Dual-beam curve oscillator array antenna and design method thereof

Abstract

The invention discloses a dual-beam curve oscillator array antenna and a design method thereof, and belongs to the technical field of antenna design. The dual-beam curve oscillator array antenna is constructed based on a dual-beam unit; the dual-beam unit comprises an arc-shaped oscillator array antenna; the arc-shaped oscillator array antenna comprises a first arc-shaped oscillator array and a second arc-shaped oscillator array, and the first arc-shaped oscillator array and the second arc-shaped oscillator array are in a 3 shape and are arranged on the same plane in a central mirror image mode. The first arc-shaped oscillator array and the second arc-shaped oscillator array are arranged in the upper-layer dielectric substrate; the upper layer dielectric substrate and the lower layer dielectric substrate are bonded through the bonding layer; and the arc-shaped oscillator array antenna and the feed network are connected through the connecting column. The 3-shaped arc-shaped oscillator arrays in different orientations are integrated together by utilizing a directional diagram superposition principle, the structure is simple and compact, two symmetrical beams can be generated in a broadband, and huge potential is shown in broadband dual-beam application.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of antenna design, and more particularly to a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna and a design method thereof. Background Art

[0002] Dual-beam antennas have received extensive attention in recent years due to their ability to provide dual-target communications and multi-region radio coverage. In mobile communication systems, dual-beam antennas can generate two beams to cover different areas, thereby increasing signal coverage and capacity. In indoor wireless systems, dual terminals can be connected to dual-beam antennas, which can reduce the number of antennas. In satellite communications, dual-beam antennas can simultaneously receive or send signals in two different directions, enabling communications with multiple satellites or ground stations. In radar systems, dual-beam antennas can achieve tracking of two targets, etc.

[0003] So far, there have been many works devoted to dual-beam antennas. As early as 1979, dual-beam microstrip antennas operating in higher TM02 modes were studied. Although the profile height of microstrip antennas is very low, their operating bandwidth is very narrow, usually not exceeding 10%. To solve this problem, a dual-beam U-slot microstrip antenna with a bandwidth of 11.8% was proposed. In addition, a cross-shaped probe feeding technology was developed to feed the microstrip patch antenna, and an impedance bandwidth of 13.2% was obtained. However, the bandwidth of dual beams based on microstrip antennas is still no more than 30%, which brings some challenges to the development of dual beam antennas in broadband wireless systems. In terms of broadband antennas, traveling wave antennas are a typical broadband structure, and some dual beams based on traveling wave antennas have been proposed. A dual symmetrical beam microstrip leaky wave antenna (LWA) with a bandwidth of 23% was proposed in the literature, but due to the dispersion effect of the leaky wave structure, the beam direction changes rapidly with frequency. In order to reduce the beam frequency sweep phenomenon in the leaky wave antenna, a dual-beam periodic leaky wave antenna operating in TEM mode and a printed dual-beam fixed-beam leaky wave antenna based on a grounded coplanar waveguide are proposed, which can achieve a bandwidth of more than 40%. Leaky wave antennas are usually large in length and volume, which makes them difficult to embed into some miniaturized systems.

[0004] Therefore, how to propose a compact, broadband, and efficient dual-beam curved dipole array antenna and a design method thereof is a problem that technical personnel in this field urgently need to solve. Summary of the invention

[0005] In view of this, the present invention provides a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna and a design method thereof, which generates symmetrical dual-beam radiation in a broadband by exciting two dipole arrays in different directions based on the principle of pattern superposition.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0007] On the one hand, the present invention proposes a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna, wherein the dual-beam curved dipole array antenna is constructed based on a dual-beam unit;

[0008] The dual-beam unit includes an arc-shaped dipole array antenna, a connecting column, an upper dielectric substrate, an adhesive layer, and a lower dielectric substrate on which a feeding network is arranged;

[0009] The arc-shaped dipole array antenna comprises a first arc-shaped dipole array and a second arc-shaped dipole array, wherein the first arc-shaped dipole array and the second arc-shaped dipole array are in a 3-shape, and the first arc-shaped dipole array and the second arc-shaped dipole array are mirror-imaged about a center in the same plane; the first arc-shaped dipole array and the second arc-shaped dipole array are placed in the upper dielectric substrate; the upper dielectric substrate and the lower dielectric substrate are bonded by the adhesive layer; and the arc-shaped dipole array antenna and the feeding network are connected by the connecting column.

