antenna array

Abstract

The present invention discloses an antenna array. The antenna array includes a controller and multiple antenna units. The antenna units are arranged to form at least n-1 faces of an n-hedron, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 4. At least two antenna units are provided on each of the at least n-1 faces, and the distance between adjacent antenna units on the same face is less than the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit. A controller is connected to each antenna unit and is used to control the start, stop, and phase of each antenna unit. This application can be used to determine the coverage range of a wireless beam transmitted by a wireless array.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to an antenna array. Background Art

[0002] In the field of radio communications, antenna arrays have been widely used in various fields, such as GPS reception, low-orbit satellite communications, and personal mobile communications. However, the beam coverage of antenna arrays is currently limited. To transmit beams in various angles, the antenna arrays must be frequently mechanically rotated, resulting in slow rotation speed and low steering efficiency. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The main purpose of this application is to provide an antenna array to increase the coverage of the wireless beam transmitted by the wireless array.

[0004] To achieve the above-mentioned object, a technical solution adopted in the present application is to provide an antenna array, which includes a controller and a plurality of antenna units;

[0005] The antenna elements are arranged to form at least n-1 faces of an n-hedron, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 4, each of the at least n-1 faces is provided with at least two antenna elements, and a distance between adjacent antenna elements on the same face is smaller than a wavelength corresponding to a center frequency of the antenna element; and

[0006] A controller connected to the antenna unit is used to control the start, stop and phase of each antenna unit.

[0007] Wherein, four antenna units are provided on each of at least n-1 surfaces.

[0008] The distance between adjacent antenna units on the same plane is greater than 0.5 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit.

[0009] The antenna array also includes:

[0010] Switch: The controller is connected to each antenna unit through a switch to control the start and stop of the antenna unit;

[0011] A driving component, wherein the controller is connected to each antenna unit through the driving component and is used to control the phase of the antenna unit.

[0012] The controller stores the corresponding relationship between the phase of the antenna unit and the beam steering angle.

[0013] Among them, the n-hedron is a hexahedron.

[0014] To achieve the above objectives, a technical solution adopted in this application is to provide an antenna array, which includes:

[0015] A plurality of antenna units, the antenna units are arranged to form an arc surface, and the distance between adjacent antenna units is smaller than the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit; and

[0016] A controller connected to the antenna unit is used to control the start, stop and phase of each antenna unit.

[0017] The arc surface is at least partially a spherical surface or at least partially an ellipsoidal surface.

[0018] The antenna array also includes:

[0019] Switch: The controller is connected to each antenna unit through a switch to control the start and stop of the antenna unit;

[0020] A driving component, wherein the controller is connected to each antenna unit through the driving component and is used to control the phase of the antenna unit.

[0021] The controller stores the corresponding relationship between the phase of the antenna unit and the beam steering angle.

[0022] The antenna array of the present application includes a controller and multiple antenna units, and the antenna units are arranged to form at least n-1 faces of an n-hedron, so that the beams generated by the antenna units on different faces are directed in different directions; each of the at least n-1 faces is provided with at least two antenna units, and the distance between adjacent antenna units on the same face is less than the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit, so that the beams emitted by the at least two antenna units on the same face can interact with each other, and because the controller controls the start and stop and phase of each antenna unit, the beam steering angle that can be emitted by the antenna unit has a large range; and because the antenna units form at least n-1 faces of an n-hedron, there must be at least two adjacent faces with antenna units, so that through the joint action of the antenna units of two or three adjacent faces, a main beam steering angle exceeding the operating limit of each individual face can be obtained, which can further increase the beam range and even increase the coverage range of the radio signal to omnidirectional and include the entire sky. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of an antenna array according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0024] Figure 2 is a structural diagram of an antenna array according to another embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 3 is Figure 1 A schematic diagram of beam steering when all antenna arrays on a single plane of the antenna array are active;

[0026] Figure 4 This is a schematic elevation diagram of the first application scenario of the antenna array of this application;

[0027] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the azimuth plane of the first application scenario of the antenna array of this application;

[0028] Figure 6 This is a schematic elevation diagram of the second application scenario of the antenna array of this application;

[0029] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the azimuth plane of the second application scenario of the antenna array of the present application;

[0030] Figure 8 This is a schematic elevation diagram of the third application scenario of the antenna array of this application;

