A wide beam antenna and array based on metamaterial loading

Abstract

The present invention provides a wide-beam antenna and array based on metamaterial loading, which belong to the field of antenna technology. The wide-beam antenna includes a 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial structure, a dielectric resonator structure, a Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate, a Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail, a coupled feed slot, a coupled feed microstrip line, an air hole on the dielectric resonator, and a metal floor. The array includes a wide-beam antenna, a metal support plate, and an array element. The present invention introduces electromagnetic metamaterial loading technology and Huygens radiation mechanism into the design of wide-beam antennas, and proposes a miniaturized wide-bandwidth antenna for wide-angle multi-beam scanning arrays and MIMO arrays. It can achieve wide-band operation and wide-angle multi-beam continuous scanning and beamforming under the premise of miniaturization and low cost of the antenna, meeting the application requirements of 5G wide-band multi-beam base stations, large-scale antenna technology, and low-cost phased arrays.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of antenna technology, and in particular relates to a wide-beam antenna based on metamaterial loading and an array thereof. Background Art

[0002] At present, the new generation of wireless communication and Internet of Things technologies based on 5G communication are being continuously deployed and developed, promoting the rapid evolution of smart life, digital manufacturing and intelligence, and profoundly changing people's lives and production. Compared with the traditional 2G / 3G / 4G wireless communication system, the 5G communication system adopts higher frequencies, more frequency bands, larger MIMO architectures and more beams at the RF bottom layer in order to achieve high-speed, low-latency and high-stability wireless communication. However, the single-mode omnidirectional antenna and dual-polarization fixed beam antenna in the traditional 2G / 3G / 4G wireless communication system will be difficult to meet the performance and functional requirements of the new frequency bands and new technologies of the 5G system. Multi-beam antennas have multiple switchable beams or radiation modes, which can dynamically switch to aim at the end user, and can also achieve scanning coverage in the airspace, enhance the stability of the system's signal transmission, improve anti-interference ability and improve multipath effects. Therefore, multi-beam antennas are introduced into 5G base station applications. Multi-beam antennas can be roughly divided into three categories: electromechanical scanning multi-beam antennas, reconfigurable pattern antennas and phased arrays. Traditional electromechanical scanning multi-beam antennas usually use a mechanical turntable to scan and align the antenna radiation beam, so a precise motor servo system is required, resulting in problems such as bulky structure and slow response speed. Reconfigurable pattern antennas usually use electronic switching elements to change the radiation aperture distribution of the antenna, thereby changing the radiation direction of the pattern. Therefore, they have disadvantages such as limited reconfigurable pattern state, complex structure (additional switch control circuit) and low radiation gain. Traditional phased arrays usually use a large number of array elements to achieve large-scale continuous beam scanning and beamforming, so there is a high cost problem, which is difficult to apply to the large-scale deployment of low-cost 5G base stations. In order to further meet the needs of 5G base stations for multi-beam antennas and low costs, low-cost wide-angle multi-beam scanning arrays are constantly being developed.

[0003] At present, wide-angle multi-beam scanning arrays can be roughly divided into three categories: wide-beam unit scanning arrays, phase gradient controlled metasurface loading arrays, and pattern reconfigurable arrays. Traditional wide-beam unit scanning arrays usually use array elements with wide beams, such as electric dipoles and magnetic dipoles. Although electric dipole or magnetic dipole array elements can increase the array beam scanning angle, the bandwidth of such array elements is relatively narrow and it is difficult to meet the broadband communication requirements of the new 5G frequency band. In order to widen the scanning angle, the metasurface loading array will introduce a layer of phase gradient controlled electromagnetic metasurface structure in the airspace above the antenna, which will lead to problems such as high antenna profile, complex multi-layer structure and limited working bandwidth. Traditional pattern reconfigurable arrays use pattern reconfigurable antennas as array elements. Due to the performance limitations of pattern reconfigurable array elements, they often have shortcomings and problems such as narrow working bandwidth and large loss. Through the review and analysis of the above-mentioned existing technologies, it is difficult for the current wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antennas to achieve miniaturization, low cost, wide bandwidth and wide-angle beam scanning at the same time. Therefore, the existing wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antennas are difficult to meet the communication needs of 5G base stations. Summary of the invention

