Large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna

Abstract

The invention discloses a large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased-array antenna, and belongs to the technical field of phased-array antennas applied to satellites. The phased-array antenna comprises four frequency bands and three array planes in total, two array planes are in unit regular period arrangement, one array plane is in double-frequency-band unit sparse mixed arrangement, and two independent antenna beams can be formed in each frequency band. Each array plane basic structure comprises a passive antenna array plane, a multi-channel TR assembly, a thermal control structure, a comprehensive network, a sub-array wave control and power supply, a whole array power supply, a whole array comprehensive control, a whole array feed network, a frequency converter and other modules, the modules are designed in a longitudinal layering and vertical interconnection mode, the structure is compact, and the integration degree is high. The antenna can be used as a unit sub-array, and has the characteristic of one-dimensional splicing expansion in the short edge direction of the sub-array, and the sub-arrays can be flexibly combined as required to form a plurality of wave beams with different capacities.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna, belonging to the technical field of satellite application phased array antennas. Background Art

[0002] At present, parabolic antennas are the most common antenna form in the field of satellite applications. With the continuous increase of satellite resources in my country, in order to make full use of satellite resources, the aperture of satellite antennas is required to be larger and larger to meet the needs of higher information transmission capacity; the number of satellite antennas is required to be more and more to meet the needs of simultaneous multi-tasking and multi-link. However, the space of the carrier platform is limited, and the number of antennas that can be carried is limited, which inevitably limits the explosive growth of satellite application demand.

[0003] Phased array antennas have the advantages of flexible and controllable beams and high reliability, and have been widely used in the field of radar detection. At the same time, phased array antennas have the ability of common aperture and simultaneous multi-beams. After targeted design, multiple frequency bands can also be integrated into one antenna device to replace the original multiple traditional parabolic antennas, greatly reducing the installation space required for antenna equipment. In addition, since the phased array antenna can be designed conformally with the carrier platform, the RCS of the carrier platform can be greatly reduced, thereby improving the vitality of the weapon platform.

[0004] When phased array antennas replace large-aperture parabolic antennas, if traditional phased array antenna design methods are used, problems such as large antenna array dimensions and heavy weight, long equipment installation, erection, and debugging cycles, and inconvenient transportation will arise. Summary of the invention

[0005] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention proposes a large-scale spliced ​​multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna, which adopts two methods: regular periodic arrangement of units and mixed sparse array. It can directly replace multiple traditional parabolic antennas and has the ability to expand its capabilities in the later stage through sub-array splicing, and has broad engineering application prospects.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is specifically as follows:

[0007] A large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna, comprising three array surfaces located in the same plane, two of which are unit regular periodic arrays, namely unit regular periodic array a and unit regular periodic array b, and one array surface is a dual-band unit sparse mixed array; the three array surfaces work in four frequency bands, each frequency band forms two independent antenna beams, and a total of eight beams;

[0008] Each array surface of the two units in regular periodic array includes a passive antenna array surface, a multi-channel TR component I, an upper liquid cooling plate I, an integrated network I, a sub-array wave control and power supply module and a lower liquid cooling plate I, and the passive antenna array surface, the multi-channel TR component I, the upper liquid cooling plate I, the integrated network I, the sub-array wave control and power supply module and the lower liquid cooling plate I are stacked up and down in sequence; wherein the passive antenna array surface is vertically blind-plugged with the multi-channel TR component I through SMP-KK or SSMP-KK, the multi-channel TR component I is fixed to the upper liquid cooling plate I, and is vertically blind-plugged with the integrated network I through the upper liquid cooling plate I through SMP-KK or SSMP-KK and a multi-core connector, the integrated network I is connected to the sub-array wave control and power supply module through a multi-core cable, the sub-array wave control and power supply module is fixed to the lower liquid cooling plate I, and the upper liquid cooling plate I is vertically blind-plugged with the lower liquid cooling plate I through a water joint to realize double-layer circulation of the coolant;

