A compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna

Abstract

The application belongs to the technical field of antennas, and discloses a compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna, which comprises a horn antenna array, a broadband orthogonal mode coupler, an upper layer one-to-thirty-two convex power distribution circuit and a lower layer one-to-thirty-two concave power distribution circuit; the horn antenna array comprises a plurality of stepped horn antenna units, and each stepped horn antenna unit is provided with a broadband orthogonal mode coupler at the lower end; the upper and lower layer one-to-thirty-two concave-convex power distribution circuits are located at the lower side of the broadband orthogonal mode coupler, and the upper layer one-to-thirty-two convex power distribution circuit and the lower layer one-to-thirty-two concave power distribution circuit jointly constitute a compact stepped dual-path power distributor, thereby improving the space utilization rate of the antenna array and reducing the profile height of the dual-polarized horn array antenna; the adjustable stepped power distributor prototype can be effectively applied in each stage of the feed circuit multiple times, the relative height of each stage of the ladder is adjusted, and the number of the overall model is reduced; and the cutting rotary layer design effectively improves the efficiency of the antenna array and improves the impedance matching between the horn antenna and the orthogonal mode coupler.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The application belongs to the technical field of antennas, and particularly relates to a compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna. BACKGROUND

[0002] The horn array antenna is one of commonly used array antennas, and has the functions of re-distributing input energy on an array aperture plane in a specific form and performing directional high-gain spatial radiation. The horn array antenna is usually milled from full metal, has extremely strong structural strength, extremely stable working stability in extreme environments, and power capacity that a dielectric antenna cannot have, and is the most commonly used antenna form in the field of satellite communication.

[0003] For the array antenna, high-aperture-efficiency or high-efficiency design, that is, very high consistency of the electric field amplitude and phase on the aperture plane, can maximize the use of a given area to synthesize the maximum radiation gain, so that energy can be transmitted to a specified direction farther, and finally energy saving and a larger coverage range are realized. With the development of satellite communication, the requirement for the efficiency of the satellite-borne antenna is rising. However, due to wideband, high energy density, complex structure and extremely high processing requirements, commonly used high-efficiency schemes such as dielectric lens and flat super-surface lens loaded antenna are difficult to work normally under such constraints.

[0004] The paper High-Efficiency Square-Aperture Horn Antenna with a Linear Spline Profile gives a horn antenna design with high-aperture efficiency. The single-horn antenna unit adopts a spline profile horn design and realizes a maximum aperture efficiency of 95.4% by loading a polyethylene dielectric lens on the horn aperture. However, the antenna first has a sharp increase in processing difficulty due to the design of the oblique spline profile. The design of the large middle and small ends of the cavity structure also makes it impossible to be directly milled from a piece of metal. The use of two layers of metal for subsequent splicing also further increases the manufacturing cost and affects the performance of the antenna. The form of loading the dielectric lens also greatly limits the bandwidth of the antenna. In the example, a single-polarized bandwidth of 18% is finally obtained. When the dielectric lens is not loaded for phase compensation and impedance matching, the voltage standing wave ratio of the antenna is higher than 2.5, and the standing wave effect is obvious. In addition, the dielectric lens has low applicability to high-power application scenarios and is prone to breakdown effect. Moreover, the design scheme of the single-polarized antenna directly loses half of the communication capacity.

[0005] With the rapid increase of demand for high-resolution images and video signals, satellite communication requires more and more channel capacity, and broadband and dual-polarized antennas are therefore attracting more and more attention. According to Shannon's theorem, a larger bandwidth can naturally expand the communication capacity, and dual-polarized design can double the communication bit rate on the basis of broadband. In addition, miniaturization and high density have been one of the core development directions of microwave components in recent years. Under the limitation of metal processing precision, it is very difficult to design a low-cost, small and compact dual-polarized feed circuit for a wideband dual-polarized antenna array, especially a horn array, while ensuring the standing wave ratio and as little as possible affecting the efficiency of the final antenna array. The paper A Compact and Broadband Four-Way Dual Polarization Waveguide Power Divider for Antenna Arrays presents a compact broadband 2*2 horn antenna array. The paper achieves the best use of space by designing a four-turn twist waveguide power divider and placing two cross-arranged twist waveguide power dividers. However, the four-turn power distribution structure greatly increases the complexity of the structure, and the power distribution circuit does not have multi-scene applicability; the overall antenna in the paper requires a minimum of 9 layers of structure to realize the processing of the structure due to the complex power distribution circuit structure. Too many assembly layers will make it easier to appear during assembly. The partial layer is not tightly compressed, further forming a resonant effect of the flat capacitor, and also greatly increasing the processing cost and processing difficulty; in addition, the 2*2 array shown in the paper needs to be connected to a larger power distribution circuit layer below if it is to be expanded to a larger scale, further increasing the design complexity and design processing cost.

