Base station antenna and base station equipment

Abstract

A base station antenna and base station equipment, comprising a first signal feed unit, a signal processing unit, and an antenna array. The first signal feed unit comprises a signal transmission port, a signal reception port, a first phase-shifted feed network, and a second phase-shifted feed network. The signal transmission port is connected to the input of the first phase-shifted feed network, the output of the first phase-shifted feed network is connected to the input of the signal processing unit, the signal reception port is connected to the output of the second phase-shifted feed network, the input of the second phase-shifted feed network is connected to the output of the signal processing unit, and the combining end of the signal processing unit is connected to the antenna array. By using respective phase-shifted feed networks to feed transmit and receive signals, and using the same antenna array for radiation and reception, the transmit and receive signals can be fed independently, while the number of antenna arrays can be reduced, helping to improve the uplink and downlink transmission performance of the base station antenna while saving the layout space occupied by the base station antenna.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a base station antenna and base station equipment. Background Art

[0002] Multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) technology is a core technology in wireless communication systems. In a MIMO system, a base station uses multiple antennas between its transmitter and receiver. Each antenna forms a corresponding channel between the transmitter and receiver, and these channels corresponding to each antenna do not affect or interfere with each other. Signals can be transmitted between the transmitter and receiver through these channels, achieving spatial diversity and multiplexing. Using MIMO technology not only helps increase signal transmission rates and the amount of data transmitted simultaneously, but also improves signal transmission quality and accuracy by transmitting through non-interfering channels.

[0003] However, current MIMO systems typically integrate several radio frequency units (RFUs) and base station antennas into a single device. Because RFUs require a certain amount of space, if the space within the device housing the RFUs and base station antennas is limited, the space reserved for the base station antennas in the MIMO system also becomes very limited. However, the smaller the space in which the base station antennas are located, the stronger the energy coupling between the antennas corresponding to the base station antennas, resulting in increased interference between the antennas. This can prevent the base station antennas from operating optimally, impacting the performance of the base station antennas and even the MIMO system. Therefore, how to improve the performance of base station antennas within a limited space has become a pressing issue. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The present application provides a base station antenna and a base station device, which are used to set up the base station antenna in a limited space and maximize the performance of the base station antenna.

[0005] In a first aspect, the present application provides a base station antenna, comprising a first signal feeding unit, a signal processing unit, and an antenna array. The first signal feeding unit comprises a signal transmitting port, a signal receiving port, a first phase-shifted feeding network, and a second phase-shifted feeding network. The signal transmitting port is connected to the input of the first phase-shifted feeding network, the output of the first phase-shifted feeding network is connected to the input of the signal processing unit, the signal receiving port is connected to the output of the second phase-shifted feeding network, the input of the second phase-shifted feeding network is connected to the output of the signal processing unit, and the combining end of the signal processing unit is connected to the antenna array. During uplink transmission, the first phase-shifted feeding network can perform phase-shifted feeding on the transmission signal from the signal transmitting port and then send it to the signal processing unit. The signal processing unit can send the phase-shifted fed transmission signal to the antenna array so that the antenna array radiates the phase-shifted fed transmission signal. During downlink transmission, the antenna array receives the received signal and then sends it to the signal processing unit. The signal processing unit can send the received signal from the antenna array to the second phase-shifted feeding network. The second phase-shifted feeding network can perform phase-shifted feeding on the received signal and then send it to the signal receiving port.

[0006] In this design, transmit and receive signals are fed separately through separate phase-shifted feed networks, and the same antenna array is used for both radiation and reception. This allows the base station antenna to independently feed transmit and receive signals while reducing the number of antenna arrays required. This helps improve both uplink and downlink transmission performance while conserving layout space. Furthermore, by decoupling uplink and downlink transmissions, nonlinear interference between them is effectively reduced, thereby minimizing the risk of passive intermodulation (PIM) from the base station antenna.

[0007] In an optional design, the transmit and receive signals can be carried in the same frequency band. This allows the base station antenna to phase-shift the transmit and receive signals within the same frequency band, respectively. This adjustment method allows for more precise adjustments based on the frequency band and signal type.

[0008] In an optional design, the first signal feeding unit may further include a first signal transceiver port and a first duplexer, wherein the combining end of the first duplexer is connected to the first signal transceiver port, the output end of the first duplexer is connected to the signal transmitting port, and the input end of the first duplexer is connected to the signal receiving port. In this case, the first duplexer may transmit the transmit signal received by the first signal transceiver port to the signal transmitting port, or transmit the receive signal after phase shift feeding to the first signal transceiver port. In this design, when the base station antenna does not include the first signal transceiver port and the first duplexer, the base station antenna may be applicable to a remote radio frequency unit having one radio frequency transmitting port and one radio frequency receiving port. When the base station antenna includes the first signal transceiver port and the first duplexer, the base station antenna may be applicable to a remote radio frequency unit having only one radio frequency transceiver port. By providing different base station antennas for remote radio frequency units of different types, the versatility of the base station antenna is improved.

[0009] In an optional design, the first signal feeding unit includes M signal transmitting ports, M signal receiving ports, a combiner and a splitter, the combiner includes M input ports and one output port, the splitter includes one input port and M output ports, and M is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The M input ports of the combiner are respectively connected to the M signal transmitting ports, the output port of the combiner is connected to the input port of the first phase-shift feeding network, and the combiner can combine the transmission signals from the M signal transmitting ports into one path and send them to the first phase-shift feeding network. Correspondingly, the M output ports of the splitter are respectively connected to the M signal receiving ports, the input port of the splitter is connected to the output port of the second phase-shift feeding network, and the splitter can divide the received signal after phase-shift feeding into M paths and send them to the M signal receiving ports respectively. In this design, multi-band transmit or receive signals can share a phase-shifted feed network for electrical adjustment and a common antenna array for radiation and reception. This approach eliminates the need to set up dedicated phase-shifted feed networks and antenna arrays for each frequency band's transmit and receive signals, effectively reducing the number of phase-shifted feed networks and antenna arrays deployed in the base station antenna, helping to save base station antenna layout space. Furthermore, this approach integrates transmit and receive signals of more frequency bands on the same antenna array as much as possible, which helps to achieve antenna array multiplexing and reduce mutual interference between antenna arrays. Furthermore, this approach uses the same set of phase-shifted feed parameters to electrically adjust transmit signals of multiple frequency bands, and uses the same set of phase-shifted feed parameters to electrically adjust receive signals of multiple frequency bands, which can achieve the purpose of independently electrically adjusting transmit and receive signals.

[0010] In an optional design, the first phase-shifted feeding network includes a first power divider and a first digital phase shifter, the input end of the first power divider corresponds to the input end of the first phase-shifted feeding network, the output end of the first power divider is connected to the input end of the first digital phase shifter, the output end of the first digital phase shifter corresponds to the output end of the first phase-shifted feeding network, the first power divider can distribute the power of the transmission signal and send it to the first digital phase shifter, and the first digital phase shifter can shift the phase of the transmission signal after power distribution and send it to the signal processing unit. In the above design, by setting the first power divider to distribute the power of the transmission signal, the transmission signal can be divided into multiple links and transmitted in parallel to improve the transmission efficiency of the transmission signal. By setting the first digital phase shifter to shift the phase of the transmission signal, the beam radiation direction of the transmission signal radiated by the antenna array can be changed.

[0011] In an optional design, the second phase-shifted feeding network includes a second power divider and a second digital phase shifter, the output end of the second power divider corresponds to the output end of the second phase-shifted feeding network, the input end of the second power divider is connected to the output end of the second digital phase shifter, the input end of the second digital phase shifter corresponds to the input end of the second phase-shifted feeding network, the second digital phase shifter can shift the phase of the received signal and send it to the second power divider, and the second power divider can weight the phase-shifted received signal and send it to the signal receiving port. In the above design, by setting the second digital phase shifter to shift the phase of the received signal, the beam direction of the received signal received by the antenna array can be changed. By setting the second power divider to weight the received signal, the received signal can be divided into multiple links and transmitted in parallel before the received signal is transmitted to the second power divider, so as to improve the transmission efficiency of the received signal.

[0012] In an optional design, the base station antenna includes K first signal feeding units, and the signal processing unit includes K input terminals and K output terminals, where K is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The output terminals of the K first phase-shifted feeding networks corresponding to the K first signal feeding units are respectively connected to the K input terminals of the signal processing unit, and the input terminals of the K second phase-shifted feeding networks corresponding to the K first signal feeding units are respectively connected to the K output terminals of the signal processing unit. The signal processing unit can combine the K phase-shifted and fed transmission signals sent by the K first phase-shifted feeding networks into one path and send them to the antenna array, or can divide the received signal into K paths and send them to the K second phase-shifted feeding networks respectively. In this design, each transmit signal and each receive signal can be phase-shifted fed independently, and each signal is radiated or received by an antenna array. This method can maximize the flexibility of phase-shifted feeding of signals, help each uplink and downlink transmission have different beams, maximize the use of the antenna aperture, and minimize the layout space occupied by the base station antenna.

[0013] In an optional design, the signal processing unit also includes a communication terminal, and the base station antenna also includes a second signal feeding unit. The second signal feeding unit includes a signal transceiver port and a third phase-shifted feeding network. The first end of the third phase-shifted feeding network is connected to the signal transceiver port, and the second end of the third phase-shifted feeding network is connected to the communication terminal of the signal processing unit. In this case, the third phase-shifted feeding network can phase-shift the transmit signal from the signal transceiver port before sending it to the signal processing unit, or it can phase-shift the receive signal received through the second end before sending it to the signal transceiver port. In this design, some transmit and receive signals can be individually electrically tuned using different phase-shifted feeding parameters, while other transmit and receive signals can share the same set of phase-shifted feeding parameters for simultaneous electrical tuning. On the one hand, this structure can minimize the layout space of the base station antenna while meeting the requirements of independent electrical tuning by providing corresponding phase-shifted feeding networks for transmit and receive signals that do not require independent electrical tuning, while sharing the same phase-shifted feeding network for transmit and receive signals that do not require independent electrical tuning. On the other hand, this structure can also directly combine the antenna structure in the present application into the traditional antenna structure without directly replacing the traditional antenna structure, thereby helping to improve the flexibility of deploying base station antennas.

[0014] In an optional design, the signal processing unit includes N second duplexers, and the antenna array includes N groups of radiating elements, where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The first phase-shifted feed network includes N output terminals, each of which is connected to the input terminals of the N second duplexers. The second phase-shifted feed network includes N input terminals, each of which is connected to the output terminals of the N second duplexers. The combining terminals of the N second duplexers are connected to the N groups of radiating elements. During downlink transmission, the first phase-shifted feed network can also process the transmit signal into N transmit sub-signals and send them to the N second duplexers respectively. The N second duplexers can send the N transmit sub-signals to the N groups of radiating elements respectively, so that the N groups of radiating elements radiate N transmit sub-signals. During uplink transmission, the N groups of radiating elements can also send N receive signals to the N second duplexers respectively. The N second duplexers can also send the N receive signals from the antenna array to the second phase-shifted feed network. The second phase-shifted feed network can also weight the N receive sub-signals. In this design, the transmit signal can be divided into N transmit sub-signals and then transmitted in parallel to the antenna array, while the receive signal can also be divided into N receive signals and then transmitted in parallel to each signal receive / transmit port. This parallel transmission method helps to improve the transmission efficiency of the transmit and receive signals.

[0015] In one optional design, the base station antenna includes K first signal feed units, and the signal processing unit includes K×N second duplexers. Each of the K first signal feed units corresponds to N second duplexers, where K is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The signal processing unit further includes N first multi-frequency signal processors, each of the N first multi-frequency signal processors includes a combiner end and K branching ends. The combiner end of the N second duplexers corresponding to each first signal feed unit is respectively connected to a branching end of the N first multi-frequency signal processors, and the combiner ends of the N first multi-frequency signal processors are respectively connected to N groups of radiating elements. In this case, the first multi-frequency signal processor can combine the transmit sub-signals received by the K branching ends into one path and send the combined signal to the connected radiating element, and can also split the received signal received by the combiner end of the first multi-frequency signal processor into K paths and send the combined signal to the K second duplexers connected to the K branching ends of the first multi-frequency signal processor. In this design, by setting up N first multi-frequency signal processors, the transmission signals of multiple frequency bands can be fed into the same antenna array, and the reception signals sent by the antenna array can be divided into reception signals of multiple frequency bands and transmitted to their respective signal feeding units. This method helps to increase the possibility of multi-frequency band signals sharing the same antenna array.

