar and compact layout strategy is adopted, all elements are connected more tightly, a signal transmission path is greatly shortened, optimization of the product in multiple aspects of size, performance, function integration and the like is achieved, the power consumption is low, the EIRP is high, and the size is small. And the performance and the reliability of the active phased-array antenna are obviously improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the technical field of phased array antennas, and in particular relates to a Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna. Background Art

[0002] With the development of electromagnetic and electronic technology, phased array antennas are widely used in fields such as navigation, communication, and electronic countermeasures. Phased array antennas are divided into active phased array antennas and passive phased array antennas, both of which are very important technical means in today's high-tech fields. Passive phased array antennas share a transmitter and receiver for transmission and reception, and can only track multiple targets within a certain range. When the transmitter or receiver is damaged, the entire antenna cannot be used normally. Each array element of an active phased array antenna has a solid-state component with independent transmission and reception functions. The power and phase of each array element can be independently controlled. It can adjust the detection distance and search and track multiple targets at the same time. It is more flexible in use, and even if some array elements are damaged, it will not affect the performance of the entire antenna. Therefore, active phased array antennas have become the focus of current research and an important trend in current development.

[0003] Existing active phased array antennas have a high Ku-band frequency, are difficult to layout, and are large in size. In addition to the large space occupied by the antenna array itself, its supporting TR components, feed network, power supply and other equipment also require additional space, which not only affects the layout of other internal equipment, but also increases the structural complexity and high power consumption, reducing the performance and reliability of the active phased array antenna. Summary of the Invention

[0004] (1) Technical problems to be solved

[0005] In response to the shortcomings of the existing technology, the purpose of the present invention is to provide an active phased array antenna with Ku-band transmitting array elements to solve the problems of existing active phased array antennas, such as the high Ku-band, greater layout difficulty, and larger size. In addition to the large space occupied by the antenna array surface itself, its supporting TR components, feeding network, power supply and other equipment also require additional space, which not only affects the layout of other internal equipment, but also increases the structural complexity, and has high power consumption, thereby reducing the performance and reliability of the active phased array antenna.

[0006] (2) Technical solution

[0007] In order to solve the above technical problems, the present invention provides a Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna, comprising an antenna panel and a power control panel, wherein the power control panel is interconnected with the antenna panel via a plug-in connector, one side of the antenna panel is an antenna unit, and the other side of the antenna panel is a transmitting unit, and the antenna unit is divided into two left and right array planes, and the two array planes are respectively divided into left-hand polarization and right-hand polarization;

[0008] The antenna panel adopts a patch antenna form with mixed pressing of RO4350B and M6 substrates. The RF active part of the antenna unit and the transmitting unit are interconnected through a vertical transition of a multi-layer board.

[0009] Furthermore, the power control panel includes an FPGA, a digital chip and a power chip.

[0010] Furthermore, the antenna panel and the power control panel use peripheral structural parts to fix the printed circuit board.

[0011] Furthermore, the antenna panel has 16 layers and a thickness of 4mm. The top surface of the antenna panel is the antenna unit, the bottom surface is the RF chip, the middle layer contains the power divider, power line and control line, and each array surface of the antenna unit has 32 array elements.

[0012] Furthermore, the antenna panel uses an L-shaped strip feed line to excite the radiation patch on the top layer through an H-shaped slot.

[0013] Furthermore, a plurality of ground holes are provided on the edge of the antenna panel, and the plurality of ground holes are used to conduct heat to the cavity through the ground holes.

[0014] Furthermore, the transmitting unit includes a digitally controlled attenuator, a temperature-compensated attenuator, a low-noise amplifier, and an 8-channel beamforming chip.

[0015] Furthermore, a thermal pad is attached to the surface of the beamforming chip, and the thermal pad is used to conduct the heat of the beamforming chip directly to the cavity.

[0016] Furthermore, the 8-channel beamforming core is a transmitting chip with an output P-1 of 14dBm, and each channel integrates 6 digitally controlled attenuation and 6 digitally controlled phase shift.

[0017] Furthermore, the power control panel converts the voltage into the voltage required by the TR unit, connects to the antenna panel through a plug-in connector, and controls and supplies power to the TR, where the feed is 48V.