[0006] Through the above analysis, the problems and defects of the prior art are:

[0007] High-efficiency horn unit design usually has a complex structure design, which is difficult to process at one time. The commonly used loading medium lens and loading medium super surface enhance aperture efficiency scheme has the limitations of low power capacity and narrow bandwidth.

[0008] The horn array antenna will finally cause the problem of too many layers and difficult assembly due to its complex feed circuit. Too many layers will also increase the manufacturing cost and increase the inaccuracy of testing.

[0009] The two polarization feed power distribution circuits of the dual-polarized horn array antenna are usually designed separately in the past, which has the problems of low space utilization, large size and heavy weight. SUMMARY

[0010] In view of the problems existing in the prior art, the present application provides a compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna.

[0011] The application is implemented as a compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna comprising:

[0012] The high-efficiency horn antenna array with cutting rotary layer, wideband orthogonal mode coupler, adjustable stepped power divider prototype, upper layer one-to-thirty-two convex power divider circuit, and lower layer one-to-thirty-two concave power divider circuit are composed.

[0013] The high-efficiency horn antenna array with cutting rotary layer comprises a plurality of stepped horn antenna units, and each stepped horn antenna unit is provided with a wideband orthogonal mode coupler at the lower end.

[0014] The compact stepped dual-path power divider is located at the lower side of the wideband orthogonal mode coupler, and the compact stepped dual-path power divider circuit comprises an upper layer one-to-thirty-two convex power divider circuit and a lower layer one-to-thirty-two concave power divider circuit.

[0015] Further, the upper layer one-to-thirty-two convex power divider circuit transmits the energy of dual-polarized middle polarization 1, and the lower layer one-to-thirty-two concave power divider circuit transmits the energy of dual-polarized middle polarization 2.

[0016] Further, the stepped horn antenna unit comprises 7 layers in total, of which the uppermost 6 layers are rectangular box transitions with gradually decreasing sizes from top to bottom, and the lowermost layer is a layer of cutting rotary layer, which is between the stepped horn antenna unit and the wideband orthogonal mode coupler.

[0017] Further, the cutting rotary layer is a square air cavity rotated by 45°, on the basis of which the four corners of the square cavity are cut, and "mountain" type inner convexities are formed on the four inner walls.

[0018] Further, the wideband orthogonal mode coupler is a three-port element, one square port of which faces upward and is connected to the stepped horn antenna unit, and the other two ports are orthogonally arranged on both sides of the air cavity.

[0019] Further, the wideband orthogonal mode coupler adopts a stepped design, and three metal cylinders with different heights and diameters are placed in the center, and the overall structure presents 90-degree rotational symmetry. Each wideband orthogonal mode coupler is rotated by 90°, 180°, 270°, and 0° to form a group, so that the four orthogonal mode couplers in the group have consistency in polarization and phase.

[0020] The adjustable stepped power divider prototype is connected by an H-plane twisted power divider and an E-plane slant stepped power divider to obtain two groups of four equal parts with a phase difference of 180°.

[0021] Further, the H-plane twist power divider includes a narrow rectangular metal back cavity, and the design of the back cavity is equivalent to adding an adjustable parasitic reactance, thereby facilitating the suppression of the reflection coefficient.

[0022] Further, the E-plane inclined step power divider is designed with multiple levels of inclined steps, and the relative height of each level of step can be adjusted without affecting the overall performance.

[0023] Further, the upper layer one-to-thirty-two convex power distribution circuit includes an upper layer first power divider, an upper layer second power divider, and an upper layer third power divider.

[0024] Further, the upper layer first power divider is located at the center and is a three-port E-plane power divider, and the total port of the upper layer first power divider serves as the total input port of the first polarization in the dual-polarized feeding circuit.

[0025] The upper layer second power divider is a five-port element, and all the ports are located at the top of the element. Four equally divided ports are symmetrically distributed at the four corners of the second power divider, serving as E-plane power distribution. The total port of the upper layer second power divider is located at the center line of the element, serving as H-plane power distribution, and connecting the sub-ports of the upper layer first power divider. The four sub-ports of the upper layer second power divider are connected to the total ports of the upper layer third power divider.

