Slotted linear array antenna, wireless communication device and system based on connected waveguide

Abstract

This article provides a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide, a wireless communication device and a system, comprising: a first metal layer, a second metal layer, a dielectric substrate disposed between the first metal layer and the second metal layer, a plurality of waveguide feeding transmission units and metal walls formed on the dielectric substrate, and a plurality of radiation slots located in the first metal layer, wherein the space surrounded by all metal walls constitutes a connected waveguide, wherein the metal wall comprises metal walls arranged around the radiation slot except for the first long side of the middle section and the adjacent sides between adjacent radiation slots, and metal walls connecting the waveguide feeding transmission units; the width of the waveguide feeding transmission unit is less than the maximum width of the radiation slot, and each waveguide feeding transmission unit is respectively connected to the metal walls at both ends of the first long side of the middle section of each radiation slot. The antenna provided in this article can increase the electric field area of ​​radiation to increase the gain.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of antenna equipment in radio frequency communication, and in particular to a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide, a wireless communication device and a system. Background Art

[0002] Since the birth of mobile communications in the 1980s, after more than 30 years of explosive growth, it has become the basic information network connecting human society. With the rapid development of information and network technology, mobile communications have also put forward higher requirements for the data transmission rate. For this reason, the millimeter wave band has been increasingly studied and applied since its opening. Antennas are the interface between communication transmission and electronic equipment, and their performance has become an important factor affecting the performance of the entire wireless system. In the millimeter wave band, high-gain antenna arrays have great uses and advantages because they can overcome the signal attenuation problem in millimeter wave communication and are conducive to improving the quality and communication distance of millimeter wave communication. In addition, designing high-gain array antennas while maintaining the simplicity of the antenna structure itself has always been a hot research direction. This is because the simple antenna array structure is very conducive to reducing processing difficulty and saving costs, especially in the millimeter wave band.

[0003] For this reason, as a simple radiation structure, waveguide slot antennas are widely used in the prior art. Their low profile and low complexity make them widely used as radiation units in large-scale array antennas. With the maturity of dielectric substrate integrated waveguide technology, traditional printed circuit board technology can be used to produce millimeter wave waveguide structures, and waveguide slot antennas have become more mature and widely developed in the millimeter wave frequency band. However, due to the limitation of its radiation aperture, traditional slot antennas often have the defect of low radiation gain. Summary of the invention

[0004] This article aims to solve the problem of complex structure and difficult processing of high-gain antenna arrays in the prior art and the problem of low gain of waveguide slot antennas.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the first aspect of this article provides a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide, comprising: a first metal layer, a second metal layer, a dielectric substrate arranged between the first metal layer and the second metal layer, a plurality of waveguide feeding transmission units and metal walls formed on the dielectric substrate, and a plurality of radiation slots located in the first metal layer, wherein the radiation slot includes a middle section and end sections on both sides thereof;

[0006] The space surrounded by all the metal walls constitutes a connected waveguide, wherein the metal walls include: metal walls arranged around the radiation slot except for the first long side of the middle section and the adjacent sides between adjacent radiation slots, and metal walls connecting the waveguide feeding transmission units;

[0007] The width of the waveguide feeding transmission unit is smaller than the maximum width of the radiation slot, and each waveguide feeding transmission unit is respectively connected to the metal walls at both ends of the first long side of the middle section of each radiation slot.

[0008] As a further embodiment of the present invention, the top of the radiation slot and the top of the first metal layer are located at the same height.

[0009] As a further embodiment of the present invention, the long side of the radiation slot end section is perpendicular to the short side of the radiation slot middle section.

[0010] As a further embodiment of the present invention, the metal wall corresponding to the second long side of the middle section of the radiation slot terminal constitutes a matching terminal, wherein the second long side is the opposite side of the first long side and is far away from the waveguide feeding transmission unit;

[0011] The length of the metal wall of the matching terminal is the same as the length of the middle section of the radiation slot, and the height of the metal wall of the matching terminal is the same as the height of the waveguide feeding transmission unit.

[0012] As a further embodiment of this invention, the spacing between adjacent radiation slots is 0.5 mm to 1 mm.

[0013] As a further embodiment of the present invention, an extension of the bottom metal of the waveguide feeding transmission unit forms the second metal layer.

[0014] As a further embodiment of this invention, the metal wall is formed by densely arranging metallized vias.

