Wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna

Abstract

The invention discloses a wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna which comprises a multi-beam feed network assembly, a single-bit electrically-controlled phase shift assembly and an antenna radiation unit assembly. The multi-beam feed network assembly comprises a primary directional coupler and a secondary directional coupler which are connected through a microwave transmission connecting line, and the multi-beam feed network assembly can provide multiple sets of fixed output port phases in the two-dimensional direction to achieve multiple sub-beams with different radiation directions. The single-bit electric control phase shift assembly comprises a plurality of electric control open circuit transmission line branches, a microwave switch is used for controlling the loading state, controllable additional insertion phase shift is introduced on the basis of the phase of an output port of the multi-beam feed network assembly, available phase distribution combinations of the multi-beam antenna are expanded, and more sub-beam radiation directions are achieved. According to the multi-beam antenna, more sub-beam radiation directions can be realized, and the radiation coverage range of the multi-beam antenna is expanded.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a wireless communication device, in particular to an electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna. Background Art

[0002] As modern wireless communication systems have higher and higher requirements for communication rate, communication delay and communication coverage, traditional fixed beam antennas are gradually unable to meet the above requirements. Multi-beam antennas have multiple feeding ports and can radiate multiple sub-beams at the same time, which can effectively expand the radiation coverage of the antenna, improve the channel capacity of the communication system and enhance the anti-interference ability. They are particularly suitable for use in various indoor and outdoor communication equipment and mobile communication platforms.

[0003] Most of the existing multi-beam antennas are based on quasi-optical methods or microwave matrix network designs. Compared with the quasi-optical multi-beam antenna design method, the multi-beam antenna using the microwave matrix network usually has a low-profile appearance, which is suitable for the application requirements of miniaturization and integration of communication systems. Commonly used microwave matrix networks mainly include Rotman lens network, Blass matrix network, Butler matrix network, etc. These microwave matrix networks are passive structures. Usually, each feed port corresponds to only one sub-beam radiation direction. Increasing the number of feed ports of the multi-beam antenna will significantly increase the complexity of the antenna structure. Therefore, the existing multi-beam antennas usually have only a few sub-beam radiation directions and can only cover a smaller airspace range. In addition, due to the limited half-power beamwidth of each sub-beam, the beam overlap level between the sub-beams is low, which further limits the radiation coverage of the multi-beam antenna. Therefore, it is necessary to design a multi-beam antenna array with a simple and compact structure, more sub-beam radiation directions, and the ability to expand the radiation coverage. Summary of the invention

[0004] Purpose of the invention: In view of the above-mentioned prior art, a wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna is proposed, which can realize multiple sub-beam radiation at the same time and can switch the radiation direction of each sub-beam by electrical control, thereby solving the problem of small radiation coverage range of traditional multi-beam antennas.

[0005] Technical solution: A wide-coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna, comprising a multi-beam feeding network component, a plurality of single-bit electrically controlled phase shift components and a plurality of antenna radiation unit components; The multi-beam feeding network component comprises two primary directional couplers, two secondary directional couplers and a microwave transmission connection line; two ports of each of the two primary directional couplers are respectively connected to two ports of each secondary directional coupler using a microwave transmission connection line; the other four ports of the two primary directional couplers serve as four feeding ports of the multi-beam feeding network component, and the other four ports of the two secondary directional couplers serve as four output ports of the multi-beam feeding network component; The four output ports are respectively connected to a corresponding antenna radiation unit component through a single-bit electrically controlled phase shift component, and the four antenna radiation unit components are arranged in a two-dimensional array.

[0006] Furthermore, the single-bit electrically controlled phase shift component includes a microwave transmission line, a plurality of open-circuit loaded branches, a microwave switch, a choke inductor, a choke inductor pad and a DC bias through-hole; wherein each open-circuit loaded branch is connected to the microwave transmission line through a microwave switch, and a choke inductor is used to connect the open-circuit loaded branch to the choke inductor pad on one side of the open-circuit loaded branch close to the microwave switch; one or more DC bias through-holes are arranged on the choke inductor pad for connecting to a DC power supply; and the two ends of the microwave transmission line are respectively connected to an output port of the multi-beam feeding network component and an antenna radiation unit component.