[0004] In view of the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art, the present invention provides a wide-beam antenna and an array based on metamaterial loading, which solve the problems of narrow bandwidth, large size and complex multi-layer structure of traditional wide-beam array element antennas; solve the problems of large size and high profile of traditional wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antennas; solve the problem that traditional small arrays are difficult to achieve wide-angle scanning and large-angle scanning due to beam distortion due to strong mutual coupling; and solve the limitation of traditional wide-angle scanning phased arrays that are difficult to apply on a large scale due to the need for a large number of array elements (high cost).

[0005] In order to achieve the above purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0006] This solution provides a wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading, including a 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial structure, a dielectric resonator structure, a Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate, a Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail, a coupled feed slot, a coupled feed microstrip line, an air hole on the dielectric resonator, and a metal floor;

[0007] In the 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial structure, each 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial unit includes a Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate and a Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail, the Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate is attached to the upper surface of the dielectric resonator structure, the Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail penetrates the dielectric resonator structure, the upper end of the Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail is short-circuited with the Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate, and the lower end of the Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail is short-circuited with the metal floor, two groups of the 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial structures are loaded on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure, the dielectric resonator structure is fixed on the upper surface of the metal floor, the coupling feed slot is etched on the upper surface of the metal floor, the coupling feed microstrip line is printed on the lower surface of the metal floor, and passes through the coupling feed slot on the lower surface of the metal floor to form coupling feed excitation with the coupling feed slot, and the air hole on the dielectric resonator is located in the middle of the dielectric resonator structure.

[0008] Preferably, the Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate is a thin layer metal sheet structure.

[0009] Preferably, the dielectric resonator structure is a cylindrical or hemispherical material with a high dielectric constant and low loss.

[0010] Preferably, the coupling feed slot is a long slot-shaped structure and is etched on the upper surface of the metal floor.

[0011] The present invention provides a wide beam antenna array based on metamaterial loading, wherein the wide beam antenna array based on metamaterial loading comprises the wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading, a metal support plate and an array element;

[0012] The metal support plate is attached to the upper surface of the metal floor and is in electrical contact with the metal floor to achieve electrical connection. The array elements are arranged in a straight line on the metal floor.

[0013] Preferably, the array elements are arranged in a straight line to form a phased array, and the array element spacing of the array elements can be set to be an equal spacing of half a wavelength, or can be set to be an unequal spacing of sub-half a wavelength width.

[0014] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0015] (1) The wide-beam antenna and array based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading proposed in the present invention adopts a new dielectric resonator structure loaded with electromagnetic metamaterials, so that the antenna has the advantages of low loss and low cost (a small number of array elements), which can meet the large-scale deployment of 5G base stations; the wide-bandwidth beam antenna is used as an array element in the present invention, so that the main beam of the antenna can achieve continuous scanning and beamforming at a large angle, meeting the requirements of 5G multi-beam base stations for wide-angle coverage and beamforming. The present invention has the advantages of small size (compact structure), low cost, wide bandwidth, wide lobe, low loss, and large-angle continuous beam scanning, and is suitable for various wireless communications, Internet of Things systems, phased array radars, etc., especially 5G multi-beam base stations and massive antenna technology Massive MIMO.

[0016] (2) The present invention adopts electromagnetic metamaterial loading technology, which makes the antenna have the advantages of small size and simple structure. Therefore, the present invention is suitable for applications in space-constrained scenarios and miniaturized equipment.

