Antenna, information processing device, and composite antenna device

Abstract

Antenna, information processing device and composite antenna device. The present invention provides an antenna having an excellent axial ratio and corresponding to multiple frequency bands. The antenna of the present invention comprises: a dielectric having a patch electrode; and a circuit substrate having a feeding portion. Four electrode-side feeding terminals (p11 to p14) are formed on the patch electrode. Four substrate-side feeding terminals conductively connected to the four electrode-side feeding terminals (p11 to p14) are formed in the feeding circuit. The electrode-side feeding terminals (p11 to p14) are supplied with received signals (power) of equal amplitude and each phase shifted by 90 degrees.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an antenna, an information processing device, and a composite antenna device that can be mounted on a mobile object such as a vehicle, a robot, or a drone. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, the development of automatic driving of vehicles such as ADAS (Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems) has been progressing rapidly. The requirements for such automatic driving are as follows: the current position information of the vehicle is obtained as quickly and accurately as possible using the received signal received by the antenna of the satellite positioning system installed on the vehicle. A simple method to improve the accuracy of obtaining position information is as follows: multi-frequency signals from multiple artificial satellites are received by antennas corresponding to each frequency and position information is calculated based on each received signal. However, in the case of a vehicle-mounted antenna device, in addition to the various antennas that receive multi-frequency signals, an antenna unit that can also correspond to other different frequency bands such as AM / FM bands is also installed. Therefore, if the various antennas that receive multi-frequency signals are arranged in the same housing, the device itself becomes larger and becomes unsuitable for vehicle-mounted use.

[0003] Regarding such a problem, the applicant of this case proposed the following antenna with slits in Patent Document 1, which forms two pairs of slits on a patch electrode composed of a square conductor, and the antenna is provided with two feeding points. Each slit has the same shape and size, and two pairs are arranged in a point-symmetrical manner relative to the center point of the square conductor. The two feeding points are set at a position slightly eccentric to the outside from the center of the square conductor, and the two feeding points are fed to efficiently receive circularly polarized waves.

[0004] The antenna with a slot described in Patent Document 1 can perform not only the antenna operation according to the outer circumference size of the square conductor, but also the slot antenna operation according to the slot size, and can receive multi-frequency signals sent from multiple artificial satellites by one antenna. In addition, by forming the slot into a meandering shape, the freedom of setting the antenna operation and the receiving band of the slot antenna operation can be increased, and it is easy to correspond to the required receiving band. Moreover, the reception of circularly polarized waves becomes effective by two-point feeding, and the axial ratio (Axial Ratio) can be improved in a wide frequency band.

[0005] Prior art literature

[0006] Patent Literature

[0007] Patent Document 1: WO2018 / 164018 Summary of the invention

[0008] A moving body such as a vehicle usually has its posture constantly changing in three dimensions while moving. In addition, in order to respond to the demand for improved accuracy of position information in automatic driving of vehicles such as ADAS, the antenna of the satellite positioning system preferably has an excellent axis ratio within the wide bandwidth of the signal from the artificial satellite and a good axis ratio within a large elevation angle. Moreover, for moving bodies other than vehicles, such as drones, the accuracy of their position information is also required to be improved. That is, for moving bodies under unmanned control, such as automatic driving of vehicles and small unmanned aerial vehicles such as drones, an improvement in position accuracy above the current level is also required.

[0009] A main object of the present invention is to contribute to further improvement of the position accuracy of a moving object derived based on a reception signal of an antenna, for example.

[0010] An antenna according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises: a dielectric body; and a patch electrode and a circuit substrate provided on the dielectric body, wherein the patch electrode has four feeding terminals, and the circuit substrate is provided with: a substrate-side feeding terminal which is electrically connected one-to-one with the four feeding terminals respectively; a phase loop which phase-shifts a signal output from the substrate-side feeding terminal; a mixing loop which mixes the signal after the phase shift by the phase loop; and an amplification loop which amplifies the signal mixed by the mixing loop.

[0011] An information processing device in another embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a moving body, and the information processing device comprises: a patch electrode having at least four feeding terminals; an antenna having a circuit substrate, the circuit substrate having: substrate-side feeding terminals that are electrically connected one-to-one to the four feeding terminals; a phase loop that phase-shifts signals output from the substrate-side feeding terminals; a mixing loop that mixes the signals after the phase shift by the phase loop; and an amplification loop that amplifies the signals mixed by the mixing loop; and a position information processing loop that calculates the position information of the moving body based on the signal output from the antenna.

[0012] Another embodiment of the composite antenna device of the present invention comprises: a first antenna of a satellite positioning system, which comprises: a patch electrode having four feeding terminals; and a circuit substrate for performing signal processing on a received signal from the patch electrode; a second antenna for receiving a signal having a frequency band different from that of the first antenna; an antenna base for mounting the first antenna and the second antenna; and an antenna housing for accommodating the first antenna and the second antenna together with the antenna base.

[0013] Effects of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, compared with single-point feeding or dual-point feeding, the axial ratio can be improved within a large elevation angle and a wide frequency, which helps to further improve the position accuracy of the moving body. In addition, since it is an antenna corresponding to multiple frequencies, there is no need to set up multiple antennas corresponding to each frequency, which can help save space. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] Figure 1 It is an exploded assembly diagram of the antenna of this embodiment.

[0016] Figure 2 It is a diagram showing a patch electrode included in the antenna of this embodiment.

[0017] Figure 3 This is a perspective view showing a state where a power feeding unit is mounted on a circuit board.

[0018] Figure 4 It is a diagram showing a conductor pattern of a power feeding unit.

[0019] Figure 5 This is a diagram showing the feeding circuit using an equivalent circuit.

[0020] Figure 6 is a block diagram of the feeder and receiver.

[0021] Fig. 7A FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a dual-feed patch electrode serving as a reference example.

[0022] Figure 7B FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a four-feed patch electrode as a reference example.

[0023] Figure 8 FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a dual-feed patch electrode with a slot serving as a reference example.

[0024] Fig. 9 It is a block diagram of a feeding circuit corresponding to a dual-fed patch electrode with slits.

[0025] Fig. 10A This is the gain versus frequency characteristic diagram of the right-hand circularly polarized wave at the zenith (0 degrees) in the case of dual feeding.

[0026] Fig. 10B This is the gain versus frequency characteristic diagram of the right-hand circularly polarized wave at the zenith (0 degrees) in the case of four feeds.

[0027] Fig.11A This is the gain versus frequency characteristic diagram of the right-hand circularly polarized wave at the zenith (0 degrees) in the case of double feeding and double resonance.

[0028] Fig. 11B This is the gain versus frequency characteristic diagram of the right-handed circularly polarized wave at the zenith (0 degrees) in the case of four-feed double resonance.