[0015] As a further embodiment of the present invention, the slotted linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide further includes: a first metal patch and a second metal patch;

[0016] The first metal patch and the second metal patch are respectively disposed on two opposite sides of the metal wall;

[0017] The first metal patch is located at the same horizontal plane as the top of the radiation gap, the second metal patch is located at the same horizontal plane as the second metal layer, and the first metal patch and the second metal patch completely overlap in the vertical direction. The first metal patch is part of the first metal layer, and the second metal patch is part of the second metal layer.

[0018] As a further embodiment of the present invention, the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide further includes: a filling medium structure, which is arranged inside the waveguide feeding transmission unit and / or inside the connected waveguide.

[0019] As a further embodiment of the present invention, each waveguide feeding transmission unit forms a feeding port on a side away from the radiation slot;

[0020] The feeding ports of all waveguide-fed transmission units are excited simultaneously during operation.

[0021] A second aspect of the present invention provides a wireless communication device, wherein the wireless communication device is configured with a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide as described in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0022] A third aspect of the present invention provides a wireless communication system, wherein the wireless communication system is the wireless communication device described in any of the aforementioned embodiments.

[0023] The slot linear array antenna, wireless communication device and system based on the connected waveguide proposed in this paper, by setting a metal wall in the dielectric substrate, the space surrounded by all the metal walls constitutes a connected waveguide, wherein the metal wall includes the metal wall arranged around the radiation slot except the first long side of the middle section and the adjacent side between the adjacent radiation slots and the metal wall connecting the waveguide feeding transmission units, so that all array units (the structure corresponding to each radiation slot can be regarded as an array unit) share a connected waveguide, which can reduce the difficulty of antenna processing, prevent electromagnetic wave leakage, and improve antenna efficiency. By adopting a radiation slot structure ("I"-shaped slot structure) including the middle section and the end sections on both sides thereof, the radiation slot is fed by the waveguide feeding transmission unit, wherein the maximum width of the radiation slot exceeds the width of the waveguide feeding transmission unit, and the radiation slot is no longer limited to the waveguide width, so that the slot is longer, the area is larger and the aperture surface is larger, thereby being able to increase the electric field area of ​​the radiation to increase the gain.

[0024] The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguide proposed in this paper has the characteristics of simple structure and low processing cost of waveguide slot antenna and high gain and wide gain bandwidth of high-gain antenna array. The operating frequency band can be designed in the traditional microwave frequency band or millimeter wave frequency band, and is particularly suitable as a single-layer high-gain linear array applied in the millimeter wave frequency band.

[0025] In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of this article more obvious and easy to understand, the following specifically cites preferred embodiments and describes them in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this article or the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the prior art descriptions are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of this article. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0027] Figure 1 A three-dimensional diagram of a slotted linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0028] Figure 2 A top view of a slotted linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0029] Figure 3 A side view of a slotted linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0030] Figure 4 A flowchart of manufacturing a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0031] Figure 5 A graph showing how the reflection coefficient and gain of a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide according to a specific embodiment of this invention vary with frequency;

[0032] Fig. 6A The directional pattern of the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide at 60 GHz is shown;

[0033] Figure 6B The directional pattern of the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide at 70 GHz is shown;

[0034] Figure 6C The radiation pattern of the slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguide at 80 GHz is shown.

[0035] Description of the accompanying symbols:

[0036] 110. A first metal layer;

[0037] 120, a second metal layer;

[0038] 130. Dielectric substrate;

[0039] 140. Waveguide feeding transmission unit;

[0040] 150, radiation gap;

[0041] 151, middle section;

[0042] 152, terminal section;

[0043] 160, feeding port;

[0044] 170, connecting waveguide;

[0045] 180. Matching terminal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0046] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of this article to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this article. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of this article, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this article, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this article.

[0047] The exemplary embodiments and descriptions of the present invention are used to explain the present invention, but are not intended to limit the present invention. In addition, elements / components with the same or similar reference numerals used in the drawings and embodiments are used to represent the same or similar parts.

[0048] The "and / or" used in this article is only a description of the association relationship of the associated objects, indicating that there can be three relationships. For example, A and / or B can mean: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / " in this article generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship.

[0049] The terms “first” and “second” used in this document do not particularly refer to an order or sequence, nor are they used to limit the present invention. They are only used to distinguish elements or operations described with the same technical terms.

