A radiating element and a base station antenna

Abstract

This invention relates to the field of communication technology, providing a radiating element and a base station antenna. The radiating element includes two linearly polarized dipole groups, which are mutually orthogonal in polarization and integrated into a single unit. Each linearly polarized dipole group includes at least three symmetrical dipoles. A portion of the symmetrical dipoles in the radiating element are arranged in a circular array, while another portion is nested within the circular array. All the symmetrical dipoles operate within the same low-frequency, mid-frequency, or high-frequency range. This radiating element not only possesses excellent performance indicators such as gain and bandwidth convergence but also allows for a reduction in the size of the radiating element, thereby achieving miniaturization of the base station antenna. The integrated radiating element offers high reliability, convenient installation, improved installation efficiency and accuracy, and helps ensure the performance indicators of the radiating element.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a radiating element and a base station antenna. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of mobile communication services, different operators have different system standards and construction progress, requiring the deployment of many antennas of different system standards at the same site. To reduce system complexity and operators' construction and maintenance costs, there is an urgent need to reduce the number of base station antennas or shrink their size. At the same time, the complex electromagnetic environment of densely populated urban buildings and other locations places increasingly higher demands on antenna coverage performance, such as gain, horizontal beamwidth, and other radiation performance indicators.

[0003] Traditional antenna designs often address gain issues by increasing size vertically or bandwidth convergence by increasing size or boundaries horizontally. While this improves system coverage, such base station antennas are generally large, heavy, and expensive. This contradiction between miniaturization and high radiation performance requirements severely restricts the development of base station antennas. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This invention provides a radiating element and a base station antenna to solve the problem that antennas in the prior art are difficult to balance radiation performance indicators and miniaturization requirements.

[0005] This invention provides a radiating element for forming a base station antenna on a reflector, comprising:

[0006] Two linearly polarized oscillator groups are mutually polarized orthogonal and integrated into one unit. Each linearly polarized oscillator group includes at least three symmetrical oscillators. A portion of the symmetrical oscillators of the radiating unit are arranged in a ring array, and another portion of the symmetrical oscillators are nested in the ring array. The operating frequency range of all the symmetrical oscillators is low frequency, medium frequency, or high frequency.

[0007] According to a radiation unit provided by the present invention, the two linearly polarized oscillator groups include a first linearly polarized oscillator group and a second linearly polarized oscillator group. The first linearly polarized oscillator group includes a first symmetrical oscillator, a second symmetrical oscillator, and a third symmetrical oscillator. The second linearly polarized oscillator group includes a fourth symmetrical oscillator, a fifth symmetrical oscillator, and a sixth symmetrical oscillator.

[0008] The first symmetrical oscillator, the second symmetrical oscillator, the fourth symmetrical oscillator, and the fifth symmetrical oscillator are arranged in a ring array to form a bowl-shaped radiator. The third symmetrical oscillator and the sixth symmetrical oscillator are connected to form a cross-shaped radiator. The cross-shaped radiator is coaxially nested within the bowl-shaped radiator.

[0009] According to a radiation unit provided by the present invention, the projection of the cross-shaped radiator on the reflector is located within the projection range of the bowl-shaped radiator on the reflector.

[0010] A radiation unit according to the present invention further includes:

[0011] The base, each of the symmetrical oscillators is provided with a balun and connected to the base through the balun, the base being integrally formed with the two linearly polarized oscillator groups.

[0012] According to a radiation unit provided by the present invention, the base includes a first connecting portion and a second connecting portion, the first symmetrical oscillator, the second symmetrical oscillator, the fourth symmetrical oscillator and the fifth symmetrical oscillator are respectively connected to the first connecting portion through a balun, the first connecting portion surrounds the balun of the third symmetrical oscillator and the sixth symmetrical oscillator, and the balun of the third symmetrical oscillator and the sixth symmetrical oscillator are connected to the first connecting portion through the second connecting portion.

[0013] According to a radiation unit provided by the present invention, the maximum size of the orthographic projection of the radiation unit on the reflector is 0.4-0.7 times the working wavelength of its working frequency, and the maximum vertical height of the radiation arm of the radiation unit relative to the reflector is 0.3-0.7 times the working wavelength of the working frequency. The working frequency is the center frequency of the working frequency range, and the working wavelength is the wavelength in vacuum corresponding to the center frequency.

[0014] According to the present invention, the radiating unit is one of the following: an integral die-cast structure, a printed circuit board structure, a sheet metal bending structure, a surface mount array structure, an LCP liquid crystal polymer structure, and a PPS industrial liquid crystal polymer structure.

[0015] According to a radiating element provided by the present invention, each of the symmetrical oscillators operates in the frequency range of 615-960MHz or a subset thereof;

[0016] Alternatively, the operating frequency range of each of the symmetrical oscillators is 1427-2700MHz or a subset thereof;

[0017] Alternatively, the power frequency range of each of the symmetrical oscillators is 200-3800MHz or 4000-5000MHz or 5925-7125MHz or a subset thereof.

[0018] The present invention also provides a base station antenna, comprising a plurality of array elements arranged in an M×N matrix, wherein the plurality of array elements include at least one of the above-mentioned radiating elements, and the radiating elements are arranged in a Q×P matrix;

[0019] Where M and N are integers greater than or equal to 1, P and Q are integers greater than or equal to 0, P and Q are not both zero, Q is less than or equal to M, and P is less than or equal to N.