[0029] Fig. 12A This is the axis ratio versus frequency characteristic diagram of the dual feed zenith (0 degrees).

[0030] Fig. 12B This is the axis ratio versus frequency characteristic diagram of the zenith (0 degrees) of the four-feed.

[0031] Fig.13A It is the axis ratio frequency characteristic diagram of double-fed double resonance.

[0032] Fig. 13B This is the axis comparison frequency characteristic diagram of the four-fed double resonance.

[0033] Fig.14A It is the axis ratio versus elevation angle characteristic diagram of dual feed.

[0034] Fig. 14B It is the axis ratio versus elevation angle characteristic diagram of four feeds.

[0035] Fig.15A It is the axis ratio versus elevation angle characteristic diagram of the double-fed double-resonance.

[0036] Fig. 15B It is the axis ratio versus elevation angle characteristic diagram of the four-fed double resonance.

[0037] Fig.16A It is the directional characteristic diagram of dual feed.

[0038] Fig. 16B It is the directional characteristic diagram of four feeds.

[0039] Fig.17A It is the directional characteristic diagram of double-fed double resonance.

[0040] Fig. 17B This is the directional characteristic diagram of the four-fed double resonance.

[0041] Fig.18A This is a graph showing changes in NF characteristics due to differences in the insertion position of the LNA.

[0042] Fig.18B This is a graph showing changes in NF characteristics due to differences in the insertion position of the LNA.

[0043] Fig.18C This is a graph showing changes in NF characteristics due to differences in the insertion position of the LNA.

[0044] Fig.19 This is a block diagram showing a modified example of the feeding circuit.

[0045] Fig. 20 This is a block diagram showing another modified example of the feeding circuit.

[0046] Fig.21 This is a block diagram showing another modified example of the feeding circuit.

[0047] Fig. 22 This is an exploded view of a composite antenna device that is equipped with antennas for other frequency bands in addition to the antenna for the satellite positioning system.

[0048] Fig.23 This is a diagram that visualizes the state of position information calculated when a vehicle equipped with a dual-feed dual-resonance type antenna travels on a normal road in a first area where an elevated road exists in the zenith direction.

[0049] Fig.24 This is a diagram visualizing the state of position information calculated when a vehicle equipped with a quad-feed dual-resonance type antenna travels on a normal road in a first area where an elevated road exists in the zenith direction.

[0050] Fig.25 This is a diagram that visualizes the state of position information calculated when a vehicle equipped with a dual-feed dual-resonance type antenna travels on a normal road in a second area where an elevated road exists in the zenith direction.

[0051] Fig.26 This is a diagram that visualizes the state of position information calculated when a vehicle equipped with a quad-feed dual-resonance type antenna travels on a normal road in a second area where an elevated road exists in the zenith direction. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] Hereinafter, the present invention is applied to an antenna (hereinafter referred to as the antenna) of a dual-band satellite positioning system capable of simultaneously receiving the L1 band (1560MHz to 1605MHz) of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) and the L5 band (1150MHz to 1210MHz) of GNSS, or the L1 band of GNSS and the L2 band (1197MHz to 1260MHz) of GNSS as an example, and its implementation method is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in the present embodiment, for the convenience of description, the orthogonal stereo axes of the X-axis, Y-axis and Z-axis are recorded in the accompanying drawings. The X-axis represents the length direction of the antenna, the Y-axis represents the width direction of the antenna, and the Z-axis represents the zenith (vertically above) direction of the antenna. In addition, the +Z axis direction is sometimes referred to as "up", "above", "zenith" or "zenith direction", and observing the antenna from above is described as "looking down", and observing the antenna from the Y-axis is described as "looking from the side".

[0053] Figure 1 A component structure example of the antenna according to this embodiment is shown. Figure 1 This is the exploded assembly diagram of antenna 1. Figure 1The antenna 1 is configured such that a GNSS substrate assembly 12 sealed air-tightly and liquid-tightly by a gasket 11 as a buffer is housed in an antenna case 10 .

[0054] The antenna housing 10 is a radio wave transparent housing composed of a top cover 10a and a bottom cover 10b. The top cover 10a has a side with several arcs and a square opening, and the upper bottom is a hard resin box with a bottom cylindrical shape of a roughly square, such as a plastic box, and the four corners of the opening are evenly cut. In addition, screw holes corresponding to the screws 101 are screwed in the inner end of each corner. The bottom cover 10b is a roughly square annular body, and protrusions 111 are formed at the four corners. The protrusions 111 are used to position the bottom cover 10b and the top cover 10a, and holes for the screws 101 to pass through are formed.

[0055] The protrusion 111 is formed in a shape and size that seals the four corners of the top cover 10a when the top cover 10a is covered on the bottom cover 10b. Ribs 112 for supporting the GNSS board assembly 12 are formed on the inner sides of the four sides between the corners of the bottom cover 10b, and a cable guide 113 having a depression is formed on one side. The depression of the cable guide 113 is formed with a diameter less than the outer diameter of the feed cable 124 described later. That is, it is formed in a manner that the feed cable 124 can be pushed in and held.

[0056] The GNSS substrate assembly 12 is composed of: a circuit substrate 121 composed of a thin insulating plate having a front and a back surface; a dielectric 122 arranged almost in the center of the surface of the circuit substrate 121; a patch electrode 123 installed on the surface of the dielectric 122; a feed cable 124; and a gasket 11 composed of a soft insulator such as rubber or silicon.

[0057] A feeding section including four substrate-side feeding terminals is formed on the back side of the circuit substrate 121. The feeding section will be described in detail later. One end of the feeding cable 124 is conductively connected to the output section of the feeding section, and the other end is supported by the cable guide 113 of the bottom cover 10b and exposed to the outside of the antenna housing 10. In addition, one end of the feeding cable 124 is kept airtight and liquid-tight by the gasket 11. In addition, the GNSS substrate assembly 12 is not limited to this shape. The four corners of the mounting belt 13 for allowing the screw 101 to pass through the hole of the protrusion 111 of the bottom cover 10b are cut inwardly into an arc shape and installed on the back side of the bottom cover 10b.

[0058] The patch electrode 123 is a square metal plate that is substantially parallel to a ground conductor (eg, a roof of a vehicle), and is fixed to a position slightly inward from the outer periphery of the surface of the dielectric body 122 . Figure 2 FIG. 1 shows a structural example of the patch electrode 123. Figure 2In the example, on the patch electrode 123, four electrode-side feeding terminals p11, p12, p13, and p14 are formed at positions equidistant from its center point, equally spaced, and point-symmetrically corresponding to the four substrate-side feeding terminals of the circuit substrate 121.