[0016] In an optional design, the third phase-shifted feeding network includes N second terminals, the signal processing unit further includes N second multi-frequency signal processors, and each of the N second multi-frequency signal processors includes a combining terminal, a first branch terminal, and a second branch terminal. The combining terminals of the N second multi-frequency signal processors are respectively connected to N groups of radiating elements, the first branch terminals of the N second multi-frequency signal processors are respectively connected to the combining terminals of N second duplexers, and the second branch terminals of the N second multi-frequency signal processors are respectively connected to the N second terminals of the third phase-shifted feeding network. During downlink transmission, the third phase-shifted feeding network can perform phase-shifted feeding on the transmit signal from the signal transceiver port, divide the signal into N paths, and send the signals to the N second multi-frequency signal processors. Any of the N second multi-frequency signal processors can combine the transmit sub-signals received at the first branch terminal and the second branch terminal of the second multi-frequency signal processor into one path, and then send the combined signal to the connected radiating element. During uplink transmission, any of the N second multi-frequency signal processors can split the received signal received at the combining end of the second multi-frequency signal processor into two paths and send the split signals to the second duplexer connected to the first branch end of the second multi-frequency signal processor and the third phase-shifted feed network connected to the second branch end. The third phase-shifted feed network can weight the N received signals received through the second end and send them to the signal transceiver port. In this design, by providing N second multi-frequency signal processors, the transmit signal of the first signal feed unit and the transmit signal of the second signal feed unit can be fed into the same antenna array simultaneously, and the receive signal sent by the antenna array can be split into the receive signal corresponding to the first signal feed unit and the receive signal corresponding to the second signal feed unit and sent to their respective phase-shifted feed networks. This method helps to increase the possibility of the first signal feed unit and the second signal feed unit sharing the same antenna array.

[0017] In an optional design, the base station antenna also includes a filter, wherein a first end of the filter is connected to a combiner end of the signal processing unit, and a second end of the filter is connected to the antenna array. The filter can filter the phase-shifted transmitted signal from the signal processing unit before sending it to the antenna array, or can filter the received signal from the antenna array before sending it to the signal processing unit. In this design, by cascading the filter between the signal processing unit and the antenna array, not only can impurities in the transmitted signal be filtered out before it is sent to the antenna array, thereby making the transmitted signal sent to the antenna array purer and improving the quality of the transmitted signal radiated by the antenna array, but impurities in the received signal can also be filtered out before it is sent to the signal processing unit and the first signal feeding unit, thereby preventing the signal processing unit and the first signal feeding unit from performing excessive processing operations on useless impurity signals, thereby wasting processing resources of the base station antenna.

[0018] In a second aspect, the present application provides a base station device, comprising a base station antenna as described in any one of the first aspects and one or more transceivers, wherein the one or more transceivers can be connected to the base station antenna.

[0019] In an optional design, the transceiver is a remote radio unit.

[0020] These and other aspects of the present application will become more readily apparent from the description of the following embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application is exemplified;

[0022] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating the internal structure of a base station antenna is shown as an example;

[0023] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating the internal structure of another base station antenna is shown as an example;

[0024] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating the internal structure of a base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplified;

[0025] Figure 5 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 6 A schematic diagram illustrating a connection method between a base station antenna and a remote radio frequency unit is shown;

[0027] Figure 7 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 8 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0029] Figure 9 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0030] Figure 10 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 11 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 12 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 13 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 14 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 15 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 16 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 17 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 18 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 19 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 20 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0041] Figure 21 The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0042] Figure 22 The following is a schematic structural diagram of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] The base station antenna provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applicable to various communication systems, such as: the fifth generation (5G) communication system or the new radio (NR) system, the 6G communication system, the long term evolution (LTE) system, the global system of mobile communication (GSM) system, the code division multiple access (CDMA) system, the wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) system, the general packet radio service (GPRS) system, the LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) system, the universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS), the world wide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication system, etc., and of course, it can also be other unlicensed frequency band communication systems, without limitation.

[0044] The following will describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments.

[0045] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to the embodiment of the present application is shown as an example. Figure 1 As shown, the system architecture may include wireless access network equipment, such as but not limited to Figure 1The base station 100 shown. The wireless access network device can be located in a base station subsystem (BBS), a terrestrial radio access network (UMTS terrestrial radio access network, UTRAN) or an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (E-UTRAN), and is used to provide cell coverage of wireless signals to achieve connection between terminal equipment and the radio frequency end of the wireless network. Specifically, the base station 100 can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a GSM or CDMA system, a base station (NodeB, NB) in a WCDMA system, an evolved base station (evolutional NodeB, eNB or eNodeB) in an LTE system, or a wireless controller in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the base station 100 can also be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a base station in a future 5G network, or a base station in a future evolved PLMN network, etc., for example, a new wireless base station, and the embodiments of the present application are not limited thereto.

[0046] like Figure 1 As shown, a possible structure of the base station 100 may include a base station antenna 110, a transceiver 120, and a baseband processing unit 130. The base station antenna may use a digital beamforming antenna to form an antenna system, an analog beamforming antenna to form an antenna system, or a new generation beamforming antenna to form an antenna system, such as a hybrid beamforming (HBF) antenna system formed by using a digital beamforming antenna and an analog beamforming antenna. The transceiver 120 may be connected to the antenna port of the base station antenna 110, so that the base station antenna 110 may receive a transmit signal sent by the transceiver 120 through its antenna port and radiate it through the radiating element of the base station antenna 110, or may send a receive signal received by the radiating element of the base station antenna 110 to the transceiver 120.

[0047] In an implementation, the transceiver 120 may be a remote radio frequency unit, and the baseband processing unit 130 may be a baseband unit. In this case, the baseband unit may be used to process the baseband signal to be transmitted and transmit it to the remote radio frequency unit, or receive and process the received signal sent by the remote radio frequency unit (i.e., the baseband signal obtained by converting the received radio frequency signal received by the base station antenna 110 during the signal reception process and then processed by the remote radio frequency unit). The remote radio frequency unit may convert the baseband signal to be transmitted sent by the baseband unit into a transmit radio frequency signal (including performing necessary signal processing on the baseband signal to be transmitted, such as signal amplification), and then transmit the transmit radio frequency signal to the base station antenna 110 through the antenna port of the base station antenna 110, which radiates the transmit radio frequency signal. Alternatively, the remote radio frequency unit may also receive the receive radio frequency signal sent by the antenna port of the base station antenna 110, convert it into a receive baseband signal, and then transmit it to the baseband unit.

[0048] It should be understood that Figure 1 Only the connection relationship between one transceiver 120 and one antenna port of the base station antenna 110 is illustrated. In other optional implementations, the number of antenna ports in the base station antenna 110 may be at least two, and the number of transceivers 120 may also be at least two, wherein each antenna port may be connected to one transceiver 120, and multiple transceivers 120 may be connected to the same baseband processing unit 130.

[0049] Figure 1 A possible deployment scenario of base station antennas is also exemplified. Figure 1 As shown, the deployment scenario may include a pole, an antenna adjustment bracket, a feeder, a joint seal and a grounding device. Among them, the end of the base station antenna 110 close to the antenna port can be fixedly connected to the pole, and the end of the base station antenna 110 away from the antenna port can be movably connected to the pole through the antenna adjustment bracket, so that the position of the base station antenna 110 can be adjusted by the antenna adjustment bracket. A feeder is led out from the antenna port of the base station antenna 110 and connected to the transceiver 120, and the feeder can also be extended to the grounding pipe to connect to the grounding device. Among them, the connection between the antenna port and the feeder, as well as the connection between the feeder and the grounding pipe, can be sealed by a joint seal. It should be understood that Figure 1 Only a deployment method of a base station antenna including one antenna is shown. In other scenarios, the base station antenna may also include multiple antennas installed around a pole. The installation positions of the multiple antennas can be the same or different. When the installation positions are different, the multiple antennas can form different beam coverage ranges.

[0050] MIMO technology typically integrates the base station antenna and remote radio unit (RRU) into a single device, called an active antenna unit (AAU). With the advancement of MIMO technology, the number of antennas in a base station has increased, but the space reserved for base station antennas in the AAU is extremely limited. In this situation, designing the internal structure of the base station antenna to achieve optimal antenna performance within this limited space has become a key factor affecting the transmit and receive performance of a MIMO system.

[0051] The following first introduces two optional internal structures of base station antennas by way of example.

[0052] Figure 2 An internal structure diagram of a base station antenna is shown as an example. Figure 2 As shown, in this example, the base station antenna may only include a phase-shifted feed network and an antenna array. 11 ) corresponds to the antenna port of the base station antenna (such as the first end Q of the phase-shifted feeding network 11 That is the antenna port of the base station antenna, or the first end Q of the phase-shifted feed network 11 The second end of the phase-shifted feed network (Q 12 ) is connected to the antenna array. The remote radio frequency unit in this example may include a radio frequency transmission port T X , RF receiving port R X and a duplexer (A), RF transmit port T X Connect the input of duplexer A (Q 21 ), RF receiving port R X Connect the output of duplexer A (Q 22 ), the combined end of duplexer A (Q 23 ) is connected to the antenna port of the base station antenna. During downlink transmission, the RF transmission port T X The transmission signal can be sequentially transmitted through the input terminal Q of the duplexer A 21 , the combined end Q of duplexer A 23 , antenna port and the first end Q of the phase-shifted feed network 11 The signal is then fed to the phase-shifted feed network, which then feeds the signal through the second terminal Q. 12 During uplink transmission, the antenna array receives the received signal and transmits it to the antenna array through the second end Q 12 The received signal is sent to the phase-shift feeding network, and then the phase-shift feeding network performs phase-shift feeding processing on the received signal and then passes through the first end Q of the phase-shift feeding network in sequence. 11 , antenna port, duplexer A's combiner port Q 23and the output Q of duplexer A 22 Sent to RF receiving port R X .

[0053] like Figure 2 In the base station antenna shown, transmit and receive signals are actually fed through a shared phase-shifted feed network and radiated and received through a shared antenna array. This configuration saves space on the base station antenna layout, helping to address the issues of limited base station space and limited space resources. However, since the transmit and receive signals use the same phase-shifted feed network, the transmit and receive signals can only be electrically adjusted using the same set of phase-shifted feed parameters. This approach clearly couples uplink and downlink transmissions, making the base station antenna unsuitable for applications where uplink and downlink transmission require different beams. Furthermore, the use of the same link for uplink and downlink transmission may increase nonlinear interference between the uplink and downlink transmissions, increasing the risk of passive intermodulation (PIM) (i.e., the nonlinear characteristics of the passive components in the base station antenna generate higher-order harmonics relative to the base station antenna's operating frequency. These higher-order harmonics mix with the base station antenna's operating frequency to produce a new set of frequency combinations. In this case, the base station antenna ultimately produces a set of useless spectral components, affecting the normal operation of the base station antenna). This reduces the base station antenna's network performance.

[0054] To solve the above problems, Figure 3 The internal structure diagram of another base station antenna is shown as an example. Figure 3 As shown in the example, the base station antenna may include a duplexer (B), two phase-shifted feed networks (i.e., phase-shifted feed network 1 and phase-shifted feed network 2), and two antenna arrays (i.e., antenna array 1 and antenna array 2). 33 ) corresponds to the antenna port of the base station antenna (such as the combiner port Q of the duplexer B 33 That is, the antenna port of the base station antenna, or the combining end Q of the duplexer B 33 The antenna port of the base station antenna is connected via a line), the output end of the duplexer B (Q 31 ) is connected to the input of the phase-shifted feed network 1, and the output of the phase-shifted feed network 1 is connected to the antenna array 1; the input of the duplexer B (Q 32 ) is connected to the output end of the phase-shift feed network 2, and the input end of the phase-shift feed network 2 is connected to the antenna array 2. Figure 2 The remote radio frequency unit shown is the same as that shown in FIG. 1 , and also includes a radio frequency transmission port T X , RF receiving port R X and a duplexer A, RF transmit port T X Connect the input of duplexer A (Q 21), RF receiving port R X Connect the output of duplexer A (Q 22 ), the combined end of duplexer A (Q 23 ) is connected to the antenna port of the base station antenna. During downlink transmission, the RF transmission port T X The transmission signal passes through the input terminal Q of the duplexer A in turn. 21 , the combined end Q of duplexer A 23 , antenna port and the combined end Q of duplexer B 33 Transmitted to duplexer B, and then output from duplexer B, Q 31 The output is transmitted to the phase-shifted feed network 1, which performs phase-shifted feeding processing on the transmitted signal and then sends it to the antenna array 1 for radiation. During uplink transmission, the antenna array 2 receives the received signal and sends it to the phase-shifted feed network 2. The phase-shifted feed network 2 performs phase-shifted feeding processing on the received signal and then passes through the input terminal Q of the duplexer B in sequence. 32 , the combined end Q of duplexer B 33 , antenna port, duplexer A's combiner port Q 23 and the output Q of duplexer A 22 Sent to RF receiving port R X .

[0055] like Figure 3 In the base station antenna shown, the transmit and receive signals are fed through their own dedicated phase-shifted feed networks and radiated or received through their own dedicated antenna arrays. Because the transmit and receive signals use different phase-shifted feed networks, they can be independently electrically adjusted using different phase-shifted feed parameters, achieving mutual isolation of the transmit and receive signals. Although this approach decouples uplink and downlink transmission, making the base station antenna suitable for applications where uplink and downlink transmission require different beams, it requires separate phase-shifted feed networks and antenna arrays for the transmit and receive signals. Therefore, the base station antenna requires a larger layout space to accommodate the phase-shifted feed network and antenna array, making it unsuitable for applications where base station space is limited.

