A 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrically tunable antenna

Abstract

The present invention provides a 5G communication large-scale array combined shaping electrically tunable antenna, which includes from top to bottom: an antenna array layer, a transmission support layer and a calibration network layer; the antenna array layer includes a radiating array element, a phase shifter substrate, a feeding power splitter board, and a phase shifter unit, the phase shifter substrate and the feeding power splitter board are coplanar, and the phase shifter unit is located on the phase shifter substrate; the transmission support layer is composed of a supporting base plate, a phase shift transmission rod, and a driving device, the phase shift transmission rod is embedded in the slot of the supporting base plate, and is connected to the phase shifter unit to drive the phase shifter unit to slide and shift phase; the calibration network layer is composed of a calibration network and a connector. The present invention designs the phase shifter to be coplanar with the array surface, and the phase shifter transmission device is embedded, etc., without increasing any cross-sectional height, thereby realizing electrically tunable shaping of the antenna. The present invention realizes antenna-end analog shaping + system-end digital shaping by arranging phase shifters in the antenna subarray, solving the problems of multiple ports, complex shaping algorithms, and low system efficiency of existing large-scale array antennas.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the fields of mobile communications and wireless communications, and in particular to a large-scale dense array electrically tunable antenna for 5G communications. Background Art

[0002] With the advancement of wireless communication technology, the development and function of antenna technology are constantly innovating, and the appearance size and weight of antennas are also increasing accordingly, which brings visual impact, and the transportation and construction costs are rising, making it more difficult to build base stations in urban areas with increasingly high environmental requirements. How to reduce the size and weight of antennas while improving antenna technology and increasing functions, so as to meet the scientific development concept of energy saving and consumption reduction and creating a livable environment, is becoming more and more important in current antenna design.

[0003] Conventional large-scale dense array antennas in current 5G communication systems often have many RF ports and are connected to base station equipment in a blind-plug manner. The advantage of this large-scale dense array antenna with many ports is that the base station system can flexibly control any subarray in the antenna array to form beams in the horizontal and vertical dimensions, as well as three-dimensional synthetic beams in space. However, the disadvantages of this shaping method are also obvious: the increase in RF ports leads to complex shaping algorithms, which in turn leads to increased power consumption of base station equipment and low system efficiency. One of the improvement methods is to set an electrically adjustable phase shifter between some subarrays of the antenna array, and simplify the shaping algorithm variables through a combination of analog shaping between antenna subarrays and digital shaping on the system side, thereby reducing the complexity of the shaping algorithm and thus reducing the power consumption of the equipment.

[0004] The introduction of phase shifters can simplify the system shaping algorithm and improve efficiency, but the introduction of electrically adjustable phase shifters will also significantly increase the profile height of the antenna and the complexity of the structural design, which is contrary to the development concept of the 5G communication system. Therefore, how to introduce phase shifters to achieve analog shaping between sub-arrays without increasing the profile height of the antenna has become a problem that needs to be solved urgently. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to design a 5G communication large-scale array combined shaping electrically adjustable antenna, which realizes the electrically adjustable shaping of the antenna pattern without increasing any antenna profile height, and solves the problems of many ports, complex shaping algorithms, and low system efficiency of existing large-scale dense array antennas. The combined shaping method of "antenna end analog shaping + system end digital shaping" simplifies the system algorithm and improves the shaping efficiency, thereby ensuring the overall shaping effect of the antenna and meeting the working needs of the 5G communication system.

[0006] To achieve the above-mentioned purpose and other related purposes, the present invention provides a 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrically steered antenna, which includes: an antenna array layer, a transmission support layer and a calibration network layer arranged in sequence from top to bottom; the antenna array layer includes a radiating array element phase shifter substrate, a feeding power splitter board, and a phase shifter unit, the phase shifter substrate and the feeding power splitter board are designed to be coplanar, and the phase shifter unit is located on the phase shifter substrate; the transmission support layer is composed of a supporting base plate, a phase shift transmission rod, and a driving device, the phase shift transmission rod is embedded in a transmission prefabricated groove on the supporting base plate and is connected to the phase shifter unit, and the driving device drives the phase shifter rod to drive the phase shifter unit to slide and shift the phase; the calibration network layer is composed of a calibration network and a connector, and the calibration network is in contact with the supporting base plate.