[0026] The upper layer third power divider is a five-port element, and its total port is located at the upper layer center line, with an E-plane power divider on each side. The total ports of the four upper layer third power dividers are connected one by one to the sub-ports of the upper layer second power divider.

[0027] The sub-ports of the upper layer third power divider are located at the four corners of the bottom layer, serving as the output ports of the E-plane power divider, and are connected one by one to the sub-ports of the broadband orthogonal mode coupler.

[0028] Further, each level of upper layer power distribution circuit is connected to form a one-to-thirty-two power divider, and each sub-port is connected to the corresponding port of the thirty-two broadband orthogonal mode couplers.

[0029] Further, the lower layer one-to-thirty-two concave power distribution circuit includes four types of power dividers and a horizontal bending structure, and the former is sequentially the lower layer first power divider, the lower layer second power divider, the lower layer third power divider, and the lower layer fourth power divider.

[0030] The lower layer first power divider is an H-plane power divider and is a three-port element. The total port is connected to polarization 2 input, and the sub-ports are connected to the 90° bending structure, which is a two-port element that bends the waveguide by 90 degrees.

[0031] The lower layer secondary power divider is an H-plane power divider, which is a three-port element, and the port is connected to the sub-port of the lower layer primary power divider.

[0032] The lower layer tertiary power divider is a five-port element, and the total port is located at the center line of the upper layer, which plays the role of H-plane power distribution, and the four sub-ports are located at the four corners of the tertiary power divider, which plays the role of E-plane power distribution.

[0033] The lower layer quaternary power divider is a three-port element, which is an E-plane power divider.

[0034] Further, the total port of the lower layer secondary power divider is connected to the sub-port of the lower layer primary power divider.

[0035] Further, the total port of the lower layer tertiary power divider is connected to the output port of the lower layer secondary power divider through a 90-degree vertical bending structure.

[0036] Further, the total port of the lower layer quaternary power divider is connected to the sub-port of the lower layer tertiary power divider, and the sub-port is sequentially connected to the other spare sub-port of the wideband orthogonal mode coupler.

[0037] Further, the lower layer one-to-thirty-two power divider includes one lower layer primary power divider, two lower layer secondary power dividers, eight lower layer tertiary power dividers, and sixteen lower layer quaternary power dividers. The lower layer power dividers are arranged in a symmetrical mirror image structure and connected to each other to form a one-to-thirty-two power distribution circuit, and each sub-port is connected to the corresponding port of the thirty-two orthogonal mode couplers.

[0038] Further, the upper layer one-to-thirty-two convex power distribution circuit and the lower layer one-to-thirty-two concave power distribution circuit are concave-convex butted, horizontally staggered and combined, and correspondingly arranged in the spatial vacancy of each other to maximize the use of space.

[0039] Further, the adjustable steps in the entire power divider feeding circuit realize consistent relative height after integrated adjustment.

[0040] In combination with the above technical solutions and the technical problems solved, the technical solutions to be protected by the present application have the following advantages and positive effects:

[0041] The application provides a dual-polarized antenna unit design scheme with a cutting rotary matching layer, a stepped transition design is adopted to avoid a spline profile scheme used in high-efficiency horn antenna design, and the machining and assembly difficulty is reduced.

[0042] The adjustable stepped power distribution circuit prototype provided by the application adopts a stepped design, the height of each step of each power divider circuit unit in the array is adjusted, the discontinuous positions of different units have the same relative height, and finally the number of layers of the hierarchical structure can be greatly reduced.

[0043] The power distribution feeding circuit provided by the application adopts a concave-convex compact design, two layers of power distribution circuits are designed as a convex upper layer and a concave lower layer, the two layers of feeding circuits complement each other to realize space utilization maximization, and a compact feeding circuit design is obtained.

[0044] The application realizes high-aperture-efficiency horn antenna unit design through a stepped structure design, and innovatively loads a cutting rotary layer transition on this basis.

[0045] The application designs an adjustable stepped power divider prototype, the adjustable stepped design enables the model to be widely applied to upper and lower feeding circuits through simple length change, port position and height adjustment, and the design complexity is greatly reduced.