[0020] According to a base station antenna provided by the present invention, the base station antenna further includes a phase shifter, wherein all the symmetrical dipoles of the linearly polarized dipole group are connected to the output terminals of the plurality of phase shifters in a one-to-one correspondence;

[0021] Alternatively, the base station antenna may further include a power divider and a phase shifter, with the input of the power divider connected to the output of the phase shifter, and all the symmetrical dipoles of the linearly polarized dipole group respectively connected to the output of the power divider;

[0022] Alternatively, the base station antenna may further include a power divider, a first phase shifter, and a second phase shifter. The input terminal of the power divider is connected to the output terminal of the first phase shifter. A portion of the symmetrical dipoles in the linearly polarized dipole group are respectively connected to the output terminal of the power divider, and another portion of the symmetrical dipoles are connected one-to-one to the output terminals of the same number of the second phase shifters.

[0023] The radiating element and base station antenna provided by this invention, by setting two linearly polarized dipole groups, each group including at least three symmetrical dipoles with the same frequency range, and arranging a portion of the symmetrical dipoles in a circular array while the remaining portion is nested within this array, not only possesses excellent performance indicators such as gain and bandwidth convergence, but also reduces the size of the radiating element, thereby achieving miniaturization of the base station antenna. When this radiating element is applied to a base station antenna, different radiation patterns can be achieved by adjusting the excitation amplitude and excitation phase of each symmetrical dipole, resulting in higher radiation performance such as gain and bandwidth convergence. Furthermore, the integrated radiating element offers high reliability and convenient installation, improving installation efficiency and accuracy, and helping to ensure the performance indicators of the radiating element. Attached Figure Description

[0024] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of this invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0025] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural schematic diagram of the radiation unit provided by the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 This is a top view of the radiation unit provided by the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 This is a side view of the radiation unit provided by the present invention;

[0028] Figure 4 This is a simulation comparison curve of the radiation pattern of the radiation unit provided by the present invention;

[0029] Figure 5 It is one of the topological schematic diagrams of antenna arrays in related technologies;

[0030] Figure 6 This is the second topological schematic diagram of an antenna array in related technologies;

[0031] Figure 7 This is one of the topological schematic diagrams of the antenna array in the base station antenna provided by the present invention;

[0032] Figure 8 This is the second topological schematic diagram of the antenna array in the base station antenna provided by the present invention;

[0033] Figure 9 This is the third topological schematic diagram of the antenna array in the base station antenna provided by the present invention;

[0034] Figure 10 This is one of the topology diagrams of the base station antenna feeding network provided by the present invention;

[0035] Figure 11 This is the second schematic diagram of the feed network topology for a base station antenna provided by the present invention;

[0036] Figure 12 This is the third schematic diagram of the power supply network topology for a base station antenna provided by this invention;

[0037] Figure label:

[0038] 1. Radiation unit; 2. Low-frequency bowl-shaped radiation unit; 3. Low-frequency cross-shaped radiation unit; 4. High-frequency radiation unit; 5. Multi-frequency radiation unit group; 6. Reflector;

[0039] 11. First symmetrical dipole; 111. Radial arm one of the first symmetrical dipole; 111a. Extension arm; 112. Radial arm two of the first symmetrical dipole; 113. Feed plate of the first symmetrical dipole; 114. Balun of the first symmetrical dipole;

[0040] 12. Second symmetrical dipole; 121. Radial arm one of the second symmetrical dipole; 122. Radial arm two of the second symmetrical dipole; 123. Feed plate of the second symmetrical dipole; 124. Balun of the second symmetrical dipole;

[0041] 13. Third symmetrical dipole; 131. Radial arm one of the third symmetrical dipole; 132. Radial arm two of the third symmetrical dipole; 133. Feed plate of the third symmetrical dipole; 134. Balun of the third symmetrical dipole;

[0042] 14. Fourth symmetrical dipole; 141. Radial arm one of the fourth symmetrical dipole; 142. Radial arm two of the fourth symmetrical dipole; 143. Feed plate of the fourth symmetrical dipole; 144. Balun of the fourth symmetrical dipole;

[0043] 15. The fifth symmetrical dipole; 151. Radial arm one of the fifth symmetrical dipole; 152. Radial arm two of the fifth symmetrical dipole; 153. The feed plate of the fifth symmetrical dipole; 154. The balun of the fifth symmetrical dipole;

[0044] 16. The sixth symmetrical dipole; 161. Radial arm one of the sixth symmetrical dipole; 162. Radial arm two of the sixth symmetrical dipole; 163. The feed plate of the sixth symmetrical dipole; 164. The balun of the sixth symmetrical dipole;

[0045] 17. Base; 171. First connecting part; 1711. Mounting hole; 172. Second connecting part;

[0046] 181. First coaxial feed; 182. Second coaxial feed; 183. Third coaxial feed; 184. Fourth coaxial feed; 185. Fifth coaxial feed; 186. Sixth coaxial feed. Detailed Implementation

[0047] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this invention clearer, the technical solutions of this invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of this invention. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of this invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0048] In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that the terms "bowl-shaped," "cross-shaped," "nested," "inner," "outer," "upper," and "lower," etc., indicating shapes, orientations, or positional relationships, are based on the shapes, orientations, or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings and are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or unit referred to must have a specific shape, orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention. Unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "first"..."tenth" are numbering for the purpose of clearly indicating product components and do not represent any substantial difference. "A plurality of" means two or more, "and / or" indicates at least one of the connected objects, and the character " / " generally indicates that the preceding and following related objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0049] In the description of this invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the terms "installation," "connection," and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; and they can refer to the internal connection of two components. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms in this invention based on the specific circumstances.

[0050] The following is combined with Figures 1-12 The radiating element and base station antenna of the present invention are described.