[0007] Preferably, the phase shift unit is coplanarly nested with the radiation element surface, and the phase shift unit is arranged in the feeding power division network of the feeding power division board, and the feeding power division network adopts a front feeding form.

[0008] Preferably, the radiation array element, phase shift unit, and feeding power division network are all located on the front side of the entire antenna.

[0009] Preferably, the phase shift unit comprises a phase shift slide and a guide pressing block, and the phase shift slide is connected to the phase shifter substrate via the guide pressing block.

[0010] Preferably, a slide transmission column is provided on the phase-shift transmission rod, and the slide transmission column passes through a guide groove on the phase-shift substrate and is connected to the phase-shift slide to drive the phase-shift unit to perform linear sliding phase shift.

[0011] Preferably, the transmission support layer is provided with a plurality of the phase-shifting transmission rods, and one phase-shifting transmission rod is connected to at least one group of phase-shifting units.

[0012] Preferably, one phase-shift transmission rod is connected to two columns of four phase-shift units.

[0013] Preferably, the driving device includes a motor, a controller, a transmission mechanism and a transmission connecting arm, the controller controls the motor, the motor is connected to the transmission connecting arm through the transmission mechanism, and the transmission connecting arm is connected to the phase-shifting moving rod.

[0014] Preferably, the antenna array layer includes a plurality of the radiating array elements, each radiating array element is divided into two upper and lower sub-arrays, each sub-array includes at least two antenna array elements, each sub-array is provided with a group of phase shifting units, and outputs two ports, and each radiating array element is provided with a total of 4 output ports.

[0015] Preferably, the antenna includes eight radiating array elements, including 16 antenna sub-arrays, 16 groups of phase shifters, and outputs 16 RF ports.

[0016] As described above, the 5G communication large-scale dense array electrically steered antenna has the following beneficial effects: the 5G communication large-scale array combined shaping electrically steered antenna realizes the electrically steered shaping of the directional pattern without increasing any antenna profile height, solving the problems of the existing large-scale dense array antenna with many ports, complex shaping algorithms, and low system efficiency. The combined shaping method of "analog shaping at the antenna end + digital shaping at the system end" simplifies the system algorithm and improves the shaping efficiency, thereby ensuring the overall shaping effect of the antenna and meeting the working needs of the 5G communication system. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Figure 1 It is a front view of the overall layered structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 It is a back view of the overall layered structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0019] Figure 3 It is a front view of the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Figure 4 It is a back view of the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 5 It is a front view of a moving unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0022] Figure 6 It is a back view of the mobile unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 7 The figure is a schematic diagram of the connection between the moving unit moving slide and the guide pressing block according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 8 This is a conventional shaped circuit schematic.

[0025] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a circuit diagram of a combination of embodiments of the present invention.

[0026] Component number description: 11, moving unit; 111, moving slider; 112, guide block; 113, guide groove; 114, guide column; 115, connecting column; 12, phase shifter substrate; 13, radiation array element; 14, isolation strip; 15, feeding power splitter board; 21, supporting base plate; 22, phase shifting rod; 221, slider transmission column; 222, transmission prefabricated groove; 23, transmission connecting arm; 24, driving device; 31, calibration network; 32, connector DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] The following is a description of the implementation of the present invention by means of specific embodiments. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the contents disclosed in this specification.

[0028] See also Figures 1 to 8 . It should be noted that the structures, proportions, sizes, etc. illustrated in the drawings in this specification are only used to match the contents disclosed in the specification for people familiar with this technology to understand and read, and are not used to limit the limiting conditions for the implementation of the present invention, so they have no substantial technical significance. Any modification of the structure, change in the proportional relationship, or adjustment of the size should still fall within the scope of the technical content disclosed by the present invention without affecting the effects and purposes that can be achieved by the present invention. At the same time, the terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "middle" and "one" quoted in this specification are only for the convenience of description, and are not used to limit the scope of the implementation of the present invention. Changes or adjustments in their relative relationships should also be regarded as the scope of the implementation of the present invention without substantially changing the technical content.

