Three-dimensional graded slot antenna

Abstract

The application relates to a three-dimensional gradient slot antenna, which comprises a base with an opening in the middle, a three-dimensional gradient slot array arranged along the opening and located on the top of the base, and a feeding structure fixedly installed at the bottom of the base and comprising a first conductor layer, a dielectric layer and a second conductor layer, wherein the dielectric layer is located between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer, the first conductor layer is etched with a slot array matched with the three-dimensional gradient slot array, the dielectric layer is provided with a metallized via array and forms a terminal short-circuit substrate integrated waveguide with the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer, and the end of the second conductor layer is provided with a microstrip feed line to realize switching of the substrate integrated waveguide. The three-dimensional gradient slot structure is adopted for radiation, the terminal short-circuit substrate integrated waveguide on the first conductor layer is adopted for feeding, the frequency scanning function and the lateral radiation are realized at the same time, energy loss caused by a double-port transmission mode is avoided, and the antenna radiation efficiency is improved.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of antennas, in particular to a three-dimensional gradient slot antenna. BACKGROUND

[0002] The control of antenna beam scanning is a key research direction in the field of antennas. In phased array technology, in order to realize controllable beam deflection, a phase shift device is needed to provide appropriate phase excitation for each antenna unit. However, the development of high-frequency phase shift devices is difficult and expensive. Frequency scanning antenna, as an antenna whose beam changes with frequency, has the characteristics of simple feed structure, high directivity and narrow beam, avoiding the use of expensive phase shifters or complex beam forming networks, and is a more portable and economical option in beam control application scenarios.

[0003] Among various frequency scanning antennas, the design scheme based on substrate integrated waveguide has been widely used due to its low loss, easy processing and easy integration with planar circuits. However, such antennas are prone to significant gain reduction when radiating laterally, and due to the use of a double-port transmission structure in the design, the antenna radiation efficiency is low. SUMMARY

[0004] Therefore, it is necessary to provide a three-dimensional gradient slot antenna to solve the above technical problems, which can enhance the lateral radiation gain and improve the antenna radiation efficiency while realizing the frequency scanning function.

[0005] A three-dimensional gradient slot antenna, comprising:

[0006] a base with an opening in the middle;

[0007] a three-dimensional gradient slot array arranged by multiple groups of three-dimensional gradient slots along the opening and located on the top of the base;

[0008] a feed structure fixedly installed at the bottom of the base, comprising a first conductor layer, a dielectric layer and a second conductor layer, the dielectric layer being located between the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer, the first conductor layer being etched with a slot array matched with the three-dimensional gradient slot array, the dielectric layer being provided with a metallized via array and constituting a substrate integrated waveguide with the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer in terminal short circuit, and the end of the second conductor layer being provided with a microstrip feed line to realize the switching of the substrate integrated waveguide.

[0009] The metalized via array in the dielectric layer of the feeding structure and the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer jointly constitute a terminal short-circuit substrate integrated waveguide, so that signal transmission of the feeding structure is realized. In addition, the three-dimensional gradient slot antenna adopts a three-dimensional gradient slot structure for radiation, and is fed through the terminal short-circuit substrate integrated waveguide of the slot array etched on the first conductor layer, so that the frequency scanning function and the lateral radiation are realized at the same time, the energy loss caused by the double-port transmission mode is effectively avoided, and the antenna radiation efficiency is improved.

[0010] Further, one side of the first conductor layer is connected with the bottom of the base, and the other side is connected with one side of the dielectric layer, and the other side of the dielectric layer is connected with the top of the second conductor layer.

[0011] Further, each group of the three-dimensional gradient slots is composed of two three-dimensional gradient slot units, and each two three-dimensional gradient slot units are oppositely installed on two sides of the opening.

[0012] Further, the contour of the three-dimensional gradient slot unit of the three-dimensional gradient slot array satisfies an exponential curve.

[0013] Further, the three-dimensional gradient slot array is arranged along a horizontal plane, and the arrangement period is not greater than half of the working wavelength of the antenna.

[0014] Further, the slot array couples the TE 10 mode electromagnetic wave in the substrate integrated waveguide to the three-dimensional gradient slot array.

