Space-time multi-port antenna

Abstract

The invention provides a space-time multi-port antenna system. The space-time multi-port antenna system comprises an antenna array, a plurality of feed ports and a controller, the antenna array includes a plurality of antenna assemblies. The plurality of feed ports are respectively connected to the antenna assembly. A controller is connected to the antenna array through the feed port and is configured to control the antenna assemblies to dynamically switch the states of the antenna assemblies wherein each pair of adjacent antenna assemblies constitutes one unit and at any given moment within any one of the units, only one of the antenna assemblies is in an active state and only one of the antenna assemblies is in a non-active state. And the other antenna assembly is in an inactive state. The proposed controller can be applied to different types of antennas, which provides a general technique to significantly reduce mutual coupling of close-range arranged antenna assemblies.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates generally to antenna systems and more particularly to space-time multi-port antennas. Background Art

[0002] In wireless communications, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) technology has revolutionized communications by increasing data rates without increasing bandwidth or power. At high signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs), MIMO capacity increases proportionally to the number of transmit antennas (assuming the number of antennas on the receiving end is the same or greater), and this approach is now used by almost all wireless communications systems. In future wireless systems, such as 6G, MIMO will inevitably be included as one of the core technologies, and the demand for further increases in MIMO capacity will continue to increase. Therefore, the weight of MIMO antenna design in the overall system will become increasingly important, so that more antennas can be used at both the base station and the mobile station to further increase capacity.

[0003] In future base station antennas, massive MIMO systems have been considered, and designs containing up to 1000 antenna components have been proposed. Therefore, a key requirement in these designs is component density, that is, the number of components per square wavelength. On the other hand, on the mobile station side, size is a major limiting factor, making the development of compact multi-port antennas an important research topic. Although there is a fundamental limit to the number of antennas that can be placed in a specific area or volume, practical multi-port designs with a large number of antennas (e.g., significantly more than two) have not yet reached this limit. Therefore, it would be of great significance if new methods for multi-antenna design that can reach the predicted limits could be developed.

[0004] On the other hand, considering time as the fourth dimension in antenna design has also been used in various relevant application models. Space-time antenna design in the form of time modulated arrays (TMA) has been widely studied. TMA has also been shown to have significant advantages in radiation pattern control.

[0005] However, direct application of space-time design to MIMO antennas still has shortcomings. One reason is that harmonic generation in space-time antenna systems is very difficult to control and directly conflicts with the requirement that wireless systems operate within a specific frequency.

[0006] Therefore, although multi-port antennas are already key components in MIMO wireless communication systems, the in-depth research on future wireless systems continues to advance due to the demand for higher data throughput and stronger communication performance. Therefore, it is necessary to re-examine the design of multi-port antennas to break through the limits of MIMO system capabilities and achieve higher performance improvements. Summary of the invention

[0007] The object of the present invention is to provide methods and devices to address the above-mentioned deficiencies and unmet needs in the prior art.

[0008] In the present invention, the goal is to provide a new multi-port antenna design to improve wireless communication performance through spatiotemporal (space-time) antenna design techniques. The innovation lies in the use of time modulation to significantly reduce the mutual coupling effects between antennas. This method has the potential to increase the number of antennas allowed to be placed in two-dimensional space by four times without violating any fundamental restrictions. Therefore, applying the fourth dimension "time" to multi-port antenna design may open up new prospects for improving wireless communication performance. Although methods using space-time design have been proposed in antenna system design, such as time modulated array (TMA) antennas, their application in multi-port antenna design has not yet been widely seen.

[0009] In the present invention, the multi-port antenna based on space-time (space-time) design is called a time-modulated multiport (TMM) antenna. A particular challenge in designing wireless communication antennas using time modulation is the bandwidth extension problem caused by harmonic generation.

[0010] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a space-time multi-port antenna system is provided. The space-time multi-port antenna system includes an antenna array, a plurality of feed ports, and a controller. The antenna array includes a plurality of antenna components. A plurality of feed ports are respectively connected to the antenna components. The controller is connected to the antenna array through the feed port, and is configured to control the antenna components to dynamically switch the state of the antenna components, wherein each pair of adjacent antenna components constitutes a unit, and at any given moment in any of the units, only one of the antenna components is in an activated state, while the other antenna component is in an inactivated state. In some embodiments, the antenna array is formed by arranging the antenna components into an N*M array, wherein N and M are positive integers greater than one.

[0011] According to a second aspect of the present invention, a space-time multi-port antenna system is provided. The space-time multi-port antenna system includes a dual-polarized antenna array, a plurality of feed ports, and a controller. The dual-polarized antenna array includes a plurality of antenna components, wherein each of the antenna components is a cross-dipole structure, and includes a first dipole component extending horizontally along a first axis direction and a second dipole component extending vertically along a second axis direction, forming an orthogonal configuration at the intersection thereof, wherein in each of the antenna components, the first dipole component is made of a conductive material arranged along a horizontal plane, and the second dipole component is made of a conductive material arranged along a vertical plane, and the first dipole component and the second dipole component are spatially crossed and electrically isolated. Each of the first dipole components and each of the second dipole components are connected to the corresponding feed port to realize independent transmission and reception of horizontal or vertical polarized signals. The controller is connected to the dual-polarized antenna array through the feed port, and is configured to control the antenna component to dynamically switch the state of the antenna component, wherein each pair of adjacent antenna components constitutes a unit, and in the unit, two adjacent antenna components are in different states of activation at any time.