[0031] Figure 9 This is a schematic azimuth plane diagram of the third application scenario of the antenna array of the present application;

[0032] Figure 10 is Figure 1 Schematic diagram of beam steering when the four antenna elements closest to the edges of the two surfaces of the antenna array are active;

[0033] Figure 11 This is a schematic elevation diagram of the fourth application scenario of the antenna array of the present application;

[0034] Figure 12 This is a schematic azimuth plane diagram of the fourth application scenario of the antenna array of the present application;

[0035] Figure 13 This is a schematic elevation diagram of the fifth application scenario of the antenna array of this application;

[0036] Figure 14 This is a schematic azimuth plane diagram of the fifth application scenario of the antenna array of the present application;

[0037] Figure 15 is Figure 1 Schematic diagram of beam steering when the three antenna elements closest to the sharp corners of the three surfaces of the antenna array are in an active state;

[0038] Figure 16 This is a schematic elevation diagram of the sixth application scenario of the antenna array of the present application;

[0039] Figure 17 This is a schematic azimuth plane diagram of the sixth application scenario of the antenna array of the present application;

[0040] Figure 18 This is a schematic elevation diagram of the seventh application scenario of the antenna array of this application;

[0041] Figure 19 This is a schematic azimuth plane diagram of the seventh application scenario of the antenna array of the present application;

[0042] Figure 20 It is a structural diagram of an embodiment of the antenna unit of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application. Obviously, the embodiments described are only part of the embodiments of this application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in this application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative efforts are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0044] It should be noted that if the embodiments of the present application involve directional indications (such as up, down, left, right, front, back, etc.), the directional indications are only used to explain the relative position relationship, movement status, etc. between the various components under a certain specific posture (as shown in the accompanying drawings). If the specific posture changes, the directional indications will also change accordingly.

[0045] In addition, if there are descriptions involving "first", "second", etc. in the embodiments of the present application, the descriptions of "first", "second", etc. are only for descriptive purposes and cannot be understood as indicating or implying their relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of such features. In addition, the technical solutions between the various embodiments can be combined with each other, but they must be based on the fact that they can be implemented by ordinary technicians in this field. When the combination of technical solutions is contradictory or cannot be implemented, it should be deemed that such a combination of technical solutions does not exist and is not within the scope of protection required by this application.

[0046] Figure 1 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a first embodiment of an antenna array 200 of the present application. The antenna array 200 includes a controller and a plurality of antenna units 210.

[0047] Antenna elements 210 are arranged to form at least n-1 faces of an n-hedron, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 4, and may be 5, 6, 8, or 10. Preferably, the n-hedron is a hexahedron. For satellite communication applications, this hexahedral arrangement ensures that the entire sky can be viewed by steering the main beam toward the optimal reception angle.

[0048] The antenna units on each surface can be spaced apart by a predetermined distance. The predetermined distance can be adjusted according to actual conditions to achieve different gains and beam steering angles. The predetermined distance can be smaller than the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit, so that the beams emitted by adjacent antenna units can partially overlap, so that adjacent antenna units 210 can work together, thereby increasing the coverage range of the beam generated by the antenna array 200 and making the beam emitted by the antenna array have a higher gain. In addition, in order to prevent the distance between adjacent antenna units from being too close, resulting in excessive coupling, the predetermined distance can be greater than 0.5 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit, so as to reduce interference caused by the close distance between adjacent antenna units.

[0049] Each antenna unit 210 is connected to a controller so that the controller can control the start, stop and phase of each antenna unit 210 .

[0050] In this embodiment, the antenna array 200 includes a controller and multiple antenna units, and the antenna units are arranged to form at least n-1 faces of an n-hedron, so that the beams generated by the antenna units 210 on different faces are directed in different directions; at least two antenna units are provided on each of the at least n-1 faces, and the distance between adjacent antenna units on the same face is less than the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit, so that the beams emitted by the at least two antenna units on the same face can interact with each other, and because the controller controls the start and stop and phase of each antenna unit 210, the beam steering angle that can be emitted by the antenna unit 210 has a large range; and because the antenna units form at least n-1 faces of an n-hedron, there must be at least two adjacent faces with antenna units 210, so that through the joint action of the antenna units 210 on two or three adjacent faces, a main beam steering angle exceeding the operating limit of each individual face can be obtained, which can further increase the beam range and even increase the coverage range of the radio signal to omnidirectional and include the entire sky.