[0009] The dual-band unit sparse hybrid array includes a dual-band passive antenna array, a dual-band multi-channel TR component, an upper liquid cooling plate II, an integrated network II, a sub-array power supply, a lower liquid cooling plate II and a dual-band beam control module, and each module is stacked up and down in sequence; wherein the passive antenna array is vertically blind-plugged and connected to the dual-band multi-channel TR component through SMP-KK or SSMP-KK, the dual-band multi-channel TR component is fixed to the upper liquid cooling plate II, and is vertically blind-plugged and connected to the integrated network II through SMP-KK or SSMP-KK through the upper liquid cooling plate II and a multi-core connector, the integrated network II is vertically blind-plugged and connected to the sub-array power supply through a multi-core connector, and is connected to the dual-band beam control module through a multi-core cable, the sub-array power supply is fixed to the upper surface of the lower liquid cooling plate II, and the dual-band beam control module is fixed to the lower surface of the lower liquid cooling plate II;

[0010] A common whole array integrated control module a, a whole array power supply module a, and a whole array feeding network a are arranged below the unit regular periodic array a;

[0011] A common whole array integrated control module b, a whole array power supply module b, and a whole array feeding network b are arranged below the unit regular periodic array b;

[0012] The whole array integrated control module a, the whole array power module a, the whole array feeding network a, the whole array integrated control module b, the whole array power module b and the whole array feeding network b are located in the same plane. The whole array control module is connected with the sub-array wave control and power module of the two-unit regular periodic array and the beam control module of the sparse mixed array of the dual-band units through a multi-core cable, the whole array feeding network is connected with the integrated network of each frequency band array through a coaxial cable, and the whole array power module is connected with the sub-array wave control and power module of the two-unit regular periodic array and the sub-array power module of the sparse mixed array of the dual-band units through a multi-core cable.

[0013] Furthermore, as a unit subarray, the phased array antenna can be spliced ​​and expanded in one dimension in the short side direction of the subarray.

[0014] Furthermore, after multiple unit sub-arrays are spliced, the unit sub-arrays are combined through a beam switching network to form multiple beams with different capabilities.

[0015] Furthermore, the unit regular periodic array a is divided into 4 installation sub-arrays, the unit regular periodic array b is divided into 2 installation sub-arrays, and the dual-band unit sparse mixed array array surface is installed as a whole;

[0016] The two units with regular periodic arrays are divided into 16 RF sub-arrays, and the array surface of one dual-band unit with sparse mixed array is divided into 4 RF sub-arrays.

[0017] Furthermore, the passive antenna arrays of the four frequency bands adopt two forms: a vibrator antenna with a metal cavity and a microstrip antenna with an integrated 90° bridge, and the upper surface of the metal cavity and the ground plane of the microstrip antenna radiation layer are kept in the same plane.

[0018] Furthermore, the integrated network adopts a multi-layer printed circuit board form, integrating a power distribution network, a low-frequency control network and a radio frequency feeding network.

[0019] Furthermore, it includes 2 whole array integrated control modules, each of which integrates a beam control unit and a tracking receiver module to realize beam angle calculation, transmission, signal sampling and tracking functions; the tracking receiver module in each whole array integrated control module is dual-channel and can receive 2 intermediate frequency signals for signal tracking.

[0020] Furthermore, it also includes 4 dual-channel downconverters and 4 single-channel upconverters, a total of 8 converters; each converter corresponds to 1 antenna beam, wherein the dual-channel downconverter outputs 2 intermediate frequency signals, 1 intermediate frequency signal is given to the corresponding tracking receiver module in the entire array integrated control module, and the other intermediate frequency signal is output through the external beam interface.

[0021] Furthermore, the beam switching network integrates signal power splitters, electronic switches, amplifiers and filters to achieve on-demand switching, combination, power division / synthesized beam signal switching functions for multiple sub-array signals.