[0050] The directional terms used in this document, such as up, down, left, right, front or back, etc., are only used to refer to the directions of the drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used are used to illustrate and not to limit the present invention.

[0051] The words “include,” “including,” “have,” etc. used in this document are open-ended terms, meaning including but not limited to.

[0052] As used herein, "and / or" includes any or all combinations of the items described.

[0053] The terms "transverse", "longitudinal" and "vertical" used in this article are used for convenience and clarity of description. The use of these and similar terms should not be regarded as any limitation on the direction of the antenna. The "transverse", "longitudinal" and "vertical" described in the embodiments of this article are based on the forward placement of the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide (hereinafter referred to as the antenna) (that is, the radiation slot of the antenna is facing upward), where "transverse" refers to the long side direction of the bottom or top of the antenna, "longitudinal" refers to the short side direction of the bottom or top of the antenna, and "vertical" refers to the direction of the antenna pointing vertically from the bottom to the top.

[0054] In the prior art, high-gain antenna arrays and waveguide slot antennas are used separately, and the high-gain antenna arrays and waveguide slot antennas are not combined together to solve the problems of complex structure and difficult processing of high-gain antenna arrays and low gain of waveguide slot antennas.

[0055] In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems existing in the prior art, in one embodiment of this article, a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide is provided, which can be used as a receiving antenna as well as a transmitting antenna. The slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide provided in this article includes two main characteristics: high gain and wide gain bandwidth.

[0056] 1) High gain. The high loss of millimeter waves during transmission will seriously affect the communication distance and communication quality. The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguide described in this article can compensate for the energy loss of millimeter waves during transmission, thereby improving the signal quality and communication distance of the communication system. At the same time, the proposed antenna is suitable as a base station antenna, which can reduce the use of antenna units in the antenna array and thus reduce the design complexity of the antenna array. These make the proposed antenna suitable for point-to-point communication, unlimited energy transmission, radar systems, and especially suitable for the fifth generation of wireless mobile communications (5G).

[0057] 2) Wide gain bandwidth, which can cover many different frequency bands. The sufficient bandwidth makes the antenna in this paper suitable for applications such as broadband 5G communication systems and the Internet of Things (IoT) that require high data transmission rates.

[0058] Specifically, Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3 As shown, the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide includes:

[0059] The first metal layer 110, the second metal layer 120, the dielectric substrate 130 disposed between the first metal layer 110 and the second metal layer 120, a plurality of waveguide feeding transmission units 140 formed on the dielectric substrate 130, and a metal wall (such as Figure 2 As shown in the circle at the dotted line position), a plurality of radiation slots 150 are located in the first metal layer 110, wherein the radiation slots 150 include a middle section 151 and end sections 152 on both sides thereof.

[0060] The space enclosed by all the metal walls constitutes a connected waveguide 170, that is, all the radiation slots share a connected waveguide, wherein all the metal walls include: metal walls arranged around the radiation slots 150 except the first long side of the middle section 151 and the adjacent sides between adjacent radiation slots 150, and metal walls connecting the waveguide feeding transmission units 140, wherein the first long side is close to the waveguide feeding transmission unit.

[0061] The width of the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 is smaller than the maximum width of the radiation slot 150 , and each waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 is respectively connected to the metal walls at both ends of the first long side of the middle section 151 of each radiation slot 150 .

[0062] The slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide provided in this embodiment can be made by the process of a single-layer printed circuit board, and can be realized by integrated circuit (IC) and low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) processes to meet specific application scenarios. By arranging a metal wall in the dielectric substrate, the space surrounded by all metal walls constitutes a connected waveguide, wherein the metal wall includes a metal wall arranged around the radiation slot except the first long side of the middle section and the adjacent side between the adjacent radiation slots, and a metal wall connecting the waveguide feeding transmission units, so that all array units share a connected waveguide, which can reduce the difficulty of antenna processing, prevent electromagnetic wave leakage, and improve antenna efficiency. By adopting a radiation slot structure, wherein the radiation slot includes the middle section and the end sections on both sides thereof, the radiation slot is fed by a waveguide feeding unit, wherein the maximum width of the slot exceeds the width of the waveguide feeding transmission unit, and the slot is no longer limited to the waveguide width, so that the slot is longer, the area is larger, and the aperture surface is larger, thereby being able to increase the electric field area of ​​the radiation to increase the gain.