[0059] The distance between the center point of the patch electrode 123 and the positions of the electrode-side power feeding terminals p11 , p12 , p13 , and p14 is set to a distance that can achieve impedance matching of the patch electrode 123 (eg, 50 ohms) within the frequency band used.

[0060] On the patch electrode 123, four slits SL1, SL2, SL3, and SL4 are formed along each side of the square on the inner side of the outer periphery and on the outer side relative to each electrode-side feeding terminal p11, p12, p13, and p14. The "slit" is a portion cut out of the metal plate. Each slit SL1, SL2, SL3, and SL4 is located at a position that is line-symmetrical with respect to the symmetry axis passing through the center point of the patch electrode 123 and at a position that is point-symmetrical with respect to the center point.

[0061] In addition, meandering (zigzag) portions SL1m, SL2m, SL3m, SL4m are formed approximately in the middle of the straight line portions parallel to the sides of the four slits SL1, SL2, SL3, SL4. Electrode-side power feeding terminals p11, p12, p13, p14 are formed approximately in the middle of the nearest meandering (zigzag) portions SL1m, SL2m, SL3m, SL4m.

[0062] The purpose of forming the meandering portions SL1m, SL2m, SL3m, and SL4m is to increase the electrical length and reduce the transmission and reception frequency compared to the case where these meandering portions are not present. Therefore, the dimensions of the meandering portions SL1m, SL2m, SL3m, and SL4m can be appropriately adjusted before or after manufacturing, thereby making it possible to fine-tune the possible transmission and reception frequency, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in design and being able to appropriately correspond to the required transmission and reception band.

[0063] A characteristic point of the antenna 1 of the present embodiment is that there is a patch electrode 123, which is formed with four slits SL1, SL2, SL3, and SL4 that match the resonance condition of the desired frequency, and there are four electrode side feeding terminals p11, p12, p13, and p14 at positions equidistant from the center point of the patch electrode 123, and the feeding phase (phase during feeding, the same below) of each electrode side feeding terminal p11, p12, p13, and p14 is different from the feeding phase of the other adjacent electrode side feeding terminals p11, p12, p13, and p14 by 90 degrees.

[0064] Therefore, the patch electrode 123 performs antenna operation for transmitting and receiving radio waves whose frequencies satisfy the resonance condition caused by the length of one side of the square and the dielectric constant of the dielectric body 122, and slot operation for transmitting and receiving radio waves whose frequencies satisfy the resonance condition taking into account the electrical lengths of the slots SL1, SL2, SL3, SL4, and the meandering portions SL1m, SL2m, SL3m, and SL4m. That is, a "double resonance" operation is performed.

[0065] In antenna operation, the frequency that satisfies the resonance condition is the frequency at which the electrical length defined by the length of one side of the patch electrode 123 and the dielectric constant of the dielectric 122 becomes approximately 1 / 2 wavelength (or its integral multiple). In slot operation, the frequency that satisfies the resonance condition is the frequency at which the electrical length defined by the total length of the meander portions SL1m, SL2m, SL3m, SL4m and the slots SL1, SL2, SL3, SL4 and the dielectric constant of the dielectric 122 becomes approximately 1 / 2 wavelength (or its integral multiple).

[0066] The total length of the meander portions SL1m, SL2m, SL3m, SL4m and the slits SL1, SL2, SL3, SL4 is, for example, the length of the edge from one end to the other end of the slit and the length of the edge from one end to the other end of the meander portion.

[0067] Since four-point feeding is performed while shifting the phase by 90 degrees between adjacent electrode-side feeding terminals at equal amplitudes in line-symmetry and point-symmetry positions, the radio waves received by the patch electrodes are circularly polarized waves. If the phase shift is right-handed, it becomes a right-handed circularly polarized wave, and if it is left-handed, it becomes a left-handed circularly polarized wave.

[0068] That is, according to the present embodiment, it is easy to receive circularly polarized waves of dual bands (for example, L1 band and L5 band or L1 band and L2 band) of GNSS using one antenna 1 .

[0069] In addition, in the present embodiment, it is described that slits forming a winding portion are provided along each side of the square of the patch electrode, but the slits may be of any shape (for example, a shape without a winding portion) and may be located at any position (for example, at each corner along the square of the patch electrode) as long as they are located in a position that is line-symmetrical with respect to the axis of symmetry passing through the center point of the patch electrode 123 and in a position that is point-symmetrical with respect to the center point.

[0070] Next, the power feeding unit 20 provided on the circuit board 121 will be described.

[0071] Figure 3 1 is a perspective view showing that the power feeding unit 20 is provided on the back side of the circuit board 121. Figure 3Although the details are omitted, the feed section 20 is composed of a distributed constant line (conductor pattern group) and a concentrated constant circuit including a passive element printed on the back side of the circuit substrate 121. The feed section 20 is composed of a feed circuit 20a and an LNA (low noise amplifier), and the feed circuit 20a is composed of four substrate-side feed terminals, four matching circuits, six phase shifters, and two mixers described later.

[0072] In addition, the entire feed circuit 20a may be composed of distributed constant lines.

[0073] Figure 4 denoted a conductor pattern of the power feeding section 20 . Figure 5 It is represented by the equivalent circuit Figure 4 FIG. 2 is a diagram of a feeding circuit 20a in the feeding unit 20 shown in FIG. Figure 6 Yes means Figure 4 FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a feeder 20 and a receiver 271 connected thereto. For convenience, corresponding components are marked with the same reference numerals. Figure 4 , 5 , 6 will now describe the configuration of the power feeding unit 20 in this embodiment.

[0074] In the feeding section 20, four substrate-side feeding terminals p21, p22, p23, and p24 are formed at the same positions as the four electrode-side feeding terminals p11, p12, p13, and p14 formed on the patch electrode 123 when viewed from above in the feeding circuit 20. The closest electrode-side feeding terminal p11 and substrate-side feeding terminal p21, the electrode-side feeding terminal p12 and substrate-side feeding terminal p22, the electrode-side feeding terminal p13 and substrate-side feeding terminal p23, and the electrode-side feeding terminal p14 and substrate-side feeding terminal p24 are directly conductively connected through conductive pins or the like.

[0075] The four substrate-side feeding terminals p21, p22, p23, and p24 are connected to matching circuits 211, 212, 213, and 214 in a one-to-one manner in each corresponding line. The matching circuits 211, 212, 213, and 214 are circuits for impedance matching between the patch electrode 123 and the feeding unit 20. The four circuits are composed of a concentrated constant circuit, and all of them are conductor patterns of the same shape and area and configuration relationship. A phase shifter 221 that performs a phase shift of +45 degrees is connected to the matching circuit 211, a phase shifter 222 that performs a phase shift of -45 degrees is connected to the matching circuit 212, a phase shifter 223 that performs a phase shift of +45 degrees is connected to the matching circuit 213, and a phase shifter 224 that performs a phase shift of -45 degrees is connected to the matching circuit 214. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the configuration using the matching circuits 211 , 212 , 213 , and 214 has been described, but the present invention can be implemented even without these matching circuits.

