A circular polarization switching phased array antenna and polarization switching method

Abstract

The present invention discloses a circular polarization switching phased array antenna and a polarization switching method, and relates to the field of phased array antennas. The phased array antenna includes N 2*2 TR subarrays and N 4-channel multifunctional chips, each TR subarray includes four circular polarization antenna units, each antenna unit includes a patch and a feeding point located on the patch, and each antenna unit is fed by a single feeding point; the two diagonal circular polarization antenna units in the TR subarray respectively constitute a left-handed circular polarization antenna unit group and a right-handed circular polarization antenna unit group; the feeding points on each antenna unit group are independent and orthogonal to each other, and the four pins of each 4-channel multifunctional chip are connected to the four feeding points on the TR subarray in a one-to-one correspondence. The present invention adopts two independent orthogonal single-feed circular polarization antenna units, and two sets of circular polarization antenna units are independently triangularly grid-arranged and fused. By closing half of the active antenna channels, the polarization switching function of the circular polarization antenna is achieved, thereby forming a complete circularly polarized switchable phased array antenna.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of phased array antennas, and in particular to a circular polarization switching phased array antenna and a polarization switching method. Background Art

[0002] With the rapid development of low-orbit satellite communications, both satellite communication terminals and payloads require phased array antennas to control and switch polarization to meet the needs of use in different regions. There are currently several typical circular polarization switching methods: one is to use single feed line polarization combined with rotating feed (0°, 90°, 180°, 270°) to form circular polarization, and to form left-hand circular polarization or right-hand circular polarization by changing the phase difference of each feed in the four-channel multi-function chip. The other is to use dual feed technology to achieve circular polarization switching by changing the phase difference of two feeds (0°, 90°) or (0°, -90°). The above two circular polarization switching methods use many channels, which brings the disadvantages of high product cost and high power consumption. Summary of the invention

[0003] The purpose of the present invention is to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art and provide a circular polarization switching phased array antenna and a polarization switching method, so as to achieve low-cost and low-power engineering applications by optimizing the array form of the phased array antenna.

[0004] The objective of the present invention is achieved through the following technical solutions:

[0005] A first aspect: A circular polarization switching phased array antenna, comprising N 2*2 TR subarrays and N 4-channel multifunctional chips, each TR subarray comprising four circular polarization antenna units, each TR subarray having 1*4 TR channels, each antenna unit comprising a patch and a feeding point located on the patch, and each antenna unit being fed by a single feeding point;

[0006] The two circularly polarized antenna units at opposite corners in the TR subarray constitute a left-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group and a right-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group respectively; the feeding points on each antenna unit group are independent and orthogonal to each other, and the four pins of each 4-channel multifunctional chip are connected to the four feeding points on the TR subarray in a one-to-one correspondence;

[0007] The 4-channel multifunctional chip is used to control the on and off of the TR channels corresponding to the left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group and the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group, and configure the corresponding rotation phase to achieve left-hand or right-hand circular polarization switching of the phased array antenna.

[0008] Furthermore, the left-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group and the right-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group are respectively arranged in independent triangular grid arrays.

[0009] Furthermore, the TR subarray is located on the top layer of a multilayer printed circuit board, the 4-channel multifunctional chip is located on the bottom layer of the multilayer printed circuit board, a plurality of through holes are provided on the multilayer printed circuit board, the through holes correspond to the feed point positions one by one and are connected, and the 4-channel multifunctional chip is electrically connected to the feed points through the corresponding through holes.

[0010] Furthermore, the patch is in the shape of a rectangle with two cut corners, and the two cut corners are located on the same diagonal line of the rectangle.

[0011] Furthermore, the diagonal lines where the cut corners on the diagonal circularly polarized antenna unit patches in the TR subarray are respectively located intersect.

[0012] Furthermore, the 4-channel multifunctional chip integrates an amplifier, a phase shifter, an attenuator, a synthesis network and a power control circuit; the amplifier is used to realize the power amplification of the transmitted signal, the low-noise amplification of the received signal and the transmit-receive switching function; the phase shifter is used to realize the phase shift control of the component; the attenuator is used to realize the attenuation of the component; the synthesis network is used to realize the power division or synthesis of the channel signal; the power control circuit realizes the independent control of the channel receiving and transmitting power supplies.

[0013] Furthermore, the center distance between the patches on two adjacent circularly polarized antenna units in the TR subarray is , the center distance between the patches on two circularly polarized antenna elements at the same position in adjacent TR subarrays is ,in: is the phased array beam scanning angle, The high frequency point corresponding to the wavelength at which the phased array operates.

[0014] A first aspect: A polarization switching method, applied to the circular polarization switching phased array antenna described in any one of the first aspects, comprises the following steps:

[0015] Through the 4-channel multifunctional chip instruction control, the TR channel corresponding to the left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group or the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group is selected and connected, and the phase of the corresponding channel is configured to realize the circular polarization switching of the antenna.