[0022] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0023] 1. The present invention follows the concept of standardized modular design, can carry out large-scale one-dimensional splicing expansion of multi-band arrays, can replace large-diameter parabolic antennas, and solve the problems of large antenna array dimensions and heavy weight, long equipment installation, erection, and debugging cycles, and inconvenient transportation. Compared with other existing technical inventions in the field of expandable arrays, which are basically single-band and have a size scale of less than 200mm*200mm, the present invention has more advantages and prospects in engineering applications.

[0024] 2. The present invention adopts an analog multi-beam technology system, which can be used as a sub-array for one-dimensional splicing and expansion. After splicing, the sub-array beams can be flexibly combined according to the application scenario. It has the characteristics of later capability expansion and beam reorganization, and is particularly suitable for satellite application fields with multiple scenarios and concurrent multiple tasks. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the structural layout of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the layered array of the sparse mixed array of dual-band units in the present invention.

[0027] Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the layered installation of sub-arrays on the unit regular periodic array surface 1 in the present invention.

[0028] Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the layered installation of sub-arrays on the array surface 2 of the unit regular periodic array in the present invention.

[0029] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the one-dimensional splicing expansion of the sub-arrays of the present invention (4 sub-arrays).

[0030] Figure 6 This is a block diagram of the principle of flexible combination of multiple transmission beams after splicing of sub-arrays in the present invention.

[0031] Figure 7 This is a block diagram of the principle of flexible combination of receiving multi-beams after splicing of sub-arrays in the present invention.

[0032] In the figure: 1. Array surface a with regular periodic arrangement of units, 2. Array surface b with regular periodic arrangement of units, 3. Array surface with sparse hybrid arrangement of dual-band units, 4. Integrated control module a for the whole array, 5. Power module a for the whole array, 6. Down converter a, 7. Integrated control module b for the whole array, 8. Down converter b, 9. Feed network a for the whole array, 10. Power module b for the whole array, 11. Feed network b for the whole array, 13. Up converter, 14. Liquid distributor, 3-1. Dual-band hybrid sparse array (passive antenna surface), 3-2. Multi-channel TR component c, 3-3. Upper liquid cooling plate c, 3-4. Integrated network c, 3-5, sub-array power supply, 3-6, lower liquid cooling plate c, 3-7, B-band beam control module, 3-8, A-band beam control module, 1-1, passive antenna array a, 1-2, multi-channel TR component a, 1-3, upper liquid cooling plate a, 1-4, integrated network a, 1-5, sub-array beam control and power supply module a, 1-6, lower liquid cooling plate a, 2-1, passive antenna array b, 2-2, multi-channel TR component b, 2-3, upper liquid cooling plate b, 2-4, integrated network b, 2-5, sub-array beam control and power supply module b, 2-6, lower liquid cooling plate b. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The present invention will be further described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and examples.

[0034] The present invention integrates antenna arrays of four frequency bands. The array structure of each frequency band adopts a longitudinal layering and vertical interconnection design, with a compact structure and high integration. Each frequency band adopts a common-aperture analog dual-beam system, with a total of eight beams in the four frequency bands. Taking into account the subsequent installation and debugging and capacity expansion requirements, it follows the standardized modular design concept and can be used as a sub-array for one-dimensional splicing and expansion. After splicing, it has the characteristics of flexible combination of sub-array beams.

[0035] like Figure 1As shown, a large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna includes 3 array surfaces in 4 frequency bands, of which 2 array surfaces are unit regular periodic arrays, and 1 array surface is a dual-band unit sparse mixed array. The 4 passive antenna array surfaces are in the form of vibrator antennas with metal cavities and microstrip antennas with integrated 90° bridges. The upper surface of the metal cavity and the ground plane of the microstrip antenna radiation layer are kept in the same plane to ensure that the array surfaces of each frequency band do not block each other. The 2 unit regular periodic array array surfaces are divided into 4 and 2 installation sub-arrays respectively, and 1 dual-band unit sparse mixed array array surface is installed as a whole. In addition, it also includes 2 whole array integrated control modules, 2 whole array power supply modules, 2 whole array feeding networks, 4 upconverters, 4 downconverters and structural liquid cooling parts. The integrated control module of the entire array integrates the beam control unit and the tracking receiver module to realize functions such as beam angle calculation, downlink, signal sampling, and tracking. Each frequency converter corresponds to one antenna beam, and one channel of the dual-channel downconverter outputs the intermediate frequency signal to the tracking receiver module in the integrated control module of the entire array, and the other channel outputs the intermediate frequency signal through the external beam interface.