[0051] The radiating element 1 provided in this embodiment of the invention is used to form a base station antenna by being disposed on the reflector 6. For example... Figure 1 As shown, the radiating unit 1 includes two linearly polarized oscillator groups. The two linearly polarized oscillator groups are mutually orthogonal and integrated into one unit, and each linearly polarized oscillator group includes at least three symmetrical oscillators. A portion of the symmetrical oscillators in the radiating unit 1 are arranged in a ring array, and another portion of the symmetrical oscillators are nested in the ring array. All symmetrical oscillators operate in the same frequency range: low frequency, medium frequency, or high frequency.

[0052] It should be noted that the ring array formed by a portion of symmetrical dipoles nested within another portion of symmetrical dipoles refers to the nesting of a portion of symmetrical dipoles within the projection range of the reflector 6 and another portion of symmetrical dipoles within the projection range of the reflector 6. In other words, the projection range of a portion of symmetrical dipoles on the reflector 6 is contained within the projection range of the other portion of symmetrical dipoles on the reflector 6.

[0053] like Figure 2As shown, the third symmetrical oscillator 13 and the sixth symmetrical oscillator 16 form a cross-shaped radiator, while the first symmetrical oscillator 11, the second symmetrical oscillator 12, the fourth symmetrical oscillator 14, and the fifth symmetrical oscillator 15 form a bowl-shaped radiator. The cross-shaped and bowl-shaped radiators are coaxially arranged on the plane of the reflector 6, and they can be arranged at the same height or at different heights in the direction perpendicular to the reflector 6. The projection range of the cross-shaped radiator on the reflector 6 can be included within the projection range of the bowl-shaped radiator on the reflector 6, or vice versa. For example, if the radiating unit 1 is a patch oscillator structure, then the bowl-shaped and cross-shaped radiators are in the same plane, with the bowl-shaped radiator surrounding the cross-shaped radiator.

[0054] In this embodiment, the radiating unit 1 can be a radiating unit with two linear polarization directions of ±45 degrees. The symmetrical oscillators of one linearly polarized oscillator group are all positively polarized at 45 degrees, and the symmetrical oscillators of the other linearly polarized oscillator group are negatively polarized at 45 degrees. It should be noted that the radiating unit 1 can also be a radiating unit with two linear polarization directions of horizontal and vertical polarization, or other linear polarization directions. This embodiment of the invention uses positive and negative 45-degree linear polarization to explain the principle and functionality of the radiating unit 1.

[0055] In this system, the number of symmetrical dipoles in the two linearly polarized dipole groups can be the same or different. In principle, all the symmetrical dipoles in any linearly polarized dipole group can be half-wave dipoles or full-wave dipoles, or a portion of the symmetrical dipoles can be half-wave dipoles and another portion can be full-wave dipoles.

[0056] For example, both linearly polarized oscillator groups have 3 half-wave oscillators; for another example, both linearly polarized oscillator groups have 3 full-wave oscillators; for yet another example, one linearly polarized symmetrical oscillator has 4 half-wave oscillators, and the other linearly polarized oscillator group has 4 half-wave oscillators and 1 full-wave oscillator.

[0057] All symmetrical dipoles operate within the same frequency range, meaning all symmetrical dipoles operate at low frequencies, or all symmetrical dipoles operate at mid frequencies, or all symmetrical dipoles operate at high frequencies. Low frequency refers to frequencies below 1000MHz; mid frequency refers to frequencies between 1000MHz and 3000MHz; and high frequency refers to frequencies above 3000MHz.

[0058] In this embodiment of the invention, the operating frequency range of each symmetrical oscillator in the radiating unit 1 is 615-960MHz or a subset thereof; or, the operating frequency range of each symmetrical oscillator is 1427-2700MHz or a subset thereof; or, the power frequency range of each symmetrical oscillator is 3200-3800MHz or 4000-5000MHz or 5925-7125MHz or a subset thereof.

[0059] For example, radiating element 1 operates in the low-frequency range of 615-960MHz, and all of its symmetrical dipoles can operate in the 615-960MHz range, or a subset of this frequency range. As another example, some of the symmetrical dipoles in the linearly polarized dipole group operate in the 703-960MHz range, while another portion operates in the 885-960MHz range. Similar designs can be used for intermediate or high frequencies to achieve the same functionality.

[0060] All the symmetrical oscillators of the two linearly polarized oscillator groups are arranged in a certain way, so that a portion of the symmetrical oscillators are arranged in a ring array, and another portion of the symmetrical oscillators are nested in the ring array. In other words, a portion of the symmetrical oscillators are arranged around another portion of the symmetrical oscillators.

[0061] The radiating element provided in this embodiment of the invention not only possesses excellent performance indicators such as gain and bandwidth convergence, but also reduces the size of the radiating element 1, thereby achieving miniaturization of the base station antenna. When this radiating element 1 is applied to a base station antenna, different radiation patterns can be achieved by adjusting the excitation amplitude and excitation phase corresponding to each symmetrical dipole, resulting in higher radiation performance such as gain and bandwidth convergence. Furthermore, the integrated radiating element offers high reliability and convenient installation, improving installation efficiency and accuracy, and helping to ensure the performance indicators of the radiating element.

[0062] In this design, all symmetrical oscillators in the two linearly polarized oscillator groups are integrated into a single unit, meaning that all symmetrical oscillators are integrated through connection, linkage, or assembly. For example, the radiating unit 1 can be one of the following: a die-cast structure, a printed circuit board structure, a sheet metal bending structure, a patch array structure, a liquid crystal polymer (LCP) structure, or an industrially produced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) liquid crystal polymer structure.