[0063] The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguide proposed in this paper has the characteristics of simple structure and low processing cost of waveguide slot antenna and high gain and wide gain bandwidth of high-gain antenna array. The operating frequency band can be designed in the traditional microwave frequency band or millimeter wave frequency band, and is particularly suitable as a single-layer high-gain linear array applied in the millimeter wave frequency band.

[0064] In detail, the first metal layer 110 and the second metal layer 120 described herein are metal plates, which are made of the same material as the metal wall. The first metal layer and the second metal layer are of the same size, except that there is a radiation slot on the first metal layer. In a specific implementation, the radiation slots are evenly distributed on the first metal layer, that is, the distance between each radiation slot is the same, and each radiation slot on the first metal layer has the same size. The second metal layer is a rectangular metal plate that fills the bottom of the entire antenna. In a specific implementation, it can be formed by the bottom metal of the waveguide feed transmission unit 140 extending horizontally and vertically.

[0065] The dielectric substrate 130 is, for example, a single-layer printed circuit board (PCB board), which is not specifically limited herein.

[0066] The waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 is a waveguide transmission structure, which is used to provide a transmission path for electromagnetic waves, so that the electromagnetic waves are radiated from the port through the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 and then from the radiation slot 150 .

[0067] The middle of the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 is a PCB board medium, and the two sides are metal walls, and the metal walls on both sides are parallel to each other. The metal wall of the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 can be of any length S, which is not limited in this article. In some embodiments, the metal wall is formed by a metallized via, and each metallized via is a cylinder with a radius of R. The value of R can be set according to actual needs, which is not limited in this article. In a specific embodiment, the width A of the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 refers to the length of the waveguide feeding transmission unit in the lateral direction (such as Figure 2 As shown), the maximum width of the radiation slot 150 refers to the maximum length of the radiation slot 150 in the lateral direction.

[0068] In one embodiment of this invention, Figure 1 As shown, a feeding port 160 is formed on a side of each waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 away from the radiation slot 150. All waveguide feeding transmission units 140 are constructed on a single-layer dielectric substrate. The intermediate medium of the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 and the metal walls on both sides can serve as a transmission path for electromagnetic waves, so that the electromagnetic waves are radiated from the feeding port 160 through the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 and then from the radiation slot 150.

[0069] In some implementations, the feed ports 160 of all waveguide-fed transmission units are excited simultaneously during operation, thereby forming a high-gain array antenna beam.

[0070] The radiation gap 150 can also be referred to as an "I"-shaped gap. In the subsequent embodiments, unless otherwise specified, the radiation gap refers to an "I"-shaped gap. Specifically, the radiation gap 150 includes a standard I-shaped gap (i.e., the middle section is a rectangle, the end section is also a rectangle, but the long side of the middle section is perpendicular to the long side of the end section). In specific implementation, it can also be a deformed radiation gap (for example, the end section is semicircular or irregular), but considering the difficulty of processing, in general, the radiation gap 150 is a standard shape. The middle section 151 of the radiation gap 150 is a rectangle, and the specific size of the rectangle can be set according to demand, which is not limited in this article. In addition to the first long side and the second long side, a pair of short sides of the middle section 151 are not connected to the metal wall.

[0071] One side of the end section 152 is connected to the middle section, and three sides of the end section 152 are connected to the first metal layer 110. The end section 152 can be rectangular, semicircular, irregular, etc. Generally, in order to facilitate processing, the end section 152 is rectangular. Figure 2As shown, by adjusting the length L and width W of the end section 152, the bandwidth and gain can be adjusted. Specifically, the longer the width W of the end section 152, the higher the gain. When the length L of the end section 152 is adjusted to a suitable value, the bandwidth is the widest. In specific implementation, the antenna structure can be simulated by simulation software, and then the gain and bandwidth characteristics of the simulated antenna structure can be verified. After determining the length L and width W of the end section 152 corresponding to the optimal gain and bandwidth, the antenna can be actually manufactured for further verification. After the actual antenna is verified, it can be put into large-scale production.

[0072] In a specific embodiment of this invention, the number of radiation slots 150 is 8. During specific implementation, the number of radiation slots can be set according to needs, and this invention does not limit this.