[0010] Preferably, the bottom layer of the upper dielectric substrate is a metal bottom plate.

[0011] Preferably, the first arc-shaped dipole array and the second arc-shaped dipole array in the arc-shaped dipole array antenna are both composed of two arc-shaped metal strips.

[0012] Preferably, the feeding network is a one-to-two power splitter.

[0013] Preferably, a dual-beam dipole array antenna is obtained by adding an arc dipole array antenna and correspondingly changing the number of connecting columns and the feedback network structure.

[0014] On the other hand, the present invention also discloses a design method of a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna, which is used to obtain the above-mentioned dual-beam curved dipole array antenna, comprising the following steps:

[0015] Determine the working frequency band of the antenna, and obtain a dielectric integrated half-wave arc dipole unit with a size corresponding to the working frequency band;

[0016] The dielectric integrated half-wave arc-shaped vibrator unit obtains a 3-shaped arc-shaped vibrator array according to the principle of symmetry and directional pattern superposition;

[0017] The 3-shaped arc dipole array obtains an arc dipole array antenna according to the principle of mirror image and pattern superposition;

[0018] A broadband one-to-two power divider is designed, and the arc-shaped dipole array antenna is excited by single-port feeding to generate broadband dual-beam radiation, thereby completing the design of the dual-beam curved dipole array antenna.

[0019] It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the present invention discloses a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna and a design method thereof, which has the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art:

[0020] 1. In order to solve the problem that the dual-beam bandwidth is limited, usually not exceeding 30%, a broadband curved dipole array antenna is used as the radiation structure and the principle of pattern superposition is adopted to generate a dual-beam radiation pattern within the broadband.

[0021] 2. In view of the problem that the existing dual-beam antenna structure is relatively complex, a vibrator antenna with a simpler structure is adopted, and dual-beam radiation is achieved by simultaneously exciting two vibrator arrays in opposite directions.

[0022] 3. In view of the problem that the existing dual-beam antenna has a relatively large structure and size, which is not conducive to embedding the antenna into a miniaturized wireless communication system, the present invention integrates two vibrator arrays with different orientations into one component without increasing the volume of the antenna, thereby not increasing the space occupied by the antenna. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the provided drawings without paying creative work.

[0024] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the dual-beam generation mechanism of the present invention;

[0025] Figure 2 A three-dimensional structural diagram of the dual-beam unit (antenna) of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 3 A three-dimensional structural diagram of a dual-beam 2×1 array antenna involved in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 4 The simulated and measured S parameters of the unit antenna of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 5 The simulated and measured S parameters of the 2×1 array antenna of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 6 The present invention is based on the efficiency curve and gain curve within the dual beam unit antenna and 2×1 array antenna band;

[0030] Figure 7 H-plane radiation pattern of the unit antenna and 2×1 array antenna of the present invention at 9GHz;

[0031] FIG8(a), FIG8(b) and FIG8(c) are the E-plane radiation patterns of the 2×1 array antenna of the present invention at 7.5, 9.5 and 11.5 GHz respectively. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0033] On the one hand, an embodiment of the present invention provides a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna, which is constructed based on a dual-beam unit (antenna);

[0034] The dual beam unit structure is as follows Figure 2 As shown, it includes an arc-shaped dipole array antenna, a connecting column 3, an upper dielectric substrate 4, an adhesive layer 6 and a lower dielectric substrate 7 on which a feeding network 8 is arranged;

[0035] The arc dipole array antenna comprises a first arc dipole array 1 and a second arc dipole array 2, the first arc dipole array 1 and the second arc dipole array 2 are in a 3-shape, and the first arc dipole array 1 and the second arc dipole array 2 are mirror-imaged about a center in the same plane; the first arc dipole array 1 and the second arc dipole array 2 are placed in an upper dielectric substrate 4; the upper dielectric substrate 4 and the lower dielectric substrate 7 are bonded by an adhesive layer 6; the arc dipole array antenna and a feeding network 8 are connected by a connecting column 3.