[0063] In some embodiments of the present invention, the two linearly polarized oscillator groups include a first linearly polarized oscillator group and a second linearly polarized oscillator group. The first linearly polarized oscillator group includes a first symmetrical oscillator 11, a second symmetrical oscillator 12, and a third symmetrical oscillator 13. The second linearly polarized oscillator group includes a fourth symmetrical oscillator 14, a fifth symmetrical oscillator 15, and a sixth symmetrical oscillator 16. The first symmetrical oscillator 11, the second symmetrical oscillator 12, the fourth symmetrical oscillator 14, and the fifth symmetrical oscillator 15 are arranged in a ring array to form a bowl-shaped radiator, and the third symmetrical oscillator 13 and the sixth symmetrical oscillator 16 are connected to form a cross-shaped radiator. The cross-shaped radiator is coaxially nested within the bowl-shaped radiator.

[0064] like Figures 1-3 As shown, the radiating element 1 is a combination of a bowl-shaped radiator and a cross-shaped radiator. The first symmetrical dipole 11, the second symmetrical dipole 12, the fourth symmetrical dipole 14, and the fifth symmetrical dipole 15 are arranged opposite each other in pairs, while the third symmetrical dipole 13 and the sixth symmetrical dipole 16 are orthogonal to each other. All six symmetrical dipoles are half-wave dipoles. The first symmetrical dipole 11 and the second symmetrical dipole 12 are located on either side of the third symmetrical dipole 13, and the fourth symmetrical dipole 14 and the fifth symmetrical dipole 15 are located on either side of the sixth symmetrical dipole 16. Specifically, the first symmetrical dipole 11, the second symmetrical dipole 12, and the third symmetrical dipole 13 are all positive 45-degree polarized, while the fourth symmetrical dipole 14, the fifth symmetrical dipole 15, and the sixth symmetrical dipole 16 are all negative 45-degree polarized.

[0065] The integrated structure of the bowl-shaped radiator and the cross-shaped radiator in this embodiment can be mass-produced using a die-casting draft molding process. The draft direction is the axial direction of the radiating unit 1, which helps to improve the consistency of the performance indicators of the radiating unit 1.

[0066] The first symmetrical dipole 11 includes a first radiating arm 111, a second radiating arm 112, a feed plate 113, and a balun 114. The two radiating arms are connected to the balun 114 and fed through the feed plate 113 to achieve amplitude and phase control. The feed plate 113 is connected to the phase shifter of the feeding network via a first coaxial feed line 181.

[0067] The second symmetrical dipole 12 includes a first radiating arm 121, a second radiating arm 122, a feed plate 123, and a balun 124. The two radiating arms are connected to the balun 124 and fed through the feed plate 123 to achieve amplitude and phase control. The feed plate 123 is connected to the phase shifter of the feeding network via a second coaxial feed line 182.

[0068] The third symmetrical dipole 13 includes a first radiating arm 131, a second radiating arm 132, a feed plate 133, and a balun 134. The two radiating arms are connected to the balun 134 and fed through the feed plate 133 to achieve amplitude and phase control. The feed plate 133 is connected to the phase shifter of the feeding network via a third coaxial feed line 183.

[0069] The fourth symmetrical dipole 14 includes a first radiating arm 141, a second radiating arm 142, a feed plate 143, and a balun 144. The two radiating arms are connected to the balun 144 and fed through the feed plate 143 to achieve amplitude and phase control. The feed plate 143 is connected to the phase shifter of the feeding network via a fourth coaxial feed line 184.

[0070] The fifth symmetrical dipole 15 includes a first radiating arm 151, a second radiating arm 152, a feed plate 153, and a balun 154. The two radiating arms are connected to the balun 154 and fed through the feed plate 153 to achieve amplitude and phase control. The feed plate 153 is connected to the phase shifter of the feeding network via a fifth coaxial feed line 185.

[0071] The sixth symmetrical dipole 16 includes a first radiating arm 161, a second radiating arm 162, a feed plate 163, and a balun 164. The two radiating arms are connected to the balun 164 and fed through the feed plate 163 to achieve amplitude and phase control. The feed plate 163 is connected to the phase shifter of the feeding network via a sixth coaxial feed line 186.

[0072] In this system, each symmetrical dipole has two radiating arms for radiating electromagnetic waves, and a balun is used for impedance matching. The outer conductor of the coaxial feed line of the matching feed plate is connected to the outer conductor of the corresponding balun, and the core wire is connected to the corresponding two radiating arms, thereby achieving balanced feeding of the symmetrical dipole and thus impedance matching.

[0073] The radiation unit provided in this embodiment of the invention also includes a base 17. Each symmetrical oscillator is provided with a balun and connected to the base 17 through the balun. The base 17 is integrally formed with the two linearly polarized oscillator groups. The base 17 is provided with mounting holes 1711, and the radiation unit 1 can be installed and connected to the reflector 6 through fasteners passing through the mounting holes 1711.

[0074] In some alternative embodiments, the base 17 includes a first connecting portion 171 and a second connecting portion 172. The first symmetrical oscillator 11, the second symmetrical oscillator 12, the fourth symmetrical oscillator 14, and the fifth symmetrical oscillator 15 are respectively connected to the first connecting portion 171 via baluns. The first connecting portion 171 surrounds the baluns of the third symmetrical oscillator 13 and the sixth symmetrical oscillator 16, and the baluns of the third symmetrical oscillator 13 and the sixth symmetrical oscillator 16 are connected to the first connecting portion 171 via the second connecting portion 172.

[0075] Specifically, the first connecting portion 171 has a ring-shaped structure, and the second connecting portion 172 has a cross-shaped structure. The second connecting portion 172 is located inside the first connecting portion 171 and is connected to the first connecting portion 171. The balun of all the symmetrical oscillators of the bowl-shaped radiator is connected to the first connecting portion 171 in a ring-like manner, and the balun of the two symmetrical oscillators of the cross-shaped radiator is connected to the second connecting portion 172. Mounting holes 1711 are provided in the first connecting portion 171; for example, multiple mounting holes 1711 are evenly spaced and distributed in the first connecting portion 171.

