Artificial dielectric material, lens unit, manufacturing method and lens antenna

Abstract

The present invention discloses an artificial dielectric material, a lens unit, a manufacturing method and a lens antenna. The artificial dielectric material includes a substrate and a conductive material. The substrate is set as a porous structure and has a plurality of microporous chambers. The conductive material is set on the side wall of the microporous chamber. The shape of the microporous chamber and / or at least one of the shape, size, density and extension direction of the conductive material are adjusted to obtain different equivalent dielectric constants. The artificial dielectric material proposed in the present application has a stable structure, does not deform after long-term use, is acid-resistant, waterproof, flame-retardant, and has a dielectric constant of less than 30kg / m 3 The density of the conductive material is not lost, and the relative position of the conductive materials is fixed, so there is no contact and no influence on the intermodulation index of the base station antenna. Therefore, the artificial dielectric material and the manufacturing method thereof proposed in the present invention provide a higher degree of freedom for the design of the lens unit and the lens antenna.

Description

[0001] This application claims the priority of the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on June 15, 2023, with application number 2023107096911 and application name “An artificial dielectric material and lens unit, manufacturing method and lens antenna”, all contents of which are incorporated by reference in this application. Technical Field

[0002] The present invention relates to the field of antenna technology, and in particular to an artificial dielectric material and a lens unit, a manufacturing method and a lens antenna. Background Art

[0003] Signal coverage in long and narrow areas such as high-speed railways, highways, rivers and tunnels has always been a difficult problem to solve. This is because such scenes are very long vertically, but the horizontal requirements are not high. The horizontal beam width and vertical beam width of traditional base station antennas are generally around 65° and 10°. Such waveforms cannot match the long and narrow terrain well when providing signal coverage. Therefore, even with a high-gain linear array base station antenna, it is difficult to obtain satisfactory coverage, and the capacity cannot be guaranteed.

[0004] The lens antenna can achieve secondary beam focusing of the feed pattern and high gain performance by changing the path difference of electromagnetic waves in space. This wave focusing effect can be effective for both vertical and horizontal beams, effectively solving the defects of linear array antenna patterns. This antenna is also suitable for signal coverage in scenes such as large sports venues, densely populated residential areas, and sea areas.

[0005] CN111262042B - A method for manufacturing an artificial medium multilayer cylindrical lens, describes a lens unit that forms an artificial medium by randomly spreading conductive materials and adhering them to a lightweight dielectric material, and rolling it into an elliptical cylindrical structure. Since the conductive materials are randomly distributed, it is difficult to form an absolutely uniform artificial dielectric material. Although this randomly spread metal conductive material can form an isotropic artificial medium, the amount of conductive material required is very large. Moreover, this metal conductive material is also made by machine cutting metal filaments with insulating sheaths. Such a large amount of conductive material requires a special machine for long-term cutting. Therefore, this lens is expensive and heavy.

[0006] CN113875090A-Artificial electromagnetic material and focusing lens made of it, describes a method of using thin-walled metal conductive tubes cut into small sections of millimeter length, embedded in a lightweight dielectric disc with gaps previously hollowed out by laser equipment, and then stacking the dielectric discs with metal conductive tubes and dielectric discs without metal conductive tubes but with air holes to form a cylindrical lens unit. This layered artificial dielectric material requires a lot of manual labor or special automated equipment to cut the conductive material and place a large number of thin-walled metal tubes in the gaps of the dielectric discs, so it is not suitable for mass production.

[0007] The above artificial dielectric materials all have relatively high density; they all require insulating materials to be provided on the conductive materials themselves or between the conductive materials, otherwise it will cause contact between the metal conductive micro-units, causing deterioration of the intermodulation index, which in itself increases the manufacturing cost and difficulty. Summary of the invention

[0008] The purpose of the present invention is to solve at least one of the technical problems existing in the prior art. To this end, the present invention proposes an artificial dielectric material that can conveniently and accurately design the equivalent dielectric constant and easily ensure that the metal micro-units are not in contact with each other.

[0009] The present invention also provides a lens unit comprising the artificial dielectric material. The artificial dielectric material and the lens unit are easy to achieve isotropy and anisotropy.

[0010] The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing the lens unit, which has low cost and is easy for batch production.

[0011] The present invention also provides a lens antenna including the lens unit, which has a smaller appearance size and weight and is more suitable for engineering installation in actual network construction.

[0012] The artificial medium material according to the first embodiment of the present invention comprises:

[0013] A substrate is configured as a porous structure and has a plurality of microporous chambers;

[0014] The conductive material is arranged on the side wall of the microporous chamber, and the shape of the microporous chamber and / or at least one of the shape, size, density and extension direction of the conductive material are adjusted to obtain different equivalent dielectric constants.

[0015] The artificial medium material according to the first aspect of the present invention has at least the following beneficial effects: the artificial medium material proposed in the present application has a stable structure, does not deform after long-term use, is acid-resistant, waterproof, and flame-retardant, and has a heat release rate of less than 30 kg / m 3The density of the conductive material is fixed, and the conductive material does not fall off. The relative position between the conductive materials is fixed, so there is no contact and no impact on the intermodulation index of the base station antenna. At the same time, by changing the shape, size, density and extension direction of the metal material attached to the side wall of the microporous chamber, the desired different equivalent dielectric constants can be obtained, and then the desired lens unit can be designed, providing a higher degree of design freedom.

[0016] According to the artificial medium material described in the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, the shape of each of the microporous chambers is a hexagonal honeycomb, so that the substrate is arranged as a honeycomb structure, and the substrate is made of aramid paper.

[0017] According to the artificial dielectric material described in the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, the conductive material is arranged as a plurality of metal patterns, and at least one of the shape, orientation or spacing between adjacent metal patterns of the metal patterns is adjusted to obtain different equivalent dielectric constants.

[0018] According to the artificial dielectric material described in the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention, the metal pattern is a metal sheet in a rectangular, square, circular, elliptical or irregular two-dimensional shape, or the metal pattern is a sphere, cuboid, cube, ellipsoid, cylinder or irregular three-dimensional metal body;

[0019] and / or the metal patterns are evenly distributed, or the metal patterns are unevenly distributed;

[0020] And / or the long side direction of each of the metal patterns is the same as the polarization direction of the polarizer, or the extension direction (the length direction with the greatest induction to the spatial electromagnetic field) of at least one of the metal patterns is arranged at a preset angle with the polarization direction of the polarizer;

[0021] And / or at least two of the metal patterns have the same shape or are different in shape.

[0022] According to the artificial dielectric material described in the first embodiment of the present invention, the substrate is made of engineering plastics or flexible circuit boards;

[0023] And / or the cross-sectional shape of the microporous chamber is polygonal, circular, elliptical or irregular two-dimensional, and at least two of the microporous chambers have the same shape or the shapes of the microporous chambers are different.

[0024] The lens unit according to the embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention comprises: the artificial medium material as described in the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention.

[0025] A method for manufacturing a lens unit according to an embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention comprises the following steps:

[0026] Provide the substrate and cut it to the appropriate size;

[0027] The conductive material is disposed on the substrate, and the molding shape and distribution density are adjusted according to the lens design requirements during the arrangement to obtain different effective dielectric constants;

[0028] The substrate is made into a honeycomb structure by a honeycomb preparation process, and the conductive material is located on the side wall of the microporous chamber;

[0029] The substrate is processed into a lens element.

[0030] According to the method for manufacturing a lens unit described in an embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention, the conductive material is formed into a metal pattern through printing, metal printing, and etching processes and attached to the side wall of the microporous chamber.

[0031] The lens antenna according to the fourth aspect of the present invention comprises:

[0032] The lens unit according to the embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention;

[0033] The feeding unit is fixed in space relative to the lens.

[0034] According to the lens antenna described in the fourth aspect of the embodiment of the present invention, the polarization mode of the feeding unit is orthogonal dual-linear polarization;

[0035] And / or the lens unit is located directly above the feeding unit or deviates from the directly above position, and the lens unit and the feeding unit are seamlessly close to each other or are arranged with a gap;

[0036] And / or the lens unit is cylindrical, elliptical, spherical, ellipsoidal, etc.

[0037] It is not difficult to understand that the lens unit in the embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention, the manufacturing method of the lens unit in the embodiment of the third aspect of the present invention, and the lens antenna in the embodiment of the fourth aspect of the present invention all have the technical properties or effects of the artificial dielectric material in the embodiment of the first aspect, and therefore will not be elaborated upon.

[0038] The present application also provides a lens antenna, including:

[0039] A lens unit comprises a substrate and a plurality of conductive materials, wherein the substrate is a porous structure, the substrate has a plurality of microporous chambers, and the plurality of conductive materials are disposed on the side walls of the plurality of microporous chambers; and

[0040] At least one feeding unit is arranged opposite to or adjacent to the lens unit, a radiation surface of the feeding unit is arranged opposite to at least a portion of the conductive material, and an angle between a polarization direction of the feeding unit and an extension direction of the conductive material (a direction of a maximum dimension that can effectively induce a spatial electromagnetic field) is less than or equal to a preset angle.

[0041] In an optional implementation, the beam of the lens antenna changes as the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit changes.

[0042] In an optional implementation, an angle between an extension direction of the conductive material and a polarization direction of the feeding unit is adjustable.

[0043] In an optional implementation, the lens unit is a rotatable structure, and the position of the feeding unit is relatively fixed; or, the feeding unit is a rotatable structure, and the position of the lens unit is relatively fixed; both the lens unit and the feeding unit are rotatable structures.

[0044] In an optional implementation, when the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit is adjusted to a first angle range, the feeding unit forms a first beam after passing through the lens unit;

[0045] When the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit is adjusted to a second angle range, the feeding unit forms a second beam after passing through the lens unit;

[0046] When the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit is adjusted to a third angle range, the feeding unit forms a third beam after passing through the lens unit; wherein the maximum value of the first angle range is smaller than the minimum value of the second angle range, the maximum value of the second angle range is smaller than the minimum value of the third angle range, the beam width of the first beam is smaller than the beam width of the second beam, and the beam width of the second beam is smaller than the beam width of the third beam; the beam gain of the first beam is greater than the beam gain of the second beam, and the beam gain of the second beam is greater than the beam gain of the third beam.

[0047] In an optional implementation, the feeding unit is capable of rotating around the lens unit on the equatorial plane of the lens unit.

[0048] In an optional implementation, the microporous chamber has a plurality of side walls, and the number of the feeding units is plural.

[0049] In an optional implementation, the feeding unit includes a single-polarization oscillator, and the extending direction of the conductive material is the same as the polarization direction of the feeding unit.

[0050] In an optional embodiment, the feeding unit includes a dual-polarization vibrator, and the extension direction of the conductive material is 45° to the dual-polarization direction of the feeding unit; or, the extension direction of the conductive material is parallel to one of the dual-polarization directions of the feeding unit, and the extension direction of the conductive material is perpendicular to the other dual-polarization direction of the feeding unit.

[0051] In an optional embodiment, the feeding unit includes a dual-polarization vibrator, and the extension direction of the conductive material includes a first direction and a second direction, the first direction is the same as one polarization direction of the feeding unit, and the second direction is the same as another polarization direction of the feeding unit.