[0046] The present application utilizes a designed stepped power divider prototype to design a lower convex upper layer power distribution circuit and a lower concave lower layer power distribution circuit with a compact E-plane T-type power divider and other circuit devices, and through staggered distribution and concave-convex combination of the feeding circuit, a dual-polarized compact feeding circuit design with great space utilization and extremely low insertion loss is realized. Compared with other dual-polarized feeding circuit schemes with two separate layers of wiring, the present scheme has extremely high space utilization, can reduce the overall profile height of the antenna, and the high air cavity occupancy can also reduce the weight of the cavity as much as possible, finally realizing compactness, miniaturization and light weight.

[0047] The overall 32-element antenna array of the present application realizes dual-polarized aperture efficiency of more than 80% in a wide frequency band, aperture efficiency of more than 90% in a partial frequency band, and a maximum gain of 30dB, the voltage standing wave ratio is controlled at 1.5 level in the whole frequency band, and the polarization isolation is more than 50dB, and the port isolation is more than 30dB. It has very good overall performance.

[0048] The overall 32-element antenna array of the present application realizes dual-polarized aperture efficiency of more than 80% in a wide frequency band, aperture efficiency of more than 90% in a partial frequency band, and a maximum gain of 30dB, the voltage standing wave ratio is controlled at 1.5 level in the whole frequency band, and the polarization isolation is more than 50dB, and the port isolation is more than 30dB. It has very good overall performance.

[0049] The present application designs a full-metal cutting rotary transition layer, effectively increases the aperture efficiency in the whole frequency band, improves the impedance matching between the quadrature mode coupler and the horn antenna unit, and has very high power capacity and reliable structural stability.

[0050] The present application designs a multi-purpose power divider structure, simplifies the design process of the feeding circuit, and realizes the height correspondence of the air cavity through longitudinal structure design, thereby reducing the number of layers, and the structure is designed in a stepped structure, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost.

[0051] The concave-convex dual-polarized feeding circuit provided by the present application improves the space utilization, reduces the height of the overall antenna array, and reduces the weight of the antenna.

[0052] The wideband dual-polarized compact high-efficiency horn antenna array provided by the present application has a working bandwidth of 11-14.5GHz, a horn antenna period of 40mm, a voltage standing wave ratio of two polarizations controlled at 1.5 level in the band, a maximum gain of 30dB, an aperture efficiency of more than 80% in the band, an aperture efficiency of more than 90% in a partial frequency band, a polarization isolation of more than 50dB, and a port isolation of more than 30dB.

[0053] The expected income and commercial value after the conversion of the application are as follows: the compact dual-polarized horn array antenna designed in the application has excellent performance, has aperture efficiency of more than 80% in the whole frequency band, and has efficiency of more than 90% in part of the frequency band; the design characteristics of wide band, dual polarization and full metal also facilitate application in application scenarios such as satellite communication, high altitude, high power and high speed. Compared with the traditional horn array antenna, the application also has the characteristics of low cost, compact structure, light weight, few layers and convenient processing, and is suitable for industrialization and batch production. It is expected to have a market prospect of ten million, and the characteristics of miniaturization, light weight, low cost and high performance also enable it to be applied in related aspects such as civil communication, satellite communication and military field.

[0054] The technical scheme of the application fills the technical blank in the industry at home and abroad: the compact dual-polarized horn array antenna designed in the application realizes the characteristics of wide band, high aperture efficiency, dual polarization, high space utilization, low layer quantity and easy processing. The full-metal design scheme also enables the antenna array to have high power capacity and stable working state. The application fills the technical blank of the wideband compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna and provides an effective satellite antenna solution. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0055] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna in a metal cavity provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0056] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of an air cavity of the overall structure of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0057] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the design iteration optimization process of the stepped horn antenna unit containing the cutting rotary layer in the application;

[0058] Figure 4 is a top view schematic diagram of the high-efficiency dual-polarized horn antenna array containing the cutting rotary layer provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0059] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a one-to-four power divider prototype with adjustable stepped design.