[0076] Furthermore, the first linearly polarized oscillator group also includes a seventh symmetrical oscillator and an eighth symmetrical oscillator, and the second linearly polarized oscillator group also includes a ninth symmetrical oscillator and a tenth symmetrical oscillator. The seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth symmetrical oscillators are arranged in a circular array to form another bowl-shaped radiator. The two bowl-shaped radiators are coaxially nested, so the shape of the radiating unit 1 is a combination of two bowl-shaped radiators and a cross-shaped radiator. By setting two nested bowl-shaped radiators, the radiating aperture of the radiating unit 1 can be further reduced while maintaining the same performance requirements. The projection of the inner bowl-shaped radiator on the reflector 6 is within the projection range of the outer bowl-shaped radiator on the reflector 6.

[0077] The structures of the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth symmetrical dipoles are similar to those of the first symmetrical dipole 11 described above, and will not be repeated here. Other bowl-shaped radiators can be added to the outside of the bowl-shaped radiator to increase the number of symmetrical dipoles. The desired gain and bandwidth convergence performance indicators can be achieved by increasing or decreasing the number of nested bowl-shaped radiators. It should be noted that radiating element 1 may not include a cross-shaped radiator, but may only have two or more sequentially nested bowl-shaped radiators.

[0078] In some alternative embodiments, the projection of the cross-shaped radiator on the reflector 6 is within the projection range of the bowl-shaped radiator on the reflector 6. It is understood that the projection size of the radiating element 1 on the reflector 6 is equal to the projection size of the bowl-shaped radiator on the reflector 6, and larger than the projection size of the cross-shaped radiator on the reflector 6.

[0079] like Figure 3As shown, the maximum size of the orthographic projection of the radiating element 1 onto the reflector 6 is d1, which is the size of the orthographic projection of the bowl-shaped radiator onto the reflector 6. The orthographic projection shape of the radiating element 1 onto the reflector 6 can be circular, square, rectangular, or other shapes. For example, Figure 3 In the radiating element 1, d1 is the equivalent circular diameter of the outer bowl-shaped radiator projected onto the reflector 6, which is approximately equal to 0.5 times the sum of the equivalent circular diameters of the cross-shaped radiator and the bowl-shaped radiator projected onto the reflector 6. By employing the array configuration of the radiating element 1 in this embodiment of the invention, the size of the base station antenna can be significantly reduced under the same performance requirements, or high-gain radiation performance can be achieved while maintaining essentially the same physical space dimensions.

[0080] In this unit, each symmetrical oscillator of the radiating element 1 has a radiating arm, and each radiating arm is connected to the reflector 6 via a balun. For example... Figure 3 As shown, the maximum vertical height of the radiating arm of the radiating unit 1 relative to the reflector 6 is d2, which is equivalent to the height of the corresponding balun relative to the reflector 6.

[0081] It is understandable that d2 is the maximum vertical height dimension of the radiating arm of all symmetrical dipoles in radiating element 1 relative to the reflector 6. For example, if the vertical height dimension of the radiating arm of the fourth symmetrical dipole 14 relative to the reflector 6 is the maximum among all symmetrical dipoles, then d2 represents this dimension. Optionally, the vertical height of the radiating arms of all symmetrical dipoles relative to the reflector 6 is equal, that is, all symmetrical dipoles share a common radiating surface.

[0082] It should be noted that each radiating arm and balun of radiating unit 1 has a corresponding electrical length. While ensuring that the electrical lengths of each radiating arm and each balun are equal, the shape of radiating unit 1 is confined within the three-dimensional space d1 and d2. Within this three-dimensional space, the number of symmetrical oscillators can be set as needed, such as the nested cross-shaped radiators and bowl-shaped radiators in the above embodiment, or the nested cross-shaped radiators and two bowl-shaped radiators in the above embodiment.

[0083] In this embodiment of the invention, the maximum size d1 of the orthographic projection of the radiating unit 1 onto the reflector 6 is 0.4-0.7 times the operating wavelength of its operating frequency. The maximum vertical height d2 of the radiating arm of the radiating unit 1 relative to the reflector 6 is 0.3-0.7 times the operating wavelength of the operating frequency. Wherein, the operating frequency is the center frequency of the operating frequency range, and the operating wavelength is the wavelength in vacuum corresponding to the center frequency.

[0084] For any linearly polarized dipole group in radiating element 1, there are at least three symmetrical dipoles, i.e., a small array of at least three elements. According to the principle of antenna pattern product, with the same element pattern, the more elements there are, the higher the element gain, the narrower the wavelength in the array direction, and the more convergent the pattern. Therefore, under the same physical dimensions, the radiation performance indicators such as gain and half-power horizontal wavelength of radiating element 1 in this embodiment are significantly better than those of traditional general radiating elements, such as low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating elements or low-frequency cross-shaped radiating elements. This achieves miniaturization of the antenna array and its overall size while maintaining the same radiation performance.

[0085] In some optional embodiments, the ends of the two radiating arms of each symmetrical oscillator of the bowl-shaped radiator are respectively provided with downwardly extending portions. The extension portions can be used to adjust the electrical length of the radiation current of the inner and outer bowl-shaped radiators, ensuring that the electrical length of the radiation current of the symmetrical oscillators in the two bowl-shaped radiators is equal, and at the same time, it can reduce the projection size of the bowl-shaped radiator on the reflector plate 6, which is beneficial to the miniaturization of the radiation unit 1.