[0076] The matching circuits 211, 212, 213, and 214 respectively perform impedance matching with respect to the received signal (power) divided into four equal parts by the patch electrode 123, and output to the phase shifters 221, 222, 223, and 224 at the subsequent stage. The phase shifter 221 performs a phase shift of +45 degrees with respect to the received signal (power) output from the matching circuit 211, and outputs to the mixer 231 at the subsequent stage. Similarly, the phase shifter 222 performs a phase shift of -45 degrees with respect to the received signal (power) output from the matching circuit 212, and outputs to the mixer 231 at the subsequent stage. The phase shifter 223 performs a phase shift of +45 degrees with respect to the received signal (power) output from the matching circuit 213, and outputs to the mixer 232 at the subsequent stage. The phase shifter 224 performs a phase shift of -45 degrees with respect to the received signal (power) output from the matching circuit 214, and outputs to the mixer 232 at the subsequent stage.

[0077] like Figure 5 As shown, each phase shifter 221, 222, 223, 224 is a π-type loop in this example, and its cutoff frequency (cutoff frequency) is an arbitrary frequency of the GNSS frequency band, but in this example, it is set to a frequency near the frequency band boundary of the GNSS frequency band. The phase shifters 221, 222, 223, 224 can use any high-pass or low-pass filter or a T-type loop. In addition, the phase shifters 221, 222, 223, 224 in this embodiment are equivalent to the first phase loop.

[0078] The mixer 231 receives two reception signals (power) output from the phase shifters 221 and 222 and combines them into one. In addition, the mixer 232 receives two reception signals (power) output from the phase shifters 223 and 224 and combines them into one. Figure 5As shown in FIG. 1 , the loop is composed of two π-type loops and a resistor. The π-type loops are connected in parallel with each other, and a resistor is connected between the input terminals of the π-type loops. The cutoff frequency (cutoff frequency) of the π-type loop is any frequency in the GNSS frequency band, but in this example, it is set to a frequency near the frequency band boundary of the GNSS frequency band domain. The π-type loop can use any high-pass or low-pass filter or a T-type loop. In addition, the mixers 231 and 232 of this embodiment are equivalent to the first mixing loop.

[0079] The output of the mixer 231 is input to the phase shifter 241. In addition, the output of the mixer 232 is input to the phase shifter 242. The phase shifter 241 performs a phase shift of +90 degrees on the input reception signal (power) and outputs it to the mixer 251 at the subsequent stage. The phase shifter 242 performs a phase shift of -90 degrees on the input reception signal (power) and outputs it to the mixer 251 at the subsequent stage. The mixer 251 inputs the reception signals (power) output from the phase shifter 241 and the phase shifter 242, synthesizes these reception signals (power) and outputs them to the LNA 261. The LNA 261 amplifies the synthesized reception signal (power) at a predetermined amplification rate and outputs it to the receiver 271 at the subsequent stage. The mixers 231, 232, and 251 are, for example, Wilkinson power dividers. In addition, the phase shifters 241 and 242 of the present embodiment correspond to the second phase loop, and the mixer 251 corresponds to the second mixing loop.

[0080] Next, the receiver 271 is described. The receiver 271 has a position information processing circuit that extracts a digital signal from the received signal (power) output from the feeder 20 and calculates the current position of the moving body in real time based on the extracted digital signal. A position calculation algorithm is incorporated into the position information processing circuit, and time information and current position information are output. Although the receiver 271 can also be provided on the circuit substrate 121, it can also be provided on another circuit substrate outside the antenna housing 10. In addition, the antenna 1 and the receiver 271 having the position information processing circuit constitute an information processing device that calculates the position information of a moving body such as a vehicle on which the antenna 1 is installed.

[0081] [Antenna characteristics]

[0082] The antenna characteristics of the antenna 1 of the present embodiment constructed as described above are described below. The analysis of the antenna characteristics is simulated using a simulator and a ground conductor with a diameter of 15 cm. Fig. 7A The double-fed reference electrode 323 without slits shown in FIG. Figure 7B The reference example electrode 423 of the four-feed without slits shown Figure 8 A reference example dual-fed antenna with slot electrodes 523 is shown.

[0083] The reference example electrodes 323, 423, 523 have the following Figure 2 The patch electrode 523 has the same material, shape, and outer peripheral dimensions as the patch electrode of the present embodiment shown in FIG. Figure 2 The same as the patch electrode 123 shown. The reference electrode 323, 523 of the dual feed is the same as Fig. 9 The double-feed feeding loop 30 shown is connected, and the reference electrode 423 of the quad-feed is connected to Figure 4 , 5 , the feeding circuit 20a shown in 6 is conductively connected.

[0084] Fig. 9 The feed circuit 30 in FIG. 1 performs impedance matching on the received signal (power) distributed by the antennas 2 by the matching circuits 311 and 312, and then outputs the received signal to the phase shifters 321 and 322. The phase shifters 321 and 322 shift the phases of the received signals (power) from the matching circuits 311 and 312 by 45 degrees in opposite directions, and the mixer 331 combines the received signals (power) at different points. Figure 3 , 4 , 5, and 6. For the sake of comparison, the antenna with the reference example electrode 323 is sometimes referred to as "dual feed", the antenna with the reference example electrode 423 is sometimes referred to as "quad feed", the antenna with the reference example electrode 523 is sometimes referred to as "dual feed dual resonance", and the antenna 1 with the patch electrode 123 of this embodiment is sometimes referred to as "quad feed dual resonance".

[0085] Fig. 10A This is the characteristic diagram of the right-hand circularly polarized wave gain versus frequency at the zenith (0 degrees) in the dual feed. Fig. 10B This is a characteristic diagram of the right-hand circularly polarized wave gain versus frequency at the zenith (0 degrees) in the quad-feed, with the vertical axis being the gain (dBic) and the horizontal axis being the frequency band (GHz). "Zenith (0 degrees)" refers to the direction of the Z axis. In the case of quad-feed, compared to dual-feed, the size of the patch electrode and the height of the conductor from the ground are the same, while the gain becomes higher in the entire area of ​​the GNSS band, and the difference between the maximum gain and the minimum gain in the GNSS band becomes smaller. In other words, it can be seen that broadbandization can be achieved through quad-feed.