[0051] Furthermore, at least two adjacent faces may be perpendicular to each other. Of course, at least two adjacent faces may not be perpendicular to each other.

[0052] Each of the at least n-1 faces may include at least two antenna units 210. Thus, the at least two antenna units on each face can work together to improve beam gain and beam range. For example, when n=8, at least seven faces of the n-hedron may be provided with four antenna units 210.

[0053] In addition, the antenna units 210 on the same plane can be arranged in an array. Moreover, the structures of the antenna units 210 on the same plane can be the same or different. Furthermore, the antenna units 210 can be broadband circularly polarized antenna units 210.

[0054] Furthermore, the antenna array 200 may also include a driver and a switch.

[0055] Specifically, each antenna unit 210 is connected to the controller via a switch, so that the controller can control the start and stop of each antenna unit 210 through the switch, that is, the controller can activate (turn on) or deactivate (turn off) each antenna unit 210 through the switch. The switch can be an RF switch.

[0056] Specifically, each antenna unit 210 is connected to a controller via a driver, allowing the controller to control the phase of each antenna unit 210 via the driver. It will be appreciated that the switch and the driver can be controlled by the same controller, which can be a computer or a microcontroller.

[0057] See also Figure 2 , Figure 2 The structure of a second embodiment of the antenna array 200 of the present application is shown. Antenna array 200 includes a controller and multiple antenna units 210. Antenna units 210 are arranged to form an arc. Each antenna unit 210 is connected to the controller, which is used to control the start, stop, and phase of each antenna unit 210.

[0058] The arc surface may be at least a partial spherical surface or at least a partial ellipsoidal surface, wherein at least a partial spherical surface may be understood as the surface of a whole sphere or the surface of a sphere with a portion cut off.

[0059] Compared with the first embodiment, the antenna array 200 of this embodiment can reduce the number of antenna units 210 to achieve the omnidirectional beam steering function, but at the cost of a more complex mechanical structure.

[0060] Optionally, adjacent antenna units can be spaced apart by a predetermined distance. The predetermined distance can be adjusted according to actual conditions to achieve different gains and omnidirectional beam steering angles. The predetermined distance can be smaller than the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit, so that the beams emitted by adjacent antenna units can partially overlap, so that adjacent antenna units 210 can work together, thereby increasing the beam coverage range generated by the antenna array 200 and making the beam emitted by the antenna array have a higher gain. In addition, in order to prevent the distance between adjacent antenna units from being too close, resulting in excessive coupling, the predetermined distance can be greater than 0.5 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit, so as to reduce interference caused by the close distance between adjacent antenna units.

[0061] Further, if Figure 2As shown, the angle of the tilted antenna unit 210 relative to the vertical antenna unit 210, the horizontal antenna unit 210, and the diagonal vertical antenna unit 210 is 45°. Of course, the present invention is not limited thereto. The angles between the antenna units 210 can be adjusted according to actual conditions to achieve different gains and resolutions. For example, the angle between the tilted antenna unit 210 and the vertical antenna unit 210 is 30°.

[0062] If size is not a limitation, the number of antenna units 210 can be increased to provide higher gain and higher resolution coverage, but the complexity of controlling the beam steering angle increases further. Furthermore, when the number of antenna units 210 is increased, the angle between the tilted antenna units 210 and the vertical or horizontal antenna units 210 can also be changed.

[0063] Furthermore, the antenna array 200 of this embodiment may also include a switch and a driver.

[0064] During actual use, the antenna array 200 can be arranged with the surface without the antenna unit 210 facing away from the sky, so that the surface with the antenna unit 210 can face the front, left, back, right and sky.

[0065] To better illustrate the technical effect of the antenna array 200 of the present application in increasing the beam coverage range, or even increasing the beam coverage range to omnidirectional, the following application scenario of manipulating the beam of the antenna array 200 of the first embodiment is provided as an example:

[0066] Figure 3 An example of how the four antenna elements 210 of face 1 steer beams in different directions using the first embodiment of the antenna elements 210 is shown. When all four antenna elements 210-1 to 210-4 of face 1 are activated, their overlapping beams can be Figure 3 For any surface, the coverage of the beam depends on the spacing between adjacent antenna units 210 on the same surface. The larger the spacing, the narrower the coverage of the beam.

