High-gain reconfigurable array antenna suitable for wireless ad hoc network of power transmission line

Abstract

The invention discloses a high-gain reconfigurable array antenna suitable for a wireless ad hoc network of a power transmission line, which comprises a patch array layer, a first dielectric plate, a first grounding layer, a second grounding layer, a second dielectric plate and a feed network layer which are sequentially arranged from top to bottom, and is characterized in that the patch array layer comprises a plurality of rectangular patch units; variable capacitance diodes are arranged between at least a part of adjacent rectangular patch units; the first dielectric plate is provided with a metalized upper layer grounding via hole and an upper layer feed via hole, and the second dielectric plate is provided with a metalized lower layer feed via hole; the upper ends of the upper-layer grounding via holes are connected to a part of the rectangular patch units, and the lower ends are connected to the first grounding layer; the upper end of the upper-layer feed via hole is connected to a part of the rectangular patch units, and the lower end is connected to the upper end of the lower-layer feed via hole; and the lower end of the lower layer feed via hole is connected to the feed network layer. The array antenna provided by the invention is excellent in performance in various aspects, and can meet the requirements of a wireless communication system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of communication technologies, and particularly relates to a high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to wireless ad-hoc networks for power transmission lines. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous expansion of the scale of the power transmission network, especially the wide distribution of high-voltage and extra-high-voltage power transmission lines in remote and complex geographical areas, on-line monitoring of transmission towers has become an important link in ensuring the safe and stable operation of the power grid. However, stable communication infrastructure is usually lacking in these remote areas, and traditional data transmission methods face many challenges. In the prior art, although solutions such as 4G / 5G cellular communication, OPGW optical fiber, and satellite communication have been applied to some scenarios, each has its limitations. Cellular communication has limited coverage and serious signal attenuation in complex environments such as mountains and forests; the laying cost of OPGW optical fiber is high, the maintenance is complex, and it is vulnerable to external damage; satellite communication has problems such as high latency and high cost, and it is difficult to meet the needs of large-scale deployment of transmission tower monitoring equipment.

[0003] To address this problem, ad-hoc communication technology has received extensive attention due to its advantages of not relying on fixed infrastructure, flexible expansion, and rapid deployment. Through automatic routing and relay forwarding between multiple nodes, ad-hoc networks can achieve efficient data transmission in a vast area, and are particularly suitable for monitoring scenarios of power transmission lines in remote areas. However, there are two major problems in the design of traditional ad-hoc antennas: one is that although omnidirectional antennas can support multi-node interconnection, the signal coverage distance is limited, making it difficult to meet the communication requirements of dozens of kilometers along the power transmission line; the other is that although directional antennas have a longer transmission distance, their narrow beam characteristics limit the flexibility of the network, making it difficult to achieve adaptive networking in complex environments.

[0004] In addition, transmission tower monitoring equipment is exposed to harsh environments such as high altitude, strong wind, ice and snow, and lightning for a long time, and the antenna system needs to have excellent environmental adaptability and mechanical reliability. Extreme temperature differences, electromagnetic interference, and harsh climate conditions will all affect the performance stability of the antenna. Traditional designs are difficult to balance high gain, high reliability, low profile, light weight, and anti-environmental interference capabilities at the same time.

[0005] The prior art has proposed an electronically tunable pattern reconfigurable integrated array antenna based on 1-bit digital coding metasurface. This antenna consists of an 8×8 unit, which is divided into a radiating antenna and a phase control metasurface. A rectangular microstrip patch antenna is used as the radiation source, and phase control is achieved through varactor-loaded square slot units and a bias circuit layer, thereby realizing the reconfigurability of the radiation pattern. However, the gain of this design is low, and the aperture efficiency only reaches 51%, making it difficult to meet the application scenarios with high gain requirements. In addition, the prior art has also proposed a design to improve the gain by optimizing the half-plane reflection structure. Through specific geometric shapes and metasurface technologies, this design achieves high-gain performance in the half-plane direction. However, the bandwidth of this design is very narrow, making it difficult to cover more frequency bands, thus limiting its application scenarios in multi-band communication.

[0006] In addition to the above-mentioned metasurface antennas, the traditional grid antenna solution also has the following problems: (1) Fixed beam and poor flexibility: The beam direction of traditional grid antennas is usually fixed, making it difficult to adjust dynamically and unable to adapt to the complex and changing communication requirements along the transmission line. When the node moves or the network topology changes, it is necessary to manually adjust the antenna direction, or integrate sensors and motor drive systems, increasing the operation and maintenance difficulty.

[0007] (2) Large volume and complex installation: The physical size of grid antennas is relatively large (especially parabolic antennas), and there may be space limitations when installing on transmission towers. The installation and calibration processes are complex and require professional personnel and equipment.

[0008] (3) High requirement for installation accuracy: The performance of grid antennas highly depends on the installation accuracy, and direction deviation will cause a significant decrease in signal strength. In high-vibration environments such as transmission towers, long-term use may cause the antenna to shift, affecting the communication quality.