[0086] Fig.11A This is the characteristic diagram of the right-hand circularly polarized wave gain versus frequency at the zenith (0 degrees) of the double-fed double resonance. Fig. 11B This is the characteristic diagram of the right-hand circularly polarized wave gain versus frequency at the zenith (0 degrees) of the four-feed double resonance. The vertical and horizontal axes are Fig. 10A as well as Fig. 10BThe same. Under the influence of the slits SL1, SL2, SL3, and SL4, the practical-level gain is obtained in the L1 band of GNSS (1560MHz to 1605MHz), the L5 band of GNSS (1150MHz to 1210MHz), and the L2 band of GNSS (1197MHz to 1260MHz), but in the case of quad-feed dual resonance as in this embodiment, the gain decreases slowly near each band. That is, it can be seen that in the case of dual resonance, broadbandization can also be achieved through quad-feed.

[0087] Fig. 12A This is the axis ratio frequency characteristic diagram of the dual feed zenith (0 degrees), Fig. 12B This is the axial ratio vs. frequency characteristic diagram of the zenith (0 degrees) of the quad-feed, with the vertical axis representing the axial ratio (dB) and the horizontal axis representing the frequency band (GHz). It can be seen that although the axial ratio (dB) near the L1 band and some other frequencies is reduced in the case of dual-feed, in the case of quad-feed, the axial ratio is significantly improved not only in the GNSS band of the L5 band, but also in the entire frequency band domain.

[0088] Fig.13A This is the axis-to-frequency characteristic diagram of the double-fed double-resonance. Fig. 13B This is the axis comparison frequency characteristic diagram of the four-feed double resonance, the vertical axis and the horizontal axis are Fig. 12A as well as Fig. 12B In the case of dual-feed dual resonance, the slits SL1, SL2, SL3, and SL4 have a very large influence, resulting in the axial ratio being greater than 1 (dB) in all frequency bands of GNSS L1 band, GNSS L5 band, and GNSS L2 band. However, in the case of quad-feed dual resonance, the same axial ratio can be obtained. Fig. 12B In other words, it can be seen that the slits SL1, SL2, SL3, and SL4 have almost no influence on the slits SL1, SL2, SL3, and SL4.

[0089] Fig.14A is the axis ratio versus elevation angle characteristic diagram of dual feed, Fig. 14B This is a graph of the axial ratio versus elevation angle of a quad-feed system. The vertical axis represents the axial ratio (dB) and the horizontal axis represents the elevation angle (the angle from the zenith 0 degrees toward the horizontal plane). The frequencies selected were 1.55 GHz and 1.61 GHz. The L1 band of GNSS was considered. In the case of dual feeding, the axial ratio (dB) did not improve at any elevation angle at 1.61 GHz. At 1.55 GHz, the axial ratio became less than 1 dB at an elevation angle of approximately 30 degrees, but was still above 0.7 dB at approximately 45 degrees. In contrast, in the case of quad feeding, the axial ratio was almost 0 dB until an elevation angle of approximately 15 degrees, and exceeded 1 dB from approximately 40 degrees. That is, it can be seen that the axial ratio can be improved by quad feeding.

[0090] Fig.15A This is the axis ratio versus elevation angle characteristic diagram of the double-fed double resonance. Fig. 15B This is the axis ratio versus elevation angle characteristic diagram of the quad-feed double resonance. Fig.14A as well as Fig. 14B The same. In addition to 1.55GHz and 1.61GHz, 1.16GHz and 1.21GHz were also selected. In addition to the GNSS L5 band, these frequencies also consider the GNSS L1 band and GNSS L2 band.

[0091] In the case of dual-feed dual resonance, the axial ratio does not become less than 1dB at any elevation angle. In particular, in 1.21GHz, even if the elevation angle is 0 degrees, the axial ratio still exceeds 4dB. In addition, in 1.61GHz, when the elevation angle is 0 degrees, the axial ratio is about 2dB, and the axial ratio becomes larger as the elevation angle increases. Therefore, in the case of dual-feed dual resonance, it is difficult to obtain correct position information from the received signal in the L2 frequency band of GNSS and the L1 frequency band of GNSS. In contrast, in the case of quad-feed dual resonance, the axial ratio is near 0dB at any frequency when the elevation angle is 0 degrees. In particular, in 1.16GHz, even if the elevation angle exceeds 45 degrees, the axial ratio is about 0.6, which shows that the axial ratio has been significantly improved.

[0092] Fig.16A is the directional characteristic diagram in the vertical plane relative to the right-handed circularly polarized wave in the dual-feed, Fig. 16B is the directional characteristic diagram in the vertical plane relative to the right-handed circularly polarized wave in the four-feed. Fig.16A as well as Fig. 16B In the figure, the Z axis, which is perpendicular to the ground conductor and passes through the center of the patch electrodes 323 and 423, is the zenith (0 degrees), that is, directly above the patch electrodes 323 and 423. The direction of 90 degrees right-handed is the Y axis, and 270 degrees right-handed (90 degrees left-handed) is the X axis. Concentric circles represent gain (dBic). The frequencies selected are 1.55 GHz and 1.61 GHz.

[0093] It can be seen that in the case of dual feeding, there is a deviation in the directivity characteristics depending on the frequency, but in the case of quad feeding, the directivity is oriented toward the zenith direction regardless of the frequency.

[0094] Fig.17A is the directional characteristic diagram of the double-fed double resonance. Fig. 17B This is the directional characteristic diagram of the four-fed double resonance. The content of the diagram is similar to Fig.16A as well as Fig. 16BThe frequencies are 1.55 GHz, 1.61 GHz, 1.16 GHz, and 1.21 GHz. It can be seen that the phenomenon of deviation in directivity according to frequency is the same in the case of dual-feed dual resonance and quad-feed dual resonance, but in the case of quad-feed dual resonance, the degree of deviation is reduced.

[0095] The above description shows the characteristics when the LNA 261 is not arranged at the rear stage of the feeding loop 20a, but even when the LNA 261 is arranged at the rear stage of the feeding loop 20a, only the gain is changed by the LNA 261, and the characteristics themselves are not changed. In addition, the LNA 261 may cause the top loss of the antenna 1, that is, the power passing loss from the patch electrode 123 to the first stage amplifier (LNA 261 in this example) changes depending on the arrangement position of the LNA 261.

[0096] Figures 18A to 18C This is a graph for comparing the noise index characteristics within the GNSS frequency band. Fig.18A This is a characteristic example of a situation caused by the configuration of this embodiment. The configuration example of this situation is called a current example. Fig.18B This is a characteristic example in which two LNAs 261 are arranged in the preceding stage of the first-stage mixers 231 and 232. Such an arrangement is referred to as a first modification. Fig.18C This is a characteristic example when LNA 261 is configured in the front stage of the second stage mixer 251. Such a configuration example is called Modification 2. In these graphs, the vertical axis is the noise index (nf) and the horizontal axis is the GNSS frequency (GHz). Regarding the measurement points, m13 is 1.615 GHz, m14 is 1.560 GHz, m15 is 1.215 GHz, and m16 is 1.165 GHz.