[0016] The beneficial effects of the present invention are:

[0017] 1) The present invention adopts two independent orthogonal single-fed circularly polarized antenna units, and integrates two sets of independent triangular grid arrays (corresponding to left-hand circular polarization and right-hand circular polarization, respectively). By closing half of the active antenna channels, the polarization switching function of the circularly polarized antenna is achieved, thereby forming a complete phased array antenna that can switch circular polarization.

[0018] 2) Compared with the prior art, the present invention can reduce the number of channels by half, and the cost is greatly reduced; the power consumption can be greatly reduced (up to 75%), which can effectively reduce the difficulty of system heat dissipation and improve system reliability. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 A circular polarization switching phased array antenna composed of 16 2*2 TR sub-arrays provided in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of a circularly polarized switching phased array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of a 4-channel multifunctional chip structure provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the connection between the 4-channel multifunctional chip of the present invention and each channel of the TR subarray;

[0023] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of the layout of a circular polarization switching phased array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0024] In the figure, 1-circular polarization antenna unit, 2-4 channel multi-function chip. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] The technical solution of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] See also Figure 1-Figure 5 , the present invention provides a technical solution:

[0027] Embodiment 1: A circular polarization switching phased array antenna, comprising N 2*2 TR subarrays and N 4-channel multifunctional chips, each TR subarray comprising four circular polarization antenna units, each TR subarray having 1*4 TR channels, each antenna unit comprising a patch and a feeding point on the patch, and each antenna unit being fed by a single feeding point; Figure 1 This embodiment provides a circular polarization switching phased array antenna composed of 16 2*2 TR sub-arrays.

[0028] The two diagonal circularly polarized antenna units in the TR subarray constitute a left-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group and a right-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group respectively; the feeding points on each antenna unit group are independent and orthogonal to each other, and the four pins of each 4-channel multifunctional chip are connected one-to-one with the four feeding points on the TR subarray.

[0029] The 4-channel multifunctional chip is used to control the on and off of the TR channels corresponding to the left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group and the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group, and configure the corresponding rotation phase to achieve left-hand or right-hand circular polarization switching of the phased array antenna.

[0030] In an optional embodiment, the left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group and the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group are independent triangular grid arrays. Two independent orthogonal single-fed circular polarization antenna units are used, and two sets (corresponding to left-hand circular polarization and right-hand circular polarization) of independent triangular grid arrays are merged to form a complete phased array antenna that can switch circular polarization.

[0031] In an optional embodiment, the TR subarray is located on the top layer of a multilayer printed circuit board, and the 4-channel multifunctional chip is located on the bottom layer of the multilayer printed circuit board. The multilayer printed circuit board is provided with a plurality of through holes, and the through holes correspond to and are connected to the feed point positions one by one, and the 4-channel multifunctional chip is electrically connected to the feed point through the corresponding through holes. Figure 2 As shown, two pins of the 4-channel multifunctional chip are connected to the left-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group, and the other two pins are connected to the right-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group; when the left-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group is turned on, it is used to radiate or receive left-hand circularly polarized electromagnetic waves, and when the right-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group is turned on, it is used to radiate or receive right-hand circularly polarized electromagnetic waves.

[0032] In an optional embodiment, the shape of the patch is a rectangle with two cut corners, and the two cut corners are located on the same diagonal line of the rectangle. The diagonals where the cut corners of the diagonal circular polarization antenna unit patches in the TR subarray are located intersect. Figure 1 In the given phased array antenna layout diagram, the angle distribution positions of the two patches in the left / right circularly polarized antenna unit group in the TR subarray are different, which is equivalent to being located at the four corners of the rectangle. The two circularly polarized antenna units in the left or right circularly polarized antenna unit group can also be regarded as a relationship rotated 90 degrees.

[0033] In an optional embodiment, the 4-channel multifunctional chip integrates an amplifier, a phase shifter, an attenuator, a synthesis network and a power control circuit; the amplifier is used to realize power amplification of the transmitted signal, low-noise amplification of the received signal and the transmit-receive switching function; the phase shifter is used to realize phase shift control of the component; the attenuator is used to realize attenuation of the component; the synthesis network is used to realize power division or synthesis of the channel signal; the power control circuit realizes independent control of the channel receiving and transmitting power supplies.

[0034] The circuit diagram of the 4-channel multi-function chip is as follows Figure 3 As shown, the four signal input lines of the 4-channel multifunctional chip are all provided with a low noise amplifier LNA, a digital phase shifter PS and a digital attenuator ATT connected in series. The 4-channel multifunctional chip involved in this embodiment is a universal structure, so it will not be described here.

[0035] A 4-channel multifunctional chip is connected to four circularly polarized antenna units in a TR subarray. Their connection diagram is as follows: Figure 4 In a specific embodiment, the signal ports In_1 and In_3 are respectively connected to two feeding points of the left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group, and the signal ports In_2 and In_4 are respectively connected to two feeding points of the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group.