[0012] According to a third aspect of the present invention, an operation method is provided for operating a space-time multi-port antenna system. The operation method comprises the following steps: feeding a horizontal or vertical polarization signal to a dual-polarization antenna array through a feed port, wherein the dual-polarization antenna array comprises a plurality of antenna components, each of which is a cross-dipole structure and comprises a first dipole component extending horizontally along a first axis and a second dipole component extending vertically along a second axis, forming an orthogonal configuration at their intersection, and each pair of adjacent antenna components constitutes a unit; and, controlling the dual-polarization antenna array through the feed port using a controller to dynamically switch the state of the antenna components, so that the two adjacent antenna components in the unit are in different activation states at any time.

[0013] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an antenna system is provided. The antenna system comprises a first planar inverted F antenna (PIFA) component and a second PIFA component, at least one feed pin and a controller. The first PIFA component and the second PIFA component are arranged in parallel, wherein the first PIFA component extends along a first direction and the second PIFA component extends along a second direction opposite to the first direction. At least one feed pin is electrically connected to the first PIFA component and the second PIFA component, wherein the feed pin is configured to receive or transmit signals of the first PIFA component and the second PIFA component. The controller is connected to the first PIFA component and the second PIFA component through the feed pin, and is configured to dynamically control the operating states of the first PIFA component and the second PIFA component, so that at a first time point, the first PIFA component is in an activated state, while the second PIFA component remains in an inactivated state, and at a second time point, the second PIFA component is in an activated state, while the first PIFA component remains in an inactivated state, thereby realizing controllable switching between the first PIFA component and the second PIFA component based on a time modulation operation.

[0014] In some embodiments, the first PIFA assembly and the second PIFA assembly are arranged in parallel and extend in the same direction.

[0015] Although the above examples use dual-polarized antennas and PIFA antennas, the present invention is not limited to being applied to these objects, and the controller used can also be applied to other types of antennas.

[0016] The importance of the proposed TMM antenna control method is that it has great potential for application scenarios in future wireless communication systems. With the advancement of 6G development, the application scenarios of concepts such as massive MIMO arrays, centimeter-level MIMO arrays, and holographic MIMO are growing. To realize these prospects, new multi-port antenna designs will be required to meet the growing demand for MIMO. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0018] Figure 1A and Figure 1B A conceptual diagram of time-modulated antennas (TMA) is shown;

[0019] Figure 2 An antenna design diagram of a dual-port planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, which operates at a frequency of 2.6 GHz;

[0020] Figure 3A and Figure 3B Shown Figure 2 Figure 2. Simulation results of the dual-port antenna design in Figure 2 with both ports loaded and in the “on” state.

[0021] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Shown Figure 2 The simulation results of the dual-port antenna design in Figure 1 are shown when port 2 is open circuit.

[0022] Figure 5A and Figure 5B The antenna pattern diagram cut along the xz plane is shown when both ports are loaded;

[0023] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B The antenna pattern diagram cut along the xz plane in the open circuit condition is shown;

[0024] Fig. 7A A schematic diagram of a spatiotemporal (space-time) multi-port antenna system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0025] Figure 7B A schematic diagram of a dual-polarized antenna during operation according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; and

[0026] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a planar inverted-F antenna system according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In the following description, a spatiotemporal (space-time) multi-port antenna system and the like using the same are described as preferred examples. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that modifications, including additions and / or substitutions, may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In order to avoid obscuring the invention, some specific details may be omitted; however, the writing of this specification is intended to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings therein without excessive experimentation.

[0028] The main goal of the present invention is to develop a multi-port antenna with enhanced wireless communication performance using spatiotemporal (space-time) antenna design. In the present invention, several inventive contribution features are proposed to facilitate higher antenna density. The antenna system proposed in this specification is called a time-modulated multiport (TMM) antenna.

[0029] First, a mechanistic explanation for spatiotemporal antenna design and multi-port antenna design is provided.

[0030] Space-time antenna design

[0031] A key application of space-time design is in time-modulated antennas (TMA), which provide a simple method of beamforming by switching modes. Figure 1A and Figure 1B The concept of time modulation antenna (TMA) is presented. Specifically, Figure 1A An antenna array is shown, which has N antenna elements spaced d apart, and Figure 1B The scenario presented is to place a switch component between the feed and the antenna assembly to control the radiation pattern. The switch can be modulated by a signal with a period of T, and in each period, the antenna assembly is connected to the feed for a duration of τ n .

[0032] like Figure 1A and Figure 1B As shown, the radiation of an array of N elements with element spacing d in direction θ is controlled by a switch placed between the feed and the antenna. The resulting radiation pattern is shown below:

[0033] where θ and φ are spatial angles, e(θ, φ) is the radiation pattern of a single component, k is the wave number, f is the frequency, and a " is the weight of the component controlled by the switch. In this scenario, the switch of each component is turned on during the periodic switching period T and lasts for τ n time, a radiation pattern with frequency harmonics will be produced; the resulting radiation pattern can be expressed as follows:

[0034] in, Taking the first harmonic, we get the following pattern:

[0035] It can be seen that the switching time can directly control the antenna weights and therefore provide a very simple method for beam steering.