[0067] In order to achieve horizontal steering / scanning of the beam, such as Figure 3 As shown, when all four antenna elements 210 on the same plane are activated, the horizontal (azimuth plane) steering of the beam can be achieved by controlling the phase difference between the antenna elements 210 adjacent to each other in the horizontal direction on each plane. Specifically, in the first application scenario, the phases of antenna elements 210-1 and 210-2 can be different from those of antenna elements 210-3 and 210-4. Figure 3 The phases of the antenna units 210-1 and 210-2 on the plane 1 are set to 45 degrees, and the Figure 3The phases of the antenna units 210-3 and 210-4 provided on the surface 1 are set to 0°, as shown in FIG. Figure 4 As shown, the vertical beam steering angle is 0°, as Figure 5 As shown, the beam steering angle in the horizontal direction is 7°.

[0068] In order to achieve vertical steering / scanning of the beam, such as Figure 3 As shown, when all four antenna elements on the same plane are activated, the vertical (elevation plane) steering of the beam can be achieved by controlling the phase difference between the adjacent antenna elements in the horizontal direction of each plane. Specifically, in the second application scenario, the phases of antenna elements 210-1 and 210-3 can be different from those of antenna elements 210-2 and 210-4. Figure 3 The phase of the antenna unit 210-1 and the antenna unit 210-3 provided on the surface 1 is set to 225 degrees, and the Figure 3 The phases of the antenna units 210-2 and 210-4 provided on the surface 1 are set to 0°, as shown in FIG. Figure 6 As shown, the vertical beam steering angle is 20°, as Figure 7 As shown, the beam steering angle in the horizontal direction is 0°.

[0069] In addition, if Figure 3 As shown, when all four antenna units 210 are activated, diagonal steering can also be achieved by controlling the phase difference between the two antenna units 210 on at least one diagonal line of each face. Specifically, the phase of antenna unit 210-1 can be different from that of antenna unit 210-4, and antenna unit 210-2 and antenna unit 210-3 are kept at a 0° phase reference, so that positive diagonal steering of the beam can be achieved. The phase of antenna unit 210-2 can be different from that of antenna unit 210-3, and antenna units 210-1 and 4 are kept at a 0° phase reference, so that negative diagonal steering of the beam can be achieved. In the third application scenario, Figure 3 The phase of the antenna unit 210-1 provided on the surface 1 is 270°. Figure 3 The phase of the antenna unit 210-3 provided on the surface 1 is 90°. Figure 3 The phase of the antenna unit 210-2 and the antenna unit 210-4 set on the surface 1 is 0°, as shown in FIG. Figure 8 and Figure 9 As shown, the vertical beam steering angle is 14°, and the horizontal beam steering angle is -14°.

[0070] However, the beam steering produced by a single surface is limited.

[0071] For this purpose, the antenna units 210 at the intersection of two or three adjacent surfaces can be controlled simultaneously to obtain a steering angle that exceeds the steering limit of each individual surface.

[0072] like Figure 10 As shown, the beam angle between surface 1 and surface 2 can be achieved by activating the four antenna elements 210 closest to the edges of the two surfaces. The overlapping beams of the four antenna elements 210 can be used Figure 10 The balloon shape in is represented. By changing the phase difference between the antenna units 210 on each adjacent surface, a steering angle intermediate between the two surfaces can be achieved. For example, the phase of the antenna unit 210-1 and the antenna unit 210-2 set on surface 1 is different from or the same as the phase of the antenna unit 210-3 and the antenna unit 210-4 set on surface 2, and an intermediate angle between surface 1 and surface 2 can be achieved. Specifically, in the fourth application scenario, the phase of the antenna unit 210-1 and the antenna unit 210-2 on surface 1, and the phase of the antenna unit 210-3 and the antenna unit 210-4 on surface 2 is 0°, and the main beam is the angle between surface 1 and surface 2 in the horizontal direction, as shown in FIG. Figure 11 and Figure 12 As shown, the horizontal beam steering angle is 315°. In the fifth application scenario, the phase of the antenna unit 210-1 and the antenna unit 210-3 set on the surface 4 is 45°, and the phase of the antenna unit 210-3 and the antenna unit 210-4 set on the surface 5 is 0°. The main beam is located at an angle between the surface 4 and the surface 5 in the vertical direction, as shown in FIG. Figure 13 and Figure 14 As shown, the vertical beam steering angle is 23°.