[0060] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the upper layer power distribution circuit provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0061] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the lower layer power distribution circuit provided by an embodiment of the application;

[0062] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the placement of the upper layer power distribution circuit and the lower layer power distribution circuit in the application;

[0063] Figure 9 is the overall power distribution circuit and the structure schematic diagram after loading the quadrature mode coupler array provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0064] Figure 10 is the S11 and S22 and S21 curve of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0065] Figure 11(a) is the directional diagram curve and cross-polarization curve realized after polarization 1 feeding of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0066] Figure 11(b) is the directional diagram curve and cross-polarization curve realized after polarization 2 feeding of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0067] Figure 12 is the aperture efficiency comparison diagram of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array loaded with the cutting rotary layer and loaded with the same height general transition air cavity transition provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0068] Figure 13 is the voltage standing wave ratio diagram of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array final model provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0069] In the figure: 1, stepped horn antenna unit; 2, cutting rotary layer; 3, quadrature mode coupler; 4, one group of quadrature mode couplers rotated 0°, 90°, 180°, 270°; 6, total port; 7, narrow rectangular back cavity; 8, four-equal-part sub-port; 9, adjustable step design of slant step E-plane power divider; 10, upper layer first power distributor; 11, upper layer second power distributor; 12, upper layer third power distributor; 13, lower layer first power distributor; 14, lower layer second power distributor; 15, lower layer third power distributor; 16, lower layer fourth power distributor; 17, 90° bending waveguide. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0070] In order to make the purpose, technical scheme and advantages of the present application more clear and explicit, the following will combine embodiments to further specifically describe the present application. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described here are only used to explain the present application, and are not used to limit the present application.

[0071] In order to make those skilled in the art fully understand how the present application is specifically implemented, this part is an explanation and description of the embodiment of the technical scheme of the claim.

[0072] Figure 1It is a metal cavity assembly structure diagram of a compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna in the application. Because the antenna array and the corresponding dual-polarized feeding circuit cannot be machined from a whole metal cavity at one time, and the machining diameter of the milling cutter is related to the cavity depth, in order to ensure the machining precision and feasibility, the antenna array and the feeding circuit are divided into layers in advance, and the whole antenna array is composed of 4 layers of metal layers. Threaded holes and positioning holes are machined on the metal cavity during machining, which facilitates subsequent assembly and testing.

[0073] Figure 2 It is an air cavity model of a compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna in the application. The overall structure is sequentially composed of a 4*8 stepped horn antenna array, a 4*8 orthogonal mode coupler array, an upper power distribution circuit and a lower power distribution circuit from top to bottom. In order to ensure the structural stability, power capacity and compact structure of the whole antenna, the upper and lower air cavities of the upper and lower power distribution circuits are staggered and have a minimum metal spacing of 1.5 mm. The stepped horn antenna units with cutting rotary layers are butted to the orthogonal mode couplers according to the center line positions. Two polarized 1 / 32 power distribution circuits each output corresponds to a port connected to each orthogonal mode coupler, and each antenna unit is fed with two polarized high-isolation.

[0074] Figure 3 It is a design iteration optimization flowchart of a stepped horn antenna unit with a cutting rotary layer in the application. Fig. (a) is a first step design of a direct transition dual-polarized high-efficiency corner horn antenna unit. The antenna adopts a structure that gradually expands from bottom to top, avoiding the use of a spline profile design for high efficiency, thereby avoiding the need for layering due to the large middle and small ends. Fig. (b) is a model after the model in Fig. (a) is changed to a stepped type. The dual-polarized high-efficiency horn after the stepped design achieves performance close to that of a straight transition horn, and effectively reduces the difficulty of processing, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost. Fig. (c) is a design that introduces a rotary cutting layer based on Fig. (b). This layer has higher antenna efficiency than the design of the best stepped horn with the same height, and also effectively improves the impedance matching of the antenna and the orthogonal mode coupler.

[0075] Figure 4 It is a high-efficiency dual-polarized horn antenna array containing a cutting rotary layer in the application. Through an 8-layer stepped transition structure design, a high-aperture-efficiency horn antenna unit is achieved. On this basis, by loading a cutting rotary layer, exciting high-order modes, and lifting the field strength through cutting angles, the aperture efficiency is improved in the full frequency band, and the impedance matching performance is also improved.

[0076] Figure 5The schematic diagram of a one-to-four power divider prototype with adjustable steps is designed. The structure is a five-port element. After the total port enters, it is designed as an H-plane T-type power divider. On this basis, a narrow rectangular back cavity structure is installed, so that the performance optimization of power distribution can be realized. The total port is in the form of an H-plane power divider, which divides the energy into two E-plane power dividers on both sides. The square back cavity is added behind the total port for matching optimization. Each upper two-stage power divider contains two E-plane power dividers. The power divider is designed as a stepped inclined triangle adjustable step. This design can facilitate height adjustment when assembling a large power divider array. The interface with other structures is at the same height, thereby reducing the number of division layers. By moving the port up and down and adjusting the length, the prototype can be changed to other power divider circuits of the feeding circuit in the patent.