[0017] (3) The mushroom structure is loaded into the dielectric resonator, and an electric field component in the vertical direction is introduced. At this time, the mushroom structure is equivalent to an electric dipole perpendicular to the metal floor. By opening a rectangular slot on the metal floor and using microstrip line coupling feeding, the TE111 resonance mode of the dielectric resonator is excited to radiate. This mode is equivalent to a magnetic dipole mode with an electric field polarization direction parallel to the horizontal direction. Therefore, the present invention introduces a dual resonance mode (an electric dipole perpendicular to the metal floor and a magnetic dipole parallel to the horizontal direction), and coupling obtains a wide impedance bandwidth, which can cover the mainstream communication frequency band and meet the requirements of 5G communication and Internet of Things systems.

[0018] (4) Based on the Huygens radiation mechanism, the present invention constructs an electric dipole perpendicular to the metal floor and a magnetic dipole parallel to the horizontal direction, thereby synthesizing a directional radiation pattern toward the horizontal plane (i.e., a Huygens radiation source). Furthermore, by etching two coupling slots in the same axial direction on the metal floor and using microstrip lines for coupling feeding, two directional radiation patterns in opposite directions (i.e., two groups of Huygens radiation sources) can be achieved. Then, the two groups of Huygens radiation sources are excited with equal amplitude and in phase using the coupling feed line, and the two groups of Huygens radiation sources work together to expand the beam width of the radiation pattern. Ultimately, the antenna obtains a wide half-power beam width, and the half-power beam width covers the entire upper half-plane space, which is beneficial to improving the scanning performance of multi-beam arrays and phased arrays, and is also beneficial to expanding the coverage area of ​​radiation or communication.

[0019] (5) The antenna in the present invention provides a wide-beam unit antenna and a wide-angle scanning linear array. According to the application scenario and system requirements, the number of array elements, the array layout and the amplitude and phase excitation strategy can be adjusted to achieve the selection of different scanning angles and beam shapes.

[0020] (6) The antenna of the present invention has low cost and only uses a PCB board, a ceramic dielectric block, a metal aluminum plate, screws and other structures, and is easy to produce and apply on a large scale. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 3D view of the wide beam antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading in the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 Three-view diagram of the wide beam antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading in the present invention.

[0023] Figure 3 This is a bandwidth diagram of the wide beam antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading in the present invention.

[0024] Figure 4 This is a diagram of the radiation performance of the wide-beam antenna loaded with electromagnetic metamaterials in the present invention.

[0025] Figure 5 This is a 3D view of the wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading in the present invention.

[0026] Figure 6 These are three-view images of the wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading in the present invention.

[0027] Figure 7 This is a bandwidth diagram of the wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading in the present invention.

[0028] Figure 8 This is a radiation performance diagram of the wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading in the present invention.

[0029] Among them, 1-1×4 Mushroom metamaterial structure, 2-dielectric resonator structure, 3-Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate, 4-Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail, 5-coupled feeding gap, 6-coupled feeding microstrip line, 7-air hole on the dielectric resonator, 8-metal floor, 9-metal support plate, 10-array element. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The specific implementation modes of the present invention are described below so that those skilled in the art can understand the present invention. However, it should be clear that the present invention is not limited to the scope of the specific implementation modes. For those of ordinary skill in the art, as long as various changes are within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined and determined by the attached claims, these changes are obvious, and all inventions and creations utilizing the concept of the present invention are protected.