[0056] In view of this, the present application provides a base station antenna for realizing independent electrical adjustment of uplink and downlink transmission by utilizing limited layout space, so as to improve the performance of the base station antenna while saving layout space.

[0057] The internal structure of the base station antenna in the embodiment of the present application is now introduced as an example. Figure 4 The internal structure diagram of a base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown as follows: Figure 4As shown, the base station antenna may include a first signal feed unit, a signal processing unit, and an antenna array. The first signal feed unit, signal processing unit, and antenna array are typically placed in a radome. The radome has excellent electrical properties for electromagnetic wave penetration and mechanical properties for withstanding harsh external environments. The radome isolates these components from the external environment, helping to protect them from the effects of the harsh external environment. The base station antenna may also include an antenna port, which is typically located outside the radome to enable connection to a transceiver. The base station antenna may include at least one antenna array consisting of multiple radiating elements and a metal reflector. The multiple radiating elements are typically placed on the front of the metal reflector. The metal reflector can reflect antenna signals incident on the front of the metal reflector and focus them on receiving points (i.e., the radiating elements), thereby improving the antenna signal reception sensitivity and enhancing the antenna's reception capability. In contrast to the radiating elements, other electrical components in the base station antenna are typically located on the back of the metal reflector. In this way, the metal reflector can also block or shield radio waves emitted by other electrical components on its back, thereby reducing interference with the received signal from other radio waves. The metal reflector can also be called a base plate, antenna panel, or reflective surface. The frequencies of the radiating elements in the same antenna array can be the same or different. The base station antenna can also include a transmission or calibration network connected to the first signal feed unit. The transmission or calibration network is used to adjust the phase-shifting feed parameters in the first signal feed unit based on the deviation between the actual phase of the antenna array and the target phase, thereby gradually adjusting the actual phase of the antenna array to the target phase and achieving accurate transmission and reception operations.

[0058] It should be noted that Figure 4 This is only an exemplary description, and the present application does not limit the base station antenna to have only this type of architecture. In another example, a multi-frequency signal processor can be further provided before the first signal feeding unit and the antenna port, so that each transmission signal is first combined into one path through the multi-frequency signal processor and then fed through the first signal feeding unit for processing, and finally transmitted to the antenna array through the signal processing unit, or the received signal is first transmitted to the first signal feeding unit through the signal processing unit for feeding processing, and then divided into multiple paths through the multi-frequency signal processor and sent to the antenna port. The specific implementation process of this part will be described in detail in the following embodiments and will not be described here.

[0059] The following terms are used in the following embodiments of the present application:

[0060] (1) Radiating unit: It is a unit that constitutes the basic structure of the antenna and is used to radiate or receive radio waves. The radiating units in the base station antenna mainly include two types: vibrator units and patch units. The vibrator unit is also called antenna vibrator or vibrator, and is mainly used in dual-polarization antennas, low-frequency antennas or high-frequency antennas. The patch unit is mainly used in narrowband antennas, single-band antennas and indoor antennas. The radiating unit in this application can be used for single-band antennas or multi-band antennas, and can be used for both single-polarization antennas and multi-polarization antennas. This application does not make specific restrictions on this.

[0061] (2) Feed network: The feed network is usually composed of a controllable impedance transmission line and may include a phase shifter and / or a power divider (PD), such as only a phase shifter, only a power divider, or both a phase shifter and a power divider. A phase shifter is a device that can adjust the phase of a signal and may include a digital phase shifter and an analog phase shifter. A power divider is a device that can divide an input signal into two or more output signals according to energy. The energy of the two or more output signals may be equal or unequal. When the power divider is used in reverse, the power divider can also combine the two or more input signals into one output signal according to energy. The energy of the output signal is equal to the sum of the energy of the two or more input signals. The power divider used in reverse can also be called a combiner. When the feed network only includes a phase shifter, the feed network can feed the transmit signal to the radiating unit according to a certain phase, or send the receive signal to the remote radio frequency unit according to a certain phase. When the feed network only includes a power splitter, it can feed the transmit signal to the radiating element at a specific amplitude, or send the receive signal to the remote radio unit at a specific amplitude. When the feed network includes both a power splitter and a phase shifter, it can feed the transmit signal to the radiating element at a specific amplitude and phase, or send the receive signal to the remote radio unit at a specific amplitude and phase.

[0062] (3) Phase-shifted feed network: refers to a feed network that includes a phase shifter, such as only a phase shifter, or a phase shifter and a power divider.

[0063] (4) Filter: A frequency-selective device that effectively filters out a specific frequency band or frequencies outside a certain frequency band, allowing signals with specific frequencies to pass through while attenuating signals with other frequencies, thereby filtering out interference noise or performing spectrum analysis. Filters can be installed in the feed network or phase-shift feed network, in other components, or as a separate component.

[0064] (5) Communication system: This application refers to the maximum frequency band range that can be carried by a radio frequency communication port of a remote radio frequency unit as a communication system. The transmit signals and receive signals in a communication system correspond to different frequencies in the same frequency band, and the same frequency band is the maximum frequency band range corresponding to the communication system. Therefore, in other descriptions of this application, the transmit signals and receive signals in the same communication system may also be referred to as transmit signals and receive signals carried in the same frequency band.

[0065] (6) Duplexer: refers to a device that can realize the functions of splitting and combining the transmit and receive signals in the same communication system. The duplexer can also isolate the transmit signal and the receive signal to ensure that the transmit operation and the receive operation in the same communication system are carried out normally at the same time.

[0066] (7) Combiner: A device that combines two or more RF signals in two or more communication systems into one RF signal while preventing the signals in each communication system from interfering with each other. Splitter: A device that splits one RF signal into two or more RF signals corresponding to two or more communication systems while preventing the signals in each communication system from interfering with each other.

[0067] (8) Combiner / splitter: refers to a device that can combine two or more RF signals in two or more communication systems into one RF signal, and can also split one RF signal into two or more RF signals corresponding to two or more communication systems, while avoiding mutual influence between the signals in each communication system.

[0068] The following describes the specific structure of the base station antenna in this application using a specific embodiment. For example, the following uses an FDD system as an example. In an FDD system, the base station antenna can perform uplink and downlink transmissions on two separate symmetrical frequency channels to protect the transmitted and received signals by separating the uplink and downlink channels.

[0069] It should be noted that, in the description below, the name of each port is merely an exemplary description. In other optional implementations, each port may also have other names. For example, the other name of a port may refer to a common name, such as the other name of the input terminal may be the first communication terminal, and the other name of the output terminal may be the second communication terminal. For another example, the other name of a port may also refer to a name related to the function implemented by the port, such as the input terminal is used to refer to a port with a receiving function, so the other name of the input terminal may also be the receiving terminal, and the output terminal is used to refer to a port with a transmitting function, so the other name of the output terminal may also be the transmitting terminal. There are many ways to name a port. As long as a port can achieve the same or similar function as the port in this application, even if the port name is different from the port name in this application, it falls within the scope of protection of this application, and this application will not go into details one by one.

[0070] It should be noted that in the following description, ports have a corresponding relationship, which may mean that the two ports are the same port, or that the two ports are connected through a line. This application does not make any specific limitations on this.

[0071] It should be understood that the terms "system" and "network" in the embodiments of the present application can be used interchangeably. "At least one" refers to one or more, and "plurality" refers to two or more. "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B can represent: the existence of A alone, the existence of A and B at the same time, and the existence of B alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. The character " / " generally indicates that the previous and subsequent associated objects are in an "or" relationship. "At least one of the following items" or similar expressions refers to any combination of these items, including any combination of single items or plural items. For example, at least one of a, b, or c can represent: a, b, c, ab, ac, bc, or abc, where a, b, c can be single or multiple.

[0072] Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, ordinal numbers such as "first" and "second" in the embodiments of this application are used to distinguish multiple objects and are not used to define the order, timing, priority, or importance of the multiple objects. For example, the first duplexer and the second duplexer are only used to distinguish different duplexers and do not indicate a difference in priority or importance between the two duplexers.

[0073] Example 1

[0074] Figure 5 The schematic diagram of the structure of a base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as an example. Figure 5As shown, the base station antenna may include a first signal feeding unit, a signal processing unit, and an antenna array. The first signal feeding unit may include a signal transmitting port (T), a signal receiving port (R), a first phase-shifted feeding network, and a second phase-shifted feeding network. The signal transmitting port T is connected to the input of the first phase-shifted feeding network, the output of the first phase-shifted feeding network is connected to the input (Z1) of the signal processing unit, the signal receiving port R is connected to the output of the second phase-shifted feeding network, the input of the second phase-shifted feeding network is connected to the output (Z2) of the signal processing unit, and the combining end (Z3) of the signal processing unit is connected to the antenna array. The signal transmitting port T and the signal receiving port R of the base station antenna may be connected to a remote radio frequency unit. For downlink transmission, the signal transmission port T receives a transmission signal (such as a downlink RF signal) from a remote RF unit and sends the transmission signal to the first phase-shifted feeding network. The first phase-shifted feeding network can perform phase-shifted feeding processing on the transmission signal and send it to the signal processing unit. The signal processing unit then sends the phase-shifted fed transmission signal to the antenna array through its combiner terminal Z3, and the antenna array radiates the phase-shifted fed transmission signal. For uplink transmission, the same antenna array receives a received signal (such as an uplink RF signal) and sends the received signal to the signal processing unit. The signal processing unit then sends the received signal to the second phase-shifted feeding network through its output terminal Z2. The second phase-shifted feeding network can perform phase-shifted feeding on the received signal and send it to the signal receiving port R, and then transmit it to the remote RF unit.

[0075] use Figure 5 In the base station antenna shown, the transmit and receive signals are fed separately through their own phase-shifted feeding networks, which not only helps to realize the function of independently feeding the transmit and receive signals of the base station antenna, but also decouples the uplink and downlink transmissions in the first signal feeding network, thereby helping to reduce the nonlinear interference between the uplink and downlink transmissions and reduce the risk of PIM generated by the base station antenna. After the uplink and downlink transmissions are decoupled, the base station antenna can also realize different beams for uplink and downlink transmissions by independently phase-shifting the transmit and receive signals. For example, the uplink transmission can be fed into a narrow beam to improve the transmission gain, and the downlink transmission can be fed into a wide beam to improve the signal coverage range. Furthermore, this method also uses the same antenna array to radiate the transmit signal and receive the receive signal, without setting different antenna arrays for the transmit signal and the receive signal. Therefore, it also helps to reduce the number of antenna arrays required for the base station antenna. This not only saves the layout space occupied by the base station antenna, but also reduces the mutual influence (such as mutual coupling) between the antenna arrays.

[0076] In an optional embodiment, the transmit signal and the receive signal can be carried at different frequencies in the same frequency band. In this case, the transmit signal and the receive signal actually belong to the same communication system, that is, the transmit signal and the receive signal correspond to the downlink transmission and uplink transmission between the base station antenna and the same remote radio frequency unit, respectively. In this way, by placing the transmit and receive signals of the same communication system on the same signal feed unit for feed processing, it is convenient for the base station antenna to separately manage the uplink and downlink transmission of each communication system. The signal processing unit can specifically include a duplexer, which is used to isolate the transmit signal and the receive signal in the same frequency band, so the duplexer can also be called a transmit-receive separation filter. By arranging a duplexer between the first signal feed unit and the antenna array, even if the line between the first signal feed unit and the antenna array is used for transmitting both the transmit signal and the receive signal, the transmit signal and the receive signal can be accurately distinguished by the duplexer and sent to their respective corresponding phase-shifted feed networks or antenna arrays. This method can reduce the possibility of mutual interference between the transmit signal and the receive signal, and helps to ensure that the transmit and receive operations of the base station antenna are carried out normally and accurately.