[0036] like Figure 2 As shown, the dual-band unit sparse hybrid array array integrates a dual-band hybrid sparse array, a multi-channel TR component, an upper / lower liquid cooling plate, an integrated network, a sub-array power supply, and two-band array integrated control modules. The array is divided into 4 RF sub-arrays, which are seamlessly connected. Each RF sub-array integrates several antenna arrays and multi-channel TR components, an integrated network and a sub-array power supply. They all adopt a vertical plug-in design. The A-band TR component adopts a dual-channel docking with an antenna unit to achieve a common array dual beam; the B-band RF channel adopts a single-channel docking with an antenna unit to achieve a single array single beam, a total of two beams. The liquid cooling plate is divided into two layers, one layer is close to the heat dissipation surface of the TR component, and the other layer is close to the heat dissipation surface of the sub-array power supply and the integrated control module. The two layers of liquid cooling plates adopt a vertical blind plug-in design to form a double-layer heat dissipation circulation system.

[0037] like Figure 3 As shown, the unit regularly periodically arranged array surface a integrates passive antenna array surface, multi-channel TR components, upper / lower liquid cooling plates, integrated network, sub-array wave control and power modules. The array surface is divided into 4 installation sub-arrays and 16 RF sub-arrays. 1 installation sub-array is composed of 4 RF sub-arrays, and the 16 RF sub-arrays are seamlessly connected. Each RF sub-array integrates an antenna array and multi-channel TR components of 1 / 16 array surface, 1 integrated network and 1 sub-array wave control and power module, all of which adopt a vertical inter-plug design. Every 2 channels of the TR component correspond to 1 antenna unit, which forms a dual beam in combination with the back-end feeding network. The liquid cooling plate is divided into two layers, one layer is close to the heat dissipation surface of the TR component, and the other layer is close to the heat dissipation surface of the sub-array wave control and power module. The two layers of liquid cooling plates adopt a vertical blind plug design to form a double-layer heat dissipation circulation system.

[0038] like Figure 4 As shown, the unit regularly periodically arranged array surface 2 integrates passive antenna array surface, multi-channel TR components, upper / lower liquid cooling plates, integrated network, sub-array wave control and power modules. The array surface is divided into 2 installation sub-arrays and 16 RF sub-arrays. 1 installation sub-array is composed of 8 RF sub-arrays, and the 16 RF sub-arrays are seamlessly connected. Each RF sub-array integrates an antenna array and multi-channel TR components of 1 / 16 array surface, 1 integrated network and 1 sub-array wave control and power module, all of which adopt a vertical inter-plug design. Every 2 channels of the TR component correspond to 1 antenna unit, which forms a dual beam in combination with the back-end feeding network. The liquid cooling plate is divided into two layers, one layer is close to the heat dissipation surface of the TR component, and the other layer is close to the heat dissipation surface of the sub-array wave control and power module. The two layers of liquid cooling plates adopt a vertical blind plug design to form a double-layer heat dissipation circulation system.

[0039] like Figure 5 As shown, a dual-band hybrid sparsely arranged phased array antenna can be used as a unit subarray, and has the characteristics of one-dimensional splicing and expansion in the short side direction of the subarray. After multiple subarrays are spliced, the subarrays can be flexibly combined through a beam switching network to form multiple beams with different capabilities.

[0040] According to the maximum scanning angle θ of the phased array antenna max ≥45°, the maximum allowable array spacing is determined according to the following formula:

[0041] d<λ max / (1+sin(θ max ))

[0042] where λ max is the maximum wavelength of electromagnetic waves in the working frequency band, θ max It is the maximum scanning angle of the phased array antenna. The array spacing of the four frequency bands is comprehensively considered. The unit regular periodic array surface a antenna unit array spacing is 13.5mm×13.5mm; the unit regular periodic array surface b antenna unit array spacing is 8.1mm×8.1mm; the dual-band unit sparse mixed array surface A band antenna unit array spacing is 11.2mm×11.2mm, and the B band antenna unit array spacing is 5.6mm×5.6mm. The two are in a multiple relationship, which is convenient for dual-band mixed sparse array.