[0077] Figure 6 The schematic diagram of the overall model of the upper half-layer power distribution circuit is shown. The power distribution circuit is a 33-port element, which plays a role of 1-to-32 equal division. The center is the total port, which is the energy feeding inlet. It is vertically placed, and the remaining ports are all equal amplitude output ports. The power distribution circuit is a symmetrical mirror structure, which is symmetrical on the left and right and front and back. The upper power divider provides polarization 1 power supply. The whole is composed of an upper one-stage power divider, two upper two-stage power dividers, and eight upper three-stage power dividers. The upper one-stage, two-stage, and three-stage power dividers are all equal division structures, so they are designed symmetrically. The upper one-stage power divider is a three-port element, which is an E-plane power divider. The energy equalization optimization control is realized by the rectangular slot sinking. The upper two-stage power divider is a variant of the adjustable step power divider prototype. The total port and the branch port are on the same side in the up-down orientation. In order to stagger with the horn array of the upper layer and the structure of the lower power divider circuit, the total port is lifted by the stepped longitudinal bending transition. The upper three-stage power divider is also a variant of the adjustable step power divider prototype. The total port and the branch port are on different sides in the up-down orientation. The upper one-stage power divider connects the total ports of two upper two-stage power dividers through two branch ports. Each upper two-stage power divider leads out four output ports through its branch ports. The four output ports are connected to the total ports of the upper three-stage power dividers, respectively. The output ports of the upper three-stage power dividers are connected to the input ports of the orthogonal mode coupler.

[0078] Figure 7The overall model schematic diagram of the lower half power distribution circuit is a 33-port element, which plays a role of 1 / 32, and the center is a total port, that is, an energy feeding inlet, which is horizontally placed, and the remaining ports are all equal amplitude output ports. The overall power distribution circuit is a symmetrical mirror structure, which is symmetrical on the left and right and front and back. The lower layer power distributor provides power supply for polarization 1, which is composed of a lower layer first power distributor, two lower layer second power distributors, four lower layer third power distributors and sixteen lower layer fourth power distributors. The first, second, third and fourth level power distributors are all symmetrical in structure design because they are equal division structures. The lower layer first power distributor is a three-port element, which is an H-plane power distributor, and the energy equalization optimization control is realized by loading the rectangular back cavity. The lower layer second power distributor is a three-port element, and the split ports are respectively connected with a 90° bending waveguide, which adopts a set of concentric circle design to realize better impedance matching. The lower layer third power distributor is a variant of the adjustable stepped power divider prototype, and the total port and the split port are on the opposite sides in the up-down direction. In order to stagger with the structure of other layers in space, the total port is stepped and longitudinally bent to transition to the overall structure below. The lower layer fourth power distributor is a three-port element, and the structure of the power distributor is a super-compact design. The total input waveguide is power distributed to the first level vertical stepped bending structure on both sides through the E-plane power distributor structure, and is further connected to the second level vertical bending structure, and finally is bent to the horizontal position as the output. The lower layer first power distributor is connected with the total ports of two lower layer second power distributors through two split ports, and each lower layer second power distributor further guides two output ports through its split ports, which are connected to the total ports of the lower layer third power distributors through the 90° bending waveguide. Each third power distributor receives energy and outputs to the input port of the lower layer fourth power distributor, and the output port of the fourth power distributor is connected to the input port of the orthogonal mode coupler.

[0079] Figure 8 The placement schematic diagram of the upper layer power distribution circuit and the lower layer power distribution circuit in the application adopts a concave-convex compact design, which realizes the maximum space utilization of the two-layer power distribution circuit by placing the orthogonal and staggered power dividers. As shown in (a) and (b) of the figure, the front view assembly schematic diagram and the left view assembly schematic diagram of the feeding circuit of the scheme are shown in sequence. By similar concave-convex staggered design, the circuit corresponding to the first layer polarization is placed in the blank part of the circuit corresponding to the second layer polarization, and the convex part of the second layer polarization circuit falls in the blank part of the first layer polarization circuit, so as to finally realize the compact feeding circuit design. In (c), based on the design of the concave-convex power distribution circuit, the step height of the stepped power divider prototype can be adjusted, so that the transition structures of multiple different types of power dividers can realize the consistency of the relative height, thereby reducing the original 7 layers to 3 layers. The dashed line part is the annotation of the consistent height.

[0080] Figure 9 The figure is a schematic diagram of the overall power distribution circuit and the structure after loading the orthogonal mode coupler array in the application.

