Antenna system for changing beam direction and sharing radio frequency chip unit

Abstract

The invention provides an antenna system for changing a beam direction and sharing a radio frequency chip unit. The antenna system comprises an array antenna module, the radio frequency chip unit, a microwave lens module and a control module. The array antenna module comprises a plurality of feed-in antenna units, and the plurality of feed-in antenna units are used for generating at least one input signal. The plurality of radio frequency chip units are electrically connected to the plurality of feed-in antenna units through the plurality of switching units, and the number of the plurality of radio frequency chip units is smaller than that of the plurality of feed-in antenna units. According to the content of at least one piece of antenna configuration information, the control module can enable part of the switching units to be in a conducting state and the rest of the switching units to be in a disconnected state, and the feed-in antenna unit electrically connected with the switching units in the conducting state is in a working state and can receive signals from the radio frequency chip unit. The antenna is used for transmitting a corresponding input signal to the microwave lens module, and the microwave lens module can generate a wave beam with a specific direction. Therefore, the antenna system can greatly reduce the number of the radio frequency chip units so as to reduce the overall cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to an antenna system, and more particularly to an antenna system capable of sharing a radio frequency chip and enabling a corresponding feed antenna unit to be in a working state by changing the on state and the off state of a switching unit. Background Art

[0002] In the field of communication technology, it is a common requirement to perform precise directional transmission for specific targets (such as satellites, vehicles, etc.), or to control and change the direction of antenna beams to achieve higher signal quality. Generally speaking, those skilled in the art often use phased array antennas technology to change the transmission direction of the beam. The above technology increases or decreases the phase difference between multiple antenna components, thereby changing the transmission direction of the overall beam.

[0003] However, although the phased array antenna has the ability to change the direction of beam transmission, it still has some disadvantages. First, when the direction of the beam needs to be changed, all antenna components must change the phase at the same time, which will cause considerable calculation and control pressure; second, in order to achieve good directivity and beam shape, a large number of antenna components will be needed, resulting in increased complexity and cost of the equipment used in the antenna system. Furthermore, in the above-mentioned traditional antenna system design, each antenna component requires a corresponding radio frequency chip (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit, RFIC, or radio frequency integrated circuit) to drive. Since the price of radio frequency chips is expensive (compared to other components), especially when a large number of antenna components need to be driven, the overall cost of the antenna system will become very high. In addition, each radio frequency chip also requires a corresponding power supply and control signal, and in actual operation, each radio frequency chip may have performance variations and failures. Therefore, technicians in this field often need to design a complex power distribution and control system, as well as a complex monitoring and fault handling system to meet the requirements. In other words, integrating a large number of radio frequency chips into an antenna system will make the design more complicated.

[0004] In summary, how to provide a new antenna system that can conveniently change the shape and direction of the beam, reduce the complexity and cost of related equipment and design, and effectively meet the needs of dynamic transmission and reception in modern communication networks is an important topic of this application. Summary of the invention

[0005] Since traditional array antenna systems have always faced problems such as high cost and high design complexity, in order to stand out in the fiercely competitive market, the inventor has relied on his rich practical experience in professional antenna design for many years and has adhered to the spirit of continuous improvement in research. After long-term hard research and experiments, he finally developed an antenna system for changing the beam direction and sharing the RF chip unit in this application. It is hoped that the advent of this application will provide users with a better user experience.

[0006] The purpose of the present application is to provide an antenna system for changing the direction of a beam and sharing a radio frequency chip unit. The antenna system includes an array antenna module (Array Antenna Modules), a plurality of radio frequency chip units, a microwave lens module and a control module. The array antenna module includes a plurality of feed antenna units, and the plurality of feed antenna units are used to generate at least one input signal. The plurality of radio frequency chip units are electrically connected to the plurality of feed antenna units through a plurality of switching units, respectively, and the number of the plurality of radio frequency chip units is less than the number of the plurality of feed antenna units. One side of the microwave lens module is used to receive each input signal and generate at least one corresponding beam, and the beam is emitted in a specific direction from the other side thereof. The control module is electrically connected to each switching unit, and can directly or indirectly control each switching unit to be in an on state or an off state. The control module can receive at least one antenna configuration information, and according to the content of each antenna configuration information, make some switching units in an on state and the remaining switching units in an off state, wherein each feed antenna unit electrically connected to the switching unit in the on state is in a working state, and can receive signals from multiple RF chip units to transmit corresponding input signals to the microwave lens module. In this way, the antenna system greatly reduces the number of RF chip units by sharing RF chip units, thereby reducing the overall cost and design complexity. In addition, through the design of the microwave lens module, more flexible and efficient beam control can be achieved.