[0077] In a specific design, when the transmit signal and the receive signal are carried in the same frequency band:

[0078] Figure 6 A schematic diagram showing a connection method between a base station antenna and a remote radio frequency unit is shown as an example. Figure 6 As shown, in this mode, the remote radio frequency unit may have two radio frequency communication ports, namely, radio frequency transmission port T X and RF receiving port R X The base station antenna can also have two antenna ports, namely the antenna transmission port T Y and antenna receiving port R Y Among them, the antenna transmission port T Y It can correspond to the signal transmission port T, such as the antenna transmission port T Y That is the signal transmission port T, or the antenna transmission port T Y Connect the signal sending port T through the line. Antenna receiving port R Y Corresponding signal receiving port R, such as antenna receiving port R Y That is the signal receiving port R, or the antenna receiving port R Y The signal receiving port R is connected by a line. In this case, the connection between the base station antenna and the remote radio frequency unit may include: the radio frequency transmitting port T X Connect the antenna to the transmitting port T Y , RF receiving port R X Connect the antenna to the receiving port R Y During downlink transmission, the remote radio frequency unit can transmit the signal through the radio frequency transmission port T XSend the downlink RF signal to be sent to the antenna transmission port T Y , based on antenna transmission port T Y The corresponding relationship between the downlink RF signal and the signal transmission port T is that the downlink RF signal can be received by the signal transmission port T, and then sent to the antenna array for radiation after passing through the first phase-shifted feeding network and the duplexer in sequence. During uplink transmission, the received signal received by the antenna array is transmitted to the signal receiving port R after passing through the duplexer and the second phase-shifted feeding network in sequence. Y The corresponding relationship between the uplink RF signal and the signal receiving port R is that the uplink RF signal can be received by the antenna port R Y The received signal is then sent to the RF receiving port R of the remote RF unit. X .

[0079] Figure 6 The port configuration of the remote radio unit shown is only one possible example. In other examples, the remote radio unit may also be configured as follows. Figure 2 or Figure 3 The one shown has only one RF communication port. In this case, Figure 7 The schematic diagram of the structure of another base station antenna provided in the embodiment of the present application is shown as an example. Figure 7 As shown, in this example, the signal processing unit may specifically include a duplexer C, and the base station antenna may further include an antenna port (TR Y ), the first signal feeding unit may further include a first signal transceiver port (TR) and a duplexer D (ie, a first duplexer), the antenna port TR Y Corresponding to the first signal transceiver port TR, such as the antenna port TR Y That is, the first signal transceiver port TR, or antenna port TR Y The first signal transceiver port TR is connected to the combining end (Q 43 ), the output of the duplexer D (Q 41 ) connects the signal transmission port T, the input end of the duplexer D (Q 42 ) is connected to the signal receiving port R. In this case, the connection between the base station antenna and the remote radio frequency unit may include: the radio frequency communication port TR of the remote radio frequency unit X Antenna port TR connected to the base station antenna Y During downlink transmission, the remote radio unit can transmit data through the radio communication port TR X Send the downlink RF signal to the antenna port TR Y , based on antenna port TR Y The corresponding relationship between the first signal transceiver port TR and the downlink RF signal can be transmitted along the antenna port TR Y and the combined end Q of the duplexer D43 The link between them is transmitted to the duplexer D, which has the isolation function of sending and receiving signals. The duplexer D can transmit the signal through its output port Q 41 The downlink RF signal is output so that it is received by the signal transmission port T, and then passes through the first phase-shifted feeding network and the duplexer C in sequence before being sent to the antenna array for radiation. During uplink transmission, the received signal received by the antenna array passes through the duplexer C and the second phase-shifted feeding network in sequence before being transmitted to the input port Q of the duplexer D. 42 , the duplexer D has the function of isolating the receiving and transmitting signals, and the duplexer D can 43 Output the uplink radio frequency signal so that the uplink radio frequency signal is received by the first signal transceiver port TR, based on the first signal transceiver port TR and the antenna port TR Y The uplink radio frequency signal is transmitted to the radio frequency communication port TR of the remote radio frequency unit. X .

[0080] In the above embodiment, if Figure 6 The base station antenna shown can be applied to a remote radio unit having two radio frequency communication ports (i.e., a radio frequency transmitting port and a radio frequency receiving port), such as Figure 7 The base station antenna shown can be applied to a remote radio unit with one radio frequency communication port. By providing different base station antennas for remote radio units of different forms, the versatility of the signal feeding solution in this application is improved.

[0081] In another optional embodiment, the transmitted signal and the received signal may be carried in different frequency bands. In this case, the signal processing unit may specifically include a multi-frequency signal processor, such as a combiner, a splitter, or a combiner / splitter. The combiner has multiple input terminals and an output terminal, and the combiner can combine radio frequency signals of different frequency bands from multiple input terminals into one channel and output it through the output terminal. The splitter has multiple output terminals and an input terminal, and the splitter can divide the radio frequency signal from the input terminal into radio frequency signal branches corresponding to different frequency bands and output them through multiple output terminals. The combiner / splitter has multiple input terminals, multiple output terminals, and a combining terminal. When the multiple input terminals of the combiner / splitter receive radio frequency signals of different frequency bands, the combiner / splitter can combine the radio frequency signals of different frequency bands into one channel and output it through its combining terminal. When the combining terminal of the combiner / splitter receives a radio frequency signal, the combiner / splitter can divide the radio frequency signal into radio frequency signal branches corresponding to different frequency bands and output it through multiple output terminals. Furthermore, the ports of the multi-band signal processor are isolated from each other, ensuring that the signals received or transmitted by each port do not interfere with each other. This allows the multi-band signal processor to combine or split the RF signals from different frequency bands, minimizing interference between the RF signals.

[0082] In a specific design, when the transmit signal and the receive signal are carried in different frequency bands:

[0083] Figure 8 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 8 As shown, in this example, the signal processing unit may specifically include a combiner / splitter, and the first signal feeding unit may include M signal sending ports (such as T1, T2, ..., T M ), M signal receiving ports (such as R1, R2, ..., R M ), combiners and splitters, the combiner may include M input terminals and one output terminal (Q 51 ), the splitter may include an input terminal (Q 52 ) and M output terminals, where M is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The M input terminals of the combiner can be connected to M signal transmission ports T1 to T2 respectively. M , the output Q of the combiner 51 The input end of the first phase-shifted feeding network can be connected. M Corresponding to M frequency bands respectively, during downlink transmission, the combiner receives signals from M signal sending ports T1~T MAfter the transmission signals of M frequency bands are combined, the transmission signals of these M frequency bands can be combined into one path and sent to the first phase-shift feeding network. The first phase-shift feeding network then performs phase-shift feeding processing on the combined transmission signal and sends it to the combiner / splitter. The combiner / splitter sends the phase-shifted fed transmission signal to the antenna array through its combining terminal Z3 for radiation. Correspondingly, the M output terminals of the splitter can be connected to the M signal receiving ports R1 to R2 respectively. M , the input of the splitter Q 52 The output end of the second phase-shifted feeding network can be connected. M Corresponding to M frequency bands respectively, during uplink transmission, the combiner / splitter can send the received signal from the antenna array to the second phase-shift feeding network through its output terminal Z2, and the second phase-shift feeding network performs phase-shift feeding processing on the received signal and then sends it to the splitter. The splitter can divide the received signal after phase-shift feeding into M receiving signals corresponding to M frequency bands and send them to M signal receiving ports R1 to R1 corresponding to the M frequency bands respectively. M .

[0084] It should be noted that when the base station antenna performs downlink transmission, one or more transmit signal ports may not receive a transmit signal. In this case, the number of transmit signals in the M frequency bands may be less than M, such as only one transmit signal. When the base station antenna performs uplink transmission, the received signal after phase-shift feeding may only contain receive signals from one or more frequency bands. In this case, one or more of the M receive signals obtained by branching may be empty, meaning no receive signal exists or no receive signal passes through one or more of the channels.

[0085] use Figure 8 In the base station antenna shown, the receiving signals or transmitting signals of multiple frequency bands can share the phase-shifted feeding network for electrical adjustment and the antenna array for radiation and reception. This method does not need to set up a dedicated phase-shifted feeding network and antenna array for each frequency band of the receiving and transmitting signals, thereby effectively reducing the number of phase-shifted feeding networks and antenna arrays deployed in the base station antenna, which helps to save the layout space of the base station antenna. Moreover, this method integrates more frequency bands of receiving and transmitting signals on the same antenna array as much as possible, and also helps to realize the reuse of antenna arrays and reduce mutual interference between antenna arrays. Furthermore, this method uses the same set of phase-shifted feeding parameters to electrically adjust the transmitting signals of multiple frequency bands, and uses the same set of phase-shifted feeding parameters to electrically adjust the receiving signals of multiple frequency bands, which can achieve the purpose of independent electrical adjustment of transmission and reception.

[0086] The above embodiment introduces the possibility that the base station antenna includes only one signal feeding unit. In the embodiment of the present application, the base station antenna may also include multiple signal feeding units. The structures of these multiple signal feeding units may all be the same as the same first signal feeding unit introduced in the above embodiment. The structures of different signal feeding units in these multiple signal feeding units may also be the same as the two or more first signal feeding units with different structures introduced in the above embodiment. Figure 4 Taking the first signal feeding unit shown as an example, a possible structure of a base station antenna including multiple signal feeding units is exemplarily introduced:

[0087] Structure 1

[0088] Figure 9 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 9 As shown, the base station antenna may include an antenna array, a signal processing unit and K first signal feeding units, such as first signal feeding unit 1, first signal feeding unit 2, ..., first signal feeding unit K, wherein the structure of each first signal feeding unit is the same as Figure 4 The structures of the first signal feeding units shown are the same, and the K first signal feeding units can correspond to K frequency bands respectively, where K is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. In this case, the signal processing unit may specifically include a combiner / splitter, and the combiner / splitter may include K input terminals (such as Z 11 、Z 12 、……、Z 1K ), K output terminals (such as Z 21 、Z 22 、……、Z 2K ) and a combining terminal Z3, the output terminals of the K first phase-shift feeding networks (such as the first phase-shift feeding network 1, the first phase-shift feeding network 2, ..., the first phase-shift feeding network K) corresponding to the K first signal feeding units are respectively connected to the K input terminals Z of the combiner / splitter. 11 ~Z 1K The input ends of the K second phase-shift feeding networks (such as the second phase-shift feeding network 1, the second phase-shift feeding network 2, ..., the second phase-shift feeding network K) corresponding to the K first signal feeding units are respectively connected to the K output ends Z of the combiner / splitter. 21 ~Z 2KThe combiner / splitter's combining end Z3 is connected to the antenna array. During downlink transmission, after receiving the phase-shifted transmission signals of K frequency bands from K first phase-shifted feeding networks, the combiner / splitter can combine the phase-shifted transmission signals of these K frequency bands into one channel and send it to the antenna array for radiation. The number of transmission signals in the phase-shifted transmission signals of the K frequency bands can be less than K, for example, if the first signal feeding unit corresponding to one or some frequency bands does not receive the transmission signal. During uplink transmission, after receiving the received signal from the antenna array, the combiner / splitter can divide the received signal into K channels of received signals corresponding to the K frequency bands and send them to the K second phase-shifted feeding networks respectively. The number of received signals in the K channels of received signals obtained by branching can be less than K, for example, if the signals of a certain frequency band or certain frequency bands are not present in the received signal received by the combiner / splitter. In this case, the combiner / splitter can not send the received signal to the second phase-shifted feeding networks corresponding to these non-existent frequency bands.

[0089] With a base station antenna like the one in Structure 1, each signal (such as a transmit or receive signal) can be independently phase-shifted and fed, and each signal is radiated or received by a single antenna array. This approach maximizes the flexibility of phase-shifting the signal feed, helping to ensure that each uplink and downlink transmission has a distinct beam, maximizing antenna aperture utilization while minimizing the layout space occupied by the base station antenna. Furthermore, because each signal is independently phase-shifted, the base station antenna also supports network optimization equipment to optimize for a specific frequency band or bands based on frequency band.

[0090] Structure 2

[0091] Figure 10 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 10 As shown, the base station antenna may include an antenna array, a signal processing unit, a first signal feeding unit and a second signal feeding unit. The structure of the first signal feeding unit is similar to Figure 4 The first signal feeding unit is the same as that shown, and the structure of the second signal feeding unit is the same as that of the first signal feeding unit. Figure 2The structure of the base station antenna shown is similar, such as including only one signal transceiver port (TR) and a third phase-shifted feed network, and the signal transceiver port TR is connected to the first end (1) of the third phase-shifted feed network. In this case, the signal processing unit may specifically include a combiner / splitter, and the combiner / splitter may include an input end (Z1), an output end (Z2), a communication end (Z4) and a combiner end Z3, the input end Z1 of the combiner / splitter is connected to the output end of the first phase-shifted feed network in the first signal feed unit, the output end Z2 of the combiner / splitter is connected to the input end of the second phase-shifted feed network in the first signal feed unit, the communication end Z4 of the combiner / splitter is connected to the second end (2) of the third phase-shifted feed network, and the combiner end Z3 of the combiner / splitter is connected to the antenna array.