[0086] In this embodiment of the invention, the radiation patterns of radiation unit 1, low-frequency bowl-shaped radiation unit 2 and low-frequency cross-shaped radiation unit 3 in the same low-frequency range are compared and analyzed. The low-frequency bowl-shaped radiation unit 2 has the same structure as the low-frequency bowl-shaped radiator of radiation unit 1, and the low-frequency cross-shaped radiation unit 3 has the same structure as the low-frequency cross-shaped radiator of radiation unit 1. Figure 4 The simulation comparison curves of the radiation patterns of the three are shown. The solid lines with hollow rectangular frames and the solid lines with solid rectangular frames represent the radiation pattern curves of radiating element 1, respectively; the dotted lines with hollow triangles pointing up and down and the dotted lines with solid triangles pointing up and down represent the radiation pattern curves of the low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating element 2, respectively; and the short horizontal lines with hollow triangles pointing left and right and the short horizontal lines with solid triangles pointing left and right represent the radiation pattern curves of the low-frequency cross-shaped radiating element 3, respectively.

[0087] The curves clearly show that the gains of radiating element 1 at 0.82 GHz and 0.96 GHz are 9.1314 dB and 10.2670 dB, respectively; the gains of low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating element 2 at 0.82 GHz and 0.96 GHz are 8.8748 dB and 10.0271 dB, respectively; and the gains of low-frequency cross-shaped radiating element 3 at 0.82 GHz and 0.96 GHz are 7.8675 dB and 8.2929 dB, respectively. The gain of radiating element 1 is higher than that of low-frequency bowl-shaped and cross-shaped radiating elements 2 and 3, respectively, by 0.2566 dB and 1.2639 dB at 0.82 GHz, and by 0.2399 dB and 1.9741 dB at 0.96 GHz, respectively.

[0088] The half-power horizontal bandwidths of radiating element 1 at 0.82 GHz and 0.96 GHz are 72.7696 degrees and 63.8281 degrees, respectively. The half-power horizontal bandwidths of low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating element 2 at 0.82 GHz and 0.96 GHz are 76.6972 degrees and 65.7833 degrees, respectively. The half-power horizontal bandwidths of low-frequency cross-shaped radiating element 3 at 0.82 GHz and 0.96 GHz are 88.3630 degrees and 81.0097 degrees, respectively. The half-power horizontal bandwidth index of radiating element 1 is more convergent than that of low-frequency bowl-shaped and cross-shaped radiating elements 2 and 3, meaning its bandwidth range is smaller. At 0.82 GHz, the half-power horizontal bandwidth converges to 3.9276 degrees and 11.6658 degrees, respectively, and at 0.96 GHz, the half-power horizontal bandwidth converges to 1.9552 degrees and 17.1816 degrees, respectively.

[0089] This invention also provides a base station antenna, such as... Figures 7-9 As shown, the base station antenna includes multiple array elements arranged in an M×N matrix. Each array element contains at least one radiating element 1 as described in any of the above embodiments. The radiating elements 1 are arranged in a Q×P matrix. Here, M and N are integers greater than or equal to 1, P and Q are integers greater than or equal to 0, P and Q are not simultaneously zero, Q is less than or equal to M, and P is less than or equal to N. That is, there is at least one radiating element 1 in the M x N array elements.

[0090] It is understandable that multiple array elements are arranged to form an antenna array. The array elements can be arranged with equal row spacing and / or equal column spacing, or with unequal row spacing and column spacing, and can be arranged in a linear or non-linear topological layout. The radiating element 1 is arranged in Q rows and P columns to form a subarray of the antenna array. This subarray can be any Q row and P column in the antenna array, that is, it can be adjacent Q rows and P columns, or it can be non-adjacent Q rows and P columns.

[0091] Furthermore, the base station antenna also includes at least one high-frequency radiating element 4 disposed on the reflector 6, each high-frequency radiating element 4 serving as one of the array elements. And / or, the base station antenna also includes at least one multi-frequency radiating element group 5 disposed on the reflector 6, each multi-frequency radiating element group 5 serving as one of the array elements.

[0092] Figure 5 The diagram illustrates a conventional antenna array topology. The low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating element 2 is arranged in a two-column, seven-row array at the lower end of the antenna, while the low-frequency cross-shaped radiating element 3 is arranged in a two-column, seven-row array at the upper end of the antenna. All the radiating elements are arranged on a reflector 6 according to a specific array topology, where the reflector 6 has a length of L1 and a width of W1.

[0093] Figure 6 The diagram illustrates another conventional antenna array topology. The low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating element 2 is arranged in a two-column, seven-row array on the left side of the antenna, while the low-frequency cross-shaped radiating element 3 is arranged in a two-column, seven-row array on the right side of the antenna. These radiating elements are all arranged on the reflector 6 according to a specific array topology, where the reflector 6 has a length of L2 and a width of W2.

[0094] Combination Figure 5 and Figure 6 As shown, when the row spacing and column spacing of the antenna array elements are the same, Figure 5 The length L1 of the reflector 6 is significantly greater than Figure 6 The length L2 of the reflector 6 is such that the antenna length L1 is approximately twice L2. Figure 6 The width W2 of the reflector 6 is significantly greater than Figure 5 The length W1 of the reflector 6 is approximately twice the width W2 of the antenna. It is evident that, given the same number of array elements and the same row-to-column spacing, the antenna can be excessively long or wide in either direction.