[0015] Further, the slot width of the slot array is the same as the narrowest part of the three-dimensional gradient slot array.

[0016] Further, the opening is a rectangular opening, and the distance between the edge part of the slot array and the edge part of the slot array in the horizontal direction is greater than one sixth of the working wavelength of the antenna.

[0017] Further, the microstrip feed line adopts a gradient design, which is used for converting the quasi-TEM mode electromagnetic wave in the microstrip feed line into the TE 10 mode electromagnetic wave in the substrate integrated waveguide. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the three-dimensional gradient slot antenna of one embodiment in the present application;

[0019] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the cross-sectional structure of the three-dimensional gradient slot antenna of the present embodiment;

[0020] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of the first conductor layer of the present embodiment;

[0021] Figure 4 A second conductor layer structure for the embodiment;

[0022] Figure 5 Reflection coefficient of the three-dimensional tapered slot antenna for the embodiment;

[0023] Figure 6 Radiation efficiency of the three-dimensional tapered slot antenna for the embodiment;

[0024] Figure 7 Radiation direction frequency scanning result plot of the three-dimensional tapered slot antenna for the embodiment.

[0025] In the figure: 100, base; 110, opening; 200, three-dimensional tapered slot array; 210, three-dimensional tapered slot unit; 300, feed structure; 310, first conductor layer; 311, slot array; 320, dielectric layer; 321, array of metallized vias; 330, second conductor layer; 331, microstrip feed line. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative work fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0027] It should be noted that when a component is referred to as being “fixed to” or “set on” another component, it can be directly on the other component or there can be a middle component. When a component is referred to as being “connected to” another component, it can be directly connected to the other component or there can be a middle component. The terms “vertical”, “horizontal”, “up”, “down”, “left”, “right” and similar expressions used in the specification of the present application are for the purpose of illustration only and do not indicate the only implementation.

[0028] In addition, the terms “first”, “second” are only for the purpose of description and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined with “first”, “second” can explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present application, the meaning of “plurality” is at least two, for example, two, three, etc., unless otherwise specifically limited.

[0029] In the present application, unless otherwise explicitly specified and limited, the first feature is "on", "under" the second feature, which can be that the first feature is in direct contact with the second feature, or the first feature is indirectly in contact with the second feature through an intermediate medium. Moreover, the first feature is "above", "over" and "on" the second feature, which can be that the first feature is directly above or obliquely above the second feature, or only means that the first feature is higher than the second feature in horizontal height. The first feature is "below", "under" and "under" the second feature, which can be that the first feature is directly below or obliquely below the second feature, or only means that the first feature is lower than the second feature in horizontal height.

[0030] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the specification of the present application have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present application belongs. The terms used in the specification of the present application are only for the purpose of describing the specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present application. The term "and / or" used in the specification of the present application includes any and all combinations of one or more related listed items.

[0031] As shown in Figures 1 to 4 A three-dimensional gradient slot antenna, comprising:

[0032] A base 100, a middle part of which is provided with an opening 110.

[0033] A three-dimensional gradient slot array 200, which is arranged by a plurality of groups of three-dimensional gradient slots along the opening 110 and is located at the top of the base 100.

[0034] A feeding structure 300, which is fixedly installed at the bottom of the base 100, comprises a first conductor layer 310, a dielectric layer 320 and a second conductor layer 330, the dielectric layer 320 is located between the first conductor layer 310 and the second conductor layer 330, the first conductor layer 310 is etched with a slot array 311 matched with the three-dimensional gradient slot array 200, the dielectric layer 320 is provided with a metallized via array 321 and forms a terminal short-circuit substrate integrated waveguide with the first conductor layer 310 and the second conductor layer 330, and the end of the second conductor layer 330 is provided with a microstrip feed line 331 to realize the switching of the substrate integrated waveguide.

[0035] The three-dimensional gradient slot antenna, the metallized via array of the dielectric layer in the feeding structure and the first conductor layer and the second conductor layer together form a terminal short-circuit substrate integrated waveguide to realize the signal transmission of the feeding structure. In addition, the three-dimensional gradient slot antenna adopts a three-dimensional gradient slot structure for radiation, feeds through the terminal short-circuit substrate integrated waveguide of the etched slot array on the first conductor layer, realizes the frequency scanning function and the lateral radiation at the same time, effectively avoids the energy loss caused by the double-port transmission mode, and improves the antenna radiation efficiency.