[0036] Preferably, the bottom layer of the upper dielectric substrate 4 is a metal bottom plate 5 .

[0037] Preferably, the first arc element array 1 and the second arc element array 2 in the arc element array antenna are both composed of two arc-shaped metal strips.

[0038] Specifically, the first arc vibrator array 1 can generate a left-tilted beam after being acted upon by the metal base plate 5; the second arc vibrator array 2 is mirrored with the first arc vibrator array 1 about the center, and is used to generate a right-tilted beam; the connecting column 3 can transmit the energy fed from the power divider to the first arc vibrator array 1 and the second arc vibrator array 2 for exciting the vibrators, thereby obtaining the desired dual-beam radiation pattern; the upper dielectric substrate 4 is made of F4BM320, has a dielectric constant of 3.2, and a dielectric loss of 0.0015; the feeding network 8 is a microstrip one-to-two power divider, which is used to split the fed signal into two and excite the arc vibrators (the first arc vibrator array 1 and the second arc vibrator array 2).

[0039] Furthermore, by adding an arc-shaped dipole array antenna and correspondingly changing the number of connecting columns and the feedback network structure, a dual-beam dipole array antenna is obtained. This embodiment takes a 2×1 dual-beam antenna array as an example to improve the gain of the antenna. The three-dimensional structure diagram is as follows: Figure 3 As shown:

[0040] Figure 3 It includes two groups of arc-shaped dipole array antennas; 3 is a connecting column, which can transfer the energy fed from the power splitter to the four arc-shaped dipole arrays (i.e., 1 and 2) for exciting the dipole arrays, and obtain a dual-beam radiation pattern with a narrower H-plane beam and higher gain; 4 is an upper dielectric substrate, made of F4BM320, with a dielectric constant of 3.2 and a dielectric loss of 0.0015; 5 is a metal floor below the upper dielectric substrate; 6 is an adhesive layer for bonding the upper and lower dielectric substrates; 7 is a lower dielectric substrate for laying out a feeding network 8. In this embodiment, 8 is a microstrip one-to-four power divider, which first divides the signal into two and simultaneously excites the left and right arc arrays, and then divides the two columns of fed signals into two and excites the arc-shaped dipoles, so that the four dipoles are excited at the same time. Specifically, the RF signal is fed from the feeding port 17 to the power divider and then radiated to the radiation patch through the through hole; 16 is a pad on the side wall of the dielectric substrate, which is used to fix the outer conductor of the feeding port 17.

[0041] In order to verify the proposed antenna design, this embodiment designs, physically processes and measures the dual-beam unit and array antenna based on the principle of pattern superposition, and manufactures them using a standard multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB) process.

[0042] Figure 4 and Figure 5 The simulation and measured |S11| of the dual-beam unit antenna and 2×1 array antenna are given respectively. It can be seen that the simulation and measurement results are consistent with each other. When the basic reflection coefficient is less than -10dB, the measurement bandwidths of the dual-beam unit antenna and array antenna are 43.7% (7.04~10.98GHz) and 55.9% (7~12.43GHz), respectively.

[0043] Figure 6 The efficiency curves and gain curves of the dual-beam unit antenna and array antenna in the band are given. It can be found that through reasonable design, both the unit antenna and the array antenna can obtain a total radiation efficiency of up to about 90% in the frequency band of interest, and the gain of the array antenna can be about 3dB higher than that of the unit antenna. Through the array antenna method, the dual-beam array antenna can be successfully designed and is expected to be applied to the design of larger-scale high-gain dual-beam arrays.

[0044] Figure 79 GHz was selected as a representative, and the two-dimensional radiation pattern in the θ=45° plane (H plane of the unit and array antenna) was given. It can be seen that the array antenna has a narrower beam and a higher gain, and is more suitable for some dual-beam communication scenarios with high directivity requirements.

[0045] Figures 8(a), 8(b) and 8(c) respectively show the simulated and measured radiation patterns of the 2×1 array antenna at 7.5, 9.5 and 11.5 GHz. It can be seen that the proposed antenna array can generate dual beams in a wideband range, and the cross-polarization level within the 3 dB main beam width is less than -15 dB within the working frequency band, which verifies the effectiveness of the design.