[0007] Optionally, one side of the microwave lens module has a plurality of focal points, and the array antenna module is located between one side of the microwave lens module and each focal point.

[0008] Optionally, two opposite sides of the microwave lens module are curved surfaces.

[0009] Optionally, in any two adjacent antenna configuration information, at least one feed antenna unit in working state corresponding to the previous antenna configuration information is repeated in each feed antenna unit in working state corresponding to the next antenna configuration information.

[0010] Optionally, the array antenna module is provided with multiple rows of feed antenna unit groups along the first axial direction, each row of feed antenna unit groups has at least one feed antenna unit, and the control module can make all feed antenna units in adjacent multiple rows of feed antenna unit groups in working state according to each antenna configuration information.

[0011] Optionally, in any two adjacent antenna configuration information, at least one row of feed antenna units in working state corresponding to the previous antenna configuration information is repeated in each row of feed antenna units in working state corresponding to the next antenna configuration information.

[0012] Optionally, the microwave lens module is made of dielectric material, with multiple input ports on one side and multiple output ports on the other side. Each input port is connected to each corresponding output port to form a through hole respectively, and each through hole serves as each array unit in the microwave lens module.

[0013] Optionally, each feed antenna unit in a working state can jointly form a primary beam, which is transmitted to one side of the microwave lens module at a first angle as an input signal, and generates a secondary beam through the action of multiple array units in the microwave lens module, and the secondary beam is emitted from the other side of the microwave lens module at a second angle.

[0014] Optionally, the first angle is substantially the same as the second angle.

[0015] In order to further explain the purpose, technical features and effects of the present application, a specific implementation method is given with the accompanying drawings and described in detail as follows. However, the drawings provided are only for reference and explanation and are not used to limit the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0017] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the architecture of the antenna system of the present application;

[0018] Figure 2 A three-dimensional diagram of the microwave lens module of the present application from one direction;

[0019] Figure 3 This is a stereoscopic view of the microwave lens module of the present application from another direction;

[0020] Figure 4A schematic diagram of the focus and beam generation direction of the microwave lens module of the present application;

[0021] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the plane profiles of the receiving surface and the emitting surface of the microwave lens module calculated in this application;

[0022] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the appearance of an ideal microwave lens module of this application;

[0023] Figure 7 A three-dimensional schematic diagram of an array antenna module of the present application;

[0024] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the antenna system of the present application switching a corresponding switching unit according to first antenna configuration information; and

[0025] Fig. 9 It is a schematic diagram of the antenna system of the present application switching the corresponding switching unit according to the second antenna configuration information. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0026] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the following is a further detailed description of the implementation method of the "antenna system for changing the beam direction and sharing the RF chip unit" disclosed in the present application in combination with the specific implementation methods and with reference to the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art can understand the advantages and effects of the present application from the contents disclosed in this specification. The present application can be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified and changed in various ways based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the concept of the present application. In addition, it is stated in advance that the drawings of the present application are only simple schematic illustrations and are not depicted according to actual dimensions. Although demonstrations of parameters containing specific values ​​can be provided herein, it should be understood that the parameters do not need to be exactly equal to the corresponding values, but can be approximated to the corresponding values ​​within an acceptable error tolerance or design constraint. In addition, unless the context clearly indicates or defines otherwise, the meanings of "one", "the" and "said" in the present application include plural numbers.

[0027] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, etc. may be used herein to describe various components or signals, each of the components or signals should not be limited by the aforementioned terms, which are mainly used to distinguish one component from another component or one signal from another signal. Furthermore, the directional terms mentioned in the subsequent embodiments, such as "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", etc., are only referenced to the directions of the accompanying drawings. Therefore, the directional terms used are used to illustrate and are not used to limit the scope of protection of this application. In addition, the term "or" used herein may include any one or more combinations of the associated listed items depending on the actual situation.