[0009] Therefore, there is an urgent need for an antenna solution that combines high gain, low cost, strong environmental adaptability, and can dynamically adjust the beam direction to improve the communication performance and system reliability of transmission line monitoring devices. Summary of the Invention

[0010] In order to solve the above problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a high-gain reconfigurable array antenna suitable for wireless ad-hoc networks of transmission lines. The technical problems to be solved by the present invention are achieved through the following technical solutions: The present invention provides a high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to wireless ad-hoc networks for transmission lines, which includes a patch array layer, a first dielectric board, a first ground layer, a second ground layer, a second dielectric board, and a feed network layer arranged in sequence from top to bottom. Among them, the patch array layer includes a plurality of rectangular patch units arranged at equal intervals along a first direction, and a plurality of varactor diodes are arranged between at least some adjacent rectangular patch units; the first dielectric board is provided with metallized upper ground vias and upper feed vias, and the second dielectric board is provided with metallized lower feed vias; the upper ends of the upper ground vias are connected to a part of the rectangular patch units of the patch array layer, and the lower ends are connected to the first ground layer; the upper ends of the upper feed vias are connected to a part of the rectangular patch units of the patch array layer, and the lower ends pass through the first ground layer and the second ground layer and are connected to the upper ends of the lower feed vias at corresponding positions; the lower ends of the lower feed vias are connected to the feed network layer, and the feed network layer is used to integrate the input DC component and AC component to form a radiation signal, and transmit the radiation signal to the patch array layer through the lower feed vias and the upper feed vias and radiate it through the patch array layer.

[0011] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: 1. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by the present invention realizes flexible beam control by loading varactor diodes on the patch array layer, has the advantages of high flexibility and wide beam coverage range, and can meet the requirements of the monitoring antenna for beam adjustment and coverage; the antenna unit structure of the present invention is unified, and can be composed of an array larger than 4×6 through reasonable layout, achieving higher gain and beam control capabilities, and the antenna structure is concise, suitable for printed circuit board (PCB) processing, and is very easy to mass-produce. Therefore, it has good application prospects in wireless communication systems.

[0012] 2. The adjustable range of the resonant frequency of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by the present invention is 5.1 GHz to 5.9 GHz, which can cover the 5 GHz frequency band in WLAN; it has a frequency tuning range of 14.5%, and the bandwidth of each tuning state is about 3.6%; the maximum gain varies between 6.9 dBi and 8.9 dBi; the aperture efficiency at the resonant point remains between 63% and 77% under different bias voltages, indicating that it has high radiation performance in different working states. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna performs excellently in all aspects and can meet the requirements of wireless communication systems.

[0013] The following will further elaborate on the present invention in conjunction with the drawings and embodiments. Description of the Drawings

[0014] Figure 1It is a schematic diagram of the structural decomposition of a high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to wireless ad hoc networks for transmission lines provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a patch array layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of another patch array layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first dielectric plate provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a first ground layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a second ground layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a second dielectric plate provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 8 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a feed network layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 9 It is a schematic diagram of the equivalent circuit model of a varactor diode loaded on the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 10 It is a schematic diagram of the variation of the equivalent circuit parameters of a varactor diode loaded on the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention with voltage; Figure 11 It is a graph of the reflection coefficient of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention at different bias voltages in the frequency reconfigurable mode; Figure 12 It is a graph of the gain curve and aperture efficiency of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention at different bias voltages in the frequency reconfigurable mode; Figure 13 It is a graph of the relationship between the gain and resonant frequency and the bias voltage of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention in the frequency reconfigurable mode; Figure 14 It is a 1D far-field gain map of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention at different bias voltages in the frequency reconfigurable mode; Figure 15 It is a graph of the change in the port reflection coefficient of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention at different bias voltages at a working frequency of 5.5 GHz in the beam reconfigurable mode; Figure 16 It is a 1D far-field gain map of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by an embodiment of the present invention at different bias voltages at a working frequency of 5.5 GHz in the beam reconfigurable mode; Figure 17It is a curve graph showing the relationship between the scanning angle, gain and frequency of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna in the beam reconfigurable mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] Description of reference numerals: 1 - Patch array layer; 11 - Rectangular patch element; 111 - Square patch element; 112 - Elongated patch element; 12 - Varactor diode; 2 - First dielectric board; 21 - Upper layer ground via; 22 - Upper layer feed via; 23 - First connection hole; 3 - First ground layer; 31 - First circular hole; 4 - Second ground layer; 41 - Second circular hole; 5 - Second dielectric board; 51 - Lower layer feed via; 52 - Second connection hole; 6 - Feed network layer; 61 - Power division network; 611 - First branch part; 612 - Second branch part; 613 - Main path part; 614 - Capacitor; 62 - First DC bias circuit; 63 - Second DC bias circuit; 64 - Patch inductor; P1 - Feed port; D1 - First DC bias port; D2 - Second DC bias port. Detailed implementation manners

[0016] In order to further elaborate on the technical means and effects adopted by the present invention to achieve the predetermined invention purpose, the following will combine the accompanying drawings and specific implementation manners to detail a high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to wireless self-organizing networks of transmission lines proposed according to the present invention.

[0017] The foregoing and other technical contents, features and effects of the present invention can be clearly presented in the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Through the description of the specific implementation manners, a more in-depth and specific understanding of the technical means and effects adopted by the present invention to achieve the predetermined purpose can be obtained. However, the attached drawings are only for reference and illustration purposes and are not used to limit the technical solution of the present invention.