[0092] During downlink transmission, the first phase-shifted feeding network can perform phase-shifted feeding on the transmission signal from the signal transmission port T and then send it to the combiner / splitter. The third phase-shifted feeding network can perform phase-shifted feeding on the transmission signal from the signal transceiver port TR and then send it to the combiner / splitter. The combiner / splitter can combine the phase-shifted transmission signal from the first phase-shifted feeding network and the phase-shifted transmission signal from the third phase-shifted feeding network into one channel and then send it to the antenna array for radiation by the antenna array. The combiner / splitter may also only receive the phase-shifted transmission signal from the first phase-shifted feeding network or only receive the phase-shifted transmission signal from the third phase-shifted feeding network. In this case, the combining operation performed by the combiner / splitter may include combining the received signal and an empty signal into one channel. During uplink transmission, after receiving the received signal sent by the antenna array, the combiner / splitter can split the received signal into one received signal in the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feed unit and another received signal in the frequency band corresponding to the second signal feed unit, and then send the one received signal in the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feed unit to the second phase-shift feed network, and send the other received signal in the frequency band corresponding to the second signal feed unit to the third phase-shift feed network, so that the second phase-shift feed network and the third phase-shift feed network respectively perform phase-shift feeding processing on their respective received received signals, and then send them to the signal receiving port R and the signal transceiver port TR, respectively. The received signal received by the combiner / splitter may also contain only signals in the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feed unit or only signals in the frequency band corresponding to the second signal feed unit. In this case, the combiner / splitter can send the received signal only to the signal feed units in the existing frequency bands.

[0093] It should be noted that Figure 10 The possible structure of the base station antenna is described by taking the example that the base station antenna includes one first signal feeding unit and one second signal feeding unit. In other optional implementations, the base station antenna may also include multiple first signal feeding units or multiple second signal feeding units. For example, Figure 11 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 11 As shown, in this example, the base station antenna can include P first signal feeding units (such as first signal feeding unit 1, first signal feeding unit 2, ..., first signal feeding unit P), F second signal feeding units (such as second signal feeding unit 1, second signal feeding unit 2, ..., second signal feeding unit F), a combiner / splitter and an antenna array, P+F≥3, and F and P are both positive integers greater than or equal to 1. In this case, the combiner / splitter may include P input terminals (such as Z 11 、Z 12 、……、Z 1P ), P output terminals (such as Z 21 、Z 22 、……、Z 2P ), F communication terminals (such as Z 41 、Z 42 、……、Z 4F ) and a combiner terminal Z3, the P input terminals Z of the combiner / splitter 11 ~Z 1P The output terminals of the P first phase-shift feeding networks (such as the first phase-shift feeding network 1, the first phase-shift feeding network 2, ..., the first phase-shift feeding network P) in the P first signal feeding units are respectively connected, and the P output terminals Z of the combiner / splitter are connected. 21 ~Z 2P The input terminals of the P second phase-shift feeding networks (such as the second phase-shift feeding network 1, the second phase-shift feeding network 2, ..., the second phase-shift feeding network P) in the P first signal feeding units are connected respectively, and the F communication terminals Z of the combiner / splitter are connected. 41 ~Z 4F The second ends (12 to F2) of the F third phase-shifted feeding networks (such as the second phase-shifted feeding network 1, the second phase-shifted feeding network 2, ..., the second phase-shifted feeding network F) in the F second signal feeding units are respectively connected, and the combining end Z3 of the combiner / splitter is connected to the antenna array. The combiner / splitter can combine any multiple phase-shifted fed transmission signals from any multiple phase-shifted feeding networks (such as any multiple first phase-shifted feeding networks and / or any multiple third phase-shifted feeding networks) into one path and send them to the antenna array. It can also divide the receiving signal from the antenna array into multiple receiving signals according to the frequency band and send them to the corresponding first phase-shifted feeding network or third phase-shifted feeding network respectively. Regarding the specific implementation process of combining and splitting, please refer to the above content introduction, which will not be repeated here.

[0094] By adopting a base station antenna such as that in Structure 2, some transceiver signals can be individually electrically adjusted using different phase-shifted feed parameters, while other transceiver signals can share the same set of phase-shifted feed parameters for simultaneous electrical adjustment. On the one hand, this structure can minimize the layout space of the base station antenna while meeting the requirements of independent electrical adjustment by setting up corresponding phase-shifted feed networks for the transceiver signals that require independent electrical adjustment, and sharing the same phase-shifted feed network for the transceiver signals that do not require independent electrical adjustment. On the other hand, this structure can also directly combine the antenna structure in this application with the traditional antenna structure without directly replacing the traditional antenna structure, thereby also helping to improve the flexibility of deploying base station antennas.

[0095] It should be understood that Figures 9 to 11 Any of the first signal feeding units shown can also be replaced by Figure 7 or Figure 8 Any solution of the base station antenna obtained by a simple replacement operation of the illustrated first signal feeding unit is within the protection scope of this application, and this application will not introduce them one by one.

[0096] Now in the above embodiment Figure 10 Based on the technical solution corresponding to the base station antenna shown in FIG, the structure of the signal feeding unit is further introduced. It should be noted that the second embodiment is only based on Figure 10 The structure of the signal feeding unit is introduced by taking the base station antenna architecture of FIG. 1 as an example. The structure of the signal feeding unit is also applicable to the signal feeding unit in any base station antenna shown in the above content.

[0097] Example 2

[0098] Figure 12 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 12As shown, in this example, the first phase-shifted feeding network may include a first power divider and a first digital phase shifter, the input end of the first power divider corresponds to the input end of the first phase-shifted feeding network (such as the input end of the first power divider is the input end of the first phase-shifted feeding network, or the input end of the first power divider is connected to the input end of the first phase-shifted feeding network through a line), the output end of the first power divider is connected to the input end of the first digital phase shifter, and the output end of the first digital phase shifter corresponds to the output end of the first phase-shifted feeding network (such as the output end of the first digital phase shifter is the output end of the first phase-shifted feeding network, or the output end of the first digital phase shifter is connected to the output end of the first phase-shifted feeding network through a line). When the first power divider receives the transmission signal from the signal sending port T, the first power divider can distribute the transmission signal into multiple transmission sub-signals according to the preconfigured weights and send them to the first digital phase shifter. The first digital phase shifter can phase-shift the multiple transmission sub-signals after power distribution and send them to the combiner / splitter. Among them, the preconfigured weights can be preconfigured in the first power divider by those skilled in the art as needed. For example, if the preconfigured weights correspond to 0.3, 0.5, and 0.2, the first power divider can distribute the power of the transmitted signal according to these three weights to obtain transmitted sub-signal 1, transmitted sub-signal 2, and transmitted sub-signal 3. The power of transmitted sub-signal 1 accounts for 30% of the total power of the transmitted signal, the power of transmitted sub-signal 2 accounts for 50% of the total power of the transmitted signal, and the power of transmitted sub-signal 3 accounts for 20% of the total power of the transmitted signal. By distributing the power of the transmitted signal, the transmitted signal can be transmitted in parallel across multiple links to improve the transmission efficiency of the transmitted signal. Moreover, by phase shifting the transmitted signal, the beam radiation direction of the transmitted signal radiated by the antenna array can be changed.

[0099] In an optional embodiment, continue to refer to Figure 12As shown, the second phase-shift feeding network may include a second power divider and a second digital phase shifter, the output end of the second power divider corresponds to the output end of the second phase-shift feeding network (such as the output end of the second power divider is the output end of the second phase-shift feeding network, or the output end of the second power divider is connected to the output end of the second phase-shift feeding network through a line), the input end of the second power divider is connected to the output end of the second digital phase shifter, and the input end of the second digital phase shifter corresponds to the input end of the second phase-shift feeding network (such as the input end of the second digital phase shifter is the input end of the second phase-shift feeding network, or the input end of the second digital phase shifter is connected to the input end of the second phase-shift feeding network through a line). When the second digital phase shifter receives the receiving signal from the combiner / splitter, the second digital phase shifter can shift the phase of the received signal and send it to the second power divider, and the second power divider can weight the phase-shifted received signal according to the preconfigured weight and send it to the signal receiving port R. If the preconfigured weights correspond to 0.3, 0.5 and 0.2, after the second power divider receives the received signal 1, the received signal 2 and the received signal 3, it can weight and combine the power of the received signal 1, the power of the received signal 2 and the power of the received signal 3 according to the weights of 0.3, 0.5 and 0.2 to obtain the weighted received signal.

[0100] In an optional embodiment, continue to refer to Figure 12 As shown, the third phase-shift feeding network may include a third power divider and an analog phase shifter, the first end of the third power divider corresponds to the first end of the third phase-shift feeding network (such as the first end of the third power divider is the first end of the third phase-shift feeding network, or the first end of the third power divider is connected to the first end of the third phase-shift feeding network through a line), the second end of the third power divider is connected to the first end of the analog phase shifter, and the second end of the analog phase shifter corresponds to the second end of the third phase-shift feeding network (such as the second end of the analog phase shifter is the second end of the third phase-shift feeding network, or the second end of the analog phase shifter is connected to the second end of the third phase-shift feeding network through a line). When the third power distributor receives a transmitting signal from the signal transceiver port TR, the third power distributor can distribute the transmitting signal into multiple transmitting sub-signals according to the pre-configured weights and send them to the analog phase shifter. The analog phase shifter can phase-shift the multiple transmitting sub-signals after power distribution and send them to the combiner / splitter, or when the analog phase shifter receives a receiving signal from the combiner / splitter, the analog phase shifter can phase-shift the receiving signal and send it to the third power distributor. When there are multiple receiving signals after phase shift, the third power distributor can weight the phase-shifted receiving signals according to the pre-configured weights and send them to the signal transceiver port TR.

[0101] For example, the digital phase shifter and the analog phase shifter in the embodiment of the present application can both achieve phase shifting by microwave switching. In this manner, the base station antenna may further include a control interface, and a switch control circuit may be provided in any phase shifter (including the first digital phase shifter, the second digital phase shifter, and the analog phase shifter), and the control end of the switch control circuit may be connected to the control interface. Figure 12 As shown, a switch control circuit C1 is provided in the first digital phase shifter, a switch control circuit C2 is provided in the second digital phase shifter, and a switch control circuit C3 is provided in the analog phase shifter. The control terminals of the switch control circuits C1, C2, and C3 are all connected to a control interface. When a phase shifter is required to achieve phase shifting, the control interface can input a driving voltage and a control flow (such as a digital control flow or an analog control flow) to the switch control circuit provided in the phase shifter, causing the phase shifter to shift phase according to the phase shift parameters indicated by the control flow under the action of the driving voltage. The driving voltage can be a voltage provided by the Antenna Interface Standard Organization (AISG), or a voltage provided by other standard protocols.

[0102] For example, in an embodiment of the present application, the phase shifter and the switch control circuitry provided thereon can be placed on the back side of a metal reflector. By distributing the phase shifter and the radiating element on both sides of the metal reflector, the metal reflector's isolation function can be utilized to reduce the impact of the phase shifting operation on the radiating element.

[0103] In one alternative design, the phase shifter and the switch control circuitry thereon can be integrated onto a single printed circuit board (PCB). This shortens the distance between the phase shifter and the switch control circuitry thereon, allowing for faster transmission of control instructions from the switch control circuit to the phase shifter, thereby improving phase shift control efficiency. Alternatively, in another alternative design, the phase shifter and the switch control circuitry thereon can be designed independently as needed, which is not specifically limited in this application.

[0104] In an optional design, two connected components in any phase-shifted feed network can be configured as an integrated design, connected by a jumper, or connected by an RF cable, or can also be configured as other connection methods as needed. The two connected components can refer to a phase shifter and a power divider, or a phase shifter and a combiner / splitter. For example, when configured as an integrated design or a jumper connection, signals can be transmitted directly between the two adjacent components without the need for transmission through an RF cable. This not only helps reduce the number of RF cables and lower costs, but also reduces insertion loss and increases the speed of signal flow transmission.

[0105] In an optional design, the duplexer can be implemented using a suspended stripline to effectively reduce insertion loss. Of course, other implementation forms, such as an integrated design, can also be used as needed.

[0106] It should be noted that Figure 12 This example is provided merely to facilitate the introduction of the functionality of the phase-shifting feed network. It should be understood that any phase shifter capable of achieving phase shifting falls within the scope of this application, and this application does not limit the type, form, or implementation of the phase shifter. For example, the phase shifters in different signal feed units, or in different phase-shifting feed networks of the same signal feed unit, can be of the same or different types, and this application does not impose any restrictions on this.

[0107] Based on the first and second embodiments, the following further introduces a possible structure of the signal processing unit using the third embodiment.