[0028] Furthermore, the terms "substantially" or "approximately" as used in this document may refer to a numerical value or an average value of multiple numerical values ​​within a deviation range for a specific value that can be recognized or determined by those skilled in the art, including certain specific errors that may arise when measuring the specific value due to limitations of the measurement system or equipment. For example, the numerical value referred to substantially may include ±5%, ±3%, ±1%, ±0.5%, ±0.1% or one or more standard deviation ranges of the specific value.

[0029] This application is an antenna system for changing the beam direction and sharing the RF chip unit, please refer to Figure 1 As shown, the antenna system S includes a microwave lens module 1, an array antenna module (Array Antenna Modules) 2, a plurality of radio frequency chip units 3 and a control module 4, wherein the microwave lens module 1 can output the input signal (microwave signal) transmitted from the array antenna module 2 to form a beam in a specific direction after the array unit inside it acts. In this embodiment, the microwave lens module 1 can form multiple beams in different directions, and according to the different phases and amplitudes of each input signal, it can form a single or multiple beams in specific directions at the same time. In some embodiments, the primary beam IW (i.e., input signal) generated by the array antenna module 2 can match a specific point (such as: focus) of the microwave lens module 1 (but not limited thereto) to ensure that the primary beam IW can form a secondary beam FW and be emitted through the action of the microwave lens module 1.

[0030] See also Figures 2 to 3 As shown, in some embodiments, the microwave lens module 1 can be designed based on the principle of Rotman lens, which can be made of a single dielectric material (such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), ceramic, glass, etc.) with a specific structure (such as Figure 1The microwave lens module 1 is made of a hyperboloid and a through hole 10 represented by the microwave lens module 1, so that it can change the phase and amplitude of the electromagnetic wave passing through it. The aforementioned dielectric material includes a metamaterial (Metamaterial, or metamaterial), and the microwave lens module 1 can be made by 3D printing or other methods. A plurality of input ports 100 are provided on one side of the microwave lens module 1, and a plurality of output ports 101 are provided on the other side of the microwave lens module 1. Each input port 100 is connected to each output port 101 to form a through hole 10 respectively, and each through hole 10 can be used as an array unit of the microwave lens module 1. In this way, the microwave lens module 1 can receive signals from the array antenna module 2 (such as the microwave lens module 2) through each input port 100. Figure 1 The microwave lens module 1 is a microwave lens module 1 for transmitting a plurality of beams in specific directions according to input signals at different positions, and then outputs the beams in specific directions through each output port 101 after the phase change of the propagation path of each through hole 10 therein. In addition, the microwave lens module 1 is not limited to the principle of the Rotman lens. As long as it can form and emit a plurality of beams in specific directions according to input signals at different positions, it is the microwave lens module 1 referred to in the present application.

[0031] See also Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, the microwave lens module 1 is provided with an outer curved side wall 11 and an inner curved side wall 12, and has three focal points F1, F2, and F3, wherein the focal point F3 is the main axis focal point (or the positive axis focal point), and the focal points F1 and F2 are disposed on both sides of the focal point F3 and are off-axis focal points, but this is not limited to this. In other embodiments of the present application, according to actual product requirements, the microwave lens module 1 can have a greater number of focal points. In addition, in the case where the microwave lens module 1 is Figure 3 When the shape is, the inner curved side wall 12 is provided with each input port 100, and the microwave lens module 1 is Figure 2 When the microwave lens module 1 is in the form of a microwave lens, its outer curved side wall 11 is provided with each output port 101, wherein the contour configuration of the outer curved side wall 11 and the inner curved side wall 12, and the aperture sizes (including shape, aperture, length, etc.) of the input port 100 and the output port 101 can be calculated according to actual needs. In this way, when the input signal passes through the microwave lens module 1, different paths (different input ports 100 and output ports 101) will adjust the phase of the input signal, thereby realizing the directional propagation of the input signal to form a beam in a specific direction.