[0031] In order to solve the problem that the existing 5G multi-beam base station antenna is difficult to take into account both wide bandwidth and wide-angle multi-beam continuous scanning under the premise of miniaturization and low cost, the present invention proposes a new wide-beam structure loaded with electromagnetic metamaterials, and provides two embodiments of a wide-beam antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading and a wide-angle multi-beam continuous scanning array based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading. The invention solves the problems of large size and high profile of traditional wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antennas, which are difficult to use in scene space-constrained and miniaturized equipment; the antenna and array of the invention achieve a wide operating bandwidth and good consistency of radiation performance within the passband, which can meet the application requirements of various wireless communications, Internet of Things systems and radar systems; the antenna of the invention has a wide half-power lobe width, which can enable the main beam of the array to achieve continuous large-angle scanning, and the gain of the main beam remains stable in the wide-angle area, solving the problems of traditional small arrays that are difficult to achieve wide-angle scanning and beam mutual coupling distortion at large angles, and meeting the performance requirements of base stations or radar systems for multi-beam switching, wide-angle scanning coverage and beamforming; the wide-angle scanning array of the invention has a simple element form, a small number of elements and a low cost, which solves the limitation of traditional wide-angle scanning phased arrays that are difficult to apply on a large scale at low cost due to the need for a large number of elements. In addition, the invention provides two embodiments, namely a wide-beam antenna and a wide-angle multi-beam scanning array, which can be used in 5G multi-beam base station antennas, Massive MIMO and phased array radar systems. It can select array solutions based on actual application scenarios and application mechanisms, and has multifunctional and universal characteristics.

[0032] Example 1

[0033] like Figure 1 to Figure 2As shown, the present invention provides a wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading, including a 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial structure 1, a dielectric resonator structure 2, a Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3, a Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4, a coupling feed gap 5, a coupling feed microstrip line 6, an air hole 7 on the dielectric resonator, and a metal floor 8; in the 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial structure 1, each 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial unit includes a Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3 and a Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4, the Mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3 is attached to the upper surface of the dielectric resonator structure 2, the Mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4 penetrates the dielectric resonator structure 2, and the Mushroom metamaterial The upper end of the metal short-circuit nail 4 is short-circuited with the mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3, and the lower end of the mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4 is short-circuited with the metal floor 8. Two groups of the 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structures 1 are loaded on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure 2, that is, a group of 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structures 1 are loaded on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure 2, totaling two groups. The dielectric resonator structure 2 is fixed on the upper surface of the metal floor 8, the coupling feed slot 5 is etched on the upper surface of the metal floor 8, the coupling feed microstrip line 6 is printed on the lower surface of the metal floor 8, and passes through the coupling feed slot 5 on the lower surface of the metal floor 8 to form a coupling feed excitation with the coupling feed slot 5. The air hole 7 on the dielectric resonator is located in the middle of the dielectric resonator structure 2. The mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3 is a thin metal sheet structure. The dielectric resonator structure 2 is a cylindrical or hemispherical high dielectric constant and low loss material. The coupling feed slot 5 is a long slot structure and is etched on the upper surface of the metal floor 8. The number of the coupling feed slots 5 is an even number, which can be two, four, etc. The coupling feed microstrip line 6 is a transmission line such as a microstrip line, a coplanar waveguide or a substrate integrated waveguide.

[0034] In this embodiment, the mushroom is a mushroom-type metamaterial structure; 1×4 refers to the four small patches on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure 2 and the mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nails 4 connected underneath each of them, which are arranged in a row, that is, a 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structure 1.

[0035] In this embodiment, the wide beam antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading is as follows: Figure 1 and 2 As shown, Figure 2 middle, Figure 2 (a) is the top view of the wide beam antenna. Figure 2(b) is the side view of the wide beam antenna. Figure 2 (c) is the front view of the wide beam antenna. The antenna 1×4 Mushroom metamaterial structure 1, composed of a 1×4 small patch metasurface structure 3 and a metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4, realizes the miniaturization design and wide beam width of the antenna (introducing the vertically polarized electric dipole mode, E-dipole); the dielectric resonator structure 2, composed of a high dielectric constant material, realizes the energy radiation of the antenna; the coupled feed slot 5 and the coupled feed microstrip line 6, respectively composed of a rectangular slot on the floor and a T-shaped microstrip line on another layer of the floor, realize the feeding of RF signals into the antenna radiator, wide bandwidth (introducing the slot resonant mode) and wide beam width (introducing the horizontally polarized magnetic dipole mode, M-dipole); on the wide beam antenna, there are two sets of Mushroom metamaterial structures 1 and coupled feed The electric gap 5 and the dielectric resonator structure 2 loaded with the mushroom metamaterial structure 1 introduce the vertically polarized E-dipole mode, and the coupling feeding gap 5 and the dielectric resonator structure 2 introduce the horizontally polarized M-dipole mode. Based on the Huygens radiation mechanism, the E-dipole and M-dipole modes are combined (Huygens radiation source) to form a forward-tilted directional beam. Similarly, the two groups of Huygens radiation sources are coupled to the feeding microstrip line 6 to perform equal-amplitude and in-phase excitation operations to achieve wide beam design; the air hole 7 on the dielectric resonator reduces the dielectric constant of the middle part of the dielectric resonator, reduces the energy coupling between the two coupled feeding gaps 5, and achieves good impedance matching and energy radiation. The metal floor 8 is composed of a dielectric substrate with a single-sided metal layer and is used as the reference floor of the antenna to achieve directional radiation of the antenna.