[0046] On the other hand, the embodiment of the present invention also discloses a design method of a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna, which is used to obtain the above-mentioned dual-beam curved dipole array antenna, referring to Figure 1 , the design method includes the following steps:

[0047] S1. Determine the working frequency band of the antenna, and obtain a dielectric integrated half-wave arc dipole unit with a size corresponding to the working frequency band. The radiation direction of the dielectric integrated half-wave arc dipole unit is tilted toward the horizontal, such as Figure 1 As shown in step 1;

[0048] S2. The dielectric integrated half-wave arc-shaped vibrator unit obtains a 3-shaped arc-shaped vibrator array according to the principle of symmetry and pattern superposition, so that when the center positions of the two vibrators are excited, a horizontal tilted beam can be generated, such as Figure 1 As shown in step 2;

[0049] S3.3-shaped arc dipole array is based on the principle of mirror image and pattern superposition to obtain the arc dipole array antenna. By exciting the "3"-shaped arc dipole array and the mirror-placed "ε"-shaped arc dipole array in the arc dipole array antenna, an inclined dual beam is generated, such as Figure 1 As shown in step 3;

[0050] S4. Design a broadband one-to-two power divider, and stimulate the two dipole arrays in the arc dipole array antenna through single-port feeding to generate broadband dual-beam radiation, completing the design of the dual-beam curved dipole array antenna.

[0051] In this specification, each embodiment is described in a progressive manner, and each embodiment focuses on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other. For the device disclosed in the embodiment, since it corresponds to the method disclosed in the embodiment, the description is relatively simple, and the relevant parts can be referred to the method part.

[0052] The above description of the disclosed embodiments enables one skilled in the art to implement or use the present invention. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to one skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but rather to the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A dual-beam curved dipole array antenna, characterized in that: The dual-beam curved dipole array antenna is constructed based on a dual-beam unit; The dual-beam unit comprises an arc-shaped dipole array antenna, a connecting column (3), an upper dielectric substrate (4), an adhesive layer (6), and a lower dielectric substrate (7) on which a feeding network (8) is arranged; The arc-shaped dipole array antenna comprises a first arc-shaped dipole array (1) and a second arc-shaped dipole array (2), wherein the first arc-shaped dipole array (1) and the second arc-shaped dipole array (2) are in a 3-shape, and the first arc-shaped dipole array (1) and the second arc-shaped dipole array (2) are arranged in a mirror image about a center on the same plane; the first arc-shaped dipole array (1) and the second arc-shaped dipole array (2) are placed in the upper dielectric substrate (4); the upper dielectric substrate (4) and the lower dielectric substrate (7) are bonded by the bonding layer (6); and the arc-shaped dipole array antenna and the feeding network (8) are connected by the connecting column (3).

2. A dual-beam curved dipole array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The bottom layer of the upper dielectric substrate (4) is a metal bottom plate (5).

3. The dual-beam curved dipole array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The first arc-shaped dipole array (1) and the second arc-shaped dipole array (2) in the arc-shaped dipole array antenna are both composed of two arc-shaped metal strips.

4. The dual-beam curved dipole array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The feeding network (8) is a one-to-two power splitter.

5. The dual-beam curved dipole array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: By adding an arc-shaped dipole array antenna and correspondingly changing the number of connecting columns and the feedback network structure, a dual-beam dipole array antenna is obtained.

6. A design method for a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna, used to obtain a dual-beam curved dipole array antenna as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The following steps are involved: Determine the working frequency band of the antenna, and obtain a dielectric integrated half-wave arc dipole unit with a size corresponding to the working frequency band; The dielectric integrated half-wave arc-shaped vibrator unit obtains a 3-shaped arc-shaped vibrator array according to the principle of symmetry and directional pattern superposition; The 3-shaped arc dipole array obtains an arc dipole array antenna according to the principle of mirror image and pattern superposition; A broadband one-to-two power divider is designed, and the arc-shaped dipole array antenna is excited by single-port feeding to generate broadband dual-beam radiation, thereby completing the design of the dual-beam curved dipole array antenna.

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