[0007] Furthermore, the antenna radiation unit assembly adopts two groups of stacked rectangular metal radiation patches, which are four lower metal radiation patches located on the upper surface of the first dielectric plate and four upper metal radiation patches located on the upper surface of the second dielectric plate.

[0008] Furthermore, the antenna radiation unit assembly adopts antenna forms including microstrip patch antenna, dipole antenna, dielectric resonator antenna, and slot antenna.

[0009] Furthermore, the primary directional coupler and the secondary directional coupler are both microstrip orthogonal hybrid ring directional couplers.

[0010] Furthermore, the open-circuit loading branch node adopts a fan-shaped open-circuit microstrip line branch node.

[0011] Furthermore, the microwave switch adopts a PIN diode.

[0012] Furthermore, the operating frequency band is adjusted by enlarging or reducing the size of the wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna, so that it operates in the microwave, millimeter wave or terahertz frequency band.

[0013] Beneficial effects: 1. The multi-beam antenna uses a single-bit electrically controlled phase shift component to introduce an additional phase shift based on the output phase distribution of the microwave matrix network, which can enable each antenna radiating unit to have more radiation phase state combinations and effectively expand the radiation coverage of the multi-beam antenna.

[0014] 2. Multi-beam antennas can control the radiation phase distribution in two dimensions and switch the radiation direction in two dimensions.

[0015] 3. The single-bit electrically controlled phase shift component used in the multi-beam antenna only requires two microwave switches to control the transmission phase, and has the advantages of low cost, low loss, simple and compact structure.

[0016] 4. The multi-beam antenna can encode the on-off status of each microwave switch and use electrical control to control the radiation direction of the antenna's sub-beams. The control method is simple and easy to implement.

[0017] 5. The multi-beam antenna has a low-profile overall appearance and is easy to integrate with other communication equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0018] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a wide-coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 A top view of a first dielectric plate in a wide-coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of the second dielectric plate in the wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 A top view of a single-bit electrically controlled phase shifting component provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 The switch state combination of each electrically controlled open circuit transmission line branch provided in the embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 A simulated reflection coefficient diagram of each feeding port of the wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 The simulated radiation pattern corresponding to each feeding port of the wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention in the switching state 1; Figure 8 The simulated radiation pattern corresponding to each feeding port of the wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention in the second switching state; Fig. 9 The simulated radiation pattern corresponding to each feeding port of the wide-coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention in the third switching state; Fig.10 The simulated radiation pattern corresponding to each feeding port of the wide-coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention in the fourth switching state; Fig.11 The simulated radiation pattern corresponding to each feeding port of the wide-coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention in the fifth switching state; Reference numerals in the figure: 100 - multi-beam feeding network component; 110 - primary directional coupler; 120 - microwave transmission connecting line; 130 - secondary directional coupler; 140 - microwave transmission line; 111 - feeding port No. 1; 112 - feeding port No. 2; 113 - feeding port No. 3; 114 - feeding port No. 4; 131 - output port No. 1; 132 - output port No. 2; 133 - output port No. 3; 134 - output port No. 4; 200 - single-bit electrically controlled phase shifting component; 210 - electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 1; 220 - electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 2; 230 -electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 3; 240-electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 4; 250-electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 5; 260-electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 6; 270-electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 7; 280-electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 8; 221-fan-shaped microstrip line open-circuit loading branch; 222-microwave switch; 223-choke inductor; 224-choke inductor pad; 225-DC bias through hole; 300-antenna radiation unit assembly; 310-lower metal radiation patch; 320-upper metal radiation patch; 410-first dielectric plate; 420-second dielectric plate. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0019] The present invention will be further explained below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0020] In order to illustrate the structure and working performance of the antenna of the present invention, this embodiment is described by taking a wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna with a central working frequency of 5 GHz as an example. The working frequency band of this embodiment should not be understood as a limitation to the present invention.

[0021] like Figures 1 to 4 As shown, a wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna includes: a multi-beam feeding network component 100, a single-bit electrically-controlled phase shift component 200 and an antenna radiation unit component 300.