[0052] In an optional embodiment, the microporous chamber has a plurality of side walls, and the extension directions of the conductive material on each side wall are the same or different; and the extension directions of the conductive material on different side walls are the same or different.

[0053] Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be given in part in the following description and in part will be obvious from the following description, or will be learned through practice of the present invention. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0054] The present invention is further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments;

[0055] Figure 1 A top view of a spherical lens unit along the axial direction of the honeycomb structure in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0056] Figure 2 A detailed view of a metal strip in a honeycomb structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0057] Figure 3 for Figure 2 Side view of the mesocellular microstructure;

[0058] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of the embodiment of the present invention in which the long sides of the metal patterns are parallel to the honeycomb axis direction and are evenly arranged along the honeycomb axis direction;

[0059] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a dual-polarized feed oscillator in an embodiment of the present invention, one polarization is along the cell axis and the other polarization is perpendicular to the cell axis;

[0060] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of a structure in which the lens unit provided in an embodiment of the present application is a rotatable structure and the position of the feeding unit is relatively fixed;

[0061] Figure 7a This is a schematic diagram of a structure in which a feeding unit provided in an embodiment of the present application is a rotatable structure and a position of a lens unit is relatively fixed;

[0062] Figure 7b It is a schematic diagram of a structure in which a feeding unit provided in an embodiment of the present application is a rotatable structure and a lens unit is a rotatable structure;

[0063] Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of a local structure in which the feeding unit provided in an embodiment of the present application is a single-polarized antenna and the extending direction of the conductive material is parallel to the axis of the microporous chamber;

[0064] Figure 9a yes Figure 8 A partial structural schematic diagram of a lens antenna in which the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the dipole of the feeding unit is adjusted to a second angle range;

[0065] Figure 9b yes Figure 8 Another partial structural schematic diagram of the lens antenna provided, in which the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the dipole of the feeding unit is adjusted to a second angle range;

[0066] Fig.10a yes Figure 8 A partial structural schematic diagram of a lens antenna in which the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the dipole of the feeding unit is adjusted to a third angle range;

[0067] Fig.10b yes Figure 8 Another partial structural schematic diagram of the lens antenna provided, in which the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the dipole of the feeding unit is adjusted to a third angle range;

[0068] Fig.11 It is a schematic diagram of a structure in which a feeding unit provided by an embodiment of the present application can rotate around a lens unit on the equatorial plane of the lens unit;

[0069] Fig.12a It is a schematic diagram of the structure when the feeding unit provided in the embodiment of the present application moves to different side walls of the microporous chamber;

[0070] Figure 12b It is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the present application in which a feeding unit is moved to face different side walls of a microporous chamber, and the angle between polarization directions of the vibrators of the feeding unit can be adjusted to a third angle range or a first angle range;

[0071] Fig.13aThis is a beam schematic diagram in which the second feed unit provided in an embodiment of the present application is working, and the first feed unit and the third feed unit are not working;

[0072] Fig.13b It is a schematic diagram of a beam in which the first feeding unit, the second feeding unit, and the third feeding unit provided in an embodiment of the present application are all working;

[0073] Fig.14a It is a schematic diagram of a local structure in which the conductive material provided in the embodiment of the present application is arranged along the axis of the microporous chamber, and the feeding unit is a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0074] Fig.14b It is a schematic diagram of a partial structure in which the conductive material provided in the embodiment of the present application is arranged along the axis of the microporous chamber, and the feeding unit is a 0° and 90° dual-polarized antenna;

[0075] Fig.15 This is a dual-polarized feed source vibrator in an embodiment of the present invention, wherein the polarization along the honeycomb axis is a comparison diagram of the simulated directional diagram with and without an additional lens;

[0076] Fig.16 This is a comparison diagram of the simulated directional diagrams of the dual-polarized feed oscillator in the embodiment of the present invention, wherein the polarization perpendicular to the honeycomb axis is compared with and without an additional lens;

[0077] Fig.17 This is a schematic diagram of a dual-polarized feed oscillator in an embodiment of the present invention, where the two polarizations form an angle of ±45° with the honeycomb axis;

[0078] Fig.18 This is a comparison diagram of the simulated directional diagrams of a dual-polarized feed oscillator in an embodiment of the present invention, in which the polarization forms an angle of +45° with the honeycomb axis, with and without an additional lens;

[0079] Fig.19a Schematic diagram of the embodiment of the present invention in which the long sides of the metal strips are perpendicular to the honeycomb axis direction and are evenly arranged along the honeycomb axis direction;

[0080] Fig.19b yes Fig.19a The conductive material and feeding unit provided are partial structural schematic diagrams of a single-polarized antenna;

[0081] Fig.19c yes Fig.19a A schematic diagram of the local structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0082] Fig.19d yes Fig.19a A schematic diagram of the partial structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a 0° and 90° dual-polarized antenna;

[0083] Fig.20a Schematic diagram of the long sides of the metal strips in the embodiment of the present invention, which are arranged vertically and transversely to the honeycomb axis and are evenly arranged along the honeycomb axis;

[0084] Fig.20b yes Fig.20a The conductive material and feeding unit provided are partial structural schematic diagrams of a single-polarized antenna;

[0085] Fig.20c yes Fig.20a A schematic diagram of the local structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0086] Fig.20d yes Fig.20a A schematic diagram of the partial structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a 0° and 90° dual-polarized antenna;

[0087] Fig.21a This is a schematic diagram of the long side of the metal strip in the embodiment of the present invention, which forms an oblique angle of +45° with the honeycomb axis direction and is evenly arranged along the honeycomb axis direction;

[0088] Figure 21b yes Fig.21a The conductive material and feeding unit provided are partial structural schematic diagrams of a single-polarized antenna;

[0089] Fig.21c yes Fig.21a A schematic diagram of the local structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0090] Fig.21d yes Fig.21a A schematic diagram of the partial structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a 0° and 90° dual-polarized antenna;

[0091] Fig.22a Schematic diagram of the long side of the metal strip in the embodiment of the present invention, which forms an oblique angle of -45° with the honeycomb axis direction and is evenly arranged along the honeycomb axis direction;

[0092] Figure 22b yes Fig.22a The conductive material and feeding unit provided are partial structural schematic diagrams of a single-polarized antenna;

[0093] Fig.22c yes Fig.22a A schematic diagram of the local structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0094] Fig.22d yes Fig.22a A schematic diagram of the partial structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a 0° and 90° dual-polarized antenna;

[0095] Fig.23a Schematic diagram of the long sides of the metal strips in the embodiment of the present invention, staggered at an angle of ±45° with the honeycomb axis direction, and evenly arranged along the honeycomb axis direction;

[0096] Figure 23b yes Fig.23a The conductive material and feeding unit provided are partial structural schematic diagrams of a single-polarized antenna;

[0097] Fig.23c yes Fig.23a A schematic diagram of the local structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0098] Fig.23d yes Fig.23a A schematic diagram of the partial structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a 0° and 90° dual-polarized antenna;

[0099] Fig.24a This is a schematic diagram of the long sides of the metal strips in the embodiment of the present invention, which are randomly arranged at any angle to the honeycomb axis and at any interval along the honeycomb axis;

[0100] Figure 24b yes Fig.23a A schematic diagram of the local structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0101] Fig.24c It is a schematic diagram of the local structure of the first microporous chamber provided in an embodiment of the present application, in which conductive materials with different extension directions are arranged on different side walls, and the feeding unit is a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0102] Fig.24d It is a schematic diagram of a local structure in which conductive materials with different extension directions are arranged on different side walls of a microporous chamber provided in an embodiment of the present application, and the feeding unit is a 0° and 90° dual-polarized antenna;

[0103] Fig.24e It is a partial structural schematic diagram of a second microporous chamber provided in an embodiment of the present application, in which conductive materials with different extension directions are arranged on different side walls, and the feeding unit is a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0104] Fig.25a are metal patterns of different shapes in the embodiments of the present invention;

[0105] Fig.25b yes Fig.25a A schematic diagram of the local structure of the conductive material provided and the feeding unit being a ±45° dual-polarized antenna;

[0106] Fig.26In the embodiment of the present invention, the metal strip is Figure 4 When distributed, the two polarizations of the orthogonal dual-polarization feed source oscillator are parallel to the metal strip and perpendicular to the metal strip. In the working range of 1.7-2.7GHz, the comparison diagram of the measured vertical plane radiation pattern before and after loading the 30cm diameter lens;

[0107] Fig. 27 In the embodiment of the present invention, the metal strip is Figure 4 When distributed, the two polarizations of the orthogonal dual-polarization feed source oscillator are parallel to the metal strip and perpendicular to the metal strip. In the working range of 1.7-2.7GHz, the comparison diagram of the measured horizontal plane radiation pattern before and after loading the 30cm diameter lens.

[0108] Reference numerals:

[0109] Lens antenna 1000, lens unit 100, microporous chamber 110, conductive material 200, feeding unit 300, substrate 10, first rotation drive structure 50, first drive motor 40, first arc track 31, third drive motor 32, third drive structure 33, first feeding unit 310, second feeding unit 320, third feeding unit 330, second rotation drive structure 51, second drive motor 41. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0110] The embodiments of the present application are described in detail below, and examples of the embodiments are shown in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals throughout represent the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present application, and cannot be understood as limiting the present application.

[0111] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that descriptions involving orientation, such as up, down, front, back, left, right, etc., indicating orientations or positional relationships, are based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be understood as a limitation on the present application.

[0112] In the description of this application, "several" means one or more, "more" means at least two, "greater than", "less than", "exceed", etc. are understood to exclude the number itself, and "above", "below", "within", etc. are understood to include the number itself. If there is a description of "first" or "second", it is only used for the purpose of distinguishing technical features, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features or implicitly indicating the order of the indicated technical features.

[0113] In the description of this application, unless otherwise clearly defined, terms such as setting, installing, connecting, etc. should be understood in a broad sense, and technicians in the relevant technical field can reasonably determine the specific meanings of the above terms in this application after combining the specific content of the technical solution.

[0114] See also Figures 1 to 6 The present application provides a lens antenna 1000, which includes a lens unit 100 and a feed unit 300. Optionally, the lens unit 100 can improve the gain of the beam radiated by the feed unit 300. Optionally, the lens unit 100 can reduce the horizontal beam width and the vertical beam width of the beam radiated by the feed unit 300, thereby improving the gain of the beam radiated by the feed unit 300.

[0115] The lens unit 100 is designed to have a suitable equivalent dielectric constant, so that the electromagnetic wave signal emitted by the feeding unit 300 converges after passing through the lens unit 100, that is, becomes a parallel or nearly parallel beam, thereby improving the beam gain.

[0116] The present application provides an artificial dielectric material with a suitable equivalent dielectric constant and improved beam gain.

[0117] Reference Figures 1 to 27 The artificial medium material provided in the embodiment of the first aspect of the present application is applied to the lens unit 100.

[0118] See also Figure 2 and Figure 3 The artificial dielectric material includes a substrate 10 and a conductive material 200. It can be understood that the conductive material 200 is a metal pattern.

[0119] Reference Figures 1 to 3 , wherein the substrate 10 is configured as a porous structure and has a plurality of microporous chambers 110; the conductive material 200 is disposed on the sidewalls of the microporous chambers 110, and the shape of the microporous chambers 110 and / or at least one of the shape, size, density, and extension direction of the conductive material 200 are adjusted to obtain different equivalent dielectric constants.