[0018] It should be noted that in this article, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variant is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that an article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements, but also includes other elements not expressly listed. Without further limitation, an element defined by the statement "including a..." does not exclude the existence of another identical element in the article or device including the said element.

[0019] The object of the present invention is to optimize the structural design while maximizing the antenna gain, reduce the manufacturing cost, and improve the environmental adaptability, so as to propose a monitoring antenna for transmission towers with high gain, low profile, adjustable frequency and beam. The antenna of the present invention features high gain, adjustable beam and frequency, compact structure, low profile and high environmental adaptability, and is suitable for the self-organizing communication requirements of transmission line monitoring equipment.

[0020] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 FIG. is a schematic structural diagram of a high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to wireless self-organizing networks of transmission lines provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna includes a patch array layer 1, a first dielectric board 2, a first ground layer 3, a second ground layer 4, a second dielectric board 5, and a feeding network layer 6 arranged in sequence from top to bottom. Among them, the patch array layer 1 and the first ground layer 3 are respectively printed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the first dielectric board 2, and the second ground layer 4 and the feeding network layer 6 are respectively printed on the upper surface and the lower surface of the second dielectric board 5. The patch array layer 1, the first ground layer 3, the second ground layer 4, and the feeding network layer 6 are all made of conductive metal.

[0021] The patch array layer 1 includes a plurality of rectangular patch units 11 arranged at equal intervals along a first direction, and a plurality of varactor diodes 12 are provided between at least some adjacent rectangular patch units 11; the first dielectric board 2 is provided with metallized upper ground vias 21 and metallized upper feeding vias 22, and the second dielectric board 5 is provided with metallized lower feeding vias 51; the upper ends of the upper ground vias 21 are connected to a part of the rectangular patch units 11 in the patch array layer 1, and the lower ends are connected to the first ground layer 3; the upper ends of the upper feeding vias 22 are connected to a part of the rectangular patch units 11 in the patch array layer 1, and the lower ends pass through the first ground layer 3 and the second ground layer 4 and are connected to the upper ends of the corresponding lower feeding vias 51 at corresponding positions; the lower ends of the lower feeding vias 51 are connected to the feeding network layer 6, and the feeding network layer 6 is used to integrate the input DC component and AC component, form a radiation signal, and transmit the radiation signal to the patch array layer 1 through the lower feeding vias 51 and the upper feeding vias 22 and radiate it through the patch array layer 1.

[0022] Please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 2 FIG. is a schematic structural diagram of a patch array layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The patch array layer 1 is arranged on the upper surface of the first dielectric board 2 by printing. The patch array layer 1 includes a plurality of rectangular patch units 11 arranged at equal intervals along a first direction ( Figure 2 the x direction shown in

[0023] Further, please refer toFigure 3 , Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of another patch array layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Each rectangular patch unit 11 includes a plurality of square patch units 111 arranged at equal intervals along the second direction ( Figure 3 the y direction shown in), and an elongated patch unit 112 connected between two adjacent square patch units 111. The second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.

[0024] Preferably, the patch array layer 1 of this embodiment includes six rectangular patch units 11 arranged at equal intervals along the first direction. Each rectangular patch unit 11 includes four square patch units 111 arranged at intervals along the second direction, thus forming a square patch unit array with equal spacing in four rows and six columns (4×6). In each rectangular patch unit 11, an elongated patch unit 112 is provided between adjacent square patch units 111. The length of the elongated patch unit 112 is equal to the side length of the square patch unit 111, and the width is equal to the distance between adjacent square patch units 111. Because each rectangular patch unit 11 includes four square patch units 111 and three elongated patch units 112. A total of six rectangular patch units 11 are provided on the entire patch array layer 1, so there are a total of 24 square patch units 111 arranged in an array and 18 elongated patch units 112 arranged in an array.

[0025] That is to say, in each column of the 4×6 square patch units 111, the gap between the upper and lower square patch units 111 is filled by an elongated patch unit 112, so that there is no gap between the square patch units 111 on both sides and the middle elongated patch unit 112. Among them, the upper side line of the elongated patch unit 112 is exactly connected to the lower side line of the upper square patch unit 111, and the lower side line of the elongated patch unit 112 is exactly connected to the upper side line of the lower square patch unit 111. The elongated patch unit 112 is located between two adjacent square patch units 111, forming an alternating arrangement of 4 rows of square patch units 111 and 3 rows of elongated patch units 112. The square patch units 111 and the elongated patch units 112 are closely connected, arranged compactly without any gap, forming a continuous conduction path to ensure uniform current distribution on the entire strip line. While connecting the square patch units 111, the elongated patch unit 112 plays a role in adjusting the current path and resonance frequency, optimizing the current distribution, reducing the parasitic effect, and enhancing the radiation efficiency of the antenna.

[0026] Further, for the 4×6 square patch unit array of the patch array layer 1 in this embodiment, a varactor diode 12 is respectively connected between the right side lines of the four square patch units 111 in the first column and the left side lines of the four square patch units 111 in the second column. A varactor diode 12 is respectively connected between the four square patch units 111 in the second column and the four square patch units 111 in the third column. A varactor diode 12 is respectively connected between the four square patch units 111 in the fourth column and the four square patch units 111 in the fifth column. Similarly, four varactor diodes 12 are connected between the fifth column and the sixth column in the same way.