[0108] Example 3

[0109] Figure 13 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 13 As shown, in this example, the multiple radiating elements in the antenna array are divided into N groups of radiating elements (such as radiating element group 1, radiating element group 2, ..., radiating element group N), where N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. In this case, the signal processing unit may include N duplexers (i.e., second duplexers) corresponding one-to-one to the N groups of radiating elements, such as duplexer 1, duplexer 2, ..., duplexer N, and each of the N duplexers may include an input end, an output end, and a combining end. For example, duplexer 1 includes an input end E 11 , output terminal E 12 Hehe Road End E 13 , the duplexer 2 includes an input terminal E 21 , output terminal E 22 Hehe Road End E 23 , ..., the duplexer N includes an input terminal E N1 , output terminal E N2 Hehe Road End E N3 Correspondingly, the first phase-shifted feeding network may include N output terminals and one input terminal, and the N output terminals of the first phase-shifted feeding network are respectively connected to the input terminals E of the N duplexers. 11 ~E N1 The input end of the first phase-shift feeding network is connected to the signal transmission port T. The second phase-shift feeding network may include N input ends and one output end, and the N input ends of the second phase-shift feeding network are respectively connected to the output ends E of the N duplexers. 12 ~E N2The output end of the second phase-shifted feeding network is connected to the signal receiving port R. The combining end E of the N duplexers 13 ~E N3 They are respectively connected to the corresponding N groups of radiating units. During downlink transmission, after receiving the transmit signal from the signal transmitting port T, the first phase-shifted feeding network can process the transmit signal into N transmit sub-signals and send them to the N duplexers through N output ports. The N duplexers can send the N transmit sub-signals they received to the connected N groups of radiating units through their respective combiner ports, and the N groups of radiating units can radiate these N transmit sub-signals. During uplink transmission, any radiating unit in the N groups of radiating units can send the received receive signal to a connected duplexer, and any duplexer in the N duplexers can send the received receive signal to the second phase-shifted feeding network. The second phase-shifted feeding network can weight the received receive signals and send them to the signal receiving port R. The second phase-shifted feeding network can receive greater than or equal to one and less than or equal to N receive signals.

[0110] In the above embodiment, the first phase-shifted feeding network supports processing a received transmission signal and then sending N transmission sub-signals, and the second phase-shifted feeding network supports processing the received N reception signals and then sending a weighted reception signal. There are many possible structures of the first phase-shifted feeding network and the second phase-shifted feeding network that can achieve this function. For example, when the first signal feeding unit is as follows: Figure 12 When shown, Figure 14 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 14As shown, in this example, the first power divider may include an input end and N output ends, the first digital phase shifter may include N input ends and N output ends, the input end of the first power divider corresponds to the input end of the first phase-shifted feeding network, the N output ends of the first power divider are respectively connected to the N input ends of the first digital phase shifter, and the N output ends of the first digital phase shifter correspond to the N output ends of the first phase-shifted feeding network. Correspondingly, the second power divider may include an output end and N input ends, the second digital phase shifter may include N output ends and N input ends, the output end of the second power divider corresponds to the output end of the second phase-shifted feeding network, the N input ends of the second power divider are respectively connected to the N output ends of the second digital phase shifter, and the N input ends of the second digital phase shifter correspond to the N input ends of the second phase-shifted feeding network. During downlink transmission, the first power divider can divide the transmission signal from the signal transmission port T into N transmission sub-signals according to the preconfigured weights, and then send these N transmission sub-signals to the N input ends of the first digital phase shifter respectively through the N output ends of the first power divider. The first digital phase shifter can respectively perform phase shift feeding on these N transmission sub-signals to obtain the required phase, and then respectively send the N transmission sub-signals after phase shift feeding to N duplexers through the N output ends of the first digital phase shifter. After being transmitted by the N duplexers to N groups of radiation units, the N groups of radiation units radiate N beams corresponding to the N transmission sub-signals, and different beams among these N beams can cover different ranges. During uplink transmission, N duplexers can respectively send the received signals from N groups of radiation units to the N input ends of the second digital phase shifter. The second digital phase shifter can respectively perform phase shift feeding on the N received signals, and then respectively send the N received signals after phase shift feeding to the second power divider through the N output ends of the second digital phase shifter. The second power divider weights the N received signals after phase shift feeding according to preconfigured weights and then sends them to the signal receiving port R.

[0111] It should be noted that the above embodiment actually phase-shifts N signals respectively through the N input terminals and N output terminals of the digital phase shifter, and is only an optional embodiment. In other optional embodiments, the first digital phase shifter may also include N first digital phase shift units, each of the N first digital phase shift units includes an input terminal and an output terminal, the N output terminals of the first power divider are respectively connected to the N input terminals of the N first digital phase shift units, and the N output terminals of the N first digital phase shift units are respectively connected to the input terminals of the N duplexers, and the N first digital phase shift units are respectively used to phase-shift the received transmission sub-signals and then send them to the connected duplexers. Correspondingly, the second digital phase shifter may also include N second digital phase shift units, each of the N second digital phase shift units includes an input end and an output end, the N input ends of the second power distributor are respectively connected to the N output ends of the N second digital phase shift units, and the N input ends of the N second digital phase shift units are respectively connected to the output ends of the N duplexers, and the N second digital phase shift units are respectively used to phase shift the received signals received by them and send them to the second power distributor.

[0112] The above is merely an example of two possible structures of a phase-shifted feed network. It should be understood that any structure that can implement a first phase-shifted feed network with one input and N outputs, or a second phase-shifted feed network with one output and N inputs, is within the scope of protection of this application, and this application will not elaborate on them one by one.

[0113] For example, continue to refer to Figure 14 As shown, each group of radiation units can include multiple radiation units (such as Figure 14 Each graphic “×” in the figure is a radiation unit), in this case, the antenna array may also include N power dividers (short for power dividers) corresponding to the N groups of radiation units (or N duplexers), such as power divider 1, power divider 2, ..., power divider N. Each of the N power dividers may include a first end and multiple second ends, and the number of the second ends is the same as the number of radiation units included in the group of radiation units corresponding to the power divider. The first end of each power divider can be connected to the combining end of the corresponding duplexer, and the multiple second ends of each power divider can be respectively connected to the multiple radiation units included in the corresponding group of radiation units. As Figure 14 As shown, it is assumed that radiation unit group 1 to radiation unit group N include X1, X2, ..., X N Radiating elements (X1, X2, ..., X N is a positive integer), the power divider 1 may include a first end D1 and X1 second ends 11, 12, ..., 1X1, the first end D1 of the power divider 1 is connected to the combining end E of the duplexer 1 13, the second ends 11~1X1 of the power divider 1 are respectively connected to the corresponding X1 radiation units; the power divider 2 may include a first end D2 and X2 second ends 21, 22, ..., 2X2, the first end D2 of the power divider 2 is connected to the combining end E of the duplexer 1 23 The second ends 21 to 2X2 of the power divider 2 are respectively connected to the corresponding X2 radiation units; ...; the power divider N may include a first end D N and X N Second terminals N1, N2, ..., NX N , the first end D of the power divider N N Connect to the combiner port E of duplexer 1 N3 The second terminals N1 to NX1 of the power divider N are connected to the corresponding X N Radiating elements. When N power splitters receive N transmission sub-signals from N duplexers, the N power splitters can each distribute the power of the received transmission sub-signals to obtain multiple transmission sub-signals, and then feed the multiple transmission sub-signals into multiple radiation elements in a corresponding group of radiation elements, and radiate the multiple transmission sub-signals through the multiple radiation elements. When any power splitter among the N power splitters receives multiple reception signals from the multiple radiation elements connected to it, the power splitter can weight the multiple reception signals and send them to the connected duplexer.

[0114] In this example, since the first power divider, the second power divider, and the third power divider are arranged between the base station antenna and the remote radio frequency unit, they are devices closer to the baseband processing unit. Therefore, the first power divider, the second power divider, and the third power divider can also be referred to as the first front power divider, the second front power divider, and the third front power divider. Power dividers 1 to N are arranged between the antenna array and the terminal device, and are devices far away from the baseband processing unit. Therefore, power dividers 1 to N can also be referred to as post-power dividers 1 to post-power dividers N.

[0115] The following is based on Figure 14 The first signal feeding unit shown further introduces the possible structure of the signal processing unit. It should be noted that for ease of understanding, the drawings involved below simplify the first signal feeding unit and some ports in the antenna array introduced above, such as not labeling the names of these ports.

[0116] Figure 15 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 15 As shown, in this example, the base station antenna includes K first signal feeding units (such as Figure 9), the signal processing unit may include K×N duplexers (i.e., duplexer 11, duplexer 12, ..., duplexer 1N, duplexer 21, duplexer 22, ..., duplexer 2N, ..., duplexer K1, duplexer K2, ..., duplexer KN), each N duplexers in the K×N duplexers may correspond to one first signal feeding unit of the K first signal feeding units, such as duplexers 11 to duplexers 1N corresponding to first signal feeding unit 1, duplexers 21 to duplexers 2N corresponding to first signal feeding unit 2, ..., duplexers K1 to duplexers KN corresponding to first signal feeding unit K, and the connection relationship between each first signal feeding unit and the corresponding N duplexers may refer to the above content (such as Figure 14 ), which will not be repeated here. In this case, the signal processing unit may further include N first multi-frequency signal processors, which may specifically be N combiners / splitters, such as combiner / splitter 1, combiner / splitter 2, ..., combiner / splitter N. Each of the N combiners / splitters includes a combiner end and K branching ends, such as combiner / splitter 1 includes a combiner end G and a branching end K. 10 and K branch terminals G 11 ~G 1K , the combiner / splitter 2 includes a combiner terminal G 20 and K branch terminals G 21 ~G 2K , ..., the combiner / splitter N includes a combiner terminal G N0 and K branch terminals G N1 ~G NK The combining ends of the N duplexers corresponding to each first signal feeding unit are respectively connected to one branching end of the N combiner / splitters, such as the N combining ends E of the duplexers 11 to 1N corresponding to the first signal feeding unit 1. 113 ~E 1N3 Connect the branch terminal G of combiner / splitter 1 respectively 11 , the branch end G of the combiner / splitter 2 21 , ..., the branch end G of the combiner / splitter N N1 , the N combining ends E of the duplexers 21 to 2N corresponding to the first signal feeding unit 2 213 ~E 2N3 Connect the branch terminal G of combiner / splitter 1 respectively 12 , the branch end G of the combiner / splitter 2 22 , ..., the branch end G of the combiner / splitter N N2 , ..., N combining ends E of the duplexers K1 to KN corresponding to the first signal feeding unit K K13 ~E KN3 Connect the branch terminal G of combiner / splitter 1 respectively 1K , the branch end G of the combiner / splitter 2 2K, ..., the branch end G of the combiner / splitter N NK The combining end G of N combiners / splitters 10 ~G N0 N groups of radiation units are connected respectively.

[0117] like Figure 15 In the base station antenna shown, during downlink transmission, after the K first phase-shifted feed networks each receive K transmit signals from the K signal transmission ports to which they are connected, they can process the received transmit signals into N transmit sub-signals and send them to the N connected duplexers. In this way, the K transmit signals are processed into K×N transmit sub-signals and sent to the K×N duplexers. Each of the K×N duplexers sends the received transmit sub-signal to the connected combiner / splitter. In this way, the K×N transmit sub-signals are sent to the N combiners / splitters. When any one of the N combiners / splitters receives the K transmit sub-signals sent by the K connected duplexers, it can combine the K transmit sub-signals into one channel and send it to the connected radiating unit for radiation. During uplink transmission, after receiving a receive signal from a connected radiating unit, any one of the N combiners / splitters can split the receive signal into K receive sub-signals and send them separately to the K duplexers connected to the K branching ends of the combiner / splitter. Thus, the N receive signals are split into K×N receive sub-signals and sent separately to the K×N duplexers. Each of the K×N duplexers sends the received receive sub-signal to the connected second phase-shifted feed network. Thus, the K×N transmit sub-signals are sent to the K second phase-shifted feed networks. Any one of the K second phase-shifted feed networks performs phase-shifted feeding processing on the received N receive sub-signals and sends them to the signal receiving port R.

[0118] Figure 16 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 16 As shown, in this example, the base station antenna is as Figure 10 The signal processing unit shown includes a first signal feeding unit and a second signal feeding unit, and the signal processing unit may include N duplexers (such as duplexer 1, duplexer 2, ..., duplexer N) and N second multi-frequency signal processors (i.e., N combiners / splitters), such as combiner / splitter 1, combiner / splitter 2, ..., combiner / splitter N. Each of the N duplexers may include an input end, an output end, and a combiner end. For example, duplexer 1 includes an input end E 11 , output terminal E 12 Hehe Road End E 13 , the duplexer 2 includes an input terminal E 21 , output terminal E 22 Hehe Road End E 23, ..., the duplexer N includes an input terminal E N1 , output terminal E N2 Hehe Road End E N3 Each of the N combiners / splitters may include two branching terminals and one combining terminal. For example, combiner / splitter 1 includes a branching terminal G. 11 , branch end G 12 Hehe Road End G 10 , the combiner / splitter 2 includes a branch terminal G 21 , branch end G 22 Hehe Road End G 20 , ..., the combiner / splitter N includes a branch terminal G N1 , branch end G N2 Hehe Road End G N0 The N output terminals of the first phase-shifted feeding network in the first signal feeding unit are respectively connected to the input terminals E of the N duplexers. 11 ~E N1 The N input terminals of the second phase-shifted feeding network in the first signal feeding unit are respectively connected to the output terminals E of the N duplexers. 12 ~E N2 , the combined end E of N duplexers 13 ~E N3 Connect the branch terminals G of N combiners / splitters respectively 11 ~G N1 The third phase-shift feeding network in the second signal feeding unit may include a first end and N second ends, the first end of the third phase-shift feeding network is connected to the signal transceiver port TR, and the N second ends of the third phase-shift feeding network are respectively connected to the other branch end G of the N combiner / splitters. 12 ~G N2 The combining end G of N combiners / splitters 10 ~G N0 N groups of radiation units are connected respectively.