[0097] If we refer to these figures, Fig.18A In the present example, the noise index is 1.220 at the measuring point m13, 1.170 at the measuring point m14, 0.978 at the measuring point m15, and 0.965 at the measuring point m16. Fig.18B In the first modification, the noise index is 0.843 at the measurement point m13, 0.788 at the measurement point m14, 0.737 at the measurement point m15, and 0.747 at the measurement point m16.

[0098] In addition, Fig.18C In the second modification, the noise index is 0.866 at the measurement point m13, 0.825 at the measurement point m14, 0.820 at the measurement point m15, and 0.832 at the measurement point m16.

[0099] That is, if the noise index of the present example is set to 1 at the measurement points m13 and m14 and 1.2 at the measurement points m15 and m16, then in the modification example 1, it is improved to 0.8 at the measurement points m13 and m24, and to 0.7 at the measurement points m15 and m16. In the modification example 2, it is improved to 0.9 at the measurement point m13, and to 0.8 at the measurement points m14, m25, and m26. That is, it is understood that by arranging LNA261 at a position as close as possible to the patch electrode 123, that is, in the front stage of the phase shifters 221 to 224, 241, 242 and the mixers 231, 232, and 251, the total noise index of the antenna 1 can be improved.

[0100] For the feeding circuit 20a, in addition to Figure 4 , Figure 5 , Figure 6 In addition, it can be implemented in various ways. Fig.19 It is used Figure 6 The functions of the phase shifters 221 to 224, 241, 242 and the mixers 231, 232, 251 are shown as an example of a case where the phase shifters 41 are distributed equally among four devices 41 of 90 degrees. By using the phase shifters 41 of 90 degrees distributed equally among four devices 41, the antenna 1 can be made more compact and lightweight.

[0101] Fig. 20 In place of Figure 6 The phase shifters 221 to 224 shown in the figure are provided with a phase shifter 511 that shifts the phase of the input signal by +90 degrees and outputs it, a phase shifter 512 that shifts the phase of the input signal by +180 degrees and outputs it, a phase shifter 513 that shifts the phase of the input signal by +270 degrees and outputs it, and a phase shifter 514 that shifts the phase of the input signal by +360 degrees and outputs it, and a four-equal division device 61 is provided instead of the mixers 231, 232, 251 and the phase shifters 241, 242. Since the mixers 231, 232, 251 are not used, a simple feeding circuit can be realized.

[0102] Fig.21 In place of Figure 6 The phase shifters 221 to 224 and the mixers 231 and 232 shown in the figure are provided with two 3dB couplers 71 and 72, and the phase shifters 241 and 242 and the mixer 251 are replaced with a phase shifter 81 and a 3dB coupler 91 that shift the phase of the input signal by -90 degrees. Each of the 3dB couplers 71, 72, and 91 is terminated with 50 ohms. The 3dB couplers 71, 72, and 91 may be mixers, but it is also possible to use general-purpose couplers sold on the market as independent components. By using the feed circuit configured in this way, it is possible to communicate with a Figure 6 The feeding loop 20 a shown is smaller and lighter than the antenna 1 .

[0103] The antenna 1 of the present embodiment itself can be mounted on a mobile object such as a robot or a drone, but in recent years, it can also be used in a vehicle-mounted antenna device in which antenna units of various frequency bands are mixed and mounted in one housing.

[0104] Fig. 22 This is an exploded assembly diagram of a vehicle-mounted composite antenna device equipped with the antenna 1 of this embodiment. The composite antenna device is configured such that the antenna 1 and a flat antenna 102 for other frequency bands, a fishing rod-shaped antenna 103 for digital TV broadcasting, and a three-dimensional antenna 104 for AM / FM are housed on an antenna base 10b' sealed airtightly and liquid-tightly by an antenna cover 10a'.

[0105] Antenna 1 has directivity toward the zenith, and its axial ratio in the zenith direction is improved stepwise compared with previous antennas. Therefore, even if planar antennas 102, 103, and 104 of other frequency bands are arranged close to each other, signals for calculating position information can be correctly received at least in the GNSS frequency band.

[0106] <Empirical experiment>

[0107] Description Used Figure 2 as well as Figure 6 The structure shown is a quad-fed double-resonance antenna 1 (mounted on the receiver 271), and Figure 8 as well as Fig. 9 An empirical experiment comparing the positional accuracy of a reference example antenna of a dual-fed dual-resonance (receiver 271 mounted) structure shown.

[0108] The demonstration experiment was conducted as follows. First, a display device for displaying the position information output by the receiver 271 of each antenna (antenna 1 and reference antenna) was connected to the receiver 271 and mounted on the vehicle. The position information of the vehicle when the vehicle was traveling on a road with a poor radio wave reception environment was calculated, and the calculated vehicle position information was compared with the ground. Figure 1 The display device is displayed at the same time. Furthermore, the accuracy of the vehicle's position information relative to the map is visually confirmed by the quad-fed dual-resonance antenna 1 and the dual-fed dual-resonance reference antenna. The road on which the vehicle is traveling is an ordinary road that exists directly below the elevated toll road, that is, an ordinary road where the elevated toll road exists in the zenith direction of each antenna.

[0109] Fig.23 The screen shows the vehicle's driving position 601 (a driving track composed of multiple pieces of position information calculated as the vehicle travels) obtained based on the reference antenna when the vehicle is traveling on an ordinary road in the first area. It can be confirmed that the calculated vehicle's driving position 601 is affected by the elevated toll road 601a, and is shown on the map as a position that is greatly offset to the left from the real-time ordinary road. In contrast, Fig.24This screen shows the vehicle's travel position 602 detected by antenna 1 when traveling on the same ordinary road. It can be confirmed that the vehicle's travel position 602 detected by antenna 1 is not affected by the existence of the elevated toll road and is displayed on the map at an accurate position that does not deviate from the real-time ordinary road.

[0110] Fig.25 The screen shows the vehicle's driving position 701 obtained based on the reference antenna when driving on an ordinary road in a second area different from the first area. It can be confirmed that the calculated vehicle's driving position 701 is affected by the elevated toll road 701a and is shown on the map as a position greatly offset to the left from the real-time ordinary road. In contrast, Fig.26 This is a screen showing the travel position 702 obtained by the antenna 1 when the vehicle is traveling on the same ordinary road. It can be confirmed that the travel position 702 of the vehicle detected by the antenna 1 is displayed on the map at the correct position without deviating from the real-time ordinary road.

[0111] Thus, it was verified that the antenna 1 of the present embodiment can calculate position information with higher accuracy than the first reference example dual-feed dual-resonance antenna even when traveling on roads with obstacles in the zenith direction in both the first and second areas.