[0018] (3) Beneficial effects

[0019] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0020] In the above solution, the antenna panel and the power control panel adopt a chip design, and the power control panel is interconnected with the antenna panel through a plug-in connector. This design abandons the traditional three-dimensional layout and adopts a planar and compact layout strategy, making the connection between the various components closer and the signal transmission path significantly shortened, thereby achieving product optimization in terms of volume, performance and functional integration. It has the advantages of low power consumption, high EIRP and small size, and significantly improves the performance and reliability of the active phased array antenna. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the stacked architecture of the Ku-band transmitting element active phased array antenna;

[0022] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the array element model structure of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna;

[0023] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the standing wave simulation results of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna;

[0024] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the gain simulation results of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna;

[0025] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the power divider simulation model of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna;

[0026] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the simulation results of the power divider of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna;

[0027] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the transmission unit link block diagram of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna;

[0028] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the low-frequency radiation pattern test results of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna;

[0029] Figure 9 This is a schematic diagram of the intermediate frequency radiation pattern test results of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna;

[0030] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the high-frequency pattern test results of the Ku-band transmitting element active phased array antenna;

[0031] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the test results of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna in the 60° off-axis direction;

[0032] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the dimensions of the Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] An embodiment of the present invention provides a Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna, comprising an antenna panel and a power control panel, wherein the power control panel is interconnected with the antenna panel via a plug-in connector, wherein one side of the antenna panel is an antenna unit, and the other side of the antenna panel is a transmitting unit, wherein the antenna unit is divided into two left and right array planes, and the two array planes are respectively divided into left-hand polarization and right-hand polarization;

[0034] Specifically, the stacked architecture is as follows Figure 1 As shown, the entire assembly consists of an antenna panel, a power supply, and a control panel, with the printed circuit board fixed by peripheral structural parts. One side of the antenna panel is the antenna unit, and the other side is the transmitting unit, which includes a beamforming chip, an amplifier, and a digitally controlled attenuator. The power supply and control panel include FPGA, digital chips, and power chips, which are interconnected with the antenna panel through a plug-in connector. The antenna is divided into two array planes, left and right, respectively. The two array planes are divided into left-hand polarization and right-hand polarization, each with 32 array elements. The volume of the entire product is 81.6mm*81.6mm*21.1mm;

[0035] The antenna panel adopts a patch antenna in the form of a mixed press of RO4350B and M6 substrates. The antenna unit and the RF active part of the transmitting unit are interconnected through a vertical transition of a multi-layer board.

[0036] Specifically, this architecture is a chip structure. The antenna and the RF active part are vertically interconnected through a multi-layer board, and the control power board and the antenna panel are vertically interconnected through a connector, which increases the vertical space of the product, but can greatly reduce the horizontal space of the product and reduce the volume of the product. Moreover, only a slight change in the combining port is required to splice the 64-unit panel into a 256 or 1024-element antenna. It has good design scalability, greatly reduces R&D costs, and speeds up the production and processing cycle.

[0037] In this embodiment, the antenna panel has 16 layers and a thickness of 4mm. The top surface of the antenna panel houses the antenna unit, the bottom surface houses the RF chip, and the middle layer contains the power splitter, power lines, and control lines. The antenna panel utilizes a low-profile, lightweight patch antenna, using a mixed press of RO4350B and M6 substrates. It has a total of 16 layers and a thickness of 4mm. The top surface houses the antenna unit, the bottom surface houses the RF chip, and the middle layer contains the power splitter, power lines, and control lines.

[0038] like Figure 2 As shown, in this embodiment, the antenna panel uses an L-shaped strip feed line to excite the top-layer radiation patch through an H-shaped gap; in order to have better broadband characteristics, the dielectric thickness is thickened, and the size of the entire antenna unit is 10.2mm*10.2mm*1.8mm. At the same time, a circle of shielding ground holes is added around the antenna to reduce the mutual coupling between antenna units.

[0039] like Figure 7As shown, in this embodiment, the transmitting unit includes a digitally controlled attenuator, a temperature-compensated attenuator, a low-noise amplifier, and an 8-channel beamforming chip. The digitally controlled attenuator is used to adjust the link gain, the temperature-compensated attenuator is used to compensate for gain fluctuations under temperature, and the low-noise amplifier is used to amplify the link gain. The beamforming core is an 8-channel transmitting chip with an output P-1 of 14dBm. Each channel integrates 6 digitally controlled attenuators and 6 digitally controlled phase shifters, resulting in a small size, low power consumption, a large number of channels, and a high output P-1.

[0040] The beamforming chip output P-1 is 14dBm, and the number of single-beam RF channels is 64. Therefore:

[0041] P = 13 + 10 × lg64 = 31.06 dBm

[0042] Transmitted EIRP is defined as the equivalent isotropic radiated power and is calculated as follows:

[0043] EIRP(dBm)=P(dBm)-L(dB)+G(dBi)

[0044] The index requirement is 17.5dBW. The test results are shown below. The synthetic EIRP is greater than 18.75dBW, which meets the index requirement.

[0045] EIRP test data

[0046]

[0047]

[0048] like Figure 8-11 As shown, after the amplitude / phase of the array is tested and calibrated in the near field in the darkroom, it is tested in the far field using the far field test system to obtain the scanning directivity patterns at the low, medium and high frequency points, and the 60° off-axis directivity pattern is scanned;

[0049] As can be seen from the radiation pattern, the first sidelobe suppression is about 12dB, the normal 3dB beamwidth is 13.1°, 12.1°, and 12.9° respectively, and the gains at the three frequency points are -19.3dB, -20.8dB, and -18.9dB respectively;

[0050] Off-axis testing Figure 11 As shown, the index requirements are met.