[0036] However, a major drawback of TMA is that it generates radiated harmonics, which becomes a limitation in wireless communications that require strict bandwidth control, preventing this type of method from being widely used.

[0037] In TMA, an important observation is that harmonics are mainly of concern at the transmitter because they are radiated into space. The receiver can easily filter out these harmonics without causing bandwidth issues. Therefore, there are also research proposals for single-radio TMA receivers, where the harmonics at the receiver are used as beams. Although TMA has been studied extensively, there are still challenges in applying space-time antenna design to wireless communication scenarios, including: (1) how to apply space-time design to the development of multi-port antenna systems; and (2) how to deal with frequency harmonics generated by time modulation switching.

[0038] Multi-port antenna design

[0039] With the development of MIMO wireless communication systems, multi-port antenna design has become an attractive research area. The progress in multi-user MIMO applications has further increased its attention in the field. Subsequently, the development of massive MIMO has made it one of the cornerstones of current and future wireless systems.

[0040] To meet the needs of MIMO wireless systems, one of the key components is the development of compact multi-port antennas.

[0041] In order to reduce the coupling between antenna components and realize compact multi-port antenna design, a series of techniques have been developed. These techniques are generally divided into two categories. The first category is designs with low coupling currents, such as orthogonal polarization antennas and eigenmode-based designs. In addition, these methods also include novel geometric structures for suppressing coupling currents, such as defective ground structures (DGS), electromagnetic band-gap (EBG) structures, and even extended to electromagnetic metamaterials (MTM), open-ring resonators, and negative dielectric MTMs. The second category of methods uses alternative coupling paths to offset the original coupling paths. Technologies include neutralization lines (NL), parasitic structures, and decoupling networks (DN). The common problem of these methods is to achieve broadband performance.

[0042] In addition to MIMO antenna design, research is also developing on the fundamental size limits or port density that can be achieved with multi-port antennas. In recent research, it has been shown that the upper limit for high isolation multi-port antennas is 18 ports per square wavelength. Only a few designs can achieve this density, so it is an area of ​​ongoing research. Among the designs that reach the limit, there are still practical issues, some require special reactive components to implement, and some are not suitable for integration into wireless devices due to bandwidth or geometric limitations.

[0043] Several challenges remain in the design of MIMO antennas, including: (1) providing practical designs that achieve the reported fundamental limits; and (2) developing new techniques to reduce mutual coupling.

[0044] Based on the above situation, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a solution for a MIMO antenna is provided, as described below. The present disclosure proposes a method for developing a compact TMM antenna using space-time antenna design. The proposed solution is divided into five objectives, including:

[0045] 1) Understand the system trade-offs of TMM antennas;

[0046] 2) Develop design guidelines for TMM antennas;

[0047] 3) Develop a reconfigurable method for TMM antennas;

[0048] 4) Study the possibility of expansion to transmit TMM antenna system;

[0049] 5) Verify the design of the TMM antenna;

[0050] The proposed design concepts and exemplary results are provided below to embody the proposed design approach for the TMM antenna.

[0051] (I): Design concept and exemplary results of TMM antenna

[0052] The design concept is to extend the time domain modulation of the antenna feed to control the mutual coupling.

[0053] The basic principle is based on the observation that if adjacent antenna elements are never in the "on" state at the same time (here the "on" state is defined as the case where the antenna port is connected to its corresponding receiver or transmitter), the mutual coupling effect can be significantly reduced. This concept is based on the property that a disconnected antenna element will not have an impact on the adjacent elements. Here, this can be most intuitively understood by considering an N×N multi-port antenna impedance model:

[0054] Among them, V " and I " are the voltage and current at antenna port n, respectively, and Z 8" is the impedance matrix of the antenna. Note that although all quantities are frequency dependent, we omit the frequency dependence in our notation for convenience.

[0055] If, in the antenna system in equation (1), all ports except "Port (1)" are kept disconnected, the impedance seen by "Port (1)" will be only Z 44, and there will be no mutual coupling because all other ports are in an open circuit state. This is the principle that the TMM antenna design proposed in this invention intends to utilize, that is, antennas at adjacent ports will not be time-domain modulated to the "on" state at the same time. Therefore, the mutual coupling effect of adjacent antennas will be completely eliminated. Although the mutual coupling effect will be eliminated, there will still be trade-offs including power and harmonic issues, which have been addressed in the first goal mentioned above.

[0056] To verify the basic concept, exemplary simulations were also performed.

[0057] Figure 2 The antenna design diagram of a dual-port planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown, which operates at a frequency of 2.6 GHz. The PIFA antenna has a very small spacing in order to demonstrate the mutual coupling effect. Figure 2 As shown in the figure, a basic two-port PIFA geometry design is provided, the operating frequency is 2.6 GHz, and the conductor is assumed to be an ideal conductor, and then tested. The figure shows that the distance between the two antennas is only 15 mm (less than 0.2 wavelengths), so the mutual coupling effect will be very significant. Computer Simulation Technology (CST) software was then used to simulate.