[0081] The compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna provided by the embodiment of the application can be used as a feed source of a reflector antenna or a lens antenna in the field of satellite communication

[0082] The embodiment of the application has achieved some positive effects in research and development or use, and has great advantages compared with the prior art, which will be described below in combination with data and charts in the test process.

[0083] Figure 10 The figure is a schematic diagram of the overall power distribution circuit and the structure after loading the orthogonal mode coupler array in the application.

[0084] Figure 11 (a) is a directional diagram curve and cross-polarization curve of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna in the application after polarization 1 feeding.

[0085] Figure 11 (a) is a directional diagram curve and cross-polarization curve of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna in the application after polarization 1 feeding.

[0086] Figure 12The aperture efficiency comparison chart of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array in the application after loading a cutting rotary layer and after loading a common height air cavity transition. The triangular dotted curve is the overall aperture efficiency chart of the horn array antenna after loading the cutting rotary layer, and the square dotted curve represents the aperture efficiency chart of the horn array antenna after loading the same height air box without rotation and cutting. It can be seen that the aperture efficiency is obviously improved from 12.2 GHz to 15 GHz in the frequency band.

[0087] Figure 13 The voltage standing wave ratio of the final model of the compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array in the application can be seen. The voltage standing wave ratio is less than 1.5 in the full frequency band, which indicates that the electromagnetic wave can smoothly propagate in the overall model, and the standing wave is effectively suppressed.

[0088] The advantages of the application are as follows: (1) the high-aperture easy-to-process horn antenna design is realized through the stepped structure design, and the cutting rotary layer transition layer is innovatively loaded. More than 80% of the aperture efficiency in the full frequency band is realized without loading a medium lens or a super surface. At the same time, the cutting rotary layer transition layer significantly improves the impedance matching between the orthogonal mode coupler and the dual-polarized horn antenna unit. (2) The adjustable stepped power divider prototype design is proposed. Through simple length change, port position and height adjustment of the model, it can be widely used in the upper and lower layer feed circuits, greatly reducing the design complexity. At the same time, by adjusting the relative height of each step in the inclined stepped E-plane power divider, the cavities of other elements in the array are realized in the same horizontal plane, greatly reducing the number of processing layers required during processing. Finally, the horn antenna array containing the dual-polarized feed circuit can be processed and assembled by only 4 layers of milled metal, greatly reducing the processing cost. (3) The power divider feed circuit is cleverly arranged and designed. The upper power distribution circuit is in the form of "convex", and the lower power distribution circuit is in the form of "concave". The two are staggered and arranged, mutually complementing the unused space, realizing compact feed design, effectively reducing the profile height of the array antenna, and at the same time, due to the high space utilization design, the antenna has the advantage of light weight. (4) The overall structure adopts a stepped model design scheme, which is convenient for subsequent processing. By adjusting the relative height of each step, the convenience of layering is realized, effectively reducing the manufacturing cost and assembly difficulty. (5) The overall 32-element antenna array realizes more than 80% of the aperture efficiency of the dual-polarized antenna in the wide frequency band. Part of the frequency band can realize more than 90% of the aperture efficiency, and realizes a maximum gain of 30 dB. The voltage standing wave ratio is controlled within 1.5 in the full frequency band, more than 50 dB of polarization isolation, and more than 30 dB of port isolation. It has very good overall performance.

[0089] The above merely illustrates the specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any modification, equivalent replacement and improvement within the technical range disclosed by the present application and within the spirit and principle of the present application should be covered within the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna, characterized in that, The compact, high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna includes: Horn antenna array, broadband orthogonal mode coupler, upper-layer 1-to-32 convex power distribution circuit and lower-layer 1-to-32 concave power distribution circuit; The horn antenna array includes several stepped horn antenna elements, and each stepped horn antenna element is provided with a broadband orthogonal mode coupler at its lower end. The upper-layer 1-to-32 convex power distribution circuit and the lower-layer 1-to-32 concave power distribution circuit together constitute a compact stepped dual-path power divider, located below the broadband orthogonal mode coupler. The stepped horn antenna unit contains a total of 7 layers, of which the top 6 layers are rectangular boxes with transitions, and the bottom layer is a cut-rotation layer, which is located between the stepped horn antenna unit and the broadband orthogonal mode coupler. The cutting rotation layer is a square air cavity rotated 45°, on which the four corners of the square cavity are chamfered, and "mountain"-shaped inward convexity is made on the four inner walls.