[0036] Furthermore, if Figure 5 As shown, the center distance between the patches on two adjacent circularly polarized antenna units in the TR subarray is , the center distance between the patches on two circularly polarized antenna elements at the same position in adjacent TR subarrays is ,in: is the phased array beam scanning angle, The high frequency point corresponding to the wavelength at which the phased array operates.

[0037] Embodiment 2: A polarization switching method, applied to the circular polarization switching phased array antenna described in Embodiment 1, comprises the following steps:

[0038] Through the 4-channel multifunctional chip instruction control, the TR channel corresponding to the left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group or the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group is selected and connected, and the phase of the corresponding channel is configured to realize the circular polarization switching of the antenna.

[0039] by Figure 4Take the connection mode of the 4-channel multifunctional chip and the four circularly polarized antenna units in the TR subarray as an example. When the phased array works in right-hand circular polarization, the 4-channel multifunctional chip instruction control turns on In_1 and In_3, turns off In_2 and In_4 channels, and configures the phases of the corresponding channels of In_1 and In_3, thereby forming the required right-hand circular polarization. When the phased array works in left-hand circular polarization, the 4-channel multifunctional chip instruction control turns on In_2 and In_4, turns off In_1 and In_3 channels, and configures the phases of the corresponding channels of In_2 and In_4, thereby forming the required left-hand circular polarization.

[0040] The present invention adopts two independent orthogonal single-fed circularly polarized antenna units, and forms a complete phased array antenna that can switch circular polarization by integrating two sets of independent triangular grid arrays (corresponding to left-hand circular polarization and right-hand circular polarization, respectively). Compared with the prior art, the present invention can reduce the number of channels by half, greatly reduce the cost, and greatly reduce the power consumption (up to 75%), which can effectively reduce the difficulty of system heat dissipation and improve system reliability.

[0041] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the form disclosed herein, and should not be regarded as excluding other embodiments, but can be used in various other combinations, modifications and environments, and can be modified within the scope of the concept described herein through the above teachings or the technology or knowledge of the relevant field. The changes and modifications made by those skilled in the art shall not deviate from the spirit and scope of the present invention, and shall be within the scope of protection of the claims attached to the present invention.

Claims

1. A circular polarization switching phased array antenna, characterized in that: It includes N 2*2 TR subarrays and N 4-channel multifunctional chips. Each TR subarray includes four circularly polarized antenna units. The number of TR channels of each TR subarray is 1*4. Each antenna unit includes a patch and a feeding point located on the patch. Each antenna unit is fed by a single feeding point. The two circularly polarized antenna units at opposite corners in the TR subarray constitute a left-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group and a right-hand circularly polarized antenna unit group respectively; the feeding points on each antenna unit group are independent and orthogonal to each other, and the four pins of each 4-channel multifunctional chip are connected to the four feeding points on the TR subarray in a one-to-one correspondence; The 4-channel multifunctional chip is used to control the on and off of the TR channels corresponding to the left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group and the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group, and configure the corresponding rotation phase to achieve left-hand or right-hand circular polarization switching of the phased array antenna; The TR subarray is located on the top layer of the multilayer printed circuit board, the 4-channel multifunctional chip is located on the bottom layer of the multilayer printed circuit board, a plurality of through holes are provided on the multilayer printed circuit board, the through holes correspond to the positions of the feed points one by one and are connected, and the 4-channel multifunctional chip is electrically connected to the feed points through the corresponding through holes; The patch is in the shape of a rectangle with two cut corners, and the two cut corners are located on the same diagonal line of the rectangle; The diagonal lines where the cut corners on the diagonal circular polarization antenna unit patches in the TR subarray are located intersect; The cut angles on the two patches in the left / right circularly polarized antenna unit group in the TR subarray are distributed at different positions, which is equivalent to being located at the four corners of a rectangle; The center distance between the patches on two adjacent circularly polarized antenna units in the TR subarray is , the center distance between the patches on two circularly polarized antenna elements at the same position in adjacent TR subarrays is ,in: is the phased array beam scanning angle, The high frequency point corresponding to the wavelength at which the phased array operates.

2. The circular polarization switching phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group and the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group are respectively arranged in independent triangular grid arrays.

3. The circular polarization switching phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The 4-channel multifunctional chip integrates an amplifier, a phase shifter, an attenuator, a synthesis network and a power control circuit; the amplifier is used to realize the power amplification of the transmitted signal, the low-noise amplification of the received signal and the functions of the transmission and reception switching; the phase shifter is used to realize the phase shift control of the component; the attenuator is used to realize the attenuation of the component; the synthesis network is used to realize the power division or synthesis of the channel signal; The power control circuit realizes independent control of channel receiving and transmitting power.

4. A polarization switching method, characterized in that: The circular polarization switching phased array antenna described in any one of claims 1 to 3 includes the following steps: through the 4-channel multifunctional chip instruction control, the TR channel corresponding to the left-hand circular polarization antenna unit group or the right-hand circular polarization antenna unit group is selected and connected, and the phase of the corresponding channel is configured to realize the circular polarization switching of the antenna.

Images