[0073] The area surrounded by the metal wall constitutes a connecting waveguide 170 for transmitting microwaves. In some embodiments, the connecting waveguide 170 may be in the form of a metal waveguide, and in other embodiments, may also be in the form of a dielectric integrated waveguide, which is not limited herein.

[0074] In one embodiment of the present invention, the top of the radiation slot 150 is at the same height as the top of the first metal layer 110. Specifically, the top of the radiation slot 150 refers to the opening on one side facing the outer surface of the first metal layer, and the top of the first metal layer 110 refers to the outer surface of the first metal layer 110. The arrangement of this embodiment can form an electric field on the aperture surface of the top of the radiation slot to radiate electromagnetic waves.

[0075] In one embodiment of the present invention, the length of the radiation slot end section 152 is greater than the width of the radiation slot middle section 151, and the long side of the radiation slot end section 152 is perpendicular to the short side of the radiation slot middle section 151. Figure 2 As shown, the length of the radiation slot end section 152 and the width of the middle section 151 refer to the longitudinal lengths of the end section 152 and the middle section 151. The configuration of this embodiment can expand the impedance matching bandwidth of the antenna and increase its operating frequency band.

[0076] In one embodiment of the present invention, the spacing between adjacent radiation slots 150 is 0.5 mm to 1 mm. By limiting the spacing between the radiation slots 150 to 0.5 mm to 1 mm, this embodiment can avoid crosstalk caused by too small spacing between adjacent radiation slots 150. Too far spacing will result in more electromagnetic waves being radiated in the unwanted radiation direction, while the electromagnetic wave energy in the wanted direction is weakened.

[0077] In one embodiment of the present invention, the metal wall corresponding to the second long side of the radiation slot middle section 151 constitutes the matching terminal 180, that is, the metal wall around the second long side of the radiation slot middle section 151 constitutes the matching terminal 180. The length of the metal wall of the matching terminal 180 is the same as the length of the radiation slot middle section 151, and the height of the metal wall of the matching terminal 180 is the same as the height of the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140. Figure 1 As shown, the length of the metal wall of the matching terminal 180 and the length of the middle section 151 of the radiation slot refer to the length in the horizontal direction, and the height of the metal wall of the matching terminal 180 and the height of the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140 refer to the length in the vertical direction. This embodiment can achieve impedance matching, so that the energy in the connected waveguide can be smoothly radiated from the slot, avoiding the energy returning to the feeding port and causing waste.

[0078] In one embodiment of the present invention, the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide also includes: a plurality of first metal patches and a plurality of second metal patches. The first metal patch and the second metal patch are exactly the same in size and shape, and are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the metal wall of the matching device. The first metal patch is located at the same horizontal plane as the top of the radiation slot, the second metal patch is located at the same horizontal plane as the second metal layer, and the first metal patch and the second metal patch completely overlap in the vertical direction. In the present invention, the first metal patch and the second metal patch are arranged so that the matching impedance forms a good match with the radiation slot. The first metal patch and the second metal patch can be regarded as part of the first metal layer and the second metal layer.

[0079] In one embodiment of the present invention, the metal walls arranged around the first long side of the middle section of the radiation slot and the slots outside the adjacent sides between adjacent radiation slots, and the metal walls arranged on both sides of the waveguide feeding transmission unit are formed by densely arranging metalized vias. Arranging the metal walls in this way can form a "wall" to prevent electromagnetic waves from "escaping" from the wall.

[0080] In one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in 3, the slotted linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide further includes: a filling dielectric structure, which is arranged inside the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140. In a specific implementation, the filling dielectric structure can be formed after the dielectric material is filled inside the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140. The higher the dielectric constant of the dielectric material, the smaller the size of the dielectric integrated waveguide can be, that is, the smaller the size of the waveguide feeding transmission unit 140.

[0081] In one embodiment of the present invention, all parts except the radiation gap and the metal wall are filled with dielectric material, that is, the inside of the connected waveguide is filled with dielectric material. In detail, the dielectric material is, for example, a microwave dielectric ceramic material, a polystyrene material, a glass fiber, etc., and the specific material is not limited in this invention. By filling the dielectric material, the present embodiment can realize the support of the first metal layer and the second metal layer, and can also reduce the volume of the antenna.