[0036] like Figure 1 and 2As shown, in the embodiment of the wide beam antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading, a new type of electromagnetic metamaterial loading structure is proposed based on the electromagnetic metamaterial structure and the dielectric resonator structure 2, and is used as the radiator of the wide beam antenna. The dielectric resonator structure 2 is placed on the metal floor 8 and is used as the radiator of the signal; on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure 2, a 1×4 Mushroom electromagnetic metamaterial 1 structure is loaded to achieve the miniaturization of the size of the radiator of the dielectric resonator structure 2; two rectangular slots and a T-shaped feed line are opened on the metal floor 8, which are used as signal coupling excitation of the Mushroom electromagnetic metamaterial 1 loading structure; further, the Mushroom electromagnetic metamaterial 1 structure is loaded into the dielectric resonator structure 2, and an electric field component in the vertical direction is introduced. At this time, the Mushroom electromagnetic metamaterial 1 structure is equivalent to an electric field perpendicular to the electric field. Dipole (similar to monopole structure, E-dipole); by opening a rectangular slot on the metal floor 8 and using microstrip line coupling feeding, the TE111 resonant mode of the dielectric resonator is excited to radiate, which is equivalent to a magnetic dipole mode (M-dipole) in the horizontal direction; therefore, based on the Huygens radiation mechanism, a directional radiation pattern toward the horizontal plane is synthesized, and by opening two sets of slots in the relative directions on the same axis of the floor and coupling feeding, two directional radiation patterns can be realized. At the same time, the two directional patterns are selected and excited by equal amplitude and in-phase feeding using a T-shaped power splitter structure to form a wide beam pattern. At the same time, the half-power lobe width of the pattern can be regulated and selected by adjusting the position of the slot and the loading position of the Mushroom metamaterial 1 structure. In addition, since the radiation mode of the slot is introduced, two resonant modes (dielectric resonator resonant mode and slot slot resonant mode) are introduced in the impedance performance, which expands the working bandwidth of the antenna and achieves wide-band coverage.

[0037] In this embodiment, the proposed miniaturized wide-bandwidth electromagnetic metamaterial loading structure enables the wide-beam antenna based on the structure to achieve wide-bandwidth, wide-beam and high-radiation performance, such as Figure 3 and 4 shown. Figure 3 For the bandwidth performance of the wide-beam antenna, the antenna -10dB impedance bandwidth is 3.30-3.80GHz (14.1%), covering the 5G-N78 frequency band and meeting the frequency band requirements of various 5G new frequency bands and IoT system applications. Figure 4The radiation pattern performance of the wide beam antenna is a directional side-firing pattern, and the half-power lobe width of the antenna is 200°, covering the entire upper half plane airspace. The wide beam antenna can achieve wide-angle uniform coverage and is also suitable for phased array antenna applications. Embodiment 1 of the present invention realizes a miniaturized design, wide bandwidth and wide beam, and can be applied to various arrays and multiple-input multiple-output technology MIMO applications.