[0073] In addition, in order to steer the beam at an oblique angle at the intersection of the three planes, the beam angle at the intersection of plane 1, plane 2 and plane 5 can be achieved by activating the three antenna elements 210 closest to the edges of the three adjacent planes. The overlapping beams of these three antenna elements 210 can be used Figure 15 The balloon shape in . Figure 15 、 Figure 16 and Figure 17 As shown, in the sixth application scenario, when the antenna unit 210-1 of surface 1, the antenna unit 210-3 of surface 2 and the antenna unit 210-2 of surface 5 are in active state, and the phases of the antenna unit 210-1 of surface 1, the antenna unit 210-3 of surface 2 and the antenna unit 210-2 of surface 5 are all set to the same phase (for example, 0°), the main beam will point to the diagonals of the three surfaces.

[0074] In addition, the diagonal beam can be steered vertically by changing the phase of the antenna element 210 of plane 5. Specifically, Figure 18 and Figure 19As shown, in the seventh application scenario, when the phase of the antenna unit 210-2 of surface 5 is 315°, the phase of the antenna unit 210-1 of surface 1 is 0°, and the phase of the antenna unit 210-3 of surface 2 is 0°, the vertical beam steering angle is 24° and the horizontal beam steering angle is 315°.

[0075] Additionally, the step size of the actuator can determine the resolution of the beam steering angle.

[0076] Furthermore, the present application provides the following two application scenarios for manipulating the beams of the antenna array 200 of the second embodiment for exemplary illustration.

[0077] like Figure 2 As shown, the antenna array includes 17 antenna elements, which are arranged to form an arc surface. When in use, antenna element 210-1 can be set to face the sky. Antenna elements 210-2, 210-4, 210-6, 210-8, 210-10, 210-11, 210-12 and 210-13 are at an angle of 45 degrees to the vertical line in their respective directions. Antenna elements 210-3, 210-5, 210-7, 210-9, 210-14, 210-15, 210-16 and 210-17 are pointed to their respective ground / sea levels. The distance between adjacent antenna elements is greater than half a wavelength and less than a full wavelength at the center frequency of adjacent antenna elements 210.

[0078] In order to steer a high-gain beam in any given direction, at least four adjacent antenna elements 210 may be activated, and the overlapping energy of the beams emitted by the multiple antenna elements 210 may be maximized by adjusting the phases of the activated antenna elements 210 .

[0079] In one application scenario, antenna elements 210-1, 210-2, 210-4, 210-6, and 210-8 are activated, and their phases are set to 0°, 112.5°, 112.5°, 112.5°, and 112.5°, respectively, so that antenna elements 210-2, 210-4, 210-6, and 210-8 have overlapping beam energy with antenna element 210-1, resulting in the main beam of the antenna array radiating in the same direction as antenna element 210-1. If the phase of an antenna element is ahead of that of an adjacent antenna element, the energy of the antenna element's beam is directed toward the adjacent antenna element. If the phase of an antenna element is behind that of an adjacent antenna element, the energy of the antenna element's beam is diverted away from the adjacent antenna element. The greater the phase difference between adjacent antenna elements with overlapping beam energy, the greater the angle of the main beam's steering. Therefore, for antenna 210-2, which has a phase advance of 112.5° compared to antenna 210-1, its north-facing beam (initially at a 45-degree angle from the vertical) is steered upward toward the sky. Furthermore, for antenna 210-6, which has a phase advance of 112.5° compared to antenna 210-1, its west-facing beam (also initially at a 45-degree angle from the vertical) is also steered upward toward the sky. As a result, the five antenna elements 210-1, 210-2, 210-4, 210-6, and 210-8 can emit a high-gain main beam pointing toward the sky.

[0080] In another application scenario, antenna units 210-1, 210-2, 210-6, 210-10 and 210-14 are activated, and the phases of antenna units 210-1, 210-2, 210-6, 210-10 and 210-14 are set to 90°, 22.5°, 22.5°, 0° and 22.5°, respectively, so that antenna units 210-2, 210-4, 210-6 and 210-8 have beam energy overlapping with 210-1, so that the main beam is steered in the direction of 210-10 (northwest direction at an inclination angle of 45 degrees to the vertical direction).