[0120] See also Figure 5, at least one feeding unit 300 is arranged opposite to or adjacent to the lens unit 100. The radiation surface of the feeding unit 300 is arranged opposite to at least a part of the conductive material 200. The angle between the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is less than or equal to a preset angle. Optionally, the preset angle is 90°. The angle between the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is less than or equal to 90°. For the lens antenna 1000, the beam of the lens antenna 1000 is related to the angle between the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 and the extension direction of the conductive material 200. By designing the angle between the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 to be less than or equal to 90°, the beam gain of the lens antenna 1000 can be changed.

[0121] The extension direction of the conductive material 200 refers to the effective induction length direction of the space electromagnetic field of the conductive material. When the feeding unit 300 has two polarization directions of ±45°, the effective induction length direction of the space electromagnetic field of the conductive material is equivalent to the two polarization directions of ±45° at the same time. In other words, the conductive material is in a positive direction, and the extension direction of the conductive material can be the length direction, or the width direction, or the diagonal direction. When the conductive material is a rectangle, the extension direction of the conductive material can be the diagonal direction. When the conductive material 200 is a one-dimensional shape, the extension direction of the conductive material 200 can be the length direction.

[0122] In other words, the shape and size of the microporous chamber 110, and the shape, size, density, and extension direction of the conductive material 200 can all affect the equivalent dielectric constant of the artificial dielectric material. By designing the shape of the microporous chamber 110 to be a first preset shape and size, the shape of the conductive material 200 to be a second preset shape, the size of the conductive material 200 to be a preset size, the arrangement density of the conductive material 200 to be a preset density, and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 to be a preset extension direction, the equivalent dielectric constant of the artificial dielectric material can be made to be a preset dielectric constant. When the artificial dielectric material with the preset dielectric constant is used as the lens unit 100, the electrical length of the electromagnetic waves entering the feeding unit 300 at all radiation angles can be changed, thereby achieving parallel or nearly parallel beams when all electromagnetic waves are emitted from the lens unit 100, presenting the effects of beam convergence, more concentrated energy, and higher gain.

[0123] Among them, the dielectric constant of the material of the substrate 10 is relatively low, about 1.6. And the substrate 10 is a porous structure, the component in the pores is air, and the dielectric constant of air is 1. Therefore, the equivalent dielectric constant of the substrate 10 in space is smaller than the dielectric constant of the material of the substrate 10. By arranging the conductive material 200 on the substrate 10, and the conductive material 200 is dispersed on the side wall of the microporous chamber 110 of the substrate 10, it is equivalent to doping the conductive material 200 in the substrate 10, which can reduce the weight while also increasing the equivalent dielectric constant of the artificial dielectric material to near the preset dielectric constant, and the artificial dielectric material with the preset dielectric constant achieves gain improvement. For example, after the "doped" conductive material 200 is arranged in the substrate 10, the equivalent dielectric constant of the artificial dielectric material can be easily increased to between 1-2, or higher, and the lens unit 100 formed by the artificial dielectric material has a lighter weight.

[0124] It can be understood that a large amount of conductive material 200 attached to the side wall of the microporous chamber 110 can be adjusted in size, distribution density, molded shape, relative orientation relationship between extension direction and oscillator polarization, etc. according to the lens design requirements, to produce equivalent effective dielectric constants, and then obtain the desired spatial directional pattern performance, thereby solving the problem of low design freedom of existing artificial dielectric materials.

[0125] Specifically, for example, when the metal is in a strip shape, refer to the calculation formula of the equivalent dielectric constant of artificial dielectric materials:

[0126] ε=ε0(1+7.85N′w2) (1)

[0128] Among them, ε0 is the dielectric constant of vacuum, N′ is the number of conductive materials 200 per unit cross-sectional space, and w is the effective length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the vibrator. The size, shape, and angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the vibrator of the feeding unit 300 of the conductive material 200 will all affect the size of w, and the arrangement density of the conductive material 200 will affect the size of N′. In other words, the size, arrangement density, shape, and angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the vibrator of the feeding unit 300 of the conductive material 200 will all affect the equivalent dielectric constant of the artificial dielectric material. In addition, the shape of the microporous chamber will affect the extension direction of the conductive material 200, and the size of the microporous chamber will affect the arrangement density of the conductive material 200. In the present application, the shape of the microporous chamber 110 is designed to be a first preset shape, the size of the microporous chamber is a first preset size, the shape of the conductive material 200 is a second preset shape, the size of the conductive material 200 is a second preset size, and the arrangement density of the conductive material 200 is a preset density, so that the equivalent length gain of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the oscillator is higher, and the number of conductive materials 200 in the unit cross-sectional space is relatively more.

[0129] The size of the conductive material 200 is adjusted according to the lens design requirements, including designing the electrical length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 to be less than or equal to 1 / 20 wavelength of the center frequency point of the frequency band supported by the feeding unit 300. In this way, the conductive material 200 will not resonate, but only generate an electric dipole moment, and can be equivalent to a dielectric material, thereby forming the effect of the lens unit 100, so that the radiation source on one side of the lens unit 100 forms a nearly parallel beam after passing through the lens unit 100, thereby achieving maximum energy concentration.

[0130] For example, the electrical length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 is designed to be less than 1 / 20 of the wavelength, and the arrangement density of the conductive material 200 is designed to be dense, which is equivalent to the lens unit 100 with a dielectric constant of 1-2. The electrical length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 is designed to be close to or equal to 1 / 20 of the wavelength, and the arrangement density of the conductive material 200 is designed to be sparse, which is equivalent to the lens unit 100 with a dielectric constant of 1-2. The electrical length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 is designed to be close to or equal to 1 / 20 of the wavelength, and the arrangement density of the conductive material 200 is designed to be dense, which is equivalent to the lens unit 100 with a dielectric constant of 1-2 or even greater.

[0131] Among them, the aforementioned adjustment of the relative orientation relationship between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 on the side wall of the microporous chamber 110 and the polarization of the dipole is equivalent to different effective dielectric constants, thereby obtaining the desired spatial radiation pattern performance. In other words, the beam (gain, width) of the lens antenna 1000 provided in the present application can change with the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the dipole of the feeding unit 300. When the extension direction of the conductive material 200 changes, the electrical length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the dipole changes, causing the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 to change, thereby causing the beam (gain, width) of the lens antenna 1000 to change. When the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 is equal to or close to the preset dielectric constant, the lens antenna 1000 forms a nearly parallel beam, the beam gain increases greatly, the beam width decreases greatly, the beam is relatively narrow and relatively long, and is applied to signal coverage in narrow and long areas such as high-speed railways, highways, rivers and tunnels, or applied to signal coverage in large sports venues, densely populated residential areas, sea areas and other scenes requiring high gain. When the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 is much smaller than the preset dielectric constant, the beam gain of the lens antenna 1000 increases less, the beam width decreases less, the beam is relatively wide and the signal coverage distance is relatively short, so that it can be applied to places with a small number of terminal connections and a small amount of data transmission, and can save antenna power consumption.

[0132] The relative orientation relationship between the conductive material 200 on the side wall of the microporous chamber 110 and the polarization direction of the vibrator of the feeding unit 300 is adjusted. In other words, the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 on the side wall of the microporous chamber 110 and the polarization direction of the vibrator of the feeding unit 300 is adjusted.

[0133] Optionally, the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 is adjustable.

[0134] In an optional embodiment, the angle of the lens unit 100 is adjustable, so as to change the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and further change the effective induced electrical length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the vibrator.

[0135] In this implementation, please refer to Figure 6 , the lens unit 100 is a rotatable structure (rotatable around the midline L1 of the feed unit 300), and the position of the feed unit 300 is relatively fixed. Further, the lens antenna 1000 includes a first rotation drive structure 50 and a first drive motor 40, one end of the first rotation drive structure 50 is connected to the output shaft of the first drive motor 40, and the other end of the first rotation drive structure 50 is electrically connected to the lens unit 100. The first rotation drive structure 50 rotates under the drive of the first drive motor 40, and drives the lens unit 100 to rotate around the midline L1 of the feed unit 300.

[0136] By adjusting the rotation angle of the lens unit 100, the extension direction of the conductive material 200 on the side wall of the microporous chamber 110 on the lens unit 100 is adjusted, for example, the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is adjusted from the same as the polarization direction of the oscillator, to intersecting with the polarization direction of the oscillator, to perpendicular to the polarization direction of the oscillator, and then the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 is adjusted to be close to or equal to the preset dielectric constant to form a relatively narrow and relatively long beam, which can be applied to signal coverage in narrow and long areas such as high-speed railways, highways, rivers and tunnels, or to signal coverage in large sports venues, densely populated residential areas, sea areas and other scenes requiring high gain; or, the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 is adjusted to be much smaller than the preset dielectric constant to form a relatively wide and relatively short beam, which can be applied to places with a small number of terminal connections and a small amount of data transmission, and can save antenna power consumption. The above realizes the reconfiguration of the directional pattern.

[0137] In another optional implementation, the angle of the feeding unit 300 is adjustable, so as to change the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300, thereby changing the (effective induction) electrical length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the oscillator.

[0138] In this implementation, please refer to Figure 7a, the feeding unit 300 is a rotatable structure (rotatable around the midline L1 of the feeding unit 300), and the position of the lens unit 100 is relatively fixed. Further, the lens antenna 1000 includes a first rotation driving structure 50 and a first driving motor 40, one end of the first rotation driving structure 50 is connected to the output shaft of the first driving motor 40, and the other end of the first rotation driving structure 50 is electrically connected to the feeding unit 300. The first rotation driving structure 50 rotates under the drive of the first driving motor 40, and drives the feeding unit 300 to rotate around the midline L1 of the feeding unit 300.

[0139] By adjusting the rotation angle of the feed unit 300, the angle between the extension direction (of the effective maximum induced electrical length) of the conductive material 200 and the dipole polarization direction of the feed unit 300 is adjusted. For example, the extension direction (of the effective maximum induced electrical length) of the conductive material 200 is adjusted from being the same as the dipole polarization direction, to being intersected with the dipole polarization direction, to being perpendicular to the dipole polarization direction, and then the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 is adjusted to be close to or equal to the preset dielectric constant, so as to form a relatively narrow and relatively long beam, which is applied to signal coverage in narrow and long areas such as high-speed railways, highways, rivers and tunnels, or applied to signal coverage in large sports venues, densely populated residential areas, sea areas and other scenes requiring high gain; or, the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 is adjusted to be much smaller than the preset dielectric constant, so as to form a relatively wide and relatively short beam, which is applied to places with a small number of terminal signal connections and a small amount of data transmission, and can save antenna power consumption.

[0140] In another optional implementation, please refer to Figure 7b The angle of the lens unit 100 is adjustable, and the angle of the feeding unit 300 is adjustable, so that the extension direction (of the effective maximum induced electrical length) of the conductive material 200 is changed, and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 is changed, thereby changing the (effective maximum induced) electrical length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the oscillator.