[0038] Example 2

[0039] The present invention provides a wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading, comprising a 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structure 1, a dielectric resonator structure 2, a mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3, a mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4, a coupling feed gap 5, a coupling feed microstrip line 6, an air hole 7 on the dielectric resonator, a metal floor 8, a metal support plate 9 and an array element 10; in the 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structure 1, each 1×4 mushroom metamaterial unit comprises a mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3 and a mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4, the mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3 is attached to the upper surface of the dielectric resonator structure 2, the mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4 penetrates the dielectric resonator structure 2, and the mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4 passes through the dielectric resonator structure 2. The upper end of the oom metamaterial metal shorting nail 4 is short-circuited with the mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3, and the lower end of the mushroom metamaterial metal shorting nail 4 is short-circuited with the metal floor 8. Two groups of the 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structures 1 are loaded on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure 2, that is, one group of 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structures 1 is loaded on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure 2, totaling two groups. The dielectric resonator structure 2 is fixed on the upper surface of the metal floor 8, the coupling feed slot 5 is etched on the upper surface of the metal floor 8, the coupling feed microstrip line 6 is printed on the lower surface of the metal floor 8, and passes through the coupling feed slot 5 on the lower surface of the metal floor 8 to form a coupling feed excitation with the coupling feed slot 5. The air hole 7 on the dielectric resonator is located in the middle of the dielectric resonator structure 2. The mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate 3 is a thin metal sheet structure. The dielectric resonator structure 2 is a cylindrical or hemispherical high dielectric constant and low loss material. The coupling feed slot 5 is a long slot structure and is etched on the upper surface of the metal floor 8. The coupling feed microstrip line 6 is a transmission line such as a microstrip line, a coplanar waveguide or a substrate integrated waveguide. The metal support plate 9 is attached to the upper surface of the metal floor 8 and is short-circuited with the metal floor 8, that is, the metal support plate 9 is electrically connected to the metal floor 8. The array elements 10 are arranged in a straight line on the metal floor 8. The array elements 10 are arranged in a straight line to form a phased array, and the array element spacing can be set to an equidistant half-wavelength setting, or can be set to an unequal sub-half-wavelength width.

[0040] In this embodiment, the mushroom is a mushroom-type metamaterial structure; 1×4 refers to the four small patches on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure 2 and the mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nails 4 connected underneath each of them, which are arranged in a row, that is, a 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structure 1.

[0041] In this embodiment, the wide-angle scanning array antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading is as follows: Figure 5 and 6 As shown, Figure 5 In the figure, d is the array spacing between the array elements 10, which is set to half the free space wavelength at the array working center frequency in the present invention. E1-E5 are the order of the array elements 10. The Mushroom metamaterial structure 1 of the antenna 1×4 is composed of a 1×4 small patch metasurface structure 3 and a metamaterial metal short-circuit nail 4, which realizes the miniaturization design and wide beam width of the antenna (introducing the vertically polarized electric dipole mode, E-dipole); the dielectric resonator structure 2 is composed of a high dielectric constant material to realize the energy radiation of the antenna; the coupled feed slot 5 and the coupled feed microstrip line 6 are respectively composed of a rectangular slot on the floor and a T-shaped microstrip line on another layer of the floor, which realizes the feeding of the RF signal into the antenna radiator, wide bandwidth (introducing the slot resonance mode) and wide beam width (introducing the horizontally polarized magnetic dipole mode, M-dipole); on the wide beam antenna, there are two groups of Mus The Huygens metamaterial structure 1 and the coupled feeding slot 5, the dielectric resonator loaded with the Mushroom structure introduces a vertically polarized E-dipole mode, the coupled feeding slot 5 and the dielectric resonator introduce a horizontally polarized M-dipole mode, and based on the Huygens radiation mechanism, the E-dipole and M-dipole modes are combined (Huygens radiation source) to form a forward-tilted directional beam. Similarly, the two groups of Huygens radiation sources are excited with equal amplitude and in phase through the coupled feeding microstrip line 6 to achieve a wide beam design; the air hole 7 on the dielectric resonator reduces the dielectric constant in the middle of the dielectric resonator, reduces the energy coupling between the two coupled feeding slots 5, and achieves good impedance matching and energy radiation. The metal floor 8 is composed of a dielectric substrate with single-sided copper cladding, and is used as a reference floor for the antenna to achieve directional radiation of the antenna; the metal support plate 9 is composed of a cut metal sheet, and is attached to the metal floor 8 to improve the mechanical strength of the metal floor 8 and fix the antenna; the array element 10 is composed of 5 wide-beam antennas based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading, and the wide-angle continuous scanning and beam shaping of the beam are achieved by setting the excitation amplitude and phase of each element. In particular, the wide-band wide-beam antenna is used as the array element of the array, which can achieve wide-band wide-angle multi-beam continuous scanning with a small number of elements (low cost), meeting the performance requirements of 5G multi-beam base stations for wide bandwidth and wide-angle multi-beam coverage.