[0081] The above-mentioned application example of beam steering shows how the antenna array 200 optimizes the area of ​​overlapping beams by controlling the phases of adjacent antenna units 210 to expand the coverage range of the beams emitted by the antenna array 200, so that the coverage range of the beams emitted by the antenna array 200 is increased, and even increased to the omnidirectional space.

[0082] Furthermore, the correspondence between the phase of the antenna unit 210 and the beam steering angle of the antenna array 200 can be obtained by measuring data or by electronic simulation, and the correspondence between the phase of the antenna unit 210 and the beam steering angle of the antenna array 200 can be stored in a calibration lookup table within the controller. During the use of the antenna array 200, the target beam steering angle can be determined first, and then the antenna unit 210 corresponding to the target beam steering angle and the phase of each antenna unit 210 can be found in the calibration lookup table. Then, the controller activates the antenna unit 210 corresponding to the target beam steering angle and sets the phase of these antenna units 210 to steer the beam to the optimal receiving angle, that is, to the target beam steering angle. Compared with mechanical steering technology, the antenna array 200 of the present application can switch beam steering instantaneously, especially for mobile applications such as marine vessels.

[0083] In addition, the present application also discloses an antenna unit, and the above antenna array can be composed of multiple antenna units. Figure 20 , Figure 20 Schematic diagram of the structure of an embodiment of the antenna unit 400 of this application. Figure 20 As shown, the antenna unit 400 includes a first radiator 410, a second radiator 420, and a feeder. The first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 both adopt a dipole structure and are provided with multiple slots. The feeder includes a first output port 430 and a second output port 440. The first output port 430 is coupled to the first radiator 410, and the second output port 440 is coupled to the second radiator 420. The phase difference between the first output port 430 and the second output port 440 is 90°.

[0084] In this embodiment, the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 both adopt a dipole structure, and a plurality of slots are provided on the dipole structure, so that a plurality of resonances can be generated and the frequency response can be adjusted to achieve a higher bandwidth and provide wide-bandwidth radiation; in addition, the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 are respectively coupled to the first output port 430 and the second output port 440, and the phase difference between the first output port 430 and the second output port 440 is 90°. The phase difference between the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 is 90°, which can generate right-handed circularly polarized waves, and the phase difference between the second radiator 420 and the first radiator 410 is 90°, which can generate left-handed circularly polarized waves.

[0085] In this embodiment, the dipole structure of the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 can be a conical dipole, that is, the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 adopt a gradually widening structure, which can obtain wider impedance matching and thus achieve a higher bandwidth. The fractional bandwidth of this structure in each polarization can exceed 10%.

[0086] Furthermore, the size, position, and shape of the slots in the dipole structure can be controlled to achieve different bandwidth enhancement effects. For example, the slots can be designed into various shapes, such as rectangles, circles, ellipses, polygons, etc. Of course, the slots can also be designed into irregular shapes.

[0087] Optionally, the patterns of the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 are symmetrical, which can create an electric wall between orthogonal planes, improving isolation between polarizations.

[0088] Optionally, the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 may be disposed on the first substrate 460. Specifically, the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 may be directly printed on the first substrate 460. The first substrate 460 may be a printed circuit board or a stamped plate.

[0089] In this embodiment, the first output port 430 and the second output port 440 may be connected to the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420 , respectively, through semi-rigid RF cables.

[0090] One of the first output port 430 and the second output port 440 may include a 90° phase-shifted delay line 431, which utilizes the time delay difference between the signals at the first output port 430 and the second output port 440 to achieve a 90° phase shift. The 90° phase-shifted delay line 431 is equivalent to a 90° phase shift of the center frequency of the antenna unit 400. Furthermore, the other of the first output port 430 and the second output port 440 may include a short-circuited quarter-wavelength line 441. Within the antenna's operating bandwidth (fractional bandwidth of approximately 10%), the phase difference between the first output port 430 and the second output port 440 can be stabilized at 90°, thereby generating a wide axial ratio bandwidth, with an axial ratio that can be better than 3 dB. Specifically, one end of the quarter-wavelength line 441 can be grounded to form a short-circuited transmission line, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Specifically, both ends of the other of the first output port 430 and the second output port 440 may include a short-circuited quarter-wavelength line.