[0032] Hereinafter, the calculation formulas involved in the configuration of the microwave lens module 1 will be briefly described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Figure 1 and Figure 4As shown, the microwave lens module 1 can focus the primary beam IW from the array antenna module 2 to generate a high-gain secondary beam FW. The microwave lens module 1 can have the following variables, and the relevant variables are normalized relative to the focal length: (A1) The intersection of the inner curved side wall 12 and the focus F3 (the main axis focus) is set as the origin (0,0) of the coordinate system, and this origin is used as a reference point for calculation and setting of the microwave lens module 1;

[0033] (A2) The intersection of the outer curved side wall 11 and the focus F1 is set as the origin of the coordinate system (x a ,z a ), the intersection of the inner curved side wall 12 and the focus F2 is set as the origin of the coordinate system (x b ,z b );

[0034] (A3) Focus F1 is set to (a, -c) of the coordinate system, focus F2 is set to (-a, -c) of the coordinate system, and focus F3 is set to the origin (0, -1) of the coordinate system;

[0035] (A4) Line segment PA is set as the placement position of the array antenna module 2, and the intersection of line segment PA and focus points F1, F2, and F3 is set as a virtual feed location, wherein the intersection of line segment PA and focus point F3 is set as the (0, -z P ), and z P Any value between 0 and 1;

[0036] (A5) The phase change of the internal array unit of the microwave lens module 1 is Φ, and the intersection section corresponding to the focus F3 in the microwave lens module 1 is set to a starting phase of Φ0.

[0037] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 4 As shown, the microwave lens module 1 can use the following equation to calculate its overall configuration in three-dimensional space (but not limited to this), and the variables B1, B2, B3 correspond to the radiation directions of the focal points F1, F2, F3, w s Contains the phase value of the periodic element required to concentrate the radiation beam (beam), and k0 represents the freespace propagation constant:

[0038] Equations for the three feed locations:

[0039] (x b -a) 2 +(z b +c) 2 =(ws +B1) 2 …………(M1)

[0040] (x b +a) 2 +(z b +c) 2 =(w s +B2) 2 …………(M2)

[0041]

[0042] in, x a =x b ; B1 = -ax a +cz a ; B2 = ax a +cz a ; B3 = z a ;

[0043] So we can conclude:

[0044] w s =1-cz a

[0045]

[0046]

[0047] The above formulas (M1) to (M3) can calculate the position of the microwave lens module 1 (e.g. z a With z b ) and its phase change, and then the plane profile of the microwave lens module 1 can be calculated to adjust the performance and shape of the microwave lens module 1, so that the microwave lens module 1 can generate a beam in a specific direction corresponding to the aforementioned position after receiving input signals from different positions. Figure 4 In particular, different line forms between the inner curved side wall 12 and the line segment PA are represented as primary beams IW, and after passing through the array unit (e.g., through hole 10) in the microwave lens module 1, a secondary beam FW of a corresponding line form can be formed. In addition, part of the primary beam IW can be transmitted to the inner curved side wall 12 of the microwave lens module 1 at a first angle, and the corresponding secondary beam FW can be emitted from the outer curved side wall 11 of the microwave lens module 1 at a second angle, wherein the first angle is the angle between the primary beam IW and the main axis of the microwave lens module 1, and the second angle is the angle between the secondary beam FW and the main axis of the microwave lens module 1, and the first angle is substantially the same as the second angle, but is not limited thereto.

[0048] As above, Figure 5 The calculated plane profiles of the receiving surface (illuminance surface) and the emitting surface (radiation surface) of the microwave lens module 1 present the component space shape as the horizontal axis (X axis) and the vertical axis (Z axis), wherein the receiving surface can be used as Figure 1 The inner curved side wall 12, the emitting surface can be used as Figure 1 The outer curved side wall 11. Again, by 3D printing technology Figure 5 The calculated shape is extended along the longitudinal axis (Y axis) to obtain an ideal appearance of the microwave lens module 1 (such as Figure 6 As shown), after designing a plurality of through holes 10 thereon as array units, the following can be obtained: Figures 2 to 3 The microwave lens module 1 shown in the figure can have the following parameters:

[0049] (1) Frequency of operation: 12.5 GHz;

[0050] (2) Focal length: 150 mm;

[0051] (3) Feed point: 24x 24 array (24by 24Array);

[0052] (4) Antenna element subarray: 6;

[0053] (5) Length of smallest element: 39 mm;

[0054] (6) Length of largest element: 147.55 mm.