[0095] Depend on Figure 4 As shown in the radiation pattern curves, the radiation parameters such as gain and horizontal bandwidth of radiating element 1 in this embodiment of the invention are superior to those of the low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating element 2. According to the array pattern product theorem, the array pattern is equal to the pattern of each element multiplied by the array factor, where the array factor refers to array parameters such as the element spacing. Given a fixed array factor, the radiation pattern of the antenna array composed of radiating element 1 will also be superior to that of the antenna array composed of the low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating element 2. Therefore, under certain antenna array performance requirements, miniaturization, low cost, and lightweighting of the antenna can be achieved by using a smaller number of array elements or a smaller element spacing.

[0096] Figure 7 A topological schematic diagram of an antenna array applying radiating element 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The radiating element 1 is arranged in seven rows and two columns on the reflector 6 according to the designed row and column spacing. The reflector 6 has a length of L and a width of W. (Comparison) Figure 5 and Figure 6 It can be seen that, given the same number of array elements and the same row-to-column spacing, when both are arranged in two columns and seven rows, Figure 7 The antenna length L shown is... Figure 5 The antenna shown has a shorter length L1, and L is approximately half the length of L1. Figure 7 The antenna width W shown is... Figure 6 The antenna shown has a narrow width W2, and W is approximately half the width of W2, which significantly reduces the size of the antenna.

[0097] Figure 8The diagram shows another antenna array topology using radiating element 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The array elements of the antenna array are arranged in seven rows and two columns on the reflector 6, i.e., M=7, N=2. The radiating element 1 is arranged in two rows and two columns to form a subarray of the antenna array, i.e., Q=2, P=2. The subarray is any two rows and two columns in the antenna array, i.e., it can be two adjacent rows and two columns or two non-adjacent rows and two columns.

[0098] Figure 9 A topological schematic diagram of another antenna array using radiating element 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The array elements of the antenna array are arranged in twelve rows and two columns on the reflector 6, i.e., M=12, N=2. The radiating elements 1 are arranged in two rows and two columns to form a subarray of the antenna array, i.e., Q=2, P=2. This subarray can be any two rows and two columns in the antenna array, that is, it can be two adjacent rows and two columns or two non-adjacent rows and two columns. The low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating elements 2 are arranged in a five-row, two-column array layout, and the high-frequency radiating elements 4 are arranged in a ten-row, two-column array layout. Some of the high-frequency radiating elements 4 are nested and assembled with the low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating elements 2 to form a multi-frequency radiating element group 5.

[0099] According to the array pattern product theorem, the pattern of radiation element 1 using a two-column, two-row array is obviously superior to that of low-frequency bowl-shaped radiation element 2 using a two-column, two-row array. Figure 7 The radiation pattern of the antenna array shown is clearly superior. Figure 8 and Figure 9 The radiation pattern of the antenna array is shown. In practice, a corresponding number of radiating elements 1 can be selected to form an arbitrary subarray, that is, a subarray with a row and column number less than or equal to the row and column number of the entire antenna array, thereby improving the radiation pattern performance.

[0100] In some alternative embodiments, such as Figure 12 As shown, the base station antenna also includes a phase shifter, and all the symmetrical dipoles of the linearly polarized dipole group are connected one-to-one with the output terminals of multiple phase shifters.

[0101] In some alternative embodiments, such as Figure 10 As shown, the base station antenna also includes a power divider and a phase shifter. The input of the power divider is connected to the output of the phase shifter, and all the symmetrical dipoles of the linearly polarized dipole group are connected to the output of the power divider.

[0102] In some alternative embodiments, such as Figure 11 As shown, the base station antenna also includes a power divider, a first phase shifter, and a second phase shifter. The input terminal of the power divider is connected to the output terminal of the first phase shifter. A portion of the symmetrical dipoles of the linearly polarized dipole group are connected to the output terminal of the power divider, and another portion of the symmetrical dipoles are connected one-to-one to the output terminals of the same number of second phase shifters.

[0103] This embodiment provides three feed network topology diagrams for antenna arrays using radiating element 1 of this invention, thereby achieving three different feed network topology connections to meet different functional requirements. To clearly illustrate the feed network topology principle of the base station antenna of this invention, a linearly polarized dipole group including three symmetrical dipoles is used as a specific example.

[0104] like Figure 10 The feed network connection shown is used to control the radiation unit 1 with different amplitudes or phases, thereby achieving different gain or horizontal beamwidth radiation patterns. The three coaxial feeds of any linearly polarized oscillator group in radiation unit 1 are connected to the same three-way power divider, which in turn connects to a phase shifter. The phase shifter is connected to port one corresponding to the polarization direction. For example, the first coaxial feed 181, the second coaxial feed 182, and the third coaxial feed 183 are respectively connected to the output of the three-way power divider, thereby enabling different amplitudes or phases of the feed network, and thus achieving different radiation performance of radiation unit 1.

[0105] like Figure 11 The feed network connection shown is used to achieve frequency division and multiplexing of radiating element 1. In principle, radiating element 1 is divided into a low-frequency bowl-shaped radiating element 2 and a low-frequency cross-shaped radiating element 3, that is, divided into two low-frequency operating ranges. The two feed networks can be controlled independently. The two coaxial feed lines of any linearly polarized dipole group of radiating element 1 are connected to the same two-power divider. The two-power divider is connected to the first phase shifter, and the first phase shifter is connected to port one of the corresponding polarization direction. The other coaxial feed line of the same linearly polarized dipole group is connected to the second phase shifter, and the second phase shifter is connected to port two of the corresponding polarization direction. For example, the first coaxial feed line 181 and the second coaxial feed line 182 are connected to the two-power divider, and the third coaxial feed line 183 is connected to the second phase shifter, thereby realizing the multiplexing of radiating element 1. The feed network is independently electrically adjustable. Port one and port two multiplex radiating element 1, with only one antenna array, realizes the miniaturization of the antenna size, simplifies the feed network, and achieves low cost and lightweight antenna.