[0058] Figure 3A and Figure 3B Shown Figure 2 Figure 2 shows the simulation results of the two-port antenna design in Figure 2 with both ports loaded and in the “on” state. Specifically, from Figure 3A It can be seen that the efficiency is low. Figure 3B As can be seen in the figure, the mutual coupling parameter S 42 Poor (due to the symmetry of the design, S 44 , S 22 With S 42 , S 24 These results are attributed to the high mutual coupling between the ports. Figure 3A and Figure 3B In Figure 1, the efficiency and S parameter results are shown when both ports are loaded with 50 ohms and fed normally. It can be seen that due to the coupling between the antennas, the efficiency is only about 50%. From the S parameter point of view, the isolation S 42 This is expected, as mutual coupling between ports can cause a lot of power to be returned to adjacent sources, reducing efficiency.

[0059] Figure 4A and Figure 4B Shown Figure 2The simulation results of the two-port antenna design in Figure 1 are shown when port 2 is open circuit. Figure 4A It can be seen that the efficiency performance is as predicted by equation (1) because the open-circuit port eliminates the mutual coupling effect. Figure 4B It can be seen that S 44 Good matching is achieved at 2.6GHz. Since port 2 is open, S is not provided. 42 and S 24 .

[0060] exist Figure 4A and Figure 4B When port 2 is kept open, the results show that Figure 3A and Figure 3B There will be a significant difference compared to the previous example. At this time, the efficiency at 2.6GHz is close to 95%. 44 Less than -10dB. These results occur because adjacent ports are unable to return the mutually coupled induced power back to its source. Figure 4A and Figure 4B Since port 2 is open, S is not provided. 42 and S 22 This presents a subtle problem, as the solution provided does not reduce the mutual coupling. The mutual coupling situation is still the same as Figure 3A and Figure 3B The solution provided, however, eliminates the effects of mutual coupling. Therefore, the measured efficiency remains the primary metric for the performance of the target technology. In this example, the efficiency is significantly improved because most of the mutual coupling effects have been eliminated.

[0061] The results of these examples show that the effects of mutual coupling can be significantly reduced by utilizing time modulation between adjacent ports. Based on this principle, further investigations into the effectiveness of this approach in practical scenarios will be proposed. Therefore, the following narrative will present the proposed approach to achieve the aforementioned goals.

[0062] (II): Understanding the System Tradeoffs of TMM Antennas

[0063] Using the design concepts in “(I): Design Concepts and Exemplary Results for TMM Antennas”, the effects of mutual coupling can be significantly reduced. However, some system trade-off scenarios need to be considered first. The first is the effect of time modulation on received power, and the second is the effect of harmonics generated by switching. This will be explained below.

[0064] The first problem is that the received power of the time modulated port will be directly reduced. If adjacent ports need to be modulated to the on state alternately, the power received at the same port will be reduced. Assuming that a group of adjacent antennas can be modulated to open and "on" alternately, the time in the "on" state will be reduced by about half. This will result in a 3dB loss in received power.

[0065] The second problem is the harmonics generated by switching, which cause the received power to decrease. These harmonics can be removed by filtering at the receiving end, but will further reduce the received power. For quantification, it can be roughly assumed that 50% of the received power will be lost due to harmonics. This will result in an additional 3dB power loss.

[0066] In the discussion in the previous two paragraphs, a key effect of power reduction is its impact on the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and therefore the system capacity. Under the conditions of high SNR and equal number of transmit and receive antennas, the asymptotic expression for MIMO capacity is as follows: C≈Nlog 2 (SNR) = 0.33NSNR [dB] ... Formula (2)

[0067] Where N is the number of transmitting antennas. Assuming that the TMM system loses 6dB of power compared to the traditional system, this will affect the capacity. However, as can be seen from formula (2), this power loss does not change the slope of the capacity line, and its slope remains N. The power loss only causes the SNR to shift. If the initial SNR is 30dB, it will drop to 24dB after the above switching and harmonic loss. In this way, to compensate for the 6dB loss, the number of antennas needs to be increased by 25%.

[0068] Although the results suggest a significant increase in the number of antennas is required, it is important to put this into proper perspective. For example, in a massive MIMO array, using TMM and halving the antenna spacing in each dimension would allow a 4x increase in the number of antennas, which far outweighs the 6dB power reduction. To meet the requirement of a 25% increase in the number of antennas, only a 10% reduction in antenna spacing in each dimension is required. Therefore, even taking into account the power loss, the TMM approach still achieves improved performance.

[0069] Although there are some preliminary results on the trade-offs between TMM and traditional MIMO systems, further analysis is still needed. First, the mutual coupling of every other antenna component needs to be properly characterized and compared with adjacent elements to accurately assess the possible capacity gain. This involves using a complete MIMO channel capacity model that includes mutual coupling effects. In addition, a better understanding of time modulation effects is required. For example, allowing some overlap between open and on modulation states may reduce power losses, but it will also reduce the degree of reduction in mutual coupling effects. This trade-off requires further study, and the actual switching harmonics must be considered when formulating these trade-offs. These problems will be solved by the technical solutions of the present invention.