[0042] In this embodiment, Figure 5 and 6 As shown, Figure 6 middle, Figure 6 (a) is a top view of the wide beam antenna array. Figure 6(b) is a front view of the wide beam antenna array. In the embodiment of the wide-angle multi-beam continuous scanning array based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading, based on Embodiment 1, the wide beam antenna based on electromagnetic metamaterial loading is used as the array element of the low-cost wide-angle multi-beam scanning array antenna, and multiple wide beam antennas are arranged in a straight line to form a linear array, and the array spacing is set to 0.5λ0 (λ0 is the free space wavelength at the center frequency of the antenna) to achieve high-gain wide-angle beam continuous scanning and beamforming, etc.

[0043] In this embodiment, taking into account the requirements of 5G base stations for multi-beam scanning performance and low cost, the number of array elements of the wide-angle multi-beam scanning array is set to 5. Compared with the traditional wide-angle scanning array using wide-beam units, the array elements of the wide-angle scanning array not only have a wide half-power lobe width, but also have a wide impedance bandwidth, thereby realizing wide-bandwidth multi-beam continuous scanning. Figure 7 and Figure 8 The bandwidth and beam scanning performance of the wide-angle multi-beam scanning array. Figure 7 For the S-parameter performance of this example, Figure 7 middle, Figure 7 (a) is a schematic diagram of the reflection coefficient of each array element port. Figure 7 (b) is a schematic diagram of port isolation between array elements. Figure 7 The -10dB impedance bandwidth of each array element covers 3.30-3.80GHz, i.e. the 5G-N78 frequency band, and the isolation between each array element port is lower than -10dB, which is suitable for array element applications in phased arrays. Figure 8 For the multi-beam scanning performance of this embodiment, compared with the traditional ordinary five-element microstrip patch array, the scanning angle of the main beam of this embodiment is expanded from [-36 degrees, +36 degrees] of the traditional solution to [-70 degrees, +70 degrees], which can achieve wide-angle multi-beam continuous scanning with a small number of array elements (low cost), and is suitable for low-cost array applications. This embodiment realizes a compact array layout, wide bandwidth and continuous large-angle multi-beam scanning and beamforming, and can be applied to 5G multi-beam base stations, Massive MIMO and phased array radar systems.

[0044] In this embodiment, the present invention is based on the electromagnetic metamaterial principle and the Huygens radiation mechanism, and uses a dielectric resonator radiator to propose a novel wide-beam radiation structure loaded with electromagnetic metamaterials, which has the advantages of compact size, wide impedance bandwidth, good radiation capability, and half-power lobe width. The present invention is based on a wide-angle multi-beam scanning array loaded with electromagnetic metamaterials, which has the advantages of low profile (simple structure), wide bandwidth, low cost, large beam scanning angle, stable beam, and high degree of design freedom. It can meet the application requirements of 5G base stations / MIMO and phased arrays, and realizes the miniaturization, wide bandwidth, and wide lobe width radiation of the antenna. It is suitable for the needs of 5G communication and Internet of Things systems for miniaturization-wide bandwidth-wide beam antennas, including but not limited to 5G base stations, Massive MIMO, and radar phased arrays.