[0119] like Figure 16In the illustrated base station antenna, during downlink transmission, a first phase-shifted feed network receives a first transmit signal from a signal transmission port T, processes the first transmit signal into N first transmit sub-signals, and transmits them to N duplexers. The N duplexers then transmit the N first transmit sub-signals to N combiners / splitters. A third phase-shifted feed network receives a second transmit signal from a signal transceiver port TR, processes the second transmit signal into N second transmit sub-signals, and transmits them to N combiners / splitters. Each of the N combiners / splitters combines the received first and second transmit sub-signals into one signal, which is then transmitted to the connected radiating unit for radiation. During uplink transmission, N groups of radiating elements each receive N receive signals and send them to N combiners / splitters. Each of the N combiners / splitters splits the received receive signal into one receive sub-signal in the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feeder and another receive sub-signal in the frequency band corresponding to the second signal feeder. These two receive sub-signals are then sent to the duplexer and analog phase shifter connected to the two branching ends of the combiner / splitter. The N duplexers send the N received receive sub-signals to the second phase-shift feed network, which processes these N receive sub-signals into a single receive signal and sends it to the signal receive port R. The analog phase shifter processes the N received receive sub-signals into a single receive signal and sends it to the signal transceiver port TR.

[0120] For example, continue to refer to Figure 16 As shown, the third phase-shifted feeding network can be Figure 12 The third power divider and the analog phase shifter are shown. The third power divider may include a first end and N second ends. The analog phase shifter may include N first ends and N second ends. The first end of the third power divider corresponds to the first end of the third phase-shifted feeding network. The N second ends of the third power divider are connected to the N first ends of the analog phase shifter. The N second ends of the analog phase shifter correspond to the N second ends of the third phase-shifted feeding network. During downlink transmission, after the third power divider receives the transmission signal from the signal transceiver port TR, it can distribute the transmission signal into N transmission sub-signals according to the pre-configured weights and send them to the N first ends of the analog phase shifter respectively. The analog phase shifter can perform analog phase shift on the N transmission sub-signals respectively and send them to the N combiners / splitters respectively through the N second ends of the analog phase shifter. During uplink transmission, after the second digital phase shifter receives N receiving sub-signals sent from N combiners / splitters, it can phase-shift and feed these N receiving sub-signals and send them to the third power divider, which weights these N receiving sub-signals according to pre-configured weights and sends them to the signal transceiver port TR.

[0121] It should be understood that Figure 16The possible structure of the signal processing unit is described by taking the example of a base station antenna including a first signal feeding unit and a second signal feeding unit. In other optional implementations, the base station antenna may also include multiple first signal feeding units and multiple second signal feeding units at the same time, such as Figure 11 The antenna shown includes P first signal feed units and F second signal feed units. In this case, each of the N combiners / splitters may include P+F branch ends and one combiner end, the combiner end of the N duplexers corresponding to each of the P first signal feed units is respectively connected to one branch end of the N combiners / splitters, the N second ends of each of the F second signal feed units are respectively connected to one branch end of the N combiners / splitters, and the combiner ends of the N combiners / splitters are respectively connected to N groups of radiating units. In this base station antenna, the structures of the other units or devices except the N combiners / splitters are the same as those described above. Figure 16 The operations performed by each unit or device are the same as those above. Figure 16 The same or similar, so this application will not repeat them one by one.

[0122] Through the base station antenna in the above-mentioned embodiment three, the transmission signal can be divided into N transmission sub-signals and then transmitted in parallel to the antenna array, and the reception signal can also be divided into N reception signals and then transmitted in parallel to each signal receiving / transmitting port. This parallel transmission method helps to improve the transmission efficiency of the transmission signal and the reception signal.

[0123] In the above-described embodiments 1 through 3, although the transmit and receive signals are transmitted and electrically adjusted separately on the uplink and downlink transmission links, respectively, the isolation between the uplink and downlink transmissions depends on the distance between the uplink and downlink transmission links. When the layout space for the base station antenna is limited, interference may occur between the uplink and downlink transmissions. To further optimize the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application, filters can also be provided in the base station antenna. Based on the embodiments 1 through 3, the following describes several possible structures of base station antennas equipped with filters, using embodiment 4 as an example.

[0124] Example 4

[0125] In an optional embodiment, the filter can be provided as a separate component, for example:

[0126] Figure 17 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 17As shown, in this example, the base station antenna may include a first signal feeding unit, a signal processing unit, a filter and an antenna array. The first signal feeding unit, the signal processing unit and the antenna array may be configured with reference to any of the above embodiments. The filter may include a first end (W1) and a second end (W2), the first end W1 of the filter being connected to the combining end Z3 of the signal processing unit, and the second end W2 of the filter being connected to the antenna array. When the filter receives the phase-shifted fed transmission signal from the signal processing unit, the filter may filter out the transmission signals of other frequency bands (including but not limited to other frequency bands and satellite frequency bands in the FDD system, etc.) other than the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feeding unit from the phase-shifted fed transmission signal, and only retain the transmission signal of the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feeding unit, and then send the transmission signal of the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feeding unit to the antenna array. When the filter receives a receiving signal from the antenna array, the filter can filter out the receiving signals except for the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feeding unit from the receiving signal, and only retain the receiving signals of the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feeding unit, and then send the receiving signals of the frequency band corresponding to the first signal feeding unit to the second phase-shifted feeding network.

[0127] In this embodiment, by cascading a filter between the signal processing unit and the antenna array, not only can impurities in the transmitted signal be filtered out before the transmitted signal is sent to the antenna array, thereby making the transmitted signal sent to the antenna array purer and improving the quality of the transmitted signal radiated by the antenna array, but impurities in the received signal can also be filtered out before the received signal is sent to the signal processing unit and the first signal feeding unit, thereby avoiding the signal processing unit and the first signal feeding unit performing excessive processing operations on useless impurity signals, thereby wasting the processing resources of the base station antenna. Furthermore, this embodiment configures the filter as a component independent of the first signal feeding unit, the signal processing unit, and the antenna array, and can also directly send adjustment instructions to the filter when it is necessary to adjust the filter frequency band of the filter, thereby improving the convenience of adjusting the filter.

[0128] In another optional embodiment, the filter can also be set as a component in other units, which can be a signal processing unit, a signal feeding unit or an antenna array. For example, when the filter is set in the signal processing unit:

[0129] Figure 18 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 18 As shown, in this example, the base station antenna may include K first signal feeding units, a signal processing unit and an antenna array. The K first signal feeding units, the signal processing unit and the antenna array may be specifically referred to Figure 15The difference is that the signal processing unit may further include N filters corresponding to the N combiners / splitters, such as filter 1, filter 2, ..., filter N, each of the N filters may include a first end and a second end, the first ends of the N filters are respectively connected to the combining ends of the N combiners / splitters, and the second ends of the N filters are respectively connected to the N groups of radiation units. For example, filter 1 includes a first end W 11 and the second end W 12 , the first end W of filter 1 11 Connect to the combiner / splitter 1's combiner terminal G 10 , the second end W of filter 1 12 Connect the radiation unit group 1; the filter 2 includes a first end W 21 and the second end W 22 , the first end W of filter 2 21 Connect to the combiner / splitter 2's combiner terminal G 20 , the second end W of filter 2 22 Connecting radiation element group 2; ...; filter N includes a first end W N1 and the second end W N2 , the first end W of the filter N N1 Connect to the combiner / splitter N's ​​combiner terminal G N0 , the second end W of the filter N N2 Connect a group of N radiating units. When any filter receives a transmission signal from the connected combiner / splitter, the filter can filter out impurity signals of frequency bands other than the K frequency bands corresponding to the K first signal feed units from the transmission signal, and only retain the transmission signals of the K frequency bands corresponding to the K first signal feed units, and then send the transmission signals of the K frequency bands corresponding to the K first signal feed units to the connected radiating unit. When any filter receives a reception signal from the connected radiating unit, the filter can filter out impurity signals of frequency bands other than the K frequency bands corresponding to the K first signal feed units from the reception signal, and only retain the reception signals of the K frequency bands corresponding to the K first signal feed units, and then send the reception signals of the K frequency bands corresponding to the K first signal feed units to the connected combiner / splitter.

[0130] Figure 19 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 19 As shown, in this example, the base station antenna may include a first signal feeding unit, a second signal feeding unit, a signal processing unit, and an antenna array. The first signal feeding unit, the second signal feeding unit, the signal processing unit, and the antenna array may be specifically referred to in Figure 16The signal processing unit may further include N filters corresponding to the N combiners / splitters, such as filter 1, filter 2, ..., filter N, and each of the N filters may include a first end and a second end, the first ends of the N filters are respectively connected to the combining ends of the N combiners / splitters, and the second ends of the N filters are respectively connected to the N groups of radiation units (the connection relationship refers to Figure 18 , which will not be repeated here). When any filter receives a transmission signal from the connected combiner / splitter, the filter can filter out impurity signals of other frequency bands except the two frequency bands corresponding to the first signal feed unit and the second signal feed unit from the transmission signal, and only retain the transmission signals of the two frequency bands corresponding to the first signal feed unit and the second signal feed unit, and then send the transmission signals of the two frequency bands corresponding to the first signal feed unit and the second signal feed unit to the connected radiating unit. When any filter receives a reception signal from the connected radiating unit, the filter can filter out impurity signals of other frequency bands except the two frequency bands corresponding to the first signal feed unit and the second signal feed unit from the reception signal, and only retain the reception signals of the two frequency bands corresponding to the first signal feed unit and the second signal feed unit, and then send the reception signals of the two frequency bands corresponding to the first signal feed unit and the second signal feed unit to the connected combiner / splitter.

[0131] It should be noted that the above is only an example of two possible ways to set the filter in the signal processing unit. When the signal processing unit includes a duplexer, a combiner / splitter, and a filter, the embodiments of the present application do not limit the order in which the duplexer, combiner / splitter, and filter are set in the signal processing unit. For example, these three types of components can be set in the order of the duplexer, combiner / splitter, and filter described above, or in the order of the duplexer, filter, and combiner / splitter. Some links can also be set in the order of the duplexer, combiner / splitter, and filter, and other links can be set in the order of the duplexer, filter, and combiner / splitter, and so on. When the signal processing unit includes a duplexer, a combiner / splitter, and a filter, the duplexer, combiner / splitter, and filter can be set on the same physical unit, or they can be set on different physical units respectively. They can also be set arbitrarily in a way that some components are combined in one physical unit and some components are set separately. This application does not limit this.

[0132] In this embodiment, by encapsulating the filter within another unit, it is not necessary to reserve separate space for the filter within the base station antenna, further reducing the waste of base station antenna layout space. Furthermore, by cascading a filter with out-of-band suppression capabilities after the signal processing unit, out-of-band interference can be effectively suppressed, enabling the coexistence of multi-system transmit and receive signals. Furthermore, this embodiment also provides corresponding filters for multiple frequency bands, allowing for the configuration of different filtering rules for different frequency bands, facilitating network optimization equipment to optimize for specific frequency bands.

[0133] It should be noted that the various embodiments in this application can also be combined with each other to form new embodiments. For example:

[0134] Figure 20 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 20 As shown, the base station antenna in this embodiment is combined Figure 7 Base station antenna and Figure 14 The base station antenna shown in the figure obtains a new base station antenna. In this example, the base station antenna may have only one antenna port in its external appearance, so the base station antenna can be suitable for a remote radio frequency unit with only one radio frequency communication port. When the signal transceiver port TR receives a transmit signal from the radio frequency communication port, the signal transceiver port TR sends the transmit signal to the duplexer D, which sends the transmit signal to the first power divider. The first power divider distributes the power of the transmit signal to obtain N transmit sub-signals and then sends these N transmit sub-signals to the first digital phase shifter. The first digital phase shifter performs phase shifting and feeding on these N transmit sub-signals and then sends them to duplexers 1 to N respectively. Duplexers 1 to N can send the N transmit sub-signals after phase shifting and feeding to N power dividers respectively. Each of the N power dividers divides the received transmit sub-signal after phase shifting and feeding into multiple transmit sub-signals and then sends them to the connected multiple radiating units for radiation. When any power splitter receives multiple receive signals sent by the multiple connected radiating units, the power splitter can weight the multiple receive signals and send them to the connected duplexer. Duplexers 1 to N respectively send the N weighted receive signals to the second digital phase shifter. The second digital phase shifter performs phase shift feeding on the N weighted receive signals and sends them to the second power divider. The second power divider performs secondary weighting on the N phase-shifted and fed receive signals and sends them to the duplexer D. The duplexer D sends the weighted receive signals to the signal transceiver port TR, and then to the RF communication port of the remote RF unit.