[0070] (III): Development of TMM Antenna Design Guidelines

[0071] In principle, the components of a TMM antenna can be placed very close to each other, with the effects of mutual coupling almost completely eliminated. However, the antenna pattern of each component will be designed to be almost identical. This raises the question of whether the channel correlation is small enough. For example, Figure 5A and Figure 5B The antenna pattern diagram cut along the xz plane is shown when both ports are loaded. Specifically, Figure 5A corresponds to port 1 (2.52dBi), and Figure 5B corresponds to port 2 (2.52dBi). These modes are distinct (having reflection symmetry due to the symmetry of the antenna system) and are different enough to exhibit low channel correlation. Figure 5A and Figure 5B In Figure 1, the antenna patterns are shown when both antenna ports are normally loaded and fed. It can be seen that the patterns are different. This difference reduces the channel correlation due to the pattern diversity provided.

[0072] Fig. 6A and Figure 6B The antenna pattern diagram cut along the xz plane in the open circuit condition is shown. Specifically, Fig. 6A This corresponds to the mode at port 1 (1.77dBi), while port 2 is open circuit; Figure 6B This corresponds to the mode at port 2 (1.77dBi), while port 1 is open circuit. Figure 5A and Figure 5B In comparison, these modes are less different and will therefore exhibit more channel correlation.

[0073] The antenna patterns provided are for the case where the antennas are alternately time modulated and the ports on the opposite sides are left open. As observed, the patterns become more similar due to the elimination of the mutual coupling effect. However, a problem is found that the channel correlation depends almost entirely on the separation state. Therefore, the channel correlation between two antennas separated by a distance d may follow the Jakes model, which can be expressed by the first kind of Bessel function as: ρ(d)=J o (kd)...Formula 3

[0074] where ρ(d) is the correlation of the envelope between port 1 and port 2, and k is the wave number. It can be observed that in order to reduce the channel correlation, the distance between antennas needs to be increased, but this directly conflicts with the goal of the TMM method to reduce the antenna spacing.

[0075] To resolve these conflicts, the modes and / or polarizations of adjacent antennas need to be different in TMM antenna designs. If adjacent antennas are different, the correlation will not depend on the distance between the antennas, but on the mode and / or polarization differences of the two antenna designs. Therefore, an important design guideline for using the TMM concept is that adjacent antennas should have different modes and / or polarizations. In practical applications, this approach suggests that a massive MIMO array can be developed with an interleaved structure. For mobile station antennas, this means that adjacent antennas should be arranged to be as different as possible.

[0076] Therefore, in the design task, the goal is to identify antenna pairs that can be configured to be easily interleaved while also providing enough adjacent pattern diversity to reduce the channel correlation effect. Here, a new method is needed to expand the variety of antenna pairs suitable for interleaving. In addition, further research on interleaving structures and patterns is needed to fully utilize the design concepts to configure the structure.

[0077] (IV): Development of TMM reconfigurable antenna

[0078] There are two aspects of TMM antenna design that make it very suitable for reconfigurable antenna design. The first is that of any two adjacent antennas, only one is transmitting. The second is that the modes of adjacent antennas need to be different. Therefore, two adjacent components can be combined into a single reconfigurable antenna with two states. At any one time, only one antenna is time-modulated and the modes of the two reconfigurable states can be extremely different. This approach also has the significant additional advantage of requiring fewer RF front ends, that is, only one RF front end can handle each reconfigurable antenna, instead of using two. The trade-off is that the front end needs to have at least double the bandwidth.

[0079] Therefore, the challenge of TMM antenna design lies in designing reconfigurable antennas and developing new technologies that allow for dense arrangement. If reconfigurable antennas can be densely arranged as in traditional MIMO antenna design, then a four-fold increase in antenna density can be achieved in a two-dimensional planar configuration. Even considering dual-polarized antenna arrays, a doubling of the antenna density can be achieved. In this way, the capacity degradation associated with power loss can be easily overcome as discussed in equation (2).

[0080] In the technical solution provided by the present invention, the goal of the task is to determine reconfigurable antennas and their configurations that are compatible with TMM. Although the design of these antennas can utilize a large amount of existing research, an additional challenge must be addressed: ensuring low mutual coupling between adjacent antennas. Therefore, antennas must be designed in pairs in order to understand and control the mutual coupling between antenna components. For example, in one configuration, there may be a low mutual coupling requirement, while in other configurations, higher coupling may be acceptable because the antenna components will not operate simultaneously in a specific state. In addition, the aforementioned interleaving method can also be applied, that is, adjacent reconfigurable antennas have different structures. Another key consideration is how to implement the reconstruction process. Although PIN diodes have been used in previous designs, diodes consume a lot of power when controlling hundreds of antennas. Therefore, according to some embodiments of the present invention, the possibility of using other reconfigurable components, such as variable inductors, will also be expanded.

[0081] (V): Research extended to transmitting TMM antenna systems

[0082] In the previous discussion, the target antenna design was assumed to be a receiving system. This is because the harmonics generated by switching can be easily filtered out. Applying the proposed method to the receiving end has significant practical value because the compact design is particularly beneficial for mobile stations with limited space. Therefore, the proposed technique has the potential to improve download speeds, thereby solving a common bottleneck in wireless communications.