[0106] like Figure 12The feed network connection shown is used to achieve frequency division and multiplexing of radiating element 1. In principle, any linearly polarized dipole group of radiating element 1 is divided into three radiating elements, such as the first symmetrical dipole 11, the second symmetrical dipole 12, and the third symmetrical dipole 13, i.e., divided into three low-frequency operating ranges. The three feed networks can be controlled independently. The three coaxial feed lines of any linearly polarized dipole group of radiating element 1 are respectively connected to three phase shifters, which are then connected to three ports. For example, the first coaxial feed line 181, the second coaxial feed line 182, and the third coaxial feed line 183 are respectively connected to port one, port two, and port three through a phase shifter. Port one, port two, and port three multiplex radiating element 1, resulting in only one antenna array, achieving miniaturization of the antenna's external dimensions, simplifying the feed network, and realizing low cost and lightweight antenna design.

[0107] It should be noted that, Figures 10-12 The present invention applies only to the three typical antenna arrays of radiating element 1. The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to these three types of feeding network. Other types of feeding networks can be flexibly set according to actual needs.

[0108] The base station antenna provided in this embodiment of the invention can achieve different radiation patterns by changing the amplitude and phase of the excitation of the linearly polarized oscillator group of the radiating element 1 without changing the external dimensions. This results in high gain, convergence bandwidth and other excellent performance, thereby achieving miniaturization of the radiating element and antenna array.

[0109] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, and not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features; and these modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A radiating element for forming a base station antenna on a reflector, characterized in that, include: Two linearly polarized oscillator groups are mutually polarized orthogonal and integrated into one unit. Each linearly polarized oscillator group includes at least three symmetrical oscillators. A portion of the symmetrical oscillators of the radiating unit are arranged in a ring array, and another portion of the symmetrical oscillators are nested in the ring array. The operating frequency range of all the symmetrical oscillators is low frequency, medium frequency, or high frequency. The two linearly polarized oscillator groups include a first linearly polarized oscillator group and a second linearly polarized oscillator group. The first linearly polarized oscillator group includes a first symmetrical oscillator, a second symmetrical oscillator, and a third symmetrical oscillator. The second linearly polarized oscillator group includes a fourth symmetrical oscillator, a fifth symmetrical oscillator, and a sixth symmetrical oscillator. Each of the symmetrical oscillators is provided with a balun. The first symmetrical oscillator, the second symmetrical oscillator, the fourth symmetrical oscillator, and the fifth symmetrical oscillator are arranged in a ring array to form a bowl-shaped radiator. The third symmetrical oscillator and the sixth symmetrical oscillator are connected to form a cross-shaped radiator. The cross-shaped radiator is coaxially nested within the bowl-shaped radiator. The base includes a first connecting part and a second connecting part. The first symmetrical oscillator, the second symmetrical oscillator, the fourth symmetrical oscillator and the fifth symmetrical oscillator are respectively connected to the first connecting part through the balun. The first connecting part surrounds the balun of the third symmetrical oscillator and the sixth symmetrical oscillator. The balun of the third symmetrical oscillator and the sixth symmetrical oscillator are connected to the first connecting part through the second connecting part.

2. The radiating unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The projection of the cross-shaped radiator on the reflector is within the projection range of the bowl-shaped radiator on the reflector.

3. The radiating element according to claim 1, characterized in that, The base is integrally formed with the two linearly polarized oscillator groups.

4. The radiating unit according to claim 1, characterized in that, The maximum size of the orthographic projection of the radiating element on the reflector is 0.4-0.7 times the working wavelength of its working frequency. The maximum vertical height of the radiating arm of the radiating element relative to the reflector is 0.3-0.7 times the working wavelength of the working frequency. The working frequency is the center frequency of the working frequency range, and the working wavelength is the wavelength in vacuum corresponding to the center frequency.

5. The radiating element according to claim 1, characterized in that, The radiating unit is one of the following: an integrated die-cast structure, a printed circuit board structure, a sheet metal bending structure, a surface mount array structure, an LCP liquid crystal polymer structure, and a PPS industrial liquid crystal polymer structure.

6. The radiating element according to claim 1, characterized in that, The operating frequency range of each of the symmetrical oscillators is 615-960MHz; Alternatively, each of the symmetrical oscillators may operate in the frequency range of 1427-2700MHz; Alternatively, the power frequency range of each of the symmetrical oscillators is 200-3800MHz, 4000-5000MHz, or 5925-7125MHz.

7. A base station antenna, characterized in that, It includes a plurality of array elements arranged in an M×N matrix, the plurality of array elements comprising at least one radiating element as described in any one of claims 1-6, the radiating elements being arranged in a Q×P matrix; Where M and N are integers greater than or equal to 1, P and Q are integers greater than or equal to 0, P and Q are not both zero, Q is less than or equal to M, and P is less than or equal to N.

8. The base station antenna according to claim 7, characterized in that, The base station antenna also includes a phase shifter, and all the symmetrical dipoles of the linearly polarized dipole group are connected to the output terminals of the multiple phase shifters in a one-to-one correspondence. Alternatively, the base station antenna may further include a power divider and a phase shifter, with the input of the power divider connected to the output of the phase shifter, and all the symmetrical dipoles of the linearly polarized dipole group respectively connected to the output of the power divider; Alternatively, the base station antenna may further include a power divider, a first phase shifter, and a second phase shifter. The input terminal of the power divider is connected to the output terminal of the first phase shifter. A portion of the symmetrical dipoles in the linearly polarized dipole group are respectively connected to the output terminal of the power divider, and another portion of the symmetrical dipoles are connected one-to-one to the output terminals of the same number of the second phase shifters.

Images