[0027] Specifically, taking the first column and the second column as an example, a varactor diode 12 is connected between the midpoint of the right side line of the first square patch unit 111 among the four square patch units 111 in the first column and the midpoint of the left side line of the first square patch unit 111 in the second column; a varactor diode 12 is connected between the midpoint of the right side line of the second square patch unit 111 in the first column and the midpoint of the left side line of the second square patch unit 111 in the second column; a varactor diode 12 is connected between the midpoint of the right side line of the third square patch unit 111 in the first column and the midpoint of the left side line of the third square patch unit 111 in the second column; a varactor diode 12 is connected between the midpoint of the right side line of the fourth square patch unit 111 in the first column and the midpoint of the left side line of the fourth square patch unit 111 in the second column. In summary, four varactor diodes 12 are equidistantly arranged between the square patch units 111 in the first column and the square patch units 111 in the second column.

[0028] Similarly, four varactor diodes 12 are equidistantly arranged between the square patch units 111 in the second column and the square patch units 111 in the third column; four varactor diodes 12 are equidistantly arranged between the square patch units 111 in the fourth column and the square patch units 111 in the fifth column; four varactor diodes 12 are equidistantly arranged between the square patch units 111 in the fifth column and the square patch units 111 in the sixth column. There are a total of 16 varactor diodes 12 on the entire patch array layer 1, and the specific connection method is the same as the connection method between the first column and the second column, which will not be elaborated here.

[0029] Further, please refer to Figure 4 and Figure 7 , Figure 4 which is a schematic structural diagram of a first dielectric plate provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7It is a schematic structural diagram of a second dielectric plate provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The first dielectric plate 2 is provided with metallized upper ground vias 21 and metallized upper feed vias 22. The second dielectric plate 5 is provided with metallized lower feed vias 51. Among them, the top end of the upper ground via 21 is connected to a preset position of the patch array layer 1, and the bottom end of the upper ground via 21 is connected to the first ground layer 3. The top end of the upper feed via 22 is connected to a preset position of the patch array layer 1, and the bottom end of the upper feed via 22 passes through the first ground layer 3 and the second ground layer 4 and is connected to the lower feed via 51 at the corresponding position on the second dielectric plate 5. The bottom end of the lower feed via 51 is connected to the feed network layer 6.

[0030] As Figure 4 shown, the first dielectric plate 2 of this embodiment includes four columns of upper ground vias 21 and two columns of upper feed vias 22. Among them, each column of upper ground vias 21 includes four upper ground vias 21 arranged at equal intervals along the second direction, and each column of upper feed vias 22 includes four upper feed vias 22 arranged at equal intervals along the second direction. The upper ends of the four upper ground vias 21 in the first column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units 111 in the first column. Specifically, the upper end of the first upper ground via 21 in the first column is connected to the first square patch unit 111 in the first column, the upper end of the second upper ground via 21 in the first column is connected to the second square patch unit 111 in the first column, the upper end of the third upper ground via 21 in the first column is connected to the third square patch unit 111 in the first column, and the upper end of the fourth upper ground via 21 in the first column is connected to the fourth square patch unit 111 in the first column.

[0031] Similarly, the upper ends of the four upper ground vias 21 in the second column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units 111 in the third column, the upper ends of the four upper ground vias 21 in the third column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units 111 in the fourth column, and the upper ends of the four upper ground vias 21 in the fourth column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units 111 in the sixth column; the upper ends of the four upper feed vias 22 in the first column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units 111 in the second column, and the upper ends of the four upper feed vias 22 in the second column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units 111 in the fifth column.

[0032] The upper ground vias 21 and upper feed vias 22 on the first dielectric plate 2 are connected to the square patch unit 111, and the connection points are all located at a position where the distance from the geometric center of the square patch unit 111 to the left along the first direction is N, as Figure 3As shown. The square patch units 111 in the second column and the fifth column from left to right are connected to the upper-layer feeding vias 22. This part of the square patch units 111 obtains energy from the feeding network layer 6, and then the energy will be radiated into the air to generate a resonance point. The square patch units 111 in the first column, the third column, the fourth column, and the sixth column from left to right are connected to the upper-layer grounding vias 21.

[0033] In addition, the thicknesses of both the first dielectric plate 2 and the second dielectric plate 5 are 0.8 mm. The materials of both the first dielectric plate 2 and the second dielectric plate 5 are FR4, with a relative dielectric constant of 4.6 and a dielectric loss of 0.011.

[0034] Furthermore, please refer to Figure 5 and Figure 6 , Figure 5 which is a schematic structural diagram of a first grounding layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 6 which is a schematic structural diagram of a second grounding layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention. As Figure 5 shown, the lower ends of the four columns of upper-layer grounding vias 21 on the first dielectric plate 2 are all connected to the first grounding layer 3, and a plurality of first circular holes 31 are further provided on the first grounding layer 3 for the lower ends of the two columns of upper-layer feeding vias 22 on the first dielectric plate 2 to pass through. Specifically, the number and arrangement of the first circular holes 31 on the first grounding layer 3 are the same as those of the upper-layer feeding vias 22 on the first dielectric plate 2, and a first circular hole 31 is opened on the first grounding layer 3 directly below each upper-layer feeding via 22, so that the lower end of the upper-layer feeding via 22 at the corresponding position can pass through a first circular hole 31.