[0083] However, it would also be useful to extend the proposed technique to the transmit side. To achieve this, the problem of transmit harmonics must be overcome. As discussed in the previous section, a lot of effort has been devoted to reducing harmonics, so special switching techniques for multi-phase and amplitude control have also been developed.

[0084] The current goal is to explore an alternative approach that has been proven to be effective for RF pulse shaping and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). This approach involves spatial decomposition of the beams of the system and the use of electronically steerable parasitic array radiators (ESPAR) with varactors. By smoothly varying the current on the varactors, almost any pulse shape can be achieved. Applying this spatiotemporal approach to the design of TMM antennas for transmit systems could be a very suitable solution. The pulse shaping technique with varactors allows seamless reconfiguration from one beam shape to another, forming a reconfigurable component in a multi-port antenna array, which also reduces harmonics in the transmission.

[0085] In practical applications, the proposed technical solution provides a universal configuration for antennas. For example, a spatiotemporal multi-port antenna system is provided, which includes an antenna array, multiple feed ports, and a controller. The antenna array includes multiple antenna elements, and each feed port is connected to the antenna element, thereby forming a universal basic configuration. The controller can be applied to this universal basic configuration. The controller is connected to the antenna array through the feed port and is configured to control the antenna element to dynamically switch the state of the antenna element. Each pair of adjacent antenna elements can constitute a unit, and in any unit, at any time only one antenna element is in an active state, while the other antenna element is in an inactive state, which is very beneficial for significantly reducing the mutual coupling of closely packed antennas, as discussed above. The term "antenna array" means that it is composed of antenna elements arranged in an N*M array, where N and M are positive integers greater than 1.

[0086] Fig. 7A A schematic diagram of a spatiotemporal (space-time) multi-port antenna system 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown; and, Figure 7B FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a dual-polarized antenna during operation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7B In the figure, the solid and dotted lines correspond to the antennas that are activated or turned on at different time points / intervals.

[0087] The space-time multi-port antenna system 100 includes a dual-polarized antenna array 110 , a feed port 120 , a controller 130 , a variable capacitor 140 , a single radio frequency (RF) front end 150 , a switch 152 , and a radio frequency control circuit 154 .

[0088] The dual-polarized antenna array 110 includes a plurality of antenna elements 112 arranged in an N*M array, where N and M are positive integers greater than 1; for example, Figure 7B The array in FIG. 1 is a 4*5 antenna array, and antenna components 112 are arranged at each position of the array. Each antenna component 112 is a cross-dipole structure, including a first axis direction (e.g. Figure 7B The first dipole unit 114 extending horizontally along the second axis direction (e.g. Figure 7B The second dipole unit 116 extends perpendicularly to the vertical direction in the middle (in the vertical direction), and forms an orthogonal structure at the intersection.

[0089] In each antenna assembly 112, the first dipole element 114 is made of a conductive material aligned along a horizontal plane, and the second dipole element 116 is made of a conductive material aligned along a vertical plane, wherein the first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116 are spatially crossed and electrically isolated. For example, the space-time multi-port antenna system 100 may include a dielectric frame, and the crossed first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116 are supported by the dielectric frame, thereby providing mechanical stability and maintaining electrical isolation between the first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116. To simplify description and explanation, each pair of adjacent antenna assemblies 112 can form a unit 118.

[0090] The feed port 120 serves as a connection point in the antenna system 100 to provide power or receive signals to the antenna assembly 112. The feed port 120 allows signals to be transmitted and received, thereby achieving control of different polarizations, such as horizontal and vertical. Each first dipole element 114 and second dipole element 116 is connected to a corresponding feed port 120, thereby achieving independent transmission and reception of horizontal or vertical polarized signals.

[0091] The controller 130 is connected to the dual-polarized antenna array 110 via the feed port 120, and is configured to control the antenna components 112 of the dual-polarized antenna array 110 to dynamically switch the states of the antenna components 112. In a single unit (e.g., unit 118), at any given time, two adjacent antenna components 112 are in an active state, but their respective dipole elements are in different states.

[0092] Specifically, in adjacent antenna components 112 in a single unit 118, at a certain moment, the first dipole unit 114 on the left is in an activated state, while the first dipole unit 114 on the right is in an inactivated state; similarly, the second dipole unit 116 on the right is in an activated state, while the second dipole unit 116 on the left is in an inactivated state. In addition, at the next time point, the first dipole unit 114 on the left is in an inactivated state, while the first dipole unit 114 on the right is in an activated state; similarly, the second dipole unit 116 on the right is in an inactivated state, while the second dipole unit 116 on the left is in an activated state. In this way, the antenna component can operate by alternating time modulation.

[0093] In some embodiments, the variable capacitor 140 is connected to the first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116 of the dual-polarized antenna array 110 through the feed port 120, and is configured to receive a control signal from the controller 130 to adjust the capacitance of the first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116 according to the operation requirements, so as to achieve adaptive radiation characteristics. Therefore, the co-configuration of the first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116 with the variable capacitor 140 can allow smooth reconfiguration of the radiation pattern, and by modulating the variable capacitor 140, it can be dynamically changed from one beam shape to another.