[0043] The overall array area is controlled within a range of about 605mm in width and 2400mm in length. The array area length of the unit regular periodic array surface a is 1296mm, the array area length of the unit regular periodic array surface b is 584mm, and the array area length of the dual-band unit sparse hybrid array surface is 448mm. Taking into account the array area, system EIRP, G / T value, antenna single-channel output power, noise coefficient and other factors, the unit regular periodic array surface a is determined to be 44*96 in scale, with a total of 96 multi-channel TR components; the unit regular periodic array surface b is 72*72 in scale, with a total of 144 multi-channel TR components; the dual-band unit sparse hybrid array surface adopts a sub-array-level sparse array, in which the A band contains 44 sub-arrays, and the array elements in the sub-array are arranged in a 4×6 rectangular array, and the B band contains 108 sub-arrays, and the array elements in the sub-array are arranged in a 4×4 rectangular array.

[0044] When a dual-band hybrid sparsely arranged phased array antenna is used as a unit subarray for one-dimensional splicing and expansion of multiple subarrays, the subarray spacing should be no greater than D. x , thus not affecting the sidelobe level of the multi-subarray composite pattern. After analysis and demonstration, D x The maximum is 30mm, within which the structural frame can be accommodated to support the heavy weight of large-scale phased array antennas. Take the splicing of 4 sub-arrays as an example. Figure 6 , Figure 7 As shown in Figure 1, the beam switching network integrates signal power dividers, electronic switches, amplifiers, filters and other devices to achieve on-demand switching, combination, power division / synthesis and other beam switching functions for multiple subarray signals. A type 1 beam is defined as a subarray synthesis, a type 2 beam is defined as a subarray synthesis, and so on. At least two type 4 beams can be formed, and at most one type 4 beam and four type 1 beams can be formed. Therefore, the phased array antenna can flexibly combine subarray beams according to the application scenario, greatly improving the flexibility of antenna use.

[0045] It can be seen from the above examples that the implementation process of the present invention is clear. It adopts a multi-band simulated multi-beam phased array antenna system, which can directly replace multiple traditional parabolic antennas. It has the ability of later capability expansion and beam reorganization through sub-array splicing, and is particularly suitable for satellite applications in multiple scenarios and concurrent multiple tasks.