[0082] The following uses the example of using PCB board to make the slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguide described in this article to explain the antenna production process. Figure 4 Shown include:

[0083] Step 410, removing non-metallic parts of the upper and lower surfaces of the PCB board through an etching process;

[0084] Step 420, mechanically punching holes on the PCB board according to the design dimensions of the radiation slot, the waveguide feeding transmission unit and the metal wall;

[0085] Step 430, electroplating the PCB board, through which a metal wall, a first metal layer and a second metal layer can be obtained;

[0086] Step 440, mechanically wash the structure obtained in step 430 to remove the plate portion of the space of the radiation gap, thereby obtaining Figure 1 Antenna shown.

[0087] Before the implementation of step 410, the large PCB board needs to be cut into small PCB boards that meet the requirements according to the requirements. In the specific implementation of this article, other forms of dielectric substrates can also be selected.

[0088] In step 430 , the electroplating process includes but is not limited to copper plating process, gold plating process, etc.

[0089] In one embodiment of the present invention, a wireless communication device is further provided, wherein the wireless communication device is configured with a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide as described in any of the aforementioned embodiments. In some specific embodiments, the wireless communication device may be a base station device of a wireless communication system, etc. In other specific embodiments, the wireless communication device may also be, for example, a user terminal device. In an exemplary embodiment, the user terminal device may be, for example, a desktop computer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a vehicle-mounted terminal (such as a vehicle-mounted radar, a vehicle-mounted navigation), etc.

[0090] In one embodiment of the present invention, a wireless communication system is further provided, the wireless communication system comprising a wireless communication device having a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide as described in the embodiment of the present invention. The wireless communication system may include, for example, but is not limited to, a cellular communication system, a point-to-point communication system, a mobile communication system (such as a 5G communication network), a wireless energy transmission system, an Internet of Things, a positioning navigation system, a satellite communication system, a radar system, and a cognitive radio communication system.

[0091] The slotted linear array antenna, wireless communication device and system based on connected waveguide provided in this article can achieve the following technical effects:

[0092] 1) By adopting the radiation slot structure described in this article, wherein the radiation slot includes a middle section and end sections on both sides thereof, the radiation slot is fed by a waveguide feeding transmission unit, wherein the maximum width of the radiation slot exceeds the width of the waveguide feeding transmission unit, a technical effect of high gain and wide gain bandwidth can be achieved;

[0093] 2) By arranging metal walls in the dielectric substrate, the space surrounded by all the metal walls constitutes a connected waveguide, wherein the metal walls are arranged around the slots except for the first long side of the middle section of the radiation slot and the adjacent sides between adjacent radiation slots, and the metal walls around adjacent radiation slots are connected, so that all array units (each radiation slot can be regarded as an array unit) share a connected waveguide, which can achieve the technical effects of simple structure, light weight, and reduced processing cost and difficulty;

[0094] 3) In the use of millimeter wave band antennas, it can be applied to ground profile high-gain base station antennas, and due to the high gain of its single slot antenna, it can save the number of antenna units used and simplify the array design.

[0095] The effect of the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide provided in this article is described below with a specific embodiment. Specifically, the dielectric substrate of the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide is Rogers Duroid5880, which has a thickness of 0.508 mm and a dielectric constant of 2.2. The width A of the feed transmission unit of the dielectric integrated waveguide is 2.6 mm, and the length S is 5.1 mm (such as Figure 2 As shown), it ensures that the electromagnetic wave is TE 10 The mode is transmitted in the waveguide. In order to achieve high gain, the slot tip length L and width W are two important influencing parameters. The tip length L and width W selected by parameter analysis are 1mm and 1.7mm, that is, 0.2λ and 0.34λ, respectively, where λ is the vacuum wavelength corresponding to the working center frequency.

[0096] Typical dimensions (expressed in millimeters) of the antenna structure of this specific embodiment are shown in Table 1, and the central operating frequency is 70 GHz.

[0097] Table 1:

[0098] A S L W 2.6 5.1 1 1.7

[0099] In specific implementation, the structure of the slotted linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide can be simulated by simulation software, for example, the electromagnetic characteristics can be simulated and analyzed according to the principle of the finite element method. The simulation results of the electromagnetic characteristics are as follows: Figure 5 , FIG. 6A to FIG. 6C shown.