[0094] In some embodiments, the RF front end 150 is connected to the first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116 of the cross-dipole structure. The RF front end 150 includes at least a RF amplifier connected to the first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116, which is configured to amplify the RF signal received from the first dipole element 114 and the second dipole element 116. The switch 152 is connected to the RF amplifier and is configured to route signals between the first and second dipole elements 114, 116 and the RF front end 150 during transmission and reception modes. The RF control circuit 154 is coupled to the RF front end 150 and is configured to manage the operation of the RF front end 150 by adjusting gain, frequency, and switching functions.

[0095] Generally speaking, there are two main steps during operation. The first is to provide a horizontally or vertically polarized signal to the dual-polarized antenna array 110 through the feed port 120; the second is to control the dual-polarized antenna array 110 using the controller 130 through the feed port 120 to dynamically switch the state of the antenna components so that two adjacent antenna components 112 in the unit are active at any given time, but their respective dipole units are operating in different states.

[0096] In addition, the control architecture can also be applied to planar inverted-F antenna systems. For example, Figure 8 A schematic diagram of a planar inverted-F antenna system 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown. The planar inverted-F antenna system 200 includes a first PIFA unit 210, a second PIFA unit 220, at least one feed pin 230, and a controller 240. The first PIFA unit 210 and the second PIFA unit 220 are arranged in parallel. The first PIFA unit 210 extends in a first direction, and the second PIFA unit 220 extends in a second direction opposite to the first direction (e.g., rightward and leftward directions). In other embodiments, the first PIFA unit 210 and the second PIFA unit 220 are arranged in parallel and extend in the same direction.

[0097] The feed pin 230 is electrically connected to the first and second PIFA units 210, 220. The feed pin 230 is configured to receive or transmit signals of the first and second PIFA units 210, 220. The controller 240 is connected to the first and second PIFA units 210, 220 through the feed pin 230, and is configured to dynamically control the operation states of the first and second PIFA units 210, 220. Therefore, at a first time point, the first PIFA unit 210 is in an active state, and the second PIFA unit 220 remains in an inactive state; at a second time point, the second PIFA unit 220 is in an active state, and the first PIFA unit 210 remains in an inactive state. Through the time modulation operation, the controllable switching of the first and second PIFA units 210, 220 can be achieved. Therefore, through the dynamic time modulation control of the controller, the two PIFA units can be arranged closer, thereby increasing the arrangement density of the antenna assembly.

[0098] In summary, the present invention provides a new scheme for the design of space-time multi-port antennas suitable for enhancing MIMO communications. The goal of the present invention is to introduce a new multi-port antenna architecture using space-time antenna design technology to improve wireless communication performance. Its key innovation is to use time modulation within the antenna to significantly reduce mutual coupling. This approach is expected to achieve a four-fold increase in the number of antennas in a two-dimensional area without breaking the basic limitations. By introducing the time parameter as a fourth dimension in the multi-port antenna design, new possibilities for improving wireless communication performance can be developed.

[0099] Although dual-polarized antennas and PIFA antennas are used as examples in the above embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. The proposed controller can also be applied to other types of antennas, thereby providing a general technology that can significantly reduce the degree of mutual coupling between densely arranged antenna components. Specifically, for antenna components that need to be arranged in an array, a controller that can dynamically switch the state of the antenna components (as described above) can be operated to form a spatiotemporal multi-port configuration, thereby allowing the spacing between the antenna components to be reduced.

[0100] According to the embodiments of the present disclosure, the functional units and modules of the device and method can be implemented using a computing device, a computing processor or an electronic circuit, including but not limited to an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a microcontroller and other programmable logic devices configured or programmed according to the present disclosure. Skilled software or electronic field practitioners can easily write computer instructions or software codes running on a computing device, a computing processor or a programmable logic device based on the content of the present disclosure.

[0101] All or part of the methods according to various embodiments may be executed on one or more computing devices, including server computers, personal computers, laptop computers, smart phones, tablet computers and other mobile computing devices.

[0102] Embodiments may include computer storage media, transient and non-transient storage devices storing computer instructions or software codes that can be used to program or configure a computing device, a computing processor, or an electronic circuit to perform any of the processes of the present invention. Storage media, transient and non-transient storage devices include, but are not limited to, floppy disks, optical disks, Blu-ray disks, DVDs, CD-ROMs, magneto-optical disks, ROMs, RAMs, flash memory devices, or any medium or device suitable for storing instructions, codes, and / or data.

[0103] Each functional unit and module according to various embodiments may also be implemented in a distributed computing environment and / or a cloud computing environment, where all or part of the machine instructions are executed by one or more processing devices in a distributed manner through a communication network, which may be an intranet, a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), the Internet or other forms of data transmission media.

[0104] The above description of the present invention is for the purpose of illustration and explanation. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present invention to the specific forms disclosed. A skilled practitioner will be able to give many modifications and variations.

[0105] The selection and description of the present embodiment are intended to best explain the principles of the present invention and its practical application, so that others skilled in the art can understand the various embodiments of the present invention and various modifications suitable for specific purposes.

Claims

1. A space-time multi-port antenna system, characterized in that: include: An antenna array comprising a plurality of antenna components; A plurality of feeding ports, respectively connected to the antenna assembly; as well as A controller is connected to the antenna array through the feed port, and is configured to control the antenna components to dynamically switch the states of the antenna components, wherein each pair of adjacent antenna components constitutes a unit, and at any given moment in any of the units, only one of the antenna components is in an active state, while the other antenna component is in an inactive state.