[0051] As shown in Figure 2, in this embodiment, multiple ground holes are provided on the edge of the antenna panel; a thermal pad is attached to the surface of the beamforming chip; since a large number of ground holes are designed on the edge of the antenna panel, part of the heat is conducted to the cavity through the ground holes, and the thermal pad is attached to the surface of the beamforming chip, which directly conducts the chip heat to the cavity to prevent the chip temperature from being too high.

[0052] In this embodiment, the power control panel converts the voltage into the voltage required by the TR unit, connects to the antenna panel through a plug-in connector, and controls and powers the TR. The feed voltage is 48V. When the array is working, the current is 0.25A, the power consumption is about 12W, and the EIRP is greater than 18.75dBW, which has low power consumption.

[0053] The antenna unit is simulated, and the simulation results are as follows Figure 3 and Figure 4 As shown, the normal gain is 4dBi and the standing wave is less than 2.

[0054] Taking the example of a 1-to-4 strip power splitter, the power splitter model is as follows: Figure 5 shown.

[0055] Through simulation, we can know that Figure 6 As shown, the standing wave is less than 1.3 and the loss is less than 6.6dB.

[0056] The technical solution provided by the present invention adopts a chip-type design for the antenna panel and the power control panel, and the power control panel is interconnected with the antenna panel through a plug-in connector. This design abandons the traditional three-dimensional layout and instead adopts a planar and compact layout strategy, making the connection between the various components closer and the signal transmission path significantly shortened, thereby achieving product optimization in terms of volume, performance, and functional integration. It has the advantages of low power consumption, high EIRP, small size and good scalability, and significantly improves the performance and reliability of the active phased array antenna.

[0057] Explanation of terms

[0058] Ku band: Electromagnetic waves in the frequency range of 12.5 GHz to 18 GHz are usually divided into the Ku band.

[0059] Phased array antenna: An antenna whose radiation pattern is changed by controlling the feeding phase of the radiating elements in the array antenna.

[0060] All technical features in this embodiment can be freely combined according to actual needs.

[0061] The above embodiments are preferred implementation schemes of the present invention. In addition, the present invention can also be implemented in other ways. Any obvious replacement without departing from the concept of the present technical solution is within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A Ku-band transmitting element active phased array antenna, characterized in that: It includes an antenna panel and a power control panel. The power control panel is interconnected with the antenna panel through a plug-in connector. One side of the antenna panel is the antenna unit, and the other side of the antenna panel is the transmitting unit. The antenna unit is divided into two left and right arrays. The two arrays are respectively divided into left-hand polarization and right-hand polarization; The antenna panel adopts a patch antenna form of mixed pressing of RO4350B and M6 substrates, and the antenna unit and the radio frequency active part of the transmitting unit are interconnected through a vertical transition of a multilayer board.

2. The Ku-band transmitting element active phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The power control panel includes an FPGA, a digital chip and a power chip.

3. The Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna according to claim 2, characterized in that: The antenna panel and the power control panel use peripheral structural parts to fix the printed circuit boards.

4. The Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The antenna panel has 16 layers and a thickness of 4 mm. The TOP surface of the antenna panel is the antenna unit, the BOTTOM surface is the RF chip, the middle layer contains a power divider, power line and control line, and each array surface of the antenna unit has 32 array elements.

5. The Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: The antenna panel uses an L-shaped strip feed line to excite the radiation patch on the top layer through an H-shaped slot.

6. The Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna according to claim 5, characterized in that: A plurality of ground holes are provided on the edge of the antenna panel, and the plurality of ground holes are used to conduct heat to the cavity through the ground holes.

7. The Ku-band transmitting element active phased array antenna according to claim 6, characterized in that: The transmitting unit includes a digitally controlled attenuator, a temperature-compensated attenuator, a low-noise amplifier, and an 8-channel beamforming chip.

8. The Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna according to claim 7, characterized in that: A thermal pad is attached to the surface of the beamforming chip, and the thermal pad is used to conduct the heat of the beamforming chip directly to the cavity.

9. The Ku-band transmitting element active phased array antenna according to claim 8, characterized in that: The 8-channel beamforming core is a transmitting chip with an output P-1 of 14dBm. Each channel integrates 6 digitally controlled attenuators and 6 digitally controlled phase shifters.

10. The Ku-band transmitting array element active phased array antenna according to claim 9, characterized in that: The power control panel converts the voltage into the voltage required by the TR unit, connects to the antenna panel through a plug-in connector, and controls and supplies power to the TR, where the feed voltage is 48V.

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