[0112] <Key points of this embodiment>

[0113] From the above description of the present embodiment, for example, the following configurations and the effects obtained thereby can be derived.

[0114] (1) An antenna comprising: a dielectric body; and a patch electrode and a circuit substrate provided on the dielectric body, the patch electrode having four feeding terminals, and the circuit substrate being provided with: a substrate-side feeding terminal that is electrically connected one-to-one with each of the four feeding terminals; a phase loop that phase-shifts a signal output from the substrate-side feeding terminal; a mixing loop that mixes the signals after the phase shift by the phase loop; and an amplification loop that amplifies the signals mixed by the mixing loop.

[0115] In the antenna of this configuration, the antenna characteristics in the zenith direction are similar to those having, for example, Fig. 7A , Figure 7B The patch electrodes shown or Figure 8 Therefore, as known from the above-mentioned empirical experiments, the position accuracy of the moving object equipped with this antenna is significantly improved.

[0116] (2) In the above antenna, the circuit substrate is provided on the surface side of the dielectric body opposite to the surface side provided with the patch electrode, and each of the four feeding terminals faces a corresponding conductive portion of the substrate-side feeding terminal.

[0117] In the antenna having this configuration, each of the four feeding terminals is conductively connected to a corresponding conductive portion of the substrate-side feeding terminal at the shortest distance defined by the thickness of the dielectric body, and is therefore less susceptible to external influences.

[0118] (3) In the above antenna, four slits are formed in the patch electrode.

[0119] The antenna of this structure performs the following antenna operation and slot operation: the antenna operation is to send and receive radio waves whose frequencies satisfy the resonance conditions caused by the size of the patch electrode and the dielectric constant of the dielectric body, and the slot operation is to send and receive radio waves whose frequencies satisfy the resonance conditions that also take the electrical length of the slot into consideration. That is, it can perform "double resonance" operation.

[0120] (4) In the above antenna, the feeding phases of the four feeding terminals are different from the feeding phases of other adjacent feeding terminals by 90 degrees.

[0121] According to the antenna having this configuration, the axial ratio of the circularly polarized wave can be improved.

[0122] (5) In the above antenna, the phase circuit includes a first phase circuit and a second phase circuit, the hybrid circuit includes a first hybrid circuit and a second hybrid circuit, the first phase circuit is arranged at a rear section of the substrate-side feeding terminal, the second phase circuit is arranged at a rear section of the first phase circuit, the first hybrid circuit is arranged at a rear section of the first phase circuit and at a front section of the second phase circuit, the second hybrid circuit is arranged at a rear section of the second phase circuit, and the amplifier circuit is arranged at a rear section of the second hybrid circuit.

[0123] The first phase circuit includes, for example, two phase shifters that shift the phase of an input signal by 45 degrees in a positive direction, and two phase shifters that shift the phase of an input signal by 45 degrees in a negative direction.

[0124] In addition, the second phase loop includes, for example, a phase shifter that shifts the phase of an input signal by 90 degrees in a positive direction and a phase shifter that shifts the phase of an input signal by 90 degrees in a negative direction.

[0125] In the antenna of this configuration, a plurality of signals received at a plurality of positions and input separately are mixed after their phases are shifted by a predetermined amount, thereby making it possible to receive circularly polarized waves transmitted from a plurality of directions with high accuracy.

[0126] In one embodiment, the hybrid circuit is a Wilkinson power divider. According to such a configuration, a main part of the circuit can be realized based on a conductor pattern group printed on a substrate, and mass production of the antenna is facilitated.

[0127] (6) In the above antenna, the amplifier circuit is provided at the front section of the hybrid circuit. In addition, in the antenna, for example, the phase circuit includes a first phase circuit and a second phase circuit, the hybrid circuit includes a first hybrid circuit and a second hybrid circuit, the first phase circuit is arranged at the rear section of the substrate-side feeding terminal, the second phase circuit is arranged at the rear section of the first phase circuit, the first hybrid circuit is arranged at the rear section of the first phase circuit and at the front section of the second phase circuit, the second hybrid circuit is arranged at the rear section of the second phase circuit, and the amplifier circuit is arranged at the rear section of the second hybrid circuit.

[0128] In the antenna of this configuration, the reception signal is amplified in the preceding stage of the hybrid circuit, thereby suppressing the transmission loss and outputting a signal having an excellent signal-to-noise ratio.

[0129] (7) An information processing device mounted on a mobile body, comprising: an antenna as described above; and a position information processing circuit for calculating position information of the mobile body based on a signal output from the antenna. The information processing device with this configuration can, for example, calculate position information of an autonomously driven vehicle with high accuracy.

[0130] (8) A composite antenna device, comprising: a first antenna of a satellite positioning system, comprising: a patch electrode having four feed terminals; and a circuit substrate for performing signal processing on a received signal from the patch electrode; a second antenna for receiving a signal having a frequency band different from that of the first antenna; an antenna base for mounting the first antenna and the second antenna; and an antenna housing for housing the first antenna and the second antenna together with the antenna base. In this composite antenna device, the first antenna corresponding to multiple frequencies is housed in the same housing space together with other antennas (second antenna), thereby achieving miniaturization and space saving of the device.

[0131] (9) An antenna comprising: a dielectric body; a patch electrode provided on the dielectric body; and four feeding terminals provided on the patch electrode, wherein the feeding phase of each of the four feeding terminals is different from the feeding phase of the other adjacent feeding terminals by 90 degrees, and each of the four feeding terminals is conductively connected to a substrate-side feeding terminal provided on a circuit substrate, and the circuit substrate performs signal processing on a received signal from the patch electrode. According to the antenna, the axial ratio of the circularly polarized wave can be improved.

[0132] (10) In addition, the four slits in the patch electrode may be configured as slits of the same shape having meandering portions. In such a configuration, the frequency satisfying the resonance condition can be adjusted by the slits, thereby increasing the degree of freedom in antenna design.

[0133] In addition, if Figure 2 As shown, in the patch electrode 123, four electrode-side feeding terminals p11, p12, p13, and p14 are formed at positions that are point-symmetrical from the center point thereof, and the feeding unit 20 is provided with four feeding-side feeding terminals p21, p22, p23, and p24. Figure 6 The configurations of the matching circuits 211 , 212 , 213 , 214 , phase shifters 221 , 222 , 223 , 224 , mixers 231 , 232 , 212 , 213 , 214 , phase shifters 241 , 242 , and mixer 251 shown above can also be configured as follows.