[0055] It is particularly mentioned here that the microwave lens module 1 shown in the drawings of the present application is only one embodiment. In other embodiments, according to actual needs, one of the two opposite sides of the microwave lens module 1 can be a curved surface and the other side can be a flat surface; or, in other embodiments, the microwave lens module 1 can be made of a multi-layer dielectric substrate, and is not limited to a waveguide structure formed by a single dielectric material.

[0056] Also, please refer to Figure 1As shown, the array antenna module 2 is located on one side of the microwave lens module 1, and includes a plurality of feed antenna units 21 (equivalent to the aforementioned feed point (Feed)), and can be arranged in a 24×24 array form (but not limited thereto). The feed antenna unit 21 can be a patch antenna or other antenna form, and can radiate an input signal in the direction of a plurality of input ports 100. In this embodiment, the array antenna module 2 can be located in the area between the inner curved side wall 12 and the focal points F1, F2, and F3, for example Figure 4 The position of the line segment PA is not limited thereto, and its placement position and direction include any position in the three-dimensional space, as long as the input signal generated by the array antenna module 2 is sufficient to be received by the microwave lens module 1. It is particularly mentioned here that Figure 1 The spatial shape of the components presented is only the horizontal axis (X axis) and the vertical axis (Z axis). Figure 7 As shown, the array antenna module 2 can be provided with a plurality of rows of feed antenna unit groups 20 along the horizontal axis (X axis), and each row of feed antenna unit groups 20 has at least one feed antenna unit 21 ( Figure 7 Each row of the feeding antenna unit group 20 has multiple feeding antenna units 21). In other words, the position at the same vertical axis (Z axis) can include more than one feeding antenna unit 21, and each of the aforementioned feeding antenna units 21 is arranged along the longitudinal axis (Y axis).

[0057] Furthermore, please refer to Figure 1 As shown, each radio frequency chip (RFIC) unit 3 is electrically connected to a plurality of feed antenna units 21 respectively through a plurality of switching units 31, and the switching unit 31 can be a diode (such as a PIN diode) or a switching switch (such as a high electron mobility transistor (HEMTs) or a metal-oxide-semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFETs)). In some embodiments, each feed antenna unit 21 can be electrically connected to a single switching unit 31; in some embodiments, a plurality of feed antenna units 21 on the same vertical axis (i.e., a same row of feed antenna unit groups 20) can be electrically connected to a single switching unit 31. When the switching unit 31 is in an on state, the feed antenna unit 21 connected to the aforementioned switching unit 31 will be able to transmit or receive electromagnetic waves; conversely, when the switching unit 31 is in an off state, the feed antenna unit 21 connected to the aforementioned switching unit 31 will not be able to transmit or receive electromagnetic waves, wherein the number of the plurality of radio frequency chip units 3 is less than the number of the plurality of feed antenna units 21, for example, Figure 1 The antenna system S is provided with six radio frequency chip units 3 and far more than six feeding antenna units 21 .

[0058] Please refer to Figure 1As shown, the control module 4 is at least electrically connected to each switching unit 31, and can directly or indirectly control each switching unit 31 to be in an on state or an off state. In some embodiments, the control module 4 can also be integrated into the RF chip unit 3. Therefore, the control module 4 referred to in this application refers to the ability to control each switching unit 31 to be in an on state or an off state, without limiting it to be an independent component or being integrated into other components. In addition, when the control module 4 is an independent component, it can also be electrically connected to each RF chip unit 3 to control the operation of each RF chip unit 3. In addition, the control module 4 can receive an antenna configuration information, and the content of the antenna configuration information includes the direction and number of beams required to be formed by the microwave lens module 1. It is particularly mentioned here that the aforementioned content is not limited to explicitly recording the direction and number of beams, but also includes other information related to the antenna configuration, and the control module 4 can calculate other information related to the antenna configuration to obtain the direction and number of beams. For example, assuming that the antenna system S is used to track a low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite, the antenna configuration information may include the position information of the low-Earth Orbit satellite (e.g., a two-line element set (TLE)). The control module 4 may calculate the current position and future position of the low-Earth Orbit satellite based on the position information so that the beam generated by the antenna system S may be directed toward the low-Earth Orbit satellite.