[0141] In this embodiment, the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 are both rotatable structures (rotatable around the perpendicular midline L1 of the feeding unit 300). Figure 7bThe lens antenna 1000 includes a first rotation driving structure 50 and a first driving motor 40, a second rotation driving structure 51 and a second driving motor 41. One end of the first rotation driving structure 50 is connected to the output shaft of the first driving motor 40, and the other end of the first rotation driving structure 50 is electrically connected to the lens unit 100. The first rotation driving structure 50 rotates under the drive of the first driving motor 40, and drives the lens unit 100 to rotate around the perpendicular midline L1 of the feeding unit 300. One end of the second rotation driving structure 51 is connected to the output shaft of the second driving motor 41, and the other end of the second rotation driving structure 51 is electrically connected to the feeding unit 300. The second rotation driving structure 51 rotates under the drive of the second driving motor 41, and drives the feeding unit 300 to rotate around the perpendicular midline L1 of the feeding unit 300.

[0142] Of course, in other embodiments, the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 in the lens antenna 1000 and the polarization direction of the dipole of the feeding unit 300 is relatively fixed.

[0143] Reference Figures 1 to 27 The artificial medium material of the first embodiment of the present application is a porous structure with microporous chambers 110, which is stable and reliable, does not deform after long-term use, is acid-resistant, waterproof, and flame-retardant, and has a heat resistance of less than 30kg / m 3 The density of the conductive material 200 is high; the conductive material 200 does not fall off, and the relative position of the conductive material 200 is fixed, so there is no contact and no impact on the intermodulation index of the base station antenna. Moreover, this design can be mass-produced through honeycomb technology and printing, metal printing, etching and other processes, thereby solving the problem of poor manufacturability of existing artificial dielectric materials.

[0144] In some embodiments of the present application, reference Figures 1 to 3 , each microporous chamber 110 is in the shape of a hexagonal honeycomb, so that the substrate 10 is set to a honeycomb structure. In other embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the microporous chamber 110 is polygonal, circular, elliptical or irregular two-dimensional. In other embodiments, at least two microporous chambers 110 have the same shape or the shapes of the microporous chambers 110 are different. Polygons include but are not limited to triangles, quadrilaterals, rhombuses, etc.

[0145] In some embodiments of the present application, the substrate 10 is made of aramid paper. It is understandable that the substrate 10 of the artificial dielectric material is aramid paper, which is a lightweight flame-retardant material that meets the requirements of the base station antenna product for the fire rating of raw materials. This raw material is not only lightweight and flame-retardant, but also moisture-proof, has high bearing strength, and has strong weather resistance. It can fully meet the weather resistance requirements of base station antennas for raw materials and can ensure normal use for more than 10 years in an outdoor environment of -55 to +75°C. In other embodiments, the substrate 10 is made of engineering plastics or flexible printed circuits (FPCs).

[0146] In some embodiments of the present application, the conductive material 200 is provided as a plurality of metal patterns, and at least one of the size, shape, extension direction or spacing between adjacent metal patterns of the metal patterns is adjusted to obtain different equivalent dielectric constants. In some embodiments, a large number of rectangular metal strips are printed on the honeycomb microstructure, and the number of metal strips attached to the honeycomb wall can be adjusted according to the required effective dielectric constant.

[0147] In some embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 4 , each metal pattern is evenly distributed, and in some other embodiments, the metal patterns are unevenly distributed; it can be understood that a large number of metal strips attached to the side walls of the honeycomb microstructure can be evenly distributed or unevenly distributed.

[0148] In some embodiments of the present application, reference Figure 4 , the long side direction of each metal pattern is the same as the polarization direction of the polarizer.

[0149] In some other embodiments, the long side direction of at least one metal pattern is arranged at a preset angle with the polarization direction of the polarizer.

[0150] It is understandable that, referring to Figures 19a to 25b The long sides of a large number of metal strips attached to the side walls of the honeycomb structure point to the polarization direction of the linear polarization oscillator of the base station antenna, which can be completely consistent, partially consistent, or even at any angle.

[0151] In some embodiments of the present application, the conductive material 200 is silver paste. It is understood that the metal pattern attached to the honeycomb structure wall is fixed by a printing process, and the raw material of the metal strip is silver paste. In other embodiments, the printing process can also be replaced by other metallization processes (printing and etching, etc.), and the raw material of the metal strip can also be other conductive materials (gold, copper, tin, etc.).

[0152] Reference Figures 1 to 27 The lens unit 100 of the second aspect embodiment of the present application includes the artificial medium material of the first aspect embodiment of the present application.

[0153] In some embodiments of the present application, the lens unit 100 is configured as a three-dimensional structure. Preferably, the lens unit 100 is structurally spherical. Specifically, the diameter of the sphere is generally selected to be 5 to 100 cm; it can also be any size that meets the design objectives of the lens antenna 1000. In other embodiments, the lens unit 100 can also be a cuboid, a cube, an ellipsoid, a cylinder, or any irregular three-dimensional shape.

[0154] Reference Figures 1 to 27 The manufacturing method of the lens unit 100 of the third aspect of the present application may be the manufacturing method of the lens unit 100 of the second aspect of the present application, and includes the following steps:

[0155] Providing a substrate 10 and cutting it into a suitable size;

[0156] The conductive material 200 is disposed on the substrate 10. When the conductive material 200 is disposed, the molding shape and distribution density are adjusted according to the lens design requirements to obtain different effective dielectric constants.

[0157] The substrate 10 is made into a honeycomb structure by a honeycomb preparation process, and the conductive material 200 is located on the side wall of the microporous chamber 110;

[0158] The substrate 10 is processed into the lens unit 100 .

[0159] It is understandable that the aramid paper is first cut to a suitable size, then printed with a certain number of metal strips, and then goes through a series of honeycomb process production processes to produce a honeycomb structure raw material for secondary processing by mechanical equipment into a specific three-dimensional shape lens unit 100 for use.

[0160] It is understandable that based on the equivalent theory of artificial media, the dielectric constant of the natural medium is equivalent to that of the metal strips of a certain density distributed in a certain spatial area. Specifically, the hexagonal microstructure of the paper base is used, and a certain density of metal strips are attached to the side walls of these microstructures through printing and other processes, so as to obtain the desired equivalent dielectric constant. According to the principles of ray tracing, the gain and beam width of the desired directional pattern are designed to determine the size of the spherical lens with a certain dielectric constant; the above work can be simulated through electromagnetic simulation software; according to the theory and simulation results, the manufacturing process of honeycomb aramid paper is used for physical processing, and then the accuracy of the simulation data is tested and verified.

[0161] In some embodiments of the present application, the conductive material 200 is formed into a metal pattern through a printing process and attached to the side wall of the microporous chamber 110. It can be understood that a certain number of metal patterns attached to the side wall of the honeycomb microstructure are rectangular thin metal strips with a thickness of 5 to 10 um, or other thickness sizes designed according to actual requirements; the shape of the metal strip can also be square, circular, elliptical, or even any shape; the thickness of the metal strip can also be increased, and then it can be a cube, a cuboid, a sphere, an ellipsoid, or a three-dimensional metal body of any shape.

[0162] Reference Figures 1 to 27 The lens antenna 1000 of the fourth aspect embodiment of the present application may be a lens base station antenna. The lens antenna 1000 includes the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 of the second aspect embodiment of the present application. The spatial positions of the feeding unit 300 and the lens unit 100 are relatively fixed.

[0163] It is understandable that specific reference Figure 5 , Figure 15-17 The lens antenna 1000 includes a paper-based artificial dielectric spherical lens unit 100 with a honeycomb structure, a base station antenna vibrator feeding unit 300 and some other connecting auxiliary parts. The paper-based artificial dielectric spherical lens unit 100 with a honeycomb structure is made of a paper-based artificial dielectric material with a hexagonal honeycomb microstructure and has a spherical appearance. The base station antenna vibrator feeding unit 300 forms a structural whole with the spherical lens unit 100 through some other connecting auxiliary parts. Specifically, the feeding unit 300 is fixed to the edge of the lens unit 100 through the connecting auxiliary parts.

[0164] In some embodiments of the present application, the polarization mode of the feeding unit 300 is orthogonal dual-linear polarization; in other embodiments, the polarization mode may also be other polarization modes such as elliptical or circular polarization.

[0165] In some embodiments of the present application, the beam of the artificial medium lens is a single beam, and the feed source is a single frequency band. The relative position of the feed source and the paper-based lens unit 100 can be changed to obtain different directional patterns. Furthermore, the feed source can be placed not only outside the lens, but also inside the lens to obtain a specific directional pattern. Furthermore, the number of feed sources can be more than one, or multiple.

[0166] In this embodiment, the lens unit 100 may be spherical or cylindrical, etc. Take the spherical lens unit 100 as an example.

[0167] See also Figure 8In the first embodiment, the feeding unit 300 is a single-polarized antenna, that is, the feeding unit 300 includes a symmetrical dipole. The dipole has one polarization direction. The conductive material 200 is in the shape of a long strip structure (or a linear structure).

[0168] See also Figure 4 The conductive material 200 is a one-dimensional structure, such as a metal strip, and the extension direction of the metal strip is parallel to the axis of the microporous chamber.

[0169] See also Figure 8 The feeding unit 300 includes a single polarization vibrator, and the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200 is the same as or forms a small angle with the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator. In other words, the length direction of the conductive material 200 is close to or equal to the maximum effective induction length of the conductive material 200 in the polarization direction of the vibrator. According to the above formula (1), the benefit of w in the conductive material 200 provided in this embodiment is the largest. In other words, the conductive material 200 contributes to the improvement of the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100, and the benefit is relatively large. With a relatively short length of the conductive material 200, the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 can be highly improved. In this way, the amount of the conductive material 200 in the unit space can be increased, thereby providing space for increasing the N′ value in the formula (1), thereby satisfying the requirement of increasing the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100 to the preset equivalent dielectric constant, and making the lens unit 100 have a relatively small size and a light weight.

[0170] For example, the long side direction of the conductive material 200 is the axial direction of the microporous chamber, and the polarization direction of the polarizer of the feeding unit 300 is also the axial direction of the microporous chamber.

[0171] The angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the dipole of the feeding unit 300 may be adjustable or not.

[0172] See also Figure 8In this embodiment, in combination with the above-mentioned embodiments, in the implementation manner of three adjustable angles between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300, this embodiment can achieve the adjustment of the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 to a first angle range, wherein the first angle range includes a range of 0° and close to 0°. For example, the first angle range is [0°~n°), and n can be one of 5~30. Among them, in the first angle range, the conductive material 200 has the greatest benefit in improving the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100, which is conducive to forming a lens unit 100 close to or at a preset dielectric constant, so as to form a first beam with a relatively narrow beam, relatively strong directivity, and relatively large gain, so as to be applied to signal coverage in narrow and long areas such as high-speed railways, highways, rivers and tunnels, or applied to signal coverage in large sports venues, densely populated residential areas, sea areas, etc., where narrow beams or high gain are required.

[0173] See also Figure 9a and Figure 9b , this embodiment can also adjust the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 to a second angle range, wherein the second angle range includes a range of 45° and close to 45°. For example, the second angle range is [n°~45°~m°), and m can be one of 45~60. Among them, in the second angle range, the conductive material 200 has a relatively large benefit in improving the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100, which is conducive to forming a second beam. The width of the second beam is greater than the width of the first beam, the directivity of the second beam is less than the directivity of the first beam, and the gain of the second beam is less than the gain of the first beam.