[0036] In the embodiment, the base 100 is a metal base, the opening 110 in the middle is a rectangular opening, the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array 200 is a metal three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array and is fixedly installed on the top of the base 100, and a part of the bottom of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array 200 is located at the opening 110 and another part is located on the surface of the base 100. One side of the first conductor layer 310 of the feed structure 300 is connected with the bottom of the base 100, the other side is connected with one side of the dielectric layer 320, and the other side of the dielectric layer 320 is connected with the top of the second conductor layer 330. The microstrip feed line 331 is connected with the side of the second conductor layer 330 close to the dielectric layer 320, so that the dielectric layer 320 and the microstrip feed line 331 together constitute a switching structure and together realize switching of the substrate integrated waveguide. Each group of three-dimensional gradually-changing slots is composed of two three-dimensional gradually-changing slot units 210, and each two three-dimensional gradually-changing slot units 210 are oppositely installed on the two sides of the opening 110, and the outline of each three-dimensional gradually-changing slot unit 210 satisfies an exponential curve. The three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array 200 is arranged along the horizontal plane, and the arrangement period is not greater than half of the wavelength corresponding to the working frequency of the antenna.

[0037] The slot array 311 on the first conductor layer 310 couples the TE 10 mode electromagnetic wave in the substrate integrated waveguide to the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array 200, and the slot width of the slot array 311 is the same as the narrowest part of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array 200, and the distance between the edge of the opening 110 and the edge of the slot array 311 in the horizontal direction is greater than one sixth of the working wavelength of the antenna. In addition, the microstrip feed line 331 is designed in a gradually-changing manner, which is used to convert the quasi-TEM mode electromagnetic wave in the microstrip feed line 331 into the TE 10 mode electromagnetic wave in the substrate waveguide.

[0038] In the embodiment, the radiation direction of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot antenna can realize a scanning angle of 40°, the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array and the base are both processed by using the metal 3D printing technology, the first conductor layer 310 and the second conductor layer 330 are respectively the upper metal layer and the lower metal layer of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot antenna, and the upper metal layer, the dielectric layer 310 and the lower metal layer, the slot array 311, the metallized via array 321 and the microstrip feed line 331 are processed by using the PCB (printed circuit board) process. The dielectric layer 310 is a PCB dielectric plate, which is an RT / Duroid5880 dielectric plate, the dielectric constant is 2.2, the loss tangent is 0.001, and the geometric size is 16mm×83mm×0.254mm. The size of the metal base is 16mm×83mm×1mm, and if the working frequency of the antenna changes, the size of the PCB dielectric plate and the metal base also changes accordingly.

[0039] The three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array is arranged in a 1x8 form along the H plane, the arrangement period is 7 mm, the number of three-dimensional gradually-changing slots can be determined according to the beam width requirement of the antenna, and the size of the rectangular opening is 4.5 mm x 57 mm x 1 mm. The maximum opening profile of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot unit 210 of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array 200 is 5 mm, the relationship between the height value z and the opening width x satisfies the exponential curve: z = 0.15exp[0.2ln(16.7x)]. The size of a single slot of the slot array 311 is 3.8 mm x 0.3 mm, the arrangement period is 7 mm, the size of the substrate integrated waveguide formed by the terminal short-circuiting metalized via array 321 is 6 mm x 64 mm. The total length of the microstrip feed line 331 is 7.5 mm, which includes a microstrip line with a size of 5 mm x 0.78 mm, and a transition structure of the microstrip feed line 331 and the substrate integrated waveguide with a length of 2.5 mm and a width gradually changing from 0.78 mm to 1.3 mm.

[0040] As shown in Figure 5 , the reflection coefficient of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot antenna, the -10 dB impedance bandwidth is 9 GHz, and the relative bandwidth is 31%.

[0041] As shown in Figure 6 , the radiation efficiency of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot antenna, the radiation efficiency of the antenna in the operating frequency band of 24.5 GHz to 33.5 GHz is higher than 90%.