[0022] The function of the antenna radiation unit assembly 300 is to radiate electromagnetic waves. Figure 1 , Figure 2 and Figure 3As shown, the antenna radiation unit assembly 300 uses two sets of stacked rectangular metal radiation patches, namely four lower metal radiation patches 310 located on the upper surface of the first dielectric plate 410 and four upper metal radiation patches 320 located on the upper surface 420 of the second dielectric plate. The purpose of using stacked radiation patches is to increase the impedance bandwidth of the antenna radiation unit.

[0023] The multi-beam feeding network component 100 and the single-bit electrically controlled phase shifting component 200 are placed on the upper surface of the first dielectric plate 410. The multi-beam feeding network component 100 includes two primary directional couplers 110, two secondary directional couplers 130 and a microwave transmission connecting line 120. The two primary directional couplers 110 and the two secondary directional couplers 130 are arranged vertically or approximately vertically to each other. In this embodiment, the two primary directional couplers 110 are relatively arranged on the left and right sides of the first dielectric plate 410, and the two secondary directional couplers 130 are relatively arranged on the upper and lower sides of the first dielectric plate 410. The two ports of one of the primary directional couplers 110 are respectively connected to one port of the two secondary directional couplers 130 using a microwave transmission connecting line 120; the two ports of the other primary directional coupler 110 are respectively connected to the other port of the two secondary directional couplers 130 using a microwave transmission connecting line 120. The other four ports of the two primary directional couplers 110 serve as four feeding ports 111, 112, 113, and 114 of the multi-beam feeding network component 100; the other four ports of the two secondary directional couplers 130 serve as four output ports 131, 132, 133, and 134 of the multi-beam feeding network component 100. When the multi-beam feeding network component 100 excites different feeding ports, four sets of different output phase distributions can be obtained at the output ports, corresponding to sub-beams in four different radiation directions.

[0024] In the above structure, the primary directional coupler 110, the microwave transmission connecting line 120 and the secondary directional coupler 130 are all based on microstrip line structures. The primary directional coupler 110 and the secondary directional coupler 130 are microstrip orthogonal hybrid ring directional couplers.

[0025] like Figure 2 As shown, the single-bit electrically controlled phase shifting component 200 includes four groups of eight electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branches 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280. Each group of electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branches is connected between four output ports 131, 132, 133, 134 of the multi-beam feeding network component 100 and four lower metal radiation patches 310.

[0026] like Figure 4As shown, in each group, two electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branches 220 are connected to the same section of microwave transmission line 140. The electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branches 220 include fan-shaped microstrip line open-circuit loading branches 221, microwave switches 222, choke inductors 223, choke inductor pads 224, and DC bias through-holes 225. The fan-shaped microstrip line open-circuit loading branches 221 are connected to the microwave transmission line 140 through the microwave switch 222. The fan-shaped microstrip line open-circuit loading branches 221 are connected to the choke inductor pads 224 using choke inductors 223 on the side of the fan-shaped microstrip line open-circuit loading branches 221 close to the microwave switch 222. One or more DC bias through-holes 225 are provided on the choke inductor pads 224.

[0027] Each path of the single-bit electrically controlled phase shift component 200 uses one control bit to control two transmission phase states, and the phase difference between the two transmission phase states can be designed according to the required sub-beam radiation direction. Specifically, by controlling the on-off state of the microwave switch 222, it is possible to control whether the fan-shaped microstrip line open-circuit loading branch 221 is loaded on the microwave transmission line 140, thereby controlling the transmission phase. In some embodiments, the microwave switch 222 can use a PIN diode. The function of the choke inductor 223 is to isolate the AC path and the DC path in the electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 220. The function of the DC bias through hole 225 is to be connected to a DC power supply to provide a bias voltage for the microwave switch 222.

[0028] The two ends of the microwave transmission line 140 are respectively connected to an output port of the multi-beam feeding network component 100 and a lower metal radiation patch 310. The electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branch 220 can expand the output phase combination output to the antenna radiation unit component 300 by introducing an additional transmission phase based on the output phase distribution of the multi-beam feeding network component 100, thereby realizing more sub-beam radiation directions.