[0134] (11) An antenna comprising: a dielectric body; and a patch electrode provided on the dielectric body, wherein four feeding terminals are provided on the patch electrode in a point-symmetrical manner with respect to the center point thereof, and wherein the circuit substrate is provided with: four substrate-side feeding terminals which are electrically connected to the four feeding terminals one-to-one; four first phase loops which phase-shift signals output from substrate-side feeding terminals closest to each other among the four substrate-side feeding terminals in such a manner that the shift directions are opposite to those of adjacent signals and the phases of the signals are shifted by the same amount; two first mixing loops which mix signals output from two adjacent first phase loops among the four first phase loops; two second phase loops which phase-shift signals output from the two first mixing loops in such a manner that the shift directions are opposite to those of adjacent signals and the phases of the signals are shifted by the same amount; and a second mixing loop which mixes output signals of the two second phase loops.

[0135] In the antenna thus configured, the four signals received by the patch electrodes fed at four points and input to the circuit board through the board-side feeding terminals are phase-shifted by the corresponding first phase loops in such a manner that the shift directions are opposite to those of the adjacent signals and the phases are shifted by the same amount, and then mixed in pairs by the first mixing loop. The two mixed signals are further phase-shifted by the second phase loops in such a manner that the shift directions are opposite to those of the adjacent signals and the phases are shifted by the same amount, and then mixed into one signal by the second mixing loop.

[0136] When the positions of the four feeding terminals in the patch electrode are positions that divide 360 ​​degrees into four equal parts starting from the center point, a phase difference of 90 degrees (90 degrees, 180 degrees, 270 degrees, 360 degrees (0 degrees)) is generated between two adjacent feeding terminals, and this phase difference directly becomes the phase difference of the four signals output from the feeding terminals and appears. On the circuit substrate side that is connected to each feeding terminal of the patch electrode, the phase difference of these four signals needs to be compensated and synthesized into one signal.

[0137] One way to compensate for the phase difference between signals is to mix the other signals by shifting their phases so that they match the phase of one signal. However, if the phase of a signal is shifted, the signal's transmission loss (power transmission loss) increases as the amount of phase shift increases.

[0138] For example, when the phase offset of one of the two signals to be the object is set to 0 degrees and the phase offset of the other signal is set to 90 degrees, and these signals are mixed, the signal with a phase offset of 0 degrees has a small attenuation of the amplitude because there is no transmission loss. However, for the signal with a phase offset of 90 degrees, the attenuation of the amplitude is significant due to the influence of the transmission loss. Therefore, the amplitude difference between the two signals becomes extremely large, and there is a concern that the antenna characteristics when these are mixed, especially the gain and the axial ratio, will be undesirable.

[0139] In the antenna of the above configuration, the phase shift direction is opposite to that of the adjacent signal so that the passing loss of the signal when the phase is shifted by the four first phase loops and the two second phase loops at the subsequent stage becomes equal in each path. Figure 6 By performing phase shifts in a manner such that the phase shifts are the same amount (45 degrees and 90 degrees in the above example), the transmission loss caused by the phase shift can be made equal in each line.

[0140] As a result, the amplitudes of the phase-shifted signals are almost equal regardless of the received frequency, which can suppress the undesirable effects on gain and axial ratio. That is, it is possible to achieve wide bandwidth, suppress deviations in directivity toward the zenith, and expand the elevation angle range with a good axial ratio.

Claims

1. An antenna, characterized in that: have: Dielectrics; and A patch electrode and a circuit substrate provided on the dielectric body, On the patch electrode, four feeding terminals are formed in a point-symmetrical manner with respect to the center point thereof. The patch electrode is provided with four slits in a manner that is line-symmetrical with respect to a symmetry axis passing through the center point thereof and point-symmetrical with respect to the center point thereof. The circuit substrate is provided with: four substrate-side feeding terminals which are electrically connected one-to-one with the four feeding terminals; four first phase loops which phase-shift signals output from the substrate-side feeding terminals closest to each other among the four substrate-side feeding terminals in such a manner that the shift directions are opposite to those of adjacent signals and the phases of each of them are the same; two first mixing loops which mix signals output from the first two adjacent first phase loops and the second two adjacent first phase loops among the four first phase loops; two second phase loops which phase-shift signals output from the two first mixing loops in such a manner that the shift directions are opposite to those of adjacent signals and the phases of each of them are the same; and a second mixing loop which mixes output signals of the two second phase loops.

2. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that The circuit substrate is provided on the surface of the dielectric body opposite to the surface on which the patch electrodes are provided. Each of the four feeding terminals faces a corresponding conductive portion of the four substrate-side feeding terminals.

3. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that The feeding phases of the four feeding terminals are different from the feeding phases of other adjacent feeding terminals by 90 degrees.

4. The antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: An amplifier circuit is also provided on the circuit substrate.

5. The antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first phase loop is arranged at the rear section of the substrate-side feeding terminal. The second phase loop is arranged at the rear stage of the first phase loop, The first hybrid circuit is arranged at the rear section of the first phase circuit and at the front section of the second phase circuit. The second hybrid circuit is arranged at the rear section of the second phase circuit. The amplification circuit is arranged at the subsequent stage of the second mixing circuit.

6. The antenna according to claim 5, characterized in that The first phase circuit includes two phase shifters for shifting the phase of an input signal by 45 degrees in a positive direction and two phase shifters for shifting the phase of an input signal by 45 degrees in a negative direction.

7. The antenna according to claim 5, characterized in that: The second phase circuit includes a phase shifter that shifts the phase of an input signal by 90 degrees in a positive direction, and a phase shifter that shifts the phase of an input signal by 90 degrees in a negative direction.

8. The antenna according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The hybrid circuit is a Wilkinson power divider.

9. The antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: The amplification circuit is arranged at the rear section of the mixing circuit.

10. The antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: The amplifier circuit is provided at a front stage of the first mixing circuit or the second mixing circuit.

11. The antenna according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first phase loop is arranged at the rear section of the substrate-side feeding terminal. The second phase loop is arranged at the rear stage of the first phase loop, The first hybrid circuit is arranged at the rear section of the first phase circuit and at the front section of the second phase circuit. The second hybrid circuit is arranged at the rear section of the second phase circuit. The amplifier circuit is arranged at a preceding stage of the first mixing circuit or the second mixing circuit.

12. An information processing device mounted on a mobile object, the information processing device comprising: The antenna according to any one of claims 1 to 11; and A position information processing circuit calculates the position information of the moving object based on the signal output from the antenna.

13. A composite antenna device, characterized in that: have: A first antenna of a satellite positioning system, which is the antenna according to any one of claims 1 to 11; a second antenna for receiving signals in a frequency band different from that of the first antenna; An antenna base, on which the first antenna and the second antenna are mounted; and The antenna case accommodates the first antenna and the second antenna together with the antenna base, and seals the antenna base in a liquid-tight manner.

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