[0059] To explain how this application generates a beam in a corresponding direction according to the position of a tracking object (such as a low-orbit satellite, a vehicle, etc.), please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 8 As shown, the array antenna module 2 arranges 24 feeding antenna units 21 and 24 switching units 31 from left to right along the X-axis direction (excluding the number of feeding antenna units 21 and switching units 31 in the Y-axis direction), and from left to right are the first feeding antenna unit 21, the second feeding antenna unit 21, the third feeding antenna unit 21, until the 24th feeding antenna unit 21, and similarly, from left to right are the first switching unit 31, the second switching unit 31, the third switching unit 31, until the 24th switching unit 31, and, Figure 8The six RF chip units 3 arranged from top to bottom are the first RF chip unit 3, the second RF chip unit 3, to the sixth RF chip unit 3, and the first RF chip unit 3 is electrically connected to the first, seventh, thirteenth, and nineteenth switching units 31, the second RF chip unit 3 is electrically connected to the second, eighth, fourteenth, and twentieth switching units 31, the third RF chip unit 3 is electrically connected to the third, ninth, fifteenth, and twenty-first switching units 31, the fourth RF chip unit 3 is electrically connected to the fourth, tenth, sixteenth, and twenty-second switching units 31, the fifth RF chip unit 3 is electrically connected to the fifth, eleventh, seventeenth, and twenty-third switching units 31, and the sixth RF chip unit 3 is electrically connected to the sixth, twelfth, eighteenth, and twenty-fourth switching units 31. When the tracking object is in the first position, the control module 4 can make the six adjacent switching units 31, such as the first switching unit 31 to the sixth switching unit 31, be in a conducting state according to the first antenna configuration information, and the remaining switching units 31 are in a disconnected state. In this way, the six adjacent feeding antenna units 21, such as the first feeding antenna unit 21 to the sixth feeding antenna unit 21, can be in a working state to receive signals from multiple RF chip units 3, and can form a primary beam IW, and the primary beam IW (that is, the input signal) is emitted toward the microwave lens module 1 at an angle θ1. Moreover, after receiving the primary beam IW, the microwave lens module 1 passes through the corresponding internal through hole 10 (equivalent to Figure 8 After the action of the phase shifter symbol represented by , a secondary beam FW can be emitted toward the position of the tracking object at an angle θ2.

[0060] As above, please refer to Fig. 9As shown, when the tracking object moves to the second position, the control module 4 can make the six adjacent switching units 31, such as the second switching unit 31 to the seventh switching unit 31, be in a conducting state according to the second antenna configuration information, and the remaining switching units 31 are in a disconnected state. In this way, the six adjacent feeding antenna units 21, such as the second feeding antenna unit 21 to the fifth feeding antenna unit 21, can be in a working state to receive signals from multiple RF chip units 3, and can form another primary beam IW, and transmit the other primary beam IW (that is, the input signal) toward the microwave lens module 1 at an angle θ3. Furthermore, after receiving another primary beam IW, the microwave lens module 1 can emit another secondary beam FW at an angle θ4 toward the position of the tracking object. Similarly, when the position of the low-orbit satellite continues to change, the control module 4 can successively change the on and off states of the six adjacent switching units 31 at different positions, so that the positions of the six adjacent feed antenna units 21 continue to change, so that the array antenna module 2 can sequentially generate primary beams IW with different emission angles to the microwave lens module 1, and then, through the action of the microwave lens module 1, sequentially generate secondary beams FW with specific angles. It is particularly mentioned here that the six feed antenna units 21 in working state are the number of antenna element subarrays, but this is not limited to this. According to actual needs, the number of feed antenna units 21 in working state at the same time can be increased or decreased, and the number of RF chip units 3 can be adjusted.