[0029] like Figures 1 to 4 As shown, this patent discloses a 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrically steered antenna, which adopts a layered structural design, and is arranged from top to bottom in three layers: antenna array layer, transmission support layer and calibration network layer. The top antenna array layer includes a radiation array element 13, a phase shifter substrate 12, a feeding power splitter board 15, and a phase shifter unit 11. The phase shifter substrate 12 and the feeding power splitter board 15 are designed in a coplanar manner, and the phase shifter unit 11 is located on the corresponding phase shifter substrate 12. The transmission support layer is composed of a supporting base plate 21, a phase shift transmission rod 22, a driving device 24, etc. The phase shift transmission rod 22 is embedded in the transmission prefabricated groove 222 on the supporting base plate 21 and is connected to the phase shifter unit 11. The driving device 24 can drive the mobile transmission rod 22 to drive the phase shifter unit 11 to slide and shift the phase. The calibration network layer is composed of a calibration network 31 and a connector 32, and the calibration network is in close contact with the supporting base plate 21.

[0030] The antenna adopts a layered structure design. The top layer is used for antenna array, power feeding and phase shifting; the middle layer is used for structural reinforcement support and phase shifting transmission; the bottom layer is used for signal calibration of each RF channel. The three layers are in close contact and will not increase any additional antenna profile height.

[0031] As a specific implementation, the phase shift unit 11 and the radiating element 13 are coplanarly nested, and the phase shift unit 11 is arranged in the feeding power division network of the feeding power division board 15, and the feeding power division network adopts the front feeding form. The radiating element 13, the phase shift unit 11, and the feeding power division network are also located on the front of the antenna. This method can further reduce the cross-sectional height of the antenna.

[0032] like Figure 5 , 6As shown in Figures 7 and 8, as a preferred embodiment, the phase shift unit 11 includes a phase shift slide 111 and a guide pressing block 112, and the phase shift slide 111 is connected to the phase shifter substrate 12 through the guide pressing block 112. A connecting column 115 is provided on the guide pressing block 112, and corresponding card slots are provided on the phase shift slide 111 and the phase shifter substrate 12. The connecting column 115 passes through the card slots on the phase shift slide 111 and the phase shifter substrate 12 in sequence to connect the phase shift slide 111 and the guide pressing block 112 to the phase shifter substrate 12, and the phase shift slide 111 can slide relative to the phase shifter substrate 12. Guide columns 114 are also provided on both sides of the guide pressing block 112 to provide guidance during the sliding process.

[0033] The phase-shift transmission rod 22 is embedded in the transmission prefabricated groove 222 on the supporting base plate 21. The phase-shift transmission rod 22 is provided with a slide transmission column 221. The slide transmission column 221 passes through the guide groove 113 on the phase-shift base plate 12 and is connected to the phase-shift slide 111, driving the phase-shift unit 11 to linearly slide and shift phase. The driving device 24 includes a motor, a controller, a transmission mechanism and a transmission connecting arm 23. The controller controls the operation of the motor. The motor is connected to the transmission connecting arm 23 through the transmission mechanism. The transmission connecting arm 23 is connected to the shift transmission rod 22. The transmission mechanism can realize the linear motion of the transmission connecting arm 23.

[0034] In order to realize the simultaneous operation of multiple groups of shifting directions, multiple phase-shifting transmission rods 22 can be arranged on the transmission support layer. One shifting transmission rod is connected to at least one group of phase-shifting units. As a specific implementation, one phase-shifting transmission rod is connected to two rows of four groups of phase-shifting units (e.g. Figure 3 As shown), such a phase shift transmission rod can simultaneously drive two columns of four groups of phase shift units to connect. In this way, the antenna array layer can be equipped with multiple radiating array elements 13, each radiating array element 13 is divided into two upper and lower sub-arrays, each sub-array contains at least two antenna array elements, each sub-array is provided with a group of phase shift units, and outputs two ports. Each radiating array element has a total of 4 output ports. As shown in the figure, the antenna array layer in the embodiment of the present patent includes eight radiating array elements, which includes 16 sub-arrays, 16 groups of phase shifters, and a total of 16 RF ports. The number of arrays can be adjusted according to actual conditions. Compared with traditional large-scale array antennas, the number of sub-arrays of this antenna is halved, the number of RF ports is halved, the amount of system shaping operations is reduced, and the system shaping efficiency is improved.