[0035] Similarly, as Figure 6 shown, a plurality of second circular holes 41 are provided on the second grounding layer 4 for the lower ends of the two columns of upper-layer feeding vias 22 on the first dielectric plate 2 to pass through. The number and arrangement of the second circular holes 41 on the second grounding layer 4 are the same as those of the upper-layer feeding vias 22 on the first dielectric plate 2, and correspondingly, the same as those of the first circular holes 31 on the first grounding layer 3. Specifically, a second circular hole 41 is opened on the second grounding layer 4 directly below each first circular hole 31 on the first grounding layer 3, so that the lower end of the upper-layer feeding via 22 at the corresponding position passes through the first circular hole 31 and the second circular hole 41 in sequence. Both the first grounding layer 3 and the second grounding layer 4 are grounded conductive planes. The first grounding layer 3 and the second grounding layer 4 of this embodiment are closely attached to each other and are used for grounding during specific use. Preferably, the thicknesses of both the first grounding layer 3 and the second grounding layer 4 are 0.035 mm.

[0036] Further, the diameters of the first circular hole 31 and the second circular hole 41 are slightly larger than the diameter of the upper-layer feeding via 22, so as to ensure that when the upper-layer feeding via 22 passes through the first circular hole 31 and the second circular hole 41, the upper-layer feeding via 22 is electrically insulated from the first grounding layer 3 and the second grounding layer 4. Preferably, the diameters of the first circular hole 31 and the second circular hole 41 are equal, and both are 0.2 mm larger than the diameter of the upper-layer feeding via 22.

[0037] Continue to refer to Figure 4 and Figure 7 As shown in, a first connection hole 23 is respectively formed at four corners of the first dielectric plate 2 of this embodiment, and a second connection hole 52 is respectively formed at four corners of the second dielectric plate 5. Among them, the positions of the first connection hole 23 and the second connection hole 52 at corresponding corners overlap up and down, and nylon studs are respectively passed through the first connection hole 23 and the second connection hole 52 at the same position (the same corner) to fix the first dielectric plate 2 and the second dielectric plate 5 together. The diameter of the nylon stud is slightly smaller than the aperture diameters of the first connection hole 23 and the second connection hole 52 to achieve a tight fixation. Preferably, the diameters of the first connection hole 23 and the second connection hole 52 are equal, and the diameter of the nylon stud is 0.1 mm smaller than the diameters of the first connection hole 23 and the second connection hole 52.

[0038] Please refer to Figure 8 , Figure 8It is a schematic structural diagram of a power feeding network layer provided by an embodiment of the present invention. The power feeding network layer 6 of this embodiment is arranged on the lower surface of the second dielectric plate 5 by printing. The power feeding network layer 6 includes a power dividing network 61, a first DC bias circuit 62, a second DC bias circuit 63, a plurality of chip inductors 64, a power feeding port P1, a first DC bias port D1, and a second DC bias port D2. Among them, the power dividing network 61 is matched by using two sections of quarter-wavelength microstrip stubs, and the ends of the microstrip stubs are respectively connected to the lower-layer power feeding vias 51 at corresponding positions in the second dielectric plate 5 to form 8 power feeding excitation ports. One end of the chip inductor 64 is connected to the 8 power feeding excitation ports at the end of the power dividing network 61, and the other ends of a part of the chip inductors 64 are connected to the first DC bias port D1 through the first DC bias circuit 62, and the other ends of the other part of the chip inductors 64 are connected to the second DC bias port D2 through the second DC bias circuit 63. The first DC bias port D1, the second DC bias port D2, the chip inductor 64, the first DC bias circuit 62, and the second DC bias circuit 63 work together to provide a stable DC bias voltage for the varactor diodes 12 in the patch array layer 1. The first DC bias circuit 62 and the second DC bias circuit 63 respectively and independently control the varactor diodes 12 in the left half area and the right half area of the patch array layer 1. The chip inductor 64 has a high impedance characteristic, which can prevent RF signals from leaking into the DC circuit and ensure the stability of the bias voltage at the same time. Preferably, the power feeding port P1 is an SMA connector (SubMiniature version A connector, ultra-small type A connector), and both the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 are XH2.54mm pin headers.

[0039] Furthermore, the power dividing network 61 of this embodiment includes a main path part 613, a first branch part 611, a second branch part 612, and two capacitors 614. Among them, the first branch part 611 and the second branch part 612 adopt two sections of quarter-wavelength microstrip stubs. The first end of the main path part 613 is connected to the power feeding port P1, and the second end is respectively connected to the first branch part 611 or the second branch part 612 through a capacitor 614. Each stub of the first branch part 611 and the second branch part 612 is respectively connected to the lower-layer power feeding via 51 at the corresponding position in the second dielectric plate 5. The two capacitors 614 are used to prevent the DC components on the first DC bias circuit 62 and the second DC bias circuit 63 from affecting each other.

[0040] Preferably, the inductance value of the chip inductor 64 is 22 nH, and the capacitance value of the capacitor 614 is 10 pF.