[0135] Figure 21 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 20 As shown, the base station antenna in this embodiment is combined Figure 7 Base station antenna and Figure 19 The base station antenna shown in the figure is used to obtain a new base station antenna. In this example, the base station antenna has two antenna ports, making it suitable for remote radio units with only two RF communication ports. Furthermore, because the base station antenna is also equipped with a filter, it can filter both uplink transmit signals and downlink receive signals.

[0136] Figure 22 A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is shown as follows: Figure 22 As shown, the base station antenna in this embodiment is combined Figure 8 Base station antenna shown, Figure 14 Base station antenna and Figure 17 A new base station antenna is obtained by combining the base station antenna shown in FIG. In this example, the base station antenna not only performs separate phase-shifted feeding for transmit and receive signals, but also shares N duplexers to achieve phase-shifted feeding processing for multi-band signals, thereby helping to save base station antenna layout space. Furthermore, the base station antenna is equipped with N independent filters, so it can also filter the signals on the links where the N groups of radiating elements are located separately.

[0137] exist Figure 22 In an optional example, in order to enable each group of radiating units to independently process the transmit and receive signals in the same frequency band, the value of M can be the same as the value of N. In this case, the N signal transmission ports T1 to T M The transmission signals of N frequency bands are first combined into one by the combiner and then sent to the first phase-shift feeding network. The first phase-shift feeding network then processes the combined transmission signal into N transmission signals of different frequency bands according to the frequency band, and then sends them to duplexers 1 to N respectively. Duplexers 1 to N respectively send the received N transmission signals of different frequency bands to filters 1 to N for filtering processing, and then filters 1 to N send them to N groups of radiation units for radiation. Alternatively, the received signals of N frequency bands from N groups of radiating units are first filtered by filters 1 to N and then sent to duplexers 1 to N respectively. Duplexers 1 to N send the filtered received signals of N different frequency bands to the second phase-shift feeding network. The second phase-shift feeding network processes the received signals of N different frequency bands into a weighted received signal and then sends it to the splitter. The splitter divides the weighted received signal into received signals of N different frequency bands according to the frequency band, and then sends them to N signal receiving ports R1 to R2 respectively. MFrom this, it can be seen that each filter in this example can filter out impurity signals in frequency bands other than the frequency band of the corresponding radiation unit in the transmitted and received signals, and only retain the signals in the frequency band of the corresponding radiation unit.

[0138] It should be noted that the above embodiments of this application only use a single antenna as an example to illustrate the possible structure of a base station antenna. In actual applications, a base station antenna may also include multiple antennas, one or more of which may use the solution described in this application to achieve independent phase-shifted feeding of transmit and receive signals. This application will not further describe this.

[0139] It should be understood that the various components in the above embodiments of the present application refer to functional devices, and the present application does not limit the specific implementation methods of these functional components.

[0140] Based on the same inventive concept, an embodiment of the present application also provides a base station device, including the base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application, and one or more transceivers, wherein the one or more transceivers can be respectively connected one by one to multiple antenna ports in the base station antenna.

[0141] Exemplarily, the transceiver in the base station device may be a remote radio frequency unit.

[0142] In the above embodiments, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, all or part of the embodiments may be implemented in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium. For example, the computer instructions may be transmitted from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via a wired (e.g., coaxial cable, optical fiber, digital subscriber line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) method. The computer-readable storage medium may be any available medium that a computer can access or a data storage device such as a server or data center that includes one or more available media integrated therein. The available medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a high-density digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a solid state disc (SSD)).

[0143] As used in this specification, the terms "component," "module," "system," and the like are used to refer to computer-related entities, hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable file, an execution thread, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and a computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside in a process and / or an execution thread, and a component can be located on one computer and / or distributed between two or more computers. In addition, these components can be executed from various computer-readable media having various data structures stored thereon. Components can communicate, for example, via local and / or remote processes based on signals having one or more data packets (e.g., data from two components interacting with another component across a local system, a distributed system, and / or a network, such as the Internet interacting with other systems via signals).

[0144] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks and steps described in conjunction with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented using electronic hardware, or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether these functions are implemented in hardware or software depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution. Professionals and technicians may use different methods to implement the described functions for each specific application, but such implementation should not be considered beyond the scope of this application.

[0145] Those skilled in the art will clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working processes of the systems, devices and units described above can refer to the corresponding processes in the aforementioned method embodiments and will not be repeated here.

[0146] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is merely a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0147] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple network units. Some or all of these units may be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment according to actual needs.

[0148] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.

[0149] If the functions are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art or the part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0150] Although some possible embodiments of the present application have been described, those skilled in the art may make additional changes and modifications to these embodiments once they are aware of the basic creative concept. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the embodiments of the present application and all changes and modifications that fall within the scope of the present application.

[0151] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to this application without departing from the spirit and scope of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A base station antenna, characterized in that: The antenna array comprises a first signal feeding unit, a signal processing unit and an antenna array; the first signal feeding unit comprises a signal transmitting port, a signal receiving port, a first phase-shift feeding network and a second phase-shift feeding network, the signal transmitting port is connected to the input end of the first phase-shift feeding network, the output end of the first phase-shift feeding network is connected to the input end of the signal processing unit; the signal receiving port is connected to the output end of the second phase-shift feeding network, the input end of the second phase-shift feeding network is connected to the output end of the signal processing unit; the combining end of the signal processing unit is connected to the antenna array; The first phase-shift feeding network is used to perform phase-shift feeding on the transmission signal from the signal transmission port and then send the signal to the signal processing unit; The signal processing unit is configured to send the transmission signal after phase-shift feeding to the antenna array, or send the reception signal from the antenna array to the second phase-shift feeding network; The second phase-shift feeding network is used to perform phase-shift feeding on the received signal and then send it to the signal receiving port; The antenna array is used to radiate the transmission signal after phase-shift feeding, or to receive the reception signal and send it to the signal processing unit; The first signal feeding unit includes M signal transmitting ports, M signal receiving ports, a combiner and a splitter, the combiner includes M input ports and one output port, the splitter includes one input port and M output ports, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 2; The M input ends of the combiner are respectively connected to the M signal transmission ports, and the output end of the combiner is connected to the input end of the first phase-shift feeding network; the combiner is used to combine the transmission signals from the M signal transmission ports into one path and then send it to the first phase-shift feeding network; The M output ends of the splitter are respectively connected to the M signal receiving ports, and the input end of the splitter is connected to the output end of the second phase-shifted feeding network; The splitter is used to split the received signal after phase-shift feeding into M paths and send them to the M signal receiving ports respectively.

2. The base station antenna according to claim 1, wherein The transmitted signal and the received signal are carried in the same frequency band.

3. The base station antenna according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The first signal feeding unit further includes a first signal transceiver port and a first duplexer, wherein a combiner end of the first duplexer is connected to the first signal transceiver port, an output end of the first duplexer is connected to the signal transmitting port, and an input end of the first duplexer is connected to the signal receiving port; The first duplexer is configured to transmit the transmission signal received by the first signal transceiver port to the signal transmission port, or transmit the phase-shifted and fed reception signal received by the signal reception port to the first signal transceiver port.

4. The base station antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The first phase-shifted feeding network includes a first power divider and a first digital phase shifter; the input end of the first power divider corresponds to the input end of the first phase-shifted feeding network, the output end of the first power divider is connected to the input end of the first digital phase shifter, and the output end of the first digital phase shifter corresponds to the output end of the first phase-shifted feeding network; The first power divider is configured to divide the power of the transmission signal and then send the signal to the first digital phase shifter; The first digital phase shifter is used to perform phase shifting on the transmission signal after power distribution and then send the phase shifted signal to the signal processing unit.

5. The base station antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The second phase-shift feed network includes a second power divider and a second digital phase shifter, the output end of the second power divider corresponds to the output end of the second phase-shift feed network, the input end of the second power divider is connected to the output end of the second digital phase shifter, and the input end of the second digital phase shifter corresponds to the input end of the second phase-shift feed network; The second digital phase shifter is used to perform phase shifting on the received signal and then send the received signal to the second power divider; The second power distributor is used to weight the phase-shifted received signal and then send the weighted signal to the signal receiving port.

6. The base station antenna according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: The base station antenna includes K first signal feeding units, and the signal processing unit includes K input terminals and K output terminals, where K is an integer greater than or equal to 2; The output ends of the K first phase-shift feeding networks corresponding to the K first signal feeding units are respectively connected to the K input ends of the signal processing unit, and the input ends of the K second phase-shift feeding networks corresponding to the K first signal feeding units are respectively connected to the K output ends of the signal processing unit; The signal processing unit is configured to combine the K phase-shifted and fed transmission signals sent by the K first phase-shifted feeding networks into one path and send the combined signals to the antenna array, or to divide the received signal into K paths and send the combined signals to the K second phase-shifted feeding networks respectively.

7. The base station antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The signal processing unit further includes a communication terminal, and the base station antenna further includes a second signal feeding unit, the second signal feeding unit including a second signal transceiver port and a third phase-shift feeding network, a first end of the third phase-shift feeding network is connected to the second signal transceiver port, and a second end of the third phase-shift feeding network is connected to the communication terminal of the signal processing unit; The third phase-shift feeding network is used to perform phase-shift feeding on the transmission signal from the second signal transceiver port and then send it to the signal processing unit, or to perform phase-shift feeding on the reception signal received through the second end and then send it to the second signal transceiver port.

8. The base station antenna according to claim 7, wherein: The signal processing unit includes N second duplexers, and the antenna array includes N groups of radiation units; N is a positive integer greater than or equal to 2; The first phase-shifted feeding network includes N output terminals, each of which is connected to the input terminals of the N second duplexers; the second phase-shifted feeding network includes N input terminals, each of which is connected to the output terminals of the N second duplexers; and the combining terminals of the N second duplexers are connected to the N groups of radiating units. The first phase-shifted feeding network is further configured to process the transmission signal into N transmission sub-signals and send the sub-signals to the N second duplexers respectively; The N second duplexers are configured to respectively send the N transmit sub-signals to the N groups of radiating elements, or to send the N receive sub-signals from the antenna array to the second phase-shift feed network; The second phase-shifted feeding network is further used to weight the N received sub-signals; The N groups of radiation units are used to radiate the N transmitted sub-signals respectively, or to send the N received sub-signals to the N second duplexers respectively.

9. The base station antenna according to claim 8, wherein: The base station antenna includes K first signal feeding units, the signal processing unit includes K×N second duplexers, each of the K first signal feeding units corresponds to N second duplexers; K is an integer greater than or equal to 2; The signal processing unit further includes N first multi-frequency signal processors, each of the N first multi-frequency signal processors includes a combining end and K branching ends, the combining ends of the N second duplexers corresponding to each first signal feeding unit are respectively connected to one branching end of the N first multi-frequency signal processors, and the combining ends of the N first multi-frequency signal processors are respectively connected to the N groups of radiating units; The first multi-frequency signal processor is used to combine the transmission sub-signals received by the K branch ends into one path and send it to the connected radiation unit, and to divide the reception signal received by the combining end of the first multi-frequency signal processor into K paths and send them to K second duplexers connected to the K branch ends of the first multi-frequency signal processor.

10. The base station antenna according to claim 8, wherein: The third phase-shifted feeding network includes N second terminals; the signal processing unit further includes N second multi-frequency signal processors, each of the N second multi-frequency signal processors includes a combining terminal, a first branching terminal, and a second branching terminal; The combining ends of the N second multi-frequency signal processors are respectively connected to the N groups of radiating units, the first branching ends of the N second multi-frequency signal processors are respectively connected to the combining ends of the N second duplexers, and the second branching ends of the N second multi-frequency signal processors are respectively connected to the N second ends of the third phase-shifted feeding network; The third phase-shift feeding network is configured to perform phase-shift feeding on the transmission signal from the second signal transceiver port, divide the signal into N paths, and send the signals to the N second multi-frequency signal processors, or weight the N reception signals received through the second end and send the weighted signals to the second signal transceiver port; The second multi-frequency signal processor is used to combine the transmission sub-signals received by the first branch end and the second branch end of the second multi-frequency signal processor into one path and send the combined signal to the connected radiation unit, or to divide the received signal received by the combining end of the second multi-frequency signal processor into two paths and send the combined signal to the second duplexer connected to the first branch end and the third phase-shifted feeding network connected to the second branch end of the second multi-frequency signal processor.

11. The base station antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The base station antenna further comprises a filter, a first end of the filter being connected to the combiner end of the signal processing unit, and a second end of the filter being connected to the antenna array; The filter is used to filter the transmission signal after phase-shift feeding from the signal processing unit and then send it to the antenna array, or to filter the reception signal and then send it to the signal processing unit.

12. A base station device, characterized in that: comprising a base station antenna as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 and one or more transceivers; The one or more transceivers are connected to the base station antenna.

13. The base station device according to claim 12, wherein: The transceiver is a remote radio frequency unit.

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