[0174] See also Fig.10a and Fig.10b , this embodiment can also adjust the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 to a third angle range, wherein the third angle range includes a range of 90° and close to 90°. For example, the third angle range is [m°~90°], and m can be one of 60-90. Among them, in the third angle range, the conductive material 200 has a relatively large benefit in improving the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100, which is conducive to forming a third beam. The width of the third beam is greater than the width of the second beam, the directivity of the third beam is less than the directivity of the second beam, and the gain of the third beam is less than the gain of the second beam, so as to form a relatively wide and relatively weakly directional beam, so as to be applied to places with a small number of terminal signal connections and a small amount of data transmission tasks, and can save antenna power consumption.

[0175] Of course, in this embodiment, switching among the first angle range, the second angle range, and the third angle range, or switching between the first angle range and the third angle range, for example, switching between 0° and 90° can be achieved.

[0176] See also Fig.11 In a second embodiment, based on the first embodiment, the feed unit 300 can rotate around the lens unit 100 in the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100. Specifically, the lens antenna 1000 also includes a first arc track 31, a third drive motor 32 and a third drive structure 33 (driven by the third drive motor 32). The first arc track 31 is arranged along the equatorial plane. The third drive structure 33 connects the third drive motor 32 and the feed unit 300. The third drive motor 32 drives the feed unit 300 to rotate around the lens unit 100 in the equatorial plane, thereby realizing beam scanning. The first arc track 31 is an arc tooth, and the third drive structure 33 is a gear meshing with the first arc track 31.

[0177] For example, see Fig.12a , a plurality of conductive materials 200 are arranged on the side walls of the microporous chamber 110, and the third driving motor 32 drives the feeding unit 300 to move to different positions to achieve horizontal scanning of the high-gain beam. For example, after the lens unit 100 is set, the horizontal beam width of the original feeding unit 300 is reduced from 65° to 33° ( Fig.12a The ellipse in the middle is a schematic diagram of the beam), which can drive the feeding unit 300 (for example, by Fig.11 The third driving motor 32 in the feeding unit 300 moves to different positions to ensure that the feeding unit 300 can have a wider coverage. In other embodiments, the position of the feeding unit 300 can be set unchanged, and the position of the lens unit 100 changes relative to the position of the feeding unit 300 to achieve beam scanning. Fig.12a The solid line feed unit 300 in the middle represents the current position, the dotted line box in the upper left corner of the feed unit 300 represents a position (not limited to this position) where the feed unit 300 can move along the arc, and the dotted line box in the upper right corner of the feed unit 300 represents another position where the feed unit 300 can move along the arc. The solid line beam in the middle of the three elliptical beams is the beam formed by the feed unit 300 at the current position after the lens effect, and the dotted line beam on the left of the three elliptical beams is the beam formed by the feed unit 300 moving along the arc to the upper right corner position after the lens effect. The dotted line beam on the right of the three elliptical beams is the beam formed by the feed unit 300 moving along the arc to the upper left corner position after the lens effect.

[0178] Fig.12aThe three elliptical beams in FIG. 1 are schematic diagrams after being greatly reduced in scale. In actual processes, the three elliptical beams may be adjacent, close to each other, or partially overlap. The same is true for subsequent figures with multiple beams, which will not be described one by one.

[0179] In specific applications, optional, see Figure 12b , the lens antenna 1000 provided in the present application can also be used in occasions such as venues where the flow of people changes, and the extension direction of the feed unit 300 and the position of the feed unit 300 are adjusted according to the data transmission task amount. When there are fewer users in the venue, the data transmission task amount is small, and the feed unit 300 can be rotated around the perpendicular bisector to the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200 that is perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator, so as to form a wide beam covering a wider range, for example, covering 65°, to meet the needs of the venue where there are fewer users and the data transmission task amount is small. Optionally, if the number of people in the venue is dense, the data transmission task amount is large at this time, and the feed unit 300 can be rotated around the perpendicular bisector to the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200 that is the same or nearly the same as the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator, so as to form a narrower beam with large gain, for example, covering 33°, (while increasing the number of beams and carrier frequencies) to meet the situation where the number of people in the venue is dense and the data transmission task amount is large.

[0180] Figure 12b The solid line feed unit 300 in the middle represents the current position, the dotted line box in the upper left corner of the feed unit 300 represents a position (not limited to this position) where the feed unit 300 can move along an arc, and the dotted line box in the upper right corner of the feed unit 300 represents another position where the feed unit 300 can move along an arc. The solid line beam in the middle of the three elliptical beams is the beam formed by the feed unit 300 after being acted on by a lens at the current position. Since the vibrator direction (polarization direction) of the feed unit 300 is perpendicular to the extension direction of the conductive material 200 at this time, the beam is a wide beam. The feed unit 300 can be rotated to the point where the vibrator direction (polarization direction) of the feed unit 300 is the same as the extension direction of the conductive material 200. The dotted line beam on the left of the three elliptical beams is the beam formed by the feed unit 300 moving along an arc to the upper right corner position after being acted on by a lens. The dashed beam on the right of the three elliptical beams is a beam formed after the feeding unit 300 moves along an arc to the upper left corner and is acted upon by a lens.

[0181] See also Fig.13a In the third embodiment, different from the first embodiment, there are multiple feeding units 300. Each feeding unit 300 faces a surface of the microporous chamber 110. For example, there are two feeding units 300, and the cross-section of the microporous chamber 110 is circular, triangular, square, rectangular, rhombus, etc.

[0182] Optional, see Fig.13aThere are three feeding units 300, and the cross-section of the microporous chamber 110 is triangular, hexagonal, etc.

[0183] For example, the cross section of the microporous chamber 110 is hexagonal, and there are three feeding units 300, namely, a first feeding unit 310, a second feeding unit 320, and a third feeding unit 330. The first feeding unit 310, the second feeding unit 320, and the third feeding unit 330 are respectively opposite to three different side walls of the microporous chamber 110. At least one feeding unit 300 can adjust the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300.

[0184] See also Fig.13a In specific applications, optionally, the lens antenna 1000 provided in the present application can also be used in occasions such as venues where the flow of people changes, and the extension direction and the number of operations of the feed unit 300 are adjusted according to the amount of data transmission tasks. When there are fewer users in the venue, the amount of data transmission tasks is small, and one or both of the first feed unit 310, the second feed unit 320, and the third feed unit 330 are working, which can reduce the power consumption of the antenna. For example, the switch unit controls the second feed unit 320 located in the middle position to work, and the first feed unit 310 in the upper left corner and the third feed unit 330 in the upper right corner are not working. The second feed unit 320 can be rotated around the perpendicular bisector until the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200 is perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the polarization direction of the polarization oscillator, so as to form a wide beam covering a wider range, for example, covering 65°, to meet the needs of fewer users in the venue and small data transmission tasks.

[0185] See also Fig.13b Optionally, if the number of people in the venue is dense and the data transmission task is large, the first feed unit 310, the second feed unit 320, and the third feed unit 330 are all working, and the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator of the first feed unit 310 is the same or nearly the same as the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200, the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator of the second feed unit 320 is the same or nearly the same as the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200, and the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator of the third feed unit 330 is the same or nearly the same as the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200, so as to form three adjacent narrow beams with large gain, for example, each beam covers 40° to cover a horizontal width range of 120°, so as to meet the local situation where the number of people in the venue is dense and the data transmission task is large.

[0186] For places where 360° signal coverage may be required, multiple groups of lens antennas 1000 may be provided to provide signal coverage within a 360° range.

[0187] See also Figure 14a to Figure 14bIn the fourth embodiment, different from the first to third embodiments, the feeding unit 300 includes a dual-polarization oscillator. The polarization directions of the feeding unit 300 are two orthogonal directions, specifically including but not limited to ±45° polarization, vertical and horizontal polarization.

[0188] In this embodiment, when there is only one feeding unit 300, the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 are arranged to be relatively rotatable to switch to a first state: the feeding unit 300 includes a dual-polarization vibrator, and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the dual-polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 are both 45°; or switch to a second state: the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as one polarization direction; or switch to a third state: the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as another polarization direction.

[0189] When there are two or more feeding units 300 , each feeding unit 300 can be switched to the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0190] Furthermore, the feeding unit 300 may also rotate around the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100 to achieve beam scanning.

[0191] for Figure 4 and Figure 5 The provided lens unit 100 can determine the initial posture of the lens unit 100 according to different feeding units 300. For example, in the first embodiment, the initial posture of the lens unit 100 is determined according to the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200 being the same as the polarization direction of the polarizer. In the first to fourth embodiments, the initial posture of the lens unit 100 is determined according to the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200 and the two polarization directions of the polarizer being 45°.

[0192] Furthermore, Figures 19a to 25b Several additional embodiments are provided.

[0193] Specific reference Fig.19a and Fig.19b In the fifth embodiment, the direction of the metal strip in the artificial dielectric lens is perpendicular to the direction of the honeycomb axis. The feeding unit 300 is a single-polarized antenna. The extension direction of the metal strip is perpendicular to the axis of the microporous chamber 110.

[0194] The angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 may be adjustable or non-adjustable. In a non-adjustable embodiment, this embodiment forms a beam with a wider width and a relatively small gain. In an adjustable embodiment, this embodiment can refer to the adjustment method, adjustment means and adjustment effect in the first embodiment described above.

[0195] Please refer to Fig.11 In the sixth embodiment, based on the fifth embodiment, the feeding unit 300 can rotate around the lens unit 100 on the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100. This embodiment can roughly refer to the third embodiment, but the difference between this embodiment and the third embodiment is that when adjusting the position of the feeding unit 300 in the third embodiment, since the length direction of the conductive material 200 is the axial direction of the microporous chamber 110, it is not necessary to rotate the feeding unit 300 to face the side wall of the microporous chamber 110, and the conductive material 200 can always be kept parallel to or facing the radiation surface of the feeding unit 300.

[0196] Please refer to Fig.12a and Figure 12b In this embodiment, since the length direction of the conductive material 200 is perpendicular to the axis of the microporous chamber 110, the feeding unit 300 needs to be rotated to face the side wall of the microporous chamber 110. If the cross-section of the microporous chamber 110 is hexagonal, the feeding unit 300 can be rotated to the positions facing the three adjacent side walls of the microporous chamber 110 respectively. In this way, the conductive material 200 is parallel to or facing the radiation surface of the feeding unit 300. The conductive material 200 has a greater benefit in increasing the equivalent dielectric constant and ensures that the formed beam has good symmetry.

[0197] Please refer to Fig.13a and Fig.13b In the seventh embodiment, different from the fifth embodiment, there are multiple feeding units 300 . Each feeding unit 300 faces a side wall of the microporous chamber 110 .

[0198] For example, the cross section of the microporous chamber 110 is hexagonal, and there are three feeding units 300, namely, a first feeding unit 310, a second feeding unit 320, and a third feeding unit 330. The first feeding unit 310, the second feeding unit 320, and the third feeding unit 330 are respectively opposite to three adjacent side walls of the microporous chamber 110. At least one feeding unit 300 can adjust the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300.

[0199] Please refer to Fig.13aIn specific applications, optionally, the lens antenna 1000 provided in the present application can also be used in occasions such as venues where the flow of people changes, and the extension direction and the number of operations of the feed unit 300 are adjusted according to the amount of data transmission tasks. When there are fewer users in the venue, the amount of data transmission tasks is small, and one or both of the first feed unit 310, the second feed unit 320, and the third feed unit 330 are working, which can reduce the power consumption of the antenna. For example, the second feed unit 320 located in the middle position is working, and when the second feed unit 320 is in the initial position, the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200 is perpendicular or nearly perpendicular to the polarization direction of the polarizer, so as to form a wide beam covering a wider range, for example, covering 65°, to meet the needs of fewer users in the venue and small data transmission tasks.