[0035] like Figure 8As shown in Figures 9, through the circuit schematic diagram of the 5G communication large-scale array combined shaping electrically adjustable antenna shaping and the circuit schematic diagram of the conventional antenna shaping, it can be seen that the antenna of this patent can simplify the system algorithm and improve the shaping efficiency through the combined shaping method of "antenna end analog shaping + system end digital shaping", thereby ensuring the overall shaping effect of the antenna and meeting the working needs of the 5G communication system. The 5G communication large-scale array combined shaping electrically adjustable antenna realizes the electrical shaping of the directional pattern without increasing any antenna profile height, solving the problems of the existing large-scale dense array antenna with many ports, complex shaping algorithms, and low system efficiency. Therefore, the present invention effectively overcomes the various shortcomings of the prior art and has a high industrial utilization value.

[0036] The above embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and effects of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Anyone familiar with the art may modify or alter the above embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, all equivalent modifications or alterations made by a person of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and technical concept disclosed by the present invention shall still be covered by the claims of the present invention.

Claims

1. A 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrically adjustable antenna, characterized in that: It includes: The antenna array layer, transmission support layer and calibration network layer are arranged from top to bottom; The antenna array layer includes a radiation array element, a phase shifter substrate, a feeding power splitter board, and a phase shifter unit. The phase shifter substrate and the feeding power splitter board are coplanar, and the phase shifter unit is located on the phase shifter substrate. The transmission support layer is composed of a supporting bottom plate, a phase-shifting transmission rod, and a driving device. The phase-shifting transmission rod is embedded in a transmission prefabricated groove on the supporting bottom plate and is connected to the phase-shifting unit. The driving device drives the phase-shifting transmission rod to drive the phase-shifting unit to slide and shift phase. The calibration network layer is composed of a calibration network and a connector, and the calibration network is in contact with the supporting base plate; The phase shift unit is coplanarly nested with the radiation element surface, the phase shift unit is arranged in the feeding power division network of the feeding power division board, the feeding power division network adopts the front feeding form, and the radiation element, the phase shift unit and the feeding power division network are all located on the front of the antenna; The phase shift unit includes a phase shift slide and a guide pressure block, the phase shift slide is fastened to the phase shifter substrate via the guide pressure block, a slide transmission column is provided on the phase shift transmission rod, the slide transmission column passes through the guide groove on the phase shift substrate and is connected to the phase shift slide, driving the phase shift unit to linearly slide and shift phase.

2. According to claim 1, a 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrically adjustable antenna is characterized by: The transmission support layer is provided with a plurality of the phase-shift transmission rods, and one phase-shift transmission rod is connected to at least one group of phase-shift units.

3. According to claim 2, a 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrical adjustment antenna is characterized in that: A phase-shifting transmission rod is connected to two columns of four phase-shifting units.

4. According to claim 2, a 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrically adjustable antenna is characterized by: The driving device comprises a motor, a controller, a transmission mechanism and a transmission connecting arm. The controller controls the motor. The motor is connected to the transmission connecting arm through the transmission mechanism. The transmission connecting arm is connected to the phase-shifting transmission rod.

5. According to claim 1, a 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrical adjustment antenna is characterized by: The antenna array layer includes a plurality of the radiating array elements, each radiating array element is divided into two upper and lower antenna sub-arrays, each antenna sub-array includes at least two antenna array elements, each sub-array is provided with a group of phase shifting units, and outputs two ports, and each radiating array element is provided with a total of 4 output ports.

6. The 5G communication large-scale array combined shaped electrically adjustable antenna according to claim 5, characterized in that: The antenna includes 8 radiating array elements, including 16 antenna sub-arrays, 16 groups of phase shifters and 16 radio frequency ports.

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