[0045] In this embodiment, the array antenna of the present invention uses a wide-beam antenna loaded with electromagnetic metamaterials as an array element. Since the wide-beam antenna still has a good pattern factor at a large angle, it can achieve a wide working bandwidth while performing wide-angle continuous multi-beam scanning, meeting the application requirements of 5G multi-beam base stations and smart antenna systems. In the antenna design, the present invention proposes a new electromagnetic metamaterial-loaded radiation structure, which has miniaturization, broadband and wide-beam radiation characteristics, and can be used in various array designs, and can also be migrated to other miniaturized antennas, wide coverage antennas and reconfigurable pattern antenna designs.

[0046] The present invention proposes two embodiments, namely a wide-beam antenna and a wide-angle scanning array, both of which can flexibly adjust the frequency, polarization form, quantity and antenna material changes according to different application scenarios, so as to meet the application requirements of different sub6GHz communication systems, where sub 6GHz refers to the wireless communication frequency band division below 6GHz.

[0047] The array antenna in the embodiment of the present invention is a verification embodiment for communication base stations and phased array applications, including but not limited to the number of arrays (greater than or equal to two array elements), array forms (linear arrays, circular arrays, planar arrays, and sparse / sparse arrays), and array control forms (T / R amplitude and phase control and digital phased array control).

Claims

1. A wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading, characterized in that: It includes a 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structure (1), a dielectric resonator structure (2), a mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate (3), a mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail (4), a coupled feeding gap (5), a coupled feeding microstrip line (6), an air hole on the dielectric resonator (7), and a metal floor (8); In the 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structure (1), each 1×4 mushroom metamaterial unit comprises a mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate (3) and a mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail (4), wherein the mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate (3) is attached to the upper surface of the dielectric resonator structure (2), the mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail (4) penetrates the dielectric resonator structure (2), the upper end of the mushroom metamaterial metal short-circuit nail (4) is short-circuited with the mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate (3), and the mushroom metamaterial metal The lower end of the short-circuit nail (4) is short-circuited with the metal floor (8), two groups of the 1×4 mushroom metamaterial structures (1) are loaded on both sides of the dielectric resonator structure (2), the dielectric resonator structure (2) is fixed on the upper surface of the metal floor (8), the coupling feed slot (5) is etched on the upper surface of the metal floor (8), the coupling feed microstrip line (6) is printed on the lower surface of the metal floor (8), and passes through the coupling feed slot (5) on the lower surface of the metal floor (8) to form a coupling feed excitation with the coupling feed slot (5), and the air hole (7) on the dielectric resonator is located in the middle of the dielectric resonator structure (2).

2. The wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading according to claim 1, characterized in that: The mushroom metamaterial metal surface structure plate (3) is a thin layer metal sheet structure.

3. The wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading according to claim 1, characterized in that: The dielectric resonator structure (2) is a cylindrical or hemispherical material with a high dielectric constant and low loss.

4. The wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading according to claim 1, characterized in that: The coupling feed slot (5) is a long slot-shaped structure and is etched on the upper surface of the metal floor (8).

5. A wide beam antenna array based on metamaterial loading, characterized in that: The wide beam antenna array based on metamaterial loading comprises the wide beam antenna based on metamaterial loading as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, a metal support plate (9) and an array element (10); The metal support plate (9) is attached to the upper surface of the metal floor (8) and is in electrical contact with the metal floor (8) to achieve electrical connection. The array elements (10) are arranged in a straight line on the metal floor (8).

6. The wide beam antenna array based on metamaterial loading according to claim 5, characterized in that: The array elements (10) are arranged in a straight line to form a phased array, and the array element spacing of the array elements (10) can be set to an equal spacing of half a wavelength, or can be set to an unequal spacing of sub-half a wavelength width.

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