[0200] Optional, please refer to Fig.13b If the number of people in the venue is dense, the data transmission task is large. At this time, the first feed unit 310, the second feed unit 320, and the third feed unit 330 are all working, and the first feed unit 310 and / or the lens unit 100 are rotated to make the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator of the first feed unit 310 the same as or nearly the same as the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200, and the second feed unit 320 and / or the lens unit 100 are rotated to make the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator of the second feed unit 320 the same as or nearly the same as the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200, and the third feed unit 330 and / or the lens unit 100 are rotated to make the polarization direction of the polarization vibrator of the third feed unit 330 the same as or nearly the same as the extension direction (long side direction) of the conductive material 200, so as to form three adjacent narrow beams with large gain, for example, each beam covers 40° to cover a horizontal width range of 120°, so as to meet the local dense population of the venue and the large data transmission task demand at this time.

[0201] Please refer to Fig.19c and Fig.19d In the eighth embodiment, different from the fifth to seventh embodiments, the feeding unit 300 is a dual-polarization oscillator. The polarization directions of the feeding unit 300 are two orthogonal directions, specifically including but not limited to ±45° polarization, horizontal and vertical polarization.

[0202] In this embodiment, when there is only one feeding unit 300, the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 are arranged to be relatively rotatable to switch to a first state: the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the two polarization directions are both 45°; or switch to a second state: the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as one polarization direction; or switch to a third state: the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as the other polarization direction.

[0203] When there are two or more feeding units 300 , each feeding unit 300 can be switched to the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0204] Furthermore, the feeding unit 300 may also rotate around the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100 to achieve beam scanning.

[0205] Specific reference Fig.20a In this embodiment, the metal strips in the artificial dielectric lens have two orientations, which are parallel or perpendicular to the axis direction of the microporous chamber 110. When the microporous chamber 110 is a honeycomb, the two oriented metal strips are parallel or perpendicular to the axis direction. Fig.20a , the metal strips of two orientations can be alternately arranged on the same side wall. Alternatively, the two orientations are respectively arranged on different side walls. Compared with the conductive material 200 with one extension direction, the present embodiment can be adapted to feed units 300 with a plurality of different polarization directions. Regardless of the polarization direction of the feed unit 300, an effective current along the polarization direction can be formed on the conductive material 200 on the lens unit 100, thereby achieving an improvement in the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100, and thereby achieving an improvement in the beam gain of the feed unit 300.

[0206] Specific reference Fig.20b In the ninth embodiment, the feeding unit 300 is a single polarization oscillator. In the initial state, the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 forms a 45° angle with the two oriented metal strips, so that the two oriented metal strips have a dielectric constant increase benefit, so that the beam of the feeding unit 300 after the lens unit 100 has good symmetry in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Of course, the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 can be adjusted to form the aforementioned first beam or second beam, and then applied to the corresponding scenes respectively.

[0207] Specific reference Fig.11 , Fig.12a and Figure 12b In a tenth embodiment, based on the ninth embodiment, the feeding unit 300 can rotate around the lens unit 100 on the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100. Optionally, the two orientations are respectively arranged on different side walls to achieve beam reconstruction, for example, reconstruction from the first beam to the third beam, or reconstruction from the third beam to the first beam.

[0208] Specific reference Fig.13a and Fig.13b In the eleventh embodiment, different from the ninth embodiment, there are multiple feeding units 300 . Each feeding unit 300 faces a surface of the microporous chamber 110 .

[0209] Optionally, there are three feeding units 300, and the cross-section of the microporous chamber 110 is triangular, hexagonal, etc.

[0210] For example, the cross section of the microporous chamber 110 is hexagonal, and there are three feeding units 300, namely, a first feeding unit 310, a second feeding unit 320, and a third feeding unit 330. The first feeding unit 310, the second feeding unit 320, and the third feeding unit 330 are respectively opposite to three different side walls of the microporous chamber 110. At least one feeding unit 300 can adjust the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300.

[0211] For example, in conjunction with reference Figure 12b , rotate the lens unit 100 so that the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is nearly parallel to the polarization directions of the first feeding unit 310 and the third feeding unit 330, and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is nearly perpendicular to the polarization direction of the second feeding unit 320, so as to form a beam with large gain on both sides and a large width in the middle, which is used in scenarios where the transmission task volume on both sides is relatively large and the transmission task volume in the middle is relatively small.

[0212] For example, in conjunction with reference Fig.13b The polarization directions of the first feeding unit 310 and the third feeding unit 330 are adjusted to be nearly parallel to the extension direction of the conductive material 200 to form a beam coverage with a small width and a large gain in the middle and on both sides, so as to be applied to scenarios with a relatively large transmission task volume covering a wide range.

[0213] Combined with reference Fig.20c In the twelfth embodiment, different from the ninth to eleventh embodiments, the feeding unit 300 is a dual-polarization oscillator. The polarization directions of the feeding unit 300 are two orthogonal directions, specifically including but not limited to ±45° polarization, horizontal and vertical polarization.

[0214] In the initial state, the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 forms an angle of 45° with the two oriented metal strips, so that the beam of the feeding unit 300 after being acted upon by the lens unit 100 has good symmetry in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Of course, the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 can be adjusted to form the aforementioned first beam or second beam, and then be applied to corresponding scenes respectively.

[0215] In this embodiment, when there is only one feeding unit 300, the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 are arranged to be relatively rotatable to switch to the first state: Fig.20c , the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the two polarization directions are both 45°; or switch to the second state: combined with reference Fig.20d, the extending direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as one polarization direction; or switched to a third state: the extending direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as another polarization direction.

[0216] Furthermore, there may be a plurality of feeding units 300. Each feeding unit 300 faces a surface of the microporous chamber 110. When there are two or more feeding units 300, each feeding unit 300 may be switched to the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0217] Furthermore, the feeding unit 300 may also rotate around the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100 to achieve beam scanning.

[0218] Specific reference Fig.21a In this embodiment, the metal strips in the artificial dielectric lens are oriented at an angle of +45° to the axis of the honeycomb (microporous chamber 110) and have a uniform direction.

[0219] Specific reference Figure 21b In the thirteenth embodiment, the feeding unit 300 is a single-polarized antenna, that is, the feeding unit 300 includes a pair of symmetrical dipoles. The dipoles have one polarization direction. The angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the dipole polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 is adjustable or not.

[0220] In an embodiment in which the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the vibrator of the feeding unit 300 is adjustable, the angle between the polarization directions of the vibrator is adjusted from along the axial direction of the microporous chamber 110 to along the extension direction of the conductive material 200. The beam width adjustment and beam gain adjustment can be achieved by rotating 45 degrees. The rotation angle is reduced, the design requirements for the rotation drive structure are reduced, and it is easier to implement.

[0221] Specific reference Fig.11 , Fig.12a and Figure 12b In the fourteenth embodiment, based on the thirteenth embodiment, the feeding unit 300 can rotate around the lens unit 100 on the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100. In this embodiment, since the length direction of the conductive material 200 forms an angle of 45° with the axial direction of the microporous chamber 110, the conductive material 200 has a certain effective electrical induction length in the axial direction of the microporous chamber 110, and it is not necessary to rotate the feeding unit 300 to face the side wall of the microporous chamber 110, nor is it necessary to always keep the conductive material 200 parallel to or facing the radiation surface of the feeding unit 300. In other words, during the continuous rotation of the feeding unit 300, the conductive material 200 can form a current in the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 under the coupling of the radiation field, thereby modifying the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100.

[0222] Specific reference Fig.13a and Fig.13b In the fifteenth embodiment, different from the thirteenth embodiment, there are multiple feeding units 300 . Each feeding unit 300 faces a side wall of the microporous chamber 110 .

[0223] For example, the cross section of the microporous chamber 110 is hexagonal, and there are three feeding units 300, namely, a first feeding unit 310, a second feeding unit 320, and a third feeding unit 330. The first feeding unit 310, the second feeding unit 320, and the third feeding unit 330 are respectively opposite to three adjacent side walls of the microporous chamber 110. At least one feeding unit 300 can adjust the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300.

[0224] Combined with reference Fig.21c In the sixteenth embodiment, different from the thirteenth to fifteenth embodiments, the feeding unit 300 is a dual-polarization oscillator. The polarization directions of the feeding unit 300 are two orthogonal directions, specifically including but not limited to ±45° polarization, horizontal and vertical polarization.

[0225] In this embodiment, when there is only one feeding unit 300, the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 are arranged to be relatively rotatable to switch to the first state: Fig.21c , the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the two polarization directions are both 45°; or switch to the second state: combined with reference Fig.21d , the extending direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as one polarization direction; or switched to a third state: the extending direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as another polarization direction.

[0226] When there are two or more feeding units 300 , each feeding unit 300 can be switched to the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0227] Furthermore, the feeding unit 300 may also rotate around the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100 to achieve beam scanning.

[0228] Specific reference Fig.22a In this embodiment, the metal strips in the artificial dielectric lens are oriented at an angle of -45° to the axis of the honeycomb (microporous chamber 110) and have a uniform direction.

[0229] Specific reference Figure 22b In the seventeenth embodiment, the feeding unit 300 is a single-polarized antenna, that is, the feeding unit 300 includes a pair of symmetrical dipoles. The dipoles have one polarization direction. The angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the dipole polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 is adjustable or not.

[0230] In an embodiment in which the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the vibrator of the feeding unit 300 is adjustable, the angle between the polarization directions of the vibrator is adjusted from along the axial direction of the microporous chamber 110 to along the extension direction of the conductive material 200. The beam width adjustment and beam gain adjustment can be achieved by rotating 45 degrees. The rotation angle is reduced, the design requirements for the rotation drive structure are reduced, and it is easier to implement.

[0231] Specific reference Fig.11 , Fig.12a and Figure 12b In the eighteenth embodiment, based on the seventeenth embodiment, the feeding unit 300 can rotate around the lens unit 100 on the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100. In this embodiment, since the length direction of the conductive material 200 forms an angle of 45° with the axial direction of the microporous chamber 110, the conductive material 200 has a certain effective electrical length in the axial direction of the microporous chamber 110, and it is not necessary to rotate the feeding unit 300 to face the side wall of the microporous chamber 110, nor is it necessary to always keep the conductive material 200 parallel to or facing the radiation surface of the feeding unit 300. In other words, during the continuous rotation of the feeding unit 300, the conductive material 200 can form a current in the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 under the coupling of the radiation field, thereby modifying the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100.

[0232] Specific reference Fig.13a and Fig.13b In the nineteenth embodiment, different from the seventeenth embodiment, there are multiple feeding units 300 . Each feeding unit 300 faces a side wall of the microporous chamber 110 .

[0233] For example, the cross section of the microporous chamber 110 is hexagonal, and there are three feeding units 300, namely, a first feeding unit 310, a second feeding unit 320, and a third feeding unit 330. The first feeding unit 310, the second feeding unit 320, and the third feeding unit 330 are respectively opposite to three adjacent side walls of the microporous chamber 110. At least one feeding unit 300 can adjust the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300.