[0041] During actual use, an AC component is input through the feeding port P1 of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna, and a DC component is input through the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 respectively. The AC component is equally divided into two parts by the power splitting network 61, and is superimposed with the two DC components respectively to form two final radiation signals. The two radiation signals are transmitted to the top patch array layer 1 through the lower-layer feeding vias 51 on the second dielectric plate 5 and the upper-layer feeding vias 22 on the first dielectric plate 2, and are radiated into the air by the patch array layer 1. The patch array layer 1 is responsible for radiating the signal into the air, and the feeding network layer 6 is responsible for integrating the DC signal and the AC signal.

[0042] In this embodiment, the model of the varactor diode 12 is selected as SMV1430-040LF. Please refer to Figure 9 , Figure 9 which is a schematic diagram of the equivalent circuit model of the varactor diode loaded on the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention, including the equivalent circuit model of the varactor diode body (left side) and the simplified equivalent circuit model of the varactor diode (right side). The circuit parameters of its simplified equivalent circuit model change with the reverse bias voltage. Among them, port1 represents port 1, port2 represents port 2, and DIODE represents a diode.

[0043] Please refer to Figure 10 , Figure 10 which is a schematic diagram of the change of the equivalent circuit parameters of the varactor diode loaded on the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention with voltage. It can be seen that under the reverse bias voltage of 0 to 30V, the change range of the equivalent capacitance C of the varactor diode 12 is 0.3pF to 1.2pF, the change range of the equivalent resistance R is 1 to 2.5Ω, and the equivalent inductance L is constant at 0.4nH.

[0044] In this embodiment, the other structural dimensions are shown in the following table:

[0045] Among them, P represents the side length of the square patch unit 111, d represents the gap width between adjacent square patch units 111, and N represents the distance by which the upper-layer grounding via 21 or the upper-layer feeding via 22 connected to the square patch unit 111 is offset from the center along the first direction, as Figure 3 shown.

[0046] Next, the technical effects of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail in combination with simulations.

[0047] Use the full-wave electromagnetic simulation software CST 2024 to simulate and calculate the performance of the above embodiments in the frequency reconfigurable mode and the beam reconfigurable mode. Denote the voltages set at the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 as v1 and v2 respectively. By setting the same or different bias voltages at the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2, the array antenna of the present invention can be made to operate in the frequency reconfigurable mode or the beam reconfigurable mode respectively. In the frequency reconfigurable mode, the bias voltages of the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 are the same; the beam direction remains unchanged, and the operating frequency band can be flexibly adjusted. In the beam reconfigurable mode, the bias voltages of the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 are different, and both the beam direction and the operating frequency band can be flexibly adjusted.

[0048] Please refer to Figure 11 , Figure 11 Figure 7 is the reflection coefficient curve of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention at different bias voltages in the frequency reconfigurable mode. In the frequency reconfigurable mode, the voltages of the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 are the same. When the bias voltages of the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 vary in the range of 4V to 30V, the resonant frequency of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna can be flexibly adjusted in the range of 5.15 GHz to 5.85 GHz, showing good frequency tunability.

[0049] Please refer to Figure 12 , Figure 12 Figure 8 is the gain curve and aperture efficiency curve of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention at different bias voltages in the frequency reconfigurable mode. As shown in Figure 12 Figure 8, under different bias voltage conditions, the operating frequency of the array antenna shows obvious tunable characteristics. When the DC bias voltage increases from 4V to 30V, the maximum achievable gain increases from 6.9 dBi to 8.9 dBi, and the aperture efficiency remains between 63% and 77%, indicating that the ohmic loss decreases with the increase of the voltage.

[0050] Please refer to Figure 13 , Figure 13 Figure 9 is the relationship curve of the gain and resonant frequency of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention in the frequency reconfigurable mode with the bias voltage. As shown in Figure 13As shown, under different bias voltage conditions, the frequency of the array antenna exhibits obvious tunable characteristics. As the bias voltage of the DC bias port increases from 3V to 30V, the resonant frequency of the array antenna moves from 5.12GHz to 5.85GHz, and the maximum achievable gain varies between 6.9dBi and 8.9dBi. In addition, the aperture efficiency of the resonant point of the array antenna remains between 63% and 77% under different bias voltages, indicating that it has high radiation performance under different operating conditions.

[0051] Please refer to Figure 14 , Figure 14 Figure 7 is the port reflection coefficient diagram of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention under different bias voltages in the beam reconfigurable mode. It can be seen from the figure that the 1D far-field gain distribution characteristics of the array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention under different bias voltage conditions. When the bias voltages of the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 are 4V (5.2GHz), 10V (5.5GHz), 20V (5.8GHz), and 30V (5.9GHz) respectively, the radiation pattern of the array antenna presents good directivity characteristics. When the bias voltages of the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2 are the same, the main lobe direction of the array antenna always remains stable, and the maximum radiation direction remains near the normal direction.

[0052] Please refer to Figure 15 , Figure 15 Figure 8 is the port reflection coefficient diagram of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention under different bias voltages at the operating frequency of 5.5GHz in the beam reconfigurable mode. As Figure 15 shown, in the beam reconfigurable mode, when changing different DC bias voltages, the S11≤-10dB relative bandwidth remains at about 200MHz, and 5.5GHz remains within the operating frequency band.