[0061] In other words, see Figure 1 , Figure 8 and Fig. 9 As shown, the control module 4 is capable of adjusting the on-state and off-state of each switching unit 31 according to the antenna configuration information received in sequence to change the state of each feeding antenna unit 21, wherein the feeding antenna unit 21 electrically connected to the switching unit 31 in the on-state is in the working state, and the feeding antenna unit 21 electrically connected to the switching unit 31 in the off-state is in the non-working state, and in any two adjacent antenna configuration information, at least one feeding antenna unit 21 in the working state corresponding to the previous antenna configuration information is repeated in each feeding antenna unit 21 in the working state corresponding to the next antenna configuration information, such as the second feeding antenna unit 21 to the sixth feeding antenna unit 21 in the aforementioned embodiment, which are the repeated feeding antenna units 21 corresponding to the first antenna configuration information and the second antenna configuration information.

[0062] From the above, it can be seen that the antenna system S of the present application can activate the corresponding feed antenna unit 21 (in working state) by adjusting the on state and the off state of each switching unit 31, so that the input signal (such as: primary beam IW) generated by the array antenna module 2 can generate a beam in a specific direction (such as: secondary beam FW) after passing through the microwave lens module 1. In other words, the antenna system S can effectively share the RF chip unit 3, so only a small number of RF chip units 3 are needed to activate some of the feed antenna units 21 according to the position of the tracking object (such as: low-orbit satellite, vehicle, etc.) to dynamically change the beam emission direction of the antenna system S to achieve the beam scanning function, and there is no need for each feed antenna unit 21 to have a matching separate RF chip unit 3, which greatly reduces the number of RF chip units 3, thereby reducing the overall cost and design complexity of the antenna system S.

[0063] The above description is only a preferred feasible embodiment of the present application, and does not limit the protection scope of the claims of the present application. Therefore, any equivalent changes that can be thought of by a person skilled in the art without creative work based on the technical content disclosed in the present application should be included in the protection scope of the claims of the present application.

Claims

1. An antenna system for changing beam direction and sharing a radio frequency chip unit, characterized in that: The antenna system comprises: An array antenna module comprises a plurality of feed antenna units, wherein the plurality of feed antenna units are used to generate at least one input signal; A plurality of radio frequency chip units are electrically connected to the plurality of feed antenna units respectively through a plurality of switching units, and the number of the plurality of radio frequency chip units is less than the number of the plurality of feed antenna units; a microwave lens module, one side of which is used to receive each of the input signals and generate at least one corresponding beam, and the other side of which is used to emit the beam in a specific direction; and A control module is electrically connected to each of the switching units and can directly or indirectly control each of the switching units to be in an on state or an off state. The control module can receive at least one antenna configuration information and, according to the content of each antenna configuration information, make some of the switching units in an on state and the remaining switching units in an off state, wherein each of the feed antenna units electrically connected to the switching units in the on state is in a working state and can receive signals from the plurality of RF chip units to transmit corresponding input signals to the microwave lens module.

2. The antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that One side of the microwave lens module has a plurality of focal points, and the array antenna module is located between one side of the microwave lens module and each of the focal points.

3. The antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that Two opposite sides of the microwave lens module are curved surfaces.

4. The antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that In any two adjacent antenna configuration information, at least one feed antenna unit in working state corresponding to the previous antenna configuration information is repeated in each feed antenna unit in working state corresponding to the next antenna configuration information.

5. The antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The array antenna module is provided with multiple rows of feed antenna unit groups along the first axial direction, each row of feed antenna unit groups has at least one feed antenna unit, and the control module can make all the feed antenna units in the adjacent multiple rows of feed antenna unit groups in working state according to each antenna configuration information.

6. The antenna system according to claim 5, characterized in that: In any two adjacent antenna configuration information, at least one row of feed antenna units in working state corresponding to the previous antenna configuration information is repeated in each row of feed antenna units in working state corresponding to the next antenna configuration information.

7. The antenna system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: in, The microwave lens module is made of dielectric material, with multiple input ports on one side and multiple output ports on the other side. Each of the input ports is connected to each corresponding output port to form a through hole. Each of the through holes serves as each of the array units in the microwave lens module.

8. The antenna system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: in, Each of the feed antenna units in working state can jointly form a primary beam. The primary beam is transmitted to one side of the microwave lens module at a first angle as an input signal, and is acted upon by a plurality of array units in the microwave lens module to generate a secondary beam. The secondary beam is emitted from the other side of the microwave lens module at a second angle.

9. The antenna system according to claim 8, characterized in that: The first angle is substantially the same as the second angle.

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