[0042] As shown in Figure 7 , the radiation direction of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot antenna changes with frequency, the antenna pattern beam changes from 0° to -40° in the operating frequency band of 24.5 GHz to 33.5 GHz, and the lateral radiation (0°) antenna gain is 18.3 dBi.

[0043] Working principle: when in use, the metal base is used to support the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array and connect the lower layer feed structure, the upper and lower layers of the feed structure are metal layers, and the middle is a dielectric layer, the metalized via array in the dielectric layer and the upper and lower metal layers together form a substrate integrated waveguide with terminal short-circuiting to realize signal transmission of the feed structure. In addition, the slot array etched on the upper metal layer is used for feeding of the three-dimensional gradually-changing slot array, and the microstrip feed line designed on the lower metal layer is connected with the substrate integrated waveguide for transition, which is convenient for antenna feeding, and the gradual change design of the microstrip feed line converts the quasi-TEM mode electromagnetic wave in the microstrip feed line into TE 10 mode electromagnetic wave in the substrate integrated waveguide. The design of the substrate integrated waveguide with terminal short-circuiting and slotting on the upper metal layer avoids the energy loss caused by the double-port transmission mode, and improves the radiation efficiency of the antenna.

[0044] Any combination of the technical features in the above-described embodiments can be made, and for the sake of brevity, not all possible combinations are described, however, it is to be understood that the application embraces all such possible combinations.

[0045] The above-described embodiments only express several implementation manners of the application, and the description is relatively specific and detailed, but it should not be understood as a limitation on the patent scope of the application. It should be pointed out that, for ordinary skilled persons in the art, some modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the concept of the application, and these all belong to the protection scope of the application. Therefore, the patent protection scope of the application should be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A three-dimensional gradient slot antenna, characterized in that, include: The base has an opening in the middle; The three-dimensional gradient slit array is composed of multiple sets of three-dimensional gradient slits arranged along the opening, i.e. along the H-plane, and located on the top of the base; Each set of three-dimensional gradient gaps consists of two three-dimensional gradient gap units, and each pair of three-dimensional gradient gap units are installed opposite each other on both sides of the opening; The power supply structure, fixedly installed at the bottom of the base, includes a first conductor layer, a dielectric layer, and a second conductor layer. The dielectric layer is located between the first and second conductor layers. The first conductor layer has a slot array etched on it to match the three-dimensional gradient slot array. The dielectric layer has a metallized via array and forms a substrate integrated waveguide with a short-circuited termination with the first and second conductor layers. The end of the second conductor layer has a microstrip feed line to realize the connection to the substrate integrated waveguide. The three-dimensional gradient slot array is energy coupled through the slot array on the first conductor layer of the integrated waveguide to realize the beam pointing scanning function at different operating frequencies.

2. The three-dimensional gradient slot antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that, One side of the first conductor layer is connected to the bottom of the base, and the other side is connected to one side of the dielectric layer. The other side of the dielectric layer is connected to the top of the second conductor layer.

3. The three-dimensional gradient slot antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that, The outline of the three-dimensional gradient gap element of the three-dimensional gradient gap array satisfies an exponential curve.

4. The three-dimensional gradient slot antenna according to claim 3, characterized in that, The three-dimensional gradient slot array is arranged along the horizontal plane, and the arrangement period is no greater than half of the antenna's operating wavelength.

5. The three-dimensional gradient slot antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that, The slot array integrates the substrate into the waveguide's TE 10 The mode electromagnetic wave is coupled to the three-dimensional gradient slot array.

6. The three-dimensional gradient slot antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that, The slit width of the slit array is the same as the narrowest point of the three-dimensional gradient slit array.

7. The three-dimensional gradient slot antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that, The opening is configured as a rectangular opening, and the horizontal distance between its edge and the edge of the slot array is greater than one-sixth of the antenna's operating wavelength.

8. The three-dimensional gradient slot antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that, The microstrip feed line employs a gradient design to convert the quasi-TEM mode electromagnetic waves in the microstrip feed line into TE modes in the substrate integrated waveguide. 10 Mode electromagnetic waves.

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