[0091] Furthermore, the impedance of the quarter-wavelength line 441 may be 1.5 times the impedance of the output port to which it belongs.

[0092] In this embodiment, the feeder may further include an input port 450 and a power splitter. The power splitter is coupled to the input port 450, the first output port 430, and the second output port 440. The power splitter is a device that can split the energy of an electromagnetic wave input signal into two output signals, one of which is input to the first radiator 410 through the first output port 430, and the other of which is input to the second radiator 420 through the second output port 440. The power splitter may be a Wilkinson-type power splitter.

[0093] The feeder can be disposed on a second substrate 470. The second substrate 470 can be a printed circuit board or a stamped plate. Furthermore, the second substrate 470 can include a grounded surface that serves as a reflector for the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420. The reflector can focus the antenna beams generated by the first radiator 410 and the second radiator 420, thereby increasing the antenna gain. The grounded surface serving as a reflector can be made of metal.

[0094] Furthermore, the distance between the first substrate 460 and the second substrate 470 can be controlled to maximize gain while maintaining a compact structure. Specifically, the distance between the first substrate 460 and the second substrate 470 can be 18-23 mm. The optimal distance between the first substrate 460 and the second substrate 470 is 20 mm, which allows for a high gain of more than 9 dBic at 1.6 GHz while maintaining a compact structure.

[0095] The above are merely embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present application. Any equivalent structure or equivalent process transformation made using the contents of the present application specification and drawings, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. An antenna array, characterized in that: The antenna array comprises: a plurality of antenna units, the antenna units being arranged to form at least n-1 faces of an n-hedron, where n is an integer greater than or equal to 4, each of the at least n-1 faces being provided with at least two antenna units, the distance between adjacent antenna units on the same face being smaller than the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit, so that beams emitted by adjacent antenna units can partially overlap, enabling the adjacent antenna units to act together; and A controller connected to the antenna unit, the controller being used to control the start, stop and phase of each antenna unit; The antenna unit includes a first radiator, a second radiator and a feeding part; wherein the first radiator and the second radiator both adopt a dipole structure and are provided with multiple slots, and the feeding part includes a first output port and a second output port, the first output port is coupled to the first radiator, the second output port is coupled to the second radiator, and the phase difference between the first output port and the second output port is 90°.

2. The antenna array according to claim 1, wherein: Four antenna units are provided on each of the at least n-1 surfaces.

3. The antenna array according to claim 1, wherein: The distance between adjacent antenna units on the same plane is greater than 0.5 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit.

4. The antenna array according to claim 1, wherein: The antenna array further comprises: A switch, wherein the controller is connected to each of the antenna units via the switch, and is used to control the start and stop of the antenna unit; A driving component, wherein the controller is connected to each of the antenna units through the driving component, and is used to control the phase of the antenna unit.

5. The antenna array according to claim 1, wherein: The controller stores the corresponding relationship between the phase of the antenna unit and the beam steering angle.

6. The antenna array according to claim 1, wherein: The n-hedron is a hexahedron.

7. An antenna array, characterized in that: The antenna array comprises: A plurality of antenna units, the antenna units being arranged to form an arc surface, with the distance between adjacent antenna units being smaller than the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the antenna unit, so that the beams emitted by adjacent antenna units can partially overlap, allowing the adjacent antenna units to work together; and A controller connected to the antenna unit, the controller being used to control the start, stop and phase of each antenna unit; The antenna unit includes a first radiator, a second radiator and a feeding part; wherein the first radiator and the second radiator both adopt a dipole structure and are provided with multiple slots, and the feeding part includes a first output port and a second output port, the first output port is coupled to the first radiator, the second output port is coupled to the second radiator, and the phase difference between the first output port and the second output port is 90°.

8. The antenna array according to claim 7, characterized in that The arc surface is at least partially a spherical surface or at least partially an ellipsoidal surface.

9. The antenna array according to claim 7, characterized in that The antenna array further comprises: A switch, wherein the controller is connected to each of the antenna units via the switch, and is used to control the start and stop of the antenna unit; A driving component, wherein the controller is connected to each of the antenna units through the driving component, and is used to control the phase of the antenna unit.

10. The antenna array according to claim 7, characterized in that The controller stores the corresponding relationship between the phase of the antenna unit and the beam steering angle.

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