[0046] The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the patent scope of the present invention. Any equivalent structure or parameter transformation made using the contents of the present invention specification and drawings, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna, characterized in that: It includes three arrays located in the same plane, two of which are unit regular periodic arrays, namely unit regular periodic array a and unit regular periodic array b, and one array is a dual-band unit sparse mixed array; the three arrays work in four frequency bands, each frequency band forms two independent antenna beams, a total of eight beams; Each array surface of the two units in regular periodic array includes a passive antenna array surface, a multi-channel TR component I, an upper liquid cooling plate I, an integrated network I, a sub-array wave control and power supply module and a lower liquid cooling plate I, and the passive antenna array surface, the multi-channel TR component I, the upper liquid cooling plate I, the integrated network I, the sub-array wave control and power supply module and the lower liquid cooling plate I are stacked up and down in sequence; wherein the passive antenna array surface is vertically blind-plugged with the multi-channel TR component I through SMP-KK or SSMP-KK, the multi-channel TR component I is fixed to the upper liquid cooling plate I, and is vertically blind-plugged with the integrated network I through the upper liquid cooling plate I through SMP-KK or SSMP-KK and a multi-core connector, the integrated network I is connected to the sub-array wave control and power supply module through a multi-core cable, the sub-array wave control and power supply module is fixed to the lower liquid cooling plate I, and the upper liquid cooling plate I is vertically blind-plugged with the lower liquid cooling plate I through a water joint to realize double-layer circulation of the coolant; The dual-band unit sparse hybrid array includes a dual-band passive antenna array, a dual-band multi-channel TR component, an upper liquid cooling plate II, an integrated network II, a sub-array power supply, a lower liquid cooling plate II and a dual-band beam control module, and each module is stacked up and down in sequence; wherein the passive antenna array is vertically blind-plugged and connected to the dual-band multi-channel TR component through SMP-KK or SSMP-KK, the dual-band multi-channel TR component is fixed to the upper liquid cooling plate II, and is vertically blind-plugged and connected to the integrated network II through SMP-KK or SSMP-KK through the upper liquid cooling plate II and a multi-core connector, the integrated network II is vertically blind-plugged and connected to the sub-array power supply through a multi-core connector, and is connected to the dual-band beam control module through a multi-core cable, the sub-array power supply is fixed to the upper surface of the lower liquid cooling plate II, and the dual-band beam control module is fixed to the lower surface of the lower liquid cooling plate II; A common whole array integrated control module a, a whole array power supply module a, and a whole array feeding network a are arranged below the unit regular periodic array a; A common whole array integrated control module b, a whole array power supply module b, and a whole array feeding network b are arranged below the unit regular periodic array b; The whole array integrated control module a, the whole array power module a, the whole array feeding network a, the whole array integrated control module b, the whole array power module b and the whole array feeding network b are located in the same plane. The whole array control module is connected with the sub-array wave control and power module of the two-unit regular periodic array and the beam control module of the sparse mixed array of the dual-band units through a multi-core cable, the whole array feeding network is connected with the integrated network of each frequency band array through a coaxial cable, and the whole array power module is connected with the sub-array wave control and power module of the two-unit regular periodic array and the sub-array power module of the sparse mixed array of the dual-band units through a multi-core cable.

2. The large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: As a unit subarray, the phased array antenna can be spliced ​​and expanded in one dimension in the short side direction of the subarray.

3. The large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna according to claim 2, characterized in that: After multiple unit sub-arrays are spliced ​​together, the unit sub-arrays are combined through a beam switching network to form multiple beams with different capabilities.

4. The large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna according to claim 2, characterized in that: The unit regular periodic array a is divided into 4 installation sub-arrays, the unit regular periodic array b is divided into 2 installation sub-arrays, and the dual-band unit sparse mixed array array surface is installed as a whole; The two units with regular periodic arrays are divided into 16 RF sub-arrays, and the array surface of one dual-band unit with sparse mixed array is divided into 4 RF sub-arrays.

5. A dual-band hybrid sparsely arranged phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The passive antenna arrays for the four frequency bands are in the form of a vibrator antenna with a metal cavity and a microstrip antenna with an integrated 90° bridge. The upper surface of the metal cavity is kept in the same plane as the ground plane of the microstrip antenna radiation layer.

6. The large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The integrated network adopts a multi-layer printed circuit board form, integrating the power distribution network, low-frequency control network and radio frequency feeding network.

7. The large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: It includes 2 whole array integrated control modules. Each whole array integrated control module integrates a beam control unit and a tracking receiver module to realize beam angle calculation, transmission, signal sampling and tracking functions. The tracking receiver module in each whole array integrated control module is dual-channel and can receive 2 intermediate frequency signals for signal tracking.

8. The large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: It also includes 4 dual-channel downconverters and 4 single-channel upconverters, a total of 8 converters; each converter corresponds to 1 antenna beam, among which the dual-channel downconverter outputs 2 intermediate frequency signals, 1 intermediate frequency signal is given to the corresponding tracking receiver module in the entire array integrated control module, and the other intermediate frequency signal is output through the external beam interface.

9. The large-scale splicable multi-band multi-beam phased array antenna according to claim 1, characterized in that: The beam switching network integrates signal power dividers, electronic switches, amplifiers and filters to achieve on-demand switching, combination, power division / synthesized beam signal switching functions for multiple sub-array signals.

Images