[0053] Please refer to Figure 16 , Figure 16 Figure 9 is the 1D far-field gain diagram of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention under different bias voltages at the operating frequency of 5.5GHz in the beam reconfigurable mode. As Figure 16 shown, at the operating frequency of 5.5GHz, by setting different DC bias voltages, the beam direction can be changed from -15° to +15°.

[0054] Please refer to Figure 17 , Figure 17 Figure 10 is the relationship curve diagram of the scanning angle, gain and frequency of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the embodiment of the present invention in the beam reconfigurable mode. The beam deflection angle of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna in the beam reconfigurable mode is 9°~16° within 5.1GHz~5.9GHz, and the gain is 6.46dB~8.12dB.

[0055] The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna structure proposed by the present invention is unified, making it easier to form larger arrays. Moreover, by adjusting the bias voltages of the DC bias ports (the first DC bias port D1 and the second DC bias port D2), a higher operating frequency range can be obtained. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna structure of the present invention is simpler, involves fewer components, reduces the difficulty of manufacturing and assembly, and has better environmental adaptability in harsh space environments. As can be seen from the above, the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna of the present invention has the characteristics of high gain, high aperture efficiency, simple structure, easy processing and debugging, wide beam coverage range, and high flexibility.

[0056] The tunable range of the resonant frequency of the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by the present invention is 5.1 GHz to 5.9 GHz, which can cover the 5 GHz band in WLAN; it has a frequency tuning range of 14.5%, and the bandwidth of each tuning state is about 3.6%; the maximum gain varies between 6.9 dBi and 8.9 dBi; the aperture efficiency at the resonant point remains between 63% and 77% under different bias voltages, indicating that it has high radiation performance in different operating states. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna performs excellently in all aspects and can meet the requirements of wireless communication systems.

[0057] In addition, the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna provided by the present invention realizes flexible beam control by loading varactor diodes, has the advantages of high flexibility and wide beam coverage range, and can meet the requirements of monitoring antennas for beam adjustment and coverage; the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna structure of the present invention is unified, and larger arrays than 4×6 can be formed through reasonable layout to achieve higher gain and beam control capabilities, and the structure is concise, suitable for printed circuit board (PCB) processing, and very easy to mass-produce. Therefore, it has good application prospects in wireless communication systems.

[0058] In several embodiments provided by the present invention, it should be understood that the devices and methods disclosed by the present invention can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the division of the modules is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple modules or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed.

[0059] In addition, each functional module in various embodiments of the present invention can be integrated in a processing module, or each module can exist physically alone, or two or more modules can be integrated in one module. The above integrated modules can be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of a combination of hardware and software functional modules.

[0060] The above content is a further detailed description of the present invention in combination with specific preferred embodiments. It cannot be determined that the specific implementation of the present invention is only limited to these descriptions. For those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains, without departing from the concept of the present invention, several simple deductions or substitutions can still be made, and all should be regarded as belonging to the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to wireless ad hoc networks of transmission lines, characterized in that, It includes a patch array layer (1), a first dielectric plate (2), a first ground layer (3), a second ground layer (4), a second dielectric plate (5), and a feeding network layer (6) arranged successively from top to bottom. Among them, the patch array layer (1) includes a plurality of rectangular patch units (11) arranged at equal intervals along a first direction, and a plurality of varactor diodes (12) are arranged between at least some adjacent rectangular patch units (11); on the first dielectric plate (2), there are metallized upper ground vias (21) and metallized upper feeding vias (22), and on the second dielectric plate (5), there are metallized lower feeding vias (51); the upper ends of the upper ground vias (21) are connected to a part of the rectangular patch units (11) of the patch array layer (1), and the lower ends are connected to the first ground layer (3); the upper ends of the upper feeding vias (22) are connected to a part of the rectangular patch units (11) of the patch array layer (1), and the lower ends pass through the first ground layer (3) and the second ground layer (4) and are connected to the upper ends of the lower feeding vias (51) at corresponding positions; the lower ends of the lower feeding vias (51) are connected to the feeding network layer (6), and the feeding network layer (6) is used to integrate the input DC component and AC component to form a radiation signal, and transmit the radiation signal to the patch array layer (1) through the lower feeding vias (51) and the upper feeding vias (22) and radiate it through the patch array layer (1).

2. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad-hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 1, wherein Each rectangular patch unit (11) includes a plurality of square patch units (111) arranged successively along a second direction and an elongated patch unit (112) connected between two adjacent square patch units (111). Among them, the length of the elongated patch unit (112) is equal to the side length of the square patch unit (111), the width of the elongated patch unit (112) is equal to the spacing between adjacent square patch units (111), and the second direction is perpendicular to the first direction.

3. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 2, wherein the patch array layer (1) includes six rectangular patch units (11) arranged at equal intervals along the first direction, and each rectangular patch unit (11) includes four square patch units (111) arranged at equal intervals along the second direction, thus forming a square patch unit array of four rows and six columns. One elongated patch unit (112) is arranged between adjacent square patch units (111) in each rectangular patch unit (11). Among them, For the four-row and six-column square patch unit array, a varactor diode (12) is connected between each square patch unit (111) in the first column and the corresponding square patch unit (111) in the second column, a varactor diode (12) is connected between each square patch unit (111) in the second column and the corresponding square patch unit (111) in the third column, a varactor diode (12) is connected between each square patch unit (111) in the fourth column and the corresponding square patch unit (111) in the fifth column, and a varactor diode (12) is connected between each square patch unit (111) in the fifth column and the corresponding square patch unit (111) in the sixth column.

4. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad-hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 3, characterized in that, Four columns of metallized upper ground vias (21) and two columns of metallized upper feed vias (22) are provided on the first dielectric substrate (2), wherein each column of upper ground vias (21) includes four upper ground vias (21) arranged at equal intervals along the second direction, and each column of upper feed vias (22) includes four upper feed vias (22) arranged at equal intervals along the second direction; the upper ends of the four upper ground vias (21) in the first column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units (111) in the first column of the four-row and six-column square patch unit array, and the upper ends of the four upper ground vias (21) in the second column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units (111) in the third column of the four-row and six-column square patch unit array; the upper ends of the four upper ground vias (21) in the third column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units (111) in the fourth column of the four-row and six-column square patch unit array; the upper ends of the four upper ground vias (21) in the fourth column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units (111) in the sixth column of the four-row and six-column square patch unit array; the upper ends of the four upper feed vias (22) in the first column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units (111) in the second column of the four-row and six-column square patch unit array, and the upper ends of the four upper feed vias (22) in the second column are respectively connected to one of the four square patch units (111) in the fifth column of the four-row and six-column square patch unit array.

5. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 1, wherein A plurality of first circular holes (31) are provided on the first ground layer (3), and the number of the first circular holes (31) is the same as the number of the upper feed vias (22) on the first dielectric substrate (2). A first circular hole (31) is respectively formed on the first ground layer (3) directly below each upper feed via (22), so that the lower end of the upper feed via (22) at the corresponding position on the first dielectric substrate (2) can pass through the first circular hole (31); A plurality of second circular holes (41) are provided on the second grounding layer (4). The number of the second circular holes (41) is the same as the number of the upper-layer feed-through vias (22) on the first dielectric plate (2). Moreover, the position distribution of the second circular holes (41) on the second grounding layer (4) is the same as the position distribution of the first circular holes (31) on the first grounding layer (3), so that the lower ends of the upper-layer feed-through vias (22) at corresponding positions can sequentially pass through the first circular holes (31) and the second circular holes (41).

6. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad-hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 5, wherein The diameters of the first circular holes (31) and the second circular holes (41) are larger than the diameter of the upper-layer feed-through via (22), so as to ensure that when the upper-layer feed-through via (22) passes through the first circular hole (31) and the second circular hole (41), the upper-layer feed-through via (22) maintains electrical insulation from the first grounding layer (3) and the second grounding layer (4).

7. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad-hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 1, wherein One first connection hole (23) is respectively formed at four corners of the first dielectric plate (2), and one second connection hole (52) is respectively formed at four corners of the second dielectric plate (5), wherein, the positions of the first connection holes (23) and the second connection holes (52) at corresponding corners overlap vertically, so as to use nylon studs to pass through the first connection holes (23) and the second connection holes (52) at the same position to fix the first dielectric plate (2) and the second dielectric plate (5) to each other.

8. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad-hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 1, characterized in that The feed network layer (6) includes a power division network (61), a first DC bias circuit (62), a second DC bias circuit (63), a plurality of chip inductors (64), a feed port (P1), a first DC bias port (D1), and a second DC bias port (D2), wherein, the power division network (61) is matched by using two quarter-wavelength microstrip stubs. The ends of the microstrip stubs are respectively connected to the lower ends of the lower-layer feed-through vias (51) at corresponding positions in the second dielectric plate (5) to form eight feed excitation ports at the end of the power division network (61); One end of each of the plurality of chip inductors (64) is connected to the eight feed excitation ports at the end of the power division network (61), and the other ends of a part of the plurality of chip inductors (64) are connected to the first DC bias port (D1) through the first DC bias circuit (62), and the other ends of the other part of the plurality of chip inductors (64) are connected to the second DC bias port (D2) through the second DC bias circuit (63).

9. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad-hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 8, wherein The power division network (61) includes a main path part (613), a first branch part (611), a second branch part (612), and two capacitors (614), wherein, The first branch portion (611) and the second branch portion (612) adopt two quarter-wavelength microstrip stubs. The first end of the main path portion (613) is connected to the feeding port (P1), and the second end is respectively connected to the first branch portion (611) or the second branch portion (612) through a capacitor (614). Each stub of the first branch portion (611) and the second branch portion (612) is respectively connected to the lower-layer feeding via hole (51) at the corresponding position in the second dielectric plate (5).

10. The high-gain reconfigurable array antenna applicable to the wireless ad-hoc network of transmission lines according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that The first DC bias port (D1) and the second DC bias port (D2) respectively input DC components, and the feeding port (P1) is used to input AC components; When the DC components input by the first DC bias port (D1) and the second DC bias port (D2) are the same, the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna operates in the frequency reconfigurable mode; When the DC components input by the first DC bias port (D1) and the second DC bias port (D2) are different, the high-gain reconfigurable array antenna operates in the beam reconfigurable mode.

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