2. The compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna of claim 1, wherein, The prototype of the compact stepped dual-path power divider is a five-port element. A narrow rectangular back cavity structure is added to the H-face T-type power divider at the main port; there is a slanted triangular adjustable stepped E-face power divider on each side.

3. The compact high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna of claim 1, wherein, The broadband orthogonal mode coupler adopts a stepped design, with three layers of metal cylinders of different heights and diameters placed in the center. The overall structure presents 90-degree rotational symmetry. Each broadband orthogonal mode coupler is rotated 90°, 180°, 270°, and 0° to form a group.

4. The compact, high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The prototype of the compact stepped dual-path power divider consists of an H-plane torsional power divider and an E-plane inclined stepped power divider connected together to obtain two sets of four equally divided outputs with a 180° phase difference. The H-plane torsional power divider includes a narrow rectangular metal back cavity. The E-plane stepped power divider has a multi-level inclined step design at its main port.

5. The compact, high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The upper-layer 32-convex power distribution layer includes an upper-level primary power distributor, an upper-level secondary power distributor, and an upper-level tertiary power distributor.

6. The compact, high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna as described in claim 4, characterized in that, The upper-level power divider is located at the center and is a three-port E-plane power divider. The total port of the upper-level power divider is connected to the total feed corresponding to the first polarization energy below. The upper-level secondary power divider is a five-port component, with all ports located at the top of the component. The four equally divided ports are symmetrically distributed at the four corners of the secondary power divider. The main port of the upper-level secondary power divider is located at the center line of the component and is connected to the sub-ports of the upper-level primary power divider. The four sub-ports of the upper-level secondary power divider are respectively connected to the main port of the upper-level tertiary power divider. The upper-level three-stage power divider is a five-port element, with its main port located at the upper-level centerline and an E-plane power divider on each of the left and right sides; the main ports of the four upper-level three-stage power dividers are connected one-to-one with the branch ports of the upper-level two-stage power dividers. The ports of the upper three-stage power divider are located in the four corners of the lower stage, serving as E-plane power dividers and connected one by one to the ports of the broadband orthogonal mode coupler.

7. The compact, high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna as described in claim 5, characterized in that, Each upper-level power distribution circuit is connected to form a 1-to-32 power divider. Each branch port is connected to the corresponding port of 32 broadband orthogonal mode couplers. The upper-level 1-to-32 convex power distribution circuit and the lower-level 1-to-32 concave power distribution circuit are vertically connected and staggered in horizontal space, respectively placed in the empty spaces between each other.

8. The compact, high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna as described in claim 1, characterized in that, The lower-level 1-to-32 concave power distribution layer includes four types of power dividers and a horizontal bending structure, the former being the lower-level first-stage power divider, the lower-level second-stage power divider, the lower-level third-stage power divider, and the lower-level fourth-stage power divider, respectively. The lower-level power divider is an H-plane power divider, which is a three-port element. The main port is connected to the polarization 2 input, and the sub-ports are respectively connected to a 90° bent structure. The bent structure is a two-port element that bends the waveguide by 90 degrees. The lower-level secondary power divider is an H-plane power divider, a three-port element, with its ports connected to the sub-ports of the lower-level primary power divider; The lower-level three-stage power divider is a five-port element. The main port is located at the upper-level centerline, which serves as the H-plane power divider. The four sub-ports are located at the four corners of the three-stage power divider, which serve as the E-plane power divider. The lower-level four-stage power divider is a three-port element and is an E-plane power divider.

9. The compact, high-efficiency dual-polarized horn array antenna as described in claim 8, characterized in that, The main port of the lower-level secondary power divider is connected to the sub-port of the lower-level primary power divider. The main port of the lower-level three-stage power divider is connected to the output port of the lower-level two-stage power divider through a 90-degree vertical bend structure. The main port of the lower-level four-stage power divider is connected to the branch port of the lower-level three-stage power divider, and its branch port is connected in sequence to another spare branch port of the broadband orthogonal mode coupler. The lower-level 1-to-32 power divider includes one lower-level first-stage power divider, two lower-level second-stage power dividers, eight lower-level third-stage power dividers, and sixteen lower-level fourth-stage power dividers. The lower-level power dividers are arranged in a symmetrical mirror structure and are cascaded to form a 1-to-32 power distribution circuit. Each branch port is connected to the additional corresponding port of thirty-two orthogonal mode couplers.

Images