[0100] in, Figure 5 The curve of the reflection coefficient and gain of the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide as it changes with frequency is shown. It can be seen from the curve that the reflection coefficient of the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide provided in this article is less than -10dB in the frequency range of 54GHz-89GHz, the maximum gain of the antenna is 17.7dB within the range of -10dB of the reflection coefficient, and the 3dB percentage bandwidth of the antenna is 57%. Figure 5 It can be determined that the slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguide provided in this article has the characteristics of high gain and wide gain bandwidth.

[0101] Figure 6A-6C The directional patterns of the slot linear array antenna based on the connected waveguide at 60GHz, 70GHz, and 80GHz are shown respectively, where the ordinate is the operating frequency band. It can be seen from the figure that within the operating frequency band, the radiation pattern of the antenna is vertical, and the pattern is stable, and the cross-polarization level is lower than -20dB within the operating frequency band. This shows that the cross-polarization has little effect on the main polarization of the antenna. Figure 6A-6C It can be determined that the slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguides provided in this article can obtain a stable directivity radiation pattern.

[0102] In summary, the slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguide provided in this paper has the advantages of high gain, gain bandwidth, simple structure and low processing cost. In particular, its wide gain bandwidth can cover different communication application frequency bands, which is highly attractive for the development of indoor and outdoor base station antenna arrays of modern cellular communication systems. In addition, the proposed antenna array has a single-layer structure, low processing cost, and a simple antenna structure, which is very convenient for application in different demand occasions in the millimeter wave frequency band. Furthermore, since the proposed antenna has a high gain of a single radiation slot, to achieve a certain gain value, compared with other antennas, it can save the number of antenna units used and simplify the array design.

[0103] Specific embodiments are used in this article to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this article. The description of the above embodiments is only used to help understand the methods and core ideas of this article, and cannot be used to limit the scope of the invention. Therefore, the replacement of equivalent components, or equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of protection of the patent of this invention, should still fall within the scope of this patent. In addition, the technical features of the present invention can be freely combined with each other, between technical features and technical solutions, and between technical solutions.

Claims

1. A slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide, characterized in that: include: A first metal layer (110), a second metal layer (120), a dielectric substrate (130) disposed between the first metal layer (110) and the second metal layer (120), a plurality of waveguide feeding transmission units (140) and metal walls formed on the dielectric substrate (130), and a plurality of radiation slots (150) located in the first metal layer (110), wherein the radiation slots (150) include a middle section (151) and end sections (152) on both sides thereof; The space surrounded by all the metal walls constitutes a connected waveguide (170), wherein the metal walls include: metal walls arranged around the radiation slot except for the first long side of the middle section and the adjacent sides between adjacent radiation slots, and metal walls connecting the waveguide feeding transmission units (140); The width of the waveguide feeding transmission unit (140) is smaller than the maximum width of the radiation slot (150), and each waveguide feeding transmission unit (140) is respectively connected to the metal walls at both ends of the first long side of the middle section (151) of each radiation slot.

2. The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguides according to claim 1, characterized in that: The long side of the end section (152) of the radiation slot is perpendicular to the short side of the middle section (151) of the radiation slot.

3. The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguides according to claim 2, characterized in that: The metal wall corresponding to the second long side of the middle section (151) of the radiation slot forms a matching terminal (180), wherein the second long side is the opposite side of the first long side; The length of the metal wall of the matching terminal (180) is the same as the length of the middle section (151) of the radiation slot, and the height of the metal wall of the matching terminal (180) is the same as the height of the waveguide feeding transmission unit (140).

4. The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguides according to claim 1, characterized in that: The distance between adjacent radiation slots (150) is 0.5 mm to 1 mm.

5. The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguides according to claim 1, characterized in that: The extension of the bottom metal of the waveguide feeding transmission unit (140) forms the second metal layer (120).

6. The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguides according to claim 1, characterized in that: The metal wall is formed by densely arranging metallized vias.

7. The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguides according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: A filling medium structure is arranged inside the waveguide feeding transmission unit (140) and / or inside the connecting waveguide (170).

8. The slot linear array antenna based on connected waveguides according to claim 1, characterized in that: A feeding port (160) is formed on a side of each waveguide feeding transmission unit (140) away from the radiation slot (150); The feeding ports (160) of all waveguide feeding transmission units are excited simultaneously during operation.

9. A wireless communication device, characterized in that: The wireless communication device is equipped with a slot linear array antenna based on a connected waveguide as described in any one of claims 1-8.

10. A wireless communication system, characterized in that: The wireless communication system includes the wireless communication device according to claim 9.

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