[0234] Combined with reference Fig.22c In the twentieth embodiment, different from the seventeenth to nineteenth embodiments, the feeding unit 300 is a dual-polarization oscillator. The polarization directions of the feeding unit 300 are two orthogonal directions, specifically including but not limited to ±45° polarization, horizontal and vertical polarization.

[0235] In this embodiment, when there is only one feeding unit 300, the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 are arranged to be relatively rotatable to switch to the first state: Fig.22c , the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the two polarization directions are both 45°; or switch to the second state: combined with reference Fig.22d , the extending direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as one polarization direction; or switched to a third state: the extending direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as another polarization direction.

[0236] When there are two or more feeding units 300 , each feeding unit 300 can be switched to the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0237] Furthermore, the feeding unit 300 may also rotate around the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100 to achieve beam scanning.

[0238] Specific reference Fig.23a In this embodiment, the metal strips in the artificial dielectric lens are oriented to alternately form angles of +45° and -45° with the axis of the honeycomb (microporous chamber 110).

[0239] Compared with the conductive material 200 in one extending direction, the present embodiment can be adapted to the feed units 300 in various polarization directions. Regardless of the polarization direction of the feed unit 300, the conductive material 200 on the lens unit 100 can form an effective current along the polarization direction, thereby improving the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100, thereby improving the beam gain of the feed unit 300.

[0240] Specific reference Figure 23b In the twenty-first embodiment, the feeding unit 300 is a single polarization oscillator. In the initial state, the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 forms a 45° angle with the two oriented metal strips, respectively, so that the two oriented metal strips have a dielectric constant increase benefit, so that the beam of the feeding unit 300 after the lens unit 100 has good symmetry in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Of course, the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 can be adjusted to form the aforementioned first beam or second beam, and then applied to the corresponding scenes respectively.

[0241] Specific reference Fig.11 , Fig.12a and Figure 12b In the twenty-second embodiment, based on the twenty-first embodiment, the feeding unit 300 can rotate around the lens unit 100 on the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100. Optionally, the two orientations are respectively arranged on different side walls to achieve beam reconstruction, for example, reconstruction from the first beam to the third beam, or reconstruction from the third beam to the first beam.

[0242] Specific reference Fig.13a and Fig.13b In the twenty-third embodiment, different from the twenty-first embodiment, there are multiple feeding units 300 . Each feeding unit 300 faces a surface of the microporous chamber 110 .

[0243] Optionally, there are three feeding units 300, and the cross-section of the microporous chamber 110 is triangular, hexagonal, etc.

[0244] For example, the cross section of the microporous chamber 110 is hexagonal, and there are three feeding units 300, namely, a first feeding unit 310, a second feeding unit 320, and a third feeding unit 330. The first feeding unit 310, the second feeding unit 320, and the third feeding unit 330 are respectively opposite to three different side walls of the microporous chamber 110. At least one feeding unit 300 can adjust the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300.

[0245] Further optional, combined with reference Fig.13b The polarization direction of at least one of the first feeding unit 310 , the second feeding unit 320 and the third feeding unit 330 and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 are adjustable.

[0246] For example, the polarization direction of the second feeding unit 320 is adjusted to be perpendicular to the extension direction of the conductive material 200 to form a beam coverage with large width in the middle and on both sides, so as to be applied to scenarios with a wide coverage range and a relatively small transmission task volume.

[0247] For example, in conjunction with reference Figure 12b , rotate the lens unit 100 so that the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is nearly parallel to the polarization directions of the first feeding unit 310 and the third feeding unit 330, and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 is nearly perpendicular to the polarization direction of the second feeding unit 320, so as to form a beam with large gain on both sides and a large width in the middle, which is used in scenarios where the transmission task volume on both sides is relatively large and the transmission task volume in the middle is relatively small.

[0248] For example, in conjunction with reference Fig.13b The polarization directions of the first feeding unit 310 and the third feeding unit 330 are adjusted to be nearly parallel to the extension direction of the conductive material 200 to form a beam coverage with a small width and a large gain in the middle and on both sides, so as to be applied to scenarios with a relatively large transmission task volume covering a wide range.

[0249] Combined with reference Fig.23c In the twenty-fourth embodiment, different from the twenty-first to twenty-third embodiments, the feeding unit 300 is a dual-polarization oscillator. The polarization directions of the feeding unit 300 are two orthogonal directions, specifically including but not limited to ±45° polarization, horizontal and vertical polarization.

[0250] In the initial state, the polarization direction of the feeding unit 300 forms an angle of 45° with the two oriented metal strips, so that the beam of the feeding unit 300 after being acted upon by the lens unit 100 has good symmetry in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. Of course, the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit 300 can be adjusted to form the aforementioned first beam or second beam, and then be applied to corresponding scenes respectively.

[0251] In this embodiment, when there is only one feeding unit 300, the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 are arranged to be relatively rotatable to switch to the first state: Fig.23c , the extension direction of the conductive material 200 and the two polarization directions are both 45°; or switch to the second state: combined with reference Fig.23d , the extending direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as one polarization direction; or switched to a third state: the extending direction of the conductive material 200 is the same as another polarization direction.

[0252] Furthermore, there may be a plurality of feeding units 300. Each feeding unit 300 faces a surface of the microporous chamber 110. When there are two or more feeding units 300, each feeding unit 300 may be switched to the first state, the second state, or the third state.

[0253] Furthermore, the feeding unit 300 may also rotate around the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100 to achieve beam scanning.

[0254] Specific reference Fig.24a and Figure 24b In this embodiment, the metal strips in the artificial dielectric lens are oriented at any angle to the axial direction of the honeycomb (microporous chamber 110), and the strip spacing is also randomly selected. In this embodiment, the extension direction of the conductive material 200 has multiple directions. Compared with the conductive material 200 with one extension direction or two extension directions, the conductive material 200 in this embodiment has more extension directions, so it can be consistent with the polarization direction of the feed units 300 with a variety of different rotation directions, and can be adapted to more feed units 300 with different polarization directions. Regardless of the polarization direction of the feed unit 300, the conductive material 200 on the lens unit 100 can form an effective current with a higher gain along the polarization direction, thereby realizing the improvement of the equivalent dielectric constant of the lens unit 100, and then realizing the improvement of the beam gain of the feed unit 300. For the feed unit 300, the setting rotation direction of the feed unit 300 is more flexible and unlimited.

[0255] Specific reference Fig.24a and Figure 24bWhen the conductive material 200 extends in one direction or two directions, the lens unit 100 has a certain selectivity for the feed unit 300, that is, it has a gain enhancement effect on the beam of the feed unit 300 in certain specific rotation directions. The more directions the conductive material 200 extends, the weaker the selectivity of the lens unit 100 for the feed unit 300, and it has a gain enhancement effect on the beam of the feed unit 300 in any rotation direction.

[0256] In any of the embodiments, specific reference is made to Figure 24c to Figure 24e , the number of side walls of the microporous chamber 110 is multiple, and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 on each side wall is the same or different. The extension directions of the conductive materials 200 on different side walls are the same or different. For example, the extension directions of the conductive materials 200 on two adjacent side walls are perpendicular to each other. For example, the extension directions of the conductive materials 200 on two adjacent side walls are respectively along the axis of the microporous chamber 110 and perpendicular to the axis of the microporous chamber 110; or, the extension directions of the conductive materials 200 on two adjacent side walls are respectively along the axis of the microporous chamber 110 and perpendicular to the axis of the microporous chamber 110.

[0257] For further details, please refer to Fig.25a Different metal shapes are shown. In addition to rectangles, they can also be circular, elliptical, etc., which can all be used in artificial dielectric materials.

[0258] In other words, the conductive material 200 may also be a two-dimensional structure. For example, the shape of the conductive material 200 may also include a rectangle, a circle, an ellipse, a cross, a positive direction, and the like.

[0259] In other words, specific reference Fig.25b The feeding unit 300 includes a dual-polarization oscillator, and the extension direction of the conductive material 200 includes a first direction and a second direction, the first direction is the same as one polarization direction of the feeding unit 300, and the second direction is the same as another polarization direction of the feeding unit 300.

[0260] The conductive material 200 is a two-dimensional structure having an effective electrical length in at least two directions. For example, when the conductive material 200 is in the shape of a rectangle, it has an effective electrical length in both the length direction and the width direction of the rectangle, thereby being able to reduce the beam width of the dual-polarization feeding unit 300 along the length direction and the width direction of the conductive material 200, thereby improving the beam gain.

[0261] Optionally, the dual-polarization feeding unit 300 may rotate around the lens unit 100 on the equatorial plane of the lens unit 100 to achieve beam scanning.

[0262] Optionally, there are multiple feeding units 300. Each feeding unit 300 faces a surface of the microporous chamber 110, so that multiple high-gain beams together cover a wider range.

[0263] It should be noted that with the continuous construction of commercial mobile communication networks, various signal coverage scenarios have put forward requirements for both coverage and large capacity. At the same time, the coexistence of 3G, 4G and 5G signals will become the norm for quite some time. The electromagnetic wave frequencies are mainly 698-960MHz, 1710-2690MHz, 3.3-3.8GHz, and 4.8-5.0GHz. These four frequency bands. Therefore, the operating frequency of the feed unit 300 of the present application is 1710-2690MHz, and the feed source can also operate in different communication frequency bands such as 698-960MHz, 3.3-3.8GHz, and 4.8-5.0GHz. According to the maximum power direction of the desired spatial radiation pattern, its position can be moved arbitrarily within a 360° range along the edge of the lens structure.

[0264] In some embodiments of the present application, the lens unit 100 is set to be spherical. In order to minimize the volume of the entire antenna, the lens unit 100 is located directly above the feeding unit 300, and the lens unit 100 and the feeding unit 300 are seamlessly attached to each other. In other embodiments, the lens unit 100 can also be away from or wrap around the dipole feed source to form various desired spatial directional patterns.

[0265] It can be understood that, compared with the traditional linear array base station antenna, the lens base station antenna proposed in the present invention is Fig.15 and Fig.16 , Fig.18 , Fig.26 and Fig. 27 , a spatial radiation pattern with higher gain can be obtained without multiple array units and complex feeding networks; and the vertical plane of the radiation pattern can be designed to be relatively wide, which is used for uniform coverage of communication signals in long strips and other areas at long distances; since the density of the paper-based honeycomb structure is small, and the entire antenna has only one lens unit 100 and one feeding vibrator unit, the base station antenna proposed by the present invention has a smaller appearance size and weight, and is more suitable for engineering installation in actual network construction; the simple and compact structure is also more suitable for large-scale production in the industry.

[0266] Specific reference Figure 1 , which is a spherical lens made of the artificial dielectric material proposed in the present invention, is observed when looking down along the axis direction of the honeycomb microunit, and all the microstructures appear to be honeycomb-shaped.

[0267] Specific reference Figure 2 and Figure 3, which is a subunit of the honeycomb artificial dielectric lens structure. The strip metal is attached to the structure wall. Since the strip metal has a long side and a short side, there is an orientation direction of the long side.

[0268] Specific reference Figure 4 , Fig.15 , Fig.16 , an embodiment is provided. The feed source uses a 1.7-2.7 GHz dual-polarization dipole unit, the lens uses a unit with a diameter of 10 cm, and the corresponding simulation results at a frequency of 2.2 GHz are given.