[0029] The antenna radiation unit form adopted by the antenna radiation unit assembly 300 provided in this embodiment is only a part of the embodiments, and the antenna radiation unit form can be replaced by including but not limited to microstrip patch antenna, dipole antenna, dielectric resonator antenna, slot antenna, etc.

[0030] like Figure 5 As shown, the antenna can preset a series of on-off state combinations for controlling the electrically controlled open-circuit transmission line branches 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280. These on-off state combinations are only a part of all on-off state combinations.

[0031] Figure 6 The simulated reflection coefficient curves of the four feeding ports 111, 112, 113, and 114 of the antenna are plotted, and the -10dB reflection coefficient bandwidth of the multi-beam antenna is 4.32GHz ~ 5.66GHz.

[0032] Figure 7 , Figure 8 , Fig. 9 , Fig.10 and Fig.11 The electrically controlled open circuit transmission line branches 210, 220, 230, 240, 250, 260, 270, 280 are respectively Figure 5 The simulated radiation patterns corresponding to the four feeding ports 111, 112, 113, and 114 of the antenna under the five on-off state combinations of state 1, state 2, state 3, state 4, and state 5. The antenna has no less than 20 beam radiation directions in two dimensions, and the maximum 3dB beam coverage angle in the elevation direction can reach ±60 degrees. Compared with the traditional 4×4 Butler matrix multi-beam antenna with only 4 beam radiation directions, the present invention effectively expands the radiation coverage range.

[0033] In the description of the present invention, the term "microwave" is only for the convenience of explanation, such as microwave transmission connecting line, microwave transmission line, microwave switch, etc., and does not limit the working frequency band of the antenna in the present invention. By appropriately enlarging or reducing the size of the wide-coverage electrically-controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna, the antenna can operate in microwave, millimeter wave and terahertz frequency bands.

[0034] The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna, characterized in that: It includes a multi-beam feeding network component, a plurality of single-bit electrically controlled phase shift components and a plurality of antenna radiation unit components; The multi-beam feeding network component comprises two primary directional couplers, two secondary directional couplers and a microwave transmission connection line; two ports of each of the two primary directional couplers are respectively connected to two ports of each secondary directional coupler using a microwave transmission connection line; the other four ports of the two primary directional couplers serve as four feeding ports of the multi-beam feeding network component, and the other four ports of the two secondary directional couplers serve as four output ports of the multi-beam feeding network component; The four output ports are respectively connected to a corresponding antenna radiation unit component through a single-bit electrically controlled phase shift component, and the four antenna radiation unit components are arranged in a two-dimensional array.

2. The wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The single-bit electrically controlled phase shift component includes a microwave transmission line, a plurality of open-circuit loading branches, a microwave switch, a choke inductor, a choke inductor pad and a DC bias through-hole; wherein each open-circuit loading branch is connected to the microwave transmission line through a microwave switch, and a choke inductor is used to connect the open-circuit loading branch to the choke inductor pad on one side of the open-circuit loading branch close to the microwave switch; one or more DC bias through-holes are arranged on the choke inductor pad for connecting to a DC power supply; and the two ends of the microwave transmission line are respectively connected to an output port of the multi-beam feeding network component and an antenna radiation unit component.

3. The wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The antenna radiation unit assembly adopts two groups of stacked rectangular metal radiation patches, which are four lower metal radiation patches located on the upper surface of the first dielectric plate and four upper metal radiation patches located on the upper surface of the second dielectric plate.

4. The wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The antenna radiation unit assembly adopts antenna forms including microstrip patch antenna, dipole antenna, dielectric resonator antenna and slot antenna.

5. The wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The primary directional coupler and the secondary directional coupler are both microstrip orthogonal hybrid ring directional couplers.

6. The wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna according to claim 2, characterized in that: The open-circuit loading branch adopts a fan-shaped open-circuit microstrip line branch.

7. The wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna according to claim 2, characterized in that: The microwave switch adopts a PIN diode.

8. The wide coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The operating frequency band is adjusted by enlarging or reducing the size of the wide-coverage electrically controlled two-dimensional multi-beam antenna so that it can operate in the microwave, millimeter wave or terahertz frequency band.

Images