2. The spatiotemporal multi-port antenna system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The antenna array is formed into an N*M array by arranging the antenna components, wherein N and M are positive integers greater than one.

3. A space-time multi-port antenna system, characterized in that: include: A dual-polarized antenna array, comprising a plurality of antenna assemblies, wherein each of the antenna assemblies is a cross-dipole structure, and comprises a first dipole element extending horizontally along a first axis direction and a second dipole element extending vertically along a second axis direction, forming an orthogonal configuration at the intersection thereof, wherein in each of the antenna assemblies, the first dipole element is made of a conductive material arranged along a horizontal plane, and the second dipole element is made of a conductive material arranged along a vertical plane, and the first dipole element and the second dipole element are spatially crossed and electrically isolated; A plurality of feeding ports, wherein each of the first dipole elements and each of the second dipole elements are connected to the corresponding feeding port to achieve independent transmission and reception of horizontally or vertically polarized signals; as well as A controller is connected to the dual-polarized antenna array via the feed port and is configured to control the antenna assembly to dynamically switch the state of the antenna assembly, wherein each pair of adjacent antenna assemblies constitutes a unit, and in the unit, two adjacent antenna assemblies are in different activation states at any time.

4. The spatiotemporal multi-port antenna system according to claim 3, characterized in that, in adjacent antenna components in the unit, at a given time point, one of the first dipole elements is in an activated state, while another of the first dipole elements is in an inactivated state, and one of the second dipole elements is in an activated state, while another of the second dipole elements is in an inactivated state.

5. The spatiotemporal multi-port antenna system according to claim 3, characterized in that the dual-polarization antenna array is formed into an N*M array by arranging the antenna components, wherein N and M are positive integers greater than one.

6. The spatiotemporal multi-port antenna system according to claim 3, further comprising: a plurality of variable capacitors connected to the first dipole element and the second dipole element of the dual-polarized antenna array through the feed port and configured to receive a control signal from the controller to adjust the capacitance of each of the first dipole element and each of the second dipole element according to operational requirements to provide adaptive radiation characteristics, wherein the configuration of the first dipole element and the second dipole element is also combined with the variable capacitor to allow the radiation pattern to be smoothly reconfigured by modulating the variable capacitor to dynamically switch from one beam shape to another.

7. The spatiotemporal multi-port antenna system according to claim 3, further comprising: A dielectric frame, wherein the crossed first dipole element and the second dipole element are supported by the dielectric frame to provide mechanical stability and to maintain electrical isolation between the first dipole element and the second dipole element.

8. The spatiotemporal multi-port antenna system according to claim 3, further comprising: a single RF front end connected to the first dipole element and the second dipole element of the cross-dipole structure, wherein the RF front end includes at least one RF amplifier connected to the first dipole element and the second dipole element and configured to amplify received RF signals from the first dipole element and the second dipole element; a switch connected to the RF amplifier and configured to route signals between the first and second dipole elements and the RF front end in transmit and receive modes; as well as The RF control circuit is coupled to the RF front end and is configured to manage the operation of the RF front end by adjusting gain, frequency and switching functions.

9. An operating method for operating the spatiotemporal multi-port antenna system according to claim 3, characterized in that it comprises: Feeding a horizontal or vertical polarized signal to a dual-polarized antenna array through a feeding port, wherein the dual-polarized antenna array comprises a plurality of antenna assemblies, each of which is a cross-dipole structure and comprises a first dipole element extending horizontally along a first axis and a second dipole element extending vertically along a second axis, forming an orthogonal configuration at their intersection, and each pair of adjacent antenna assemblies constitutes a unit; and The dual-polarized antenna array is controlled by a controller through the feeding port to dynamically switch the state of the antenna assembly, so that two adjacent antenna assemblies in the unit are in different activation states at any time.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that, in adjacent antenna assemblies in the unit, at a given point in time, one of the first dipole elements is in an activated state and another of the first dipole elements is in an inactivated state, and one of the second dipole elements is in an activated state and another of the second dipole elements is in an inactivated state.

11. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that the dual-polarized antenna array is formed into an N*M array by arranging the antenna components, wherein N and M are positive integers greater than one.

12. An antenna system, comprising: a first planar inverted-F antenna (PIFA) element and a second PIFA element arranged in parallel, wherein the first PIFA element extends in a first direction and the second PIFA element extends in a second direction opposite to the first direction; at least one feeding pin electrically connected to the first PIFA element and the second PIFA element, wherein the feeding pin is configured to receive or transmit signals of the first PIFA element and the second PIFA element; as well as A controller is connected to the first PIFA element and the second PIFA element through the feed pin, and is configured to dynamically control the operating states of the first PIFA element and the second PIFA element, so that at a first time point, the first PIFA element is in an activated state, while the second PIFA element remains in an inactivated state, and at a second time point, the second PIFA element is in an activated state, while the first PIFA element remains in an inactivated state, thereby achieving controllable switching between the first PIFA element and the second PIFA element based on a time modulation operation.

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