[0269] Specific reference Figure 4 , is a schematic diagram of the distribution of metal strips on one of the side walls of the honeycomb structure. Figure 5 , is a schematic diagram of the relative structure of the dual-polarization feed and the honeycomb artificial dielectric lens ball. In this example, one polarization of the dual-polarization feed is consistent with the long side of the metal strip. The other polarization is perpendicular to the long side of the metal strip. For details, refer to Fig.15 , is the change of the vertical plane radiation pattern of the oscillator with the polarization direction consistent with the direction of the metal strip, with or without the loading lens. The dotted line is the case of a single oscillator, and the solid line is the result of the loading lens. The vertical plane radiation pattern becomes narrower and the gain is significantly improved. For details, please refer to Fig.16 , is the change of the vertical plane radiation pattern of the oscillator with polarization direction perpendicular to the metal strip, with or without loading lens. The dotted line is the case of a single oscillator, and the solid line is the result of loading lens, the vertical plane radiation pattern becomes narrower, and the gain is slightly improved. Fig.15 and Fig.16 It can be seen that when the polarization direction is consistent with the direction of the long side of the metal, a greater gain can be obtained.

[0270] Specific reference Fig.17 , is the case where the dual-polarization feed is at a 45° angle to the cell axis; the same gain can be obtained. Fig.18 , is a comparison of the directional patterns of one polarization in the dual-polarization feed with and without a lens. The dotted line is the case of a single oscillator, and the solid line is the result of loading a lens. The vertical plane directional pattern becomes narrower and the gain is improved to a certain extent.

[0271] In the above cases, at the frequency of 2.2GHz, the specific gain comparison is as follows:

[0272]

[0273] As can be seen from the table, the three lens loading conditions 1-3 above can all achieve gain improvement; the highest is when the polarization direction and the lens metal strip are in the same direction, the maximum increase is 1.37dBi; a larger lens diameter and a reasonable accompanying metal design can achieve a gain level of 15dBi or more for conventional linear array base station antennas. It should be noted that when the size of the lens unit 100 is larger, the beam gain is increased more and the beam width is reduced more. For example, when the size of the lens unit 100 is 20mm to 30mm, the horizontal beam width is 30°-40°, and the vertical beam width is 30°-40°.

[0274] Furthermore, Figure 26-Figure 27 A specific embodiment is provided.

[0275] Specific reference Fig.26 and Fig. 27 , when the feed source is still a 1.7-2.7GHz dual-polarization dipole, and the typical gain requirement is 15dBi, a 30cm diameter lens unit 100 is used, and the vertical and horizontal plane radiation patterns of the vertically polarized and horizontally polarized dipoles at the 2.5GHz frequency point are compared. Compared with the case without lens loading, the gain of the horizontally polarized dipole is increased by about 1dBi; the gain of the vertically polarized dipole is increased by about 6dBi.

[0276] In summary, this application specifically belongs to the field of base station antennas for the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication network. The lens antenna 1000 technology proposed in this patent is also compatible with 2G, 3G and 4G mobile communication commercial frequency bands, and can also be compatible with the sixth generation (6G) high frequency band, such as the millimeter wave (mmWave) operating frequency band. Compared with the existing technology, the technology of this application has the following advantages:

[0277] First, the paper-based artificial dielectric material of the honeycomb structure of the present application has a stable structure, does not deform after long-term use, and the metal does not fall off;

[0278] Second, the Dk value of the paper-based artificial dielectric material with a honeycomb structure of the present application is obtained through a printing process, and the design is flexible.

[0279] Third, in the paper-based artificial dielectric material with a honeycomb structure of the present application, the relative positions of the metal particles are fixed and will not come into contact with each other, thus affecting the intermodulation index of the base station antenna.

[0280] Fourthly, the paper-based material of the present application is heat-resistant and can withstand long-term radiation of high-power base station antenna signals.

[0281] Fifth, the lens unit 100 of the present application is light in weight and convenient for engineering construction.

[0282] Sixth, the lens unit 100 of the present application is applicable to feed sources within a wider frequency band.

[0283] Seventh, the lens unit 100 of the present application is moisture-proof and flame-retardant, and is suitable for long-term outdoor use for 10 to 30 years.

[0284] Eighth, the lens unit 100 of the present application is easy to manufacture and is more suitable for mass industrial production.

[0285] The technical features of the above-described embodiments may be arbitrarily combined. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above-described embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0286] The embodiments of the present application are described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, but the present application is not limited to the above embodiments, and various changes can be made within the knowledge scope of ordinary technicians in the technical field without departing from the purpose of the present application.

Claims

1. An artificial medium material, characterized in that: The artificial dielectric material is used to cooperate with the feeding unit, and the artificial dielectric material includes: A substrate is configured as a porous structure and has a plurality of microporous chambers; A plurality of conductive materials are arranged at intervals on the side wall of the microporous chamber, and the shape of the microporous chamber and / or at least one of the shape, size, and density of the conductive material are adjusted to obtain different equivalent dielectric constants; the electrical length of the conductive material in the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit is less than or equal to 1 / 20 wavelength of the center frequency of the frequency band supported by the feeding unit, the conductive material is a one-dimensional structure or a two-dimensional structure, at least part of the conductive material is arranged relative to the radiation surface of the feeding unit, and the angle between the polarization direction of the feeding unit and the extension direction of the conductive material is less than 90°.

2. The artificial medium material according to claim 1, characterized in that: The shape of each of the microporous chambers is a hexagonal honeycomb, so that the substrate is arranged as a honeycomb structure, and the substrate is made of aramid paper.

3. The artificial medium material according to claim 1, characterized in that: The conductive material is arranged as a plurality of metal patterns, and at least one of the shape, orientation or spacing between adjacent metal patterns of the metal patterns is adjusted to obtain different equivalent dielectric constants.

4. The artificial medium material according to claim 3, characterized in that: The metal pattern is a metal sheet in a rectangular, square, circular, elliptical or irregular two-dimensional shape, or the metal pattern is a sphere, cuboid, cube, ellipsoid, cylinder or irregular three-dimensional metal body; and / or the metal patterns are evenly distributed, or the metal patterns are unevenly distributed; and / or the long side direction of each of the metal patterns is the same as the polarization direction of the polarizer, or the long side direction of at least one of the metal patterns is arranged at an angle of a preset angle to the polarization direction of the polarizer; And / or at least two of the metal patterns have the same shape or different shapes.

5. The artificial medium material according to claim 1, characterized in that: The substrate is made of engineering plastic or flexible circuit board; And / or the cross-sectional shape of the microporous chamber is polygonal, circular, elliptical or irregular two-dimensional, and at least two of the microporous chambers have the same shape, or the shapes of the microporous chambers are different.

6. A lens unit, characterized in that: include: The artificial medium material according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. A method for manufacturing a lens unit according to claim 6, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Provide the substrate and cut it to the appropriate size; The conductive material is disposed on the substrate, and the molding shape, size and distribution density are adjusted according to the lens design requirements during the arrangement to obtain different effective dielectric constants; The substrate is made into a porous structure by a honeycomb preparation process, and the conductive material is located on the side wall of the microporous chamber; The substrate is processed into a lens element.

8. The method for manufacturing a lens unit according to claim 7, wherein: The conductive material is formed into a metal pattern through printing, metal printing and etching processes and is attached to the side wall of the microporous chamber.

9. A lens antenna, characterized in that: include: The lens unit according to claim 6; The feeding unit is relatively fixed in spatial position with respect to the lens unit.

10. The lens antenna according to claim 9, characterized in that: The polarization mode of the feeding unit is orthogonal dual-line polarization; And / or the lens unit is located directly above the feeding unit or deviates from the directly above position, and the lens unit and the feeding unit are seamlessly close to each other or are arranged with a gap; And / or the lens unit is cylindrical, elliptical, spherical, or ellipsoidal.

11. A lens antenna, characterized in that: include: The lens unit comprises a substrate and a plurality of conductive materials, wherein the substrate is a porous structure, the substrate has a plurality of microporous chambers, and the plurality of conductive materials are spaced apart on the side walls of the plurality of microporous chambers; and at least one feeding unit, arranged opposite to or adjacent to the lens unit, a radiation surface of the feeding unit being arranged opposite to at least a portion of the conductive material, and an angle between a polarization direction of the feeding unit and an extension direction of the conductive material being less than or equal to a preset angle; The electrical length of the conductive material in the polarization direction of the oscillator of the feeding unit is less than or equal to 1 / 20 of the wavelength of the center frequency of the frequency band supported by the feeding unit; The conductive material is a one-dimensional structure or a two-dimensional structure, at least a portion of the conductive material is arranged opposite to the radiation surface of the feeding unit, and the angle between the polarization direction of the feeding unit and the extension direction of the conductive material is less than 90°; the feeding unit and the lens unit can rotate relative to each other, so that the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit is adjustable; When the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit is adjusted to a first angle range, the feeding unit forms a first beam after passing through the lens unit; When the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit is adjusted to a second angle range, the feeding unit forms a second beam after passing through the lens unit; When the angle between the extension direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit is adjusted to a third angle range, the feeding unit forms a third beam after passing through the lens unit; Among them, the maximum value of the first angle range is smaller than the minimum value of the second angle range, the maximum value of the second angle range is smaller than the minimum value of the third angle range, the beam width of the first beam is smaller than the beam width of the second beam, and the beam width of the second beam is smaller than the beam width of the third beam; the beam gain of the first beam is greater than the beam gain of the second beam, and the beam gain of the second beam is greater than the beam gain of the third beam.

12. The lens antenna according to claim 11, wherein: The beam of the lens antenna changes as the angle between the extending direction of the conductive material and the polarization direction of the feeding unit changes.

13. The lens antenna according to claim 11, wherein: The lens unit is a rotatable structure, and the position of the feeding unit is relatively fixed; or, the feeding unit is a rotatable structure, and the position of the lens unit is relatively fixed; or, both the lens unit and the feeding unit are rotatable structures.

14. The lens antenna according to claim 11, wherein: The feeding unit is capable of rotating around the lens unit on an equatorial plane of the lens unit.

15. The lens antenna according to claim 11, wherein: The microporous chamber has a plurality of side walls, and the number of the feeding units is plural.

16. The lens antenna according to claim 11, wherein: The feeding unit includes a single-polarization dipole, and the extending direction of the conductive material is the same as the polarization direction of the feeding unit.

17. The lens antenna according to claim 11, wherein: The feeding unit includes a dual-polarization oscillator, and the extension direction of the conductive material and the dual-polarization direction of the feeding unit are both 45 degrees; or, the extension direction of the conductive material is parallel to one of the dual-polarization directions of the feeding unit, and the extension direction of the conductive material is perpendicular to the other of the dual-polarization directions of the feeding unit.

18. The lens antenna according to claim 11, wherein: The feeding unit includes a dual-polarization oscillator, and the extending direction of the conductive material includes a first direction and a second direction, the first direction is the same as one polarization direction of the feeding unit, and the second direction is the same as another polarization direction of the feeding unit.

19. The lens antenna according to any one of claims 11 to 18, characterized in that: The microporous chamber has a plurality of side walls, and the extending directions of the conductive materials on each of the side walls are the same or different; and the extending directions of the conductive materials on different side walls are the same or different.

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