Active phased-array antenna based on packaged antenna unit

Abstract

The invention discloses an active phased-array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit, which comprises a first PCB, a second PCB and a third PCB which are sequentially stacked, a beam forming chip is surface-mounted on the lower surface of the first PCB, the packaged antenna unit comprising an antenna radio frequency feeder line is surface-mounted on the upper surface of the first PCB, and the antenna radio frequency feeder line is arranged on the second PCB. A serial port control line and a power supply line of the beam forming chip are arranged on the inner layer of the first PCB; the first PCB and the second PCB are supported through a supporting piece, and the second PCB and the third PCB are supported through a supporting piece. The second PCB and the third PCB are single-sided boards, an antenna radiation metal patch is printed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the second PCB, and an antenna parasitic metal patch is printed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the third PCB; the method has the advantages of low cost and low layout difficulty.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of antenna technology, and in particular to an active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit. Background Art

[0002] Phased array antenna technology typically utilizes large-scale array elements and independent RF front-ends. Dynamic beam pointing adjustment is achieved through electronic scanning, eliminating mechanical moving parts and significantly improving response speed and reliability. With the rapid development of satellite communications, automotive radar, and millimeter-wave imaging, operating frequencies are primarily in the millimeter-wave bands, such as Ku, Ka, and 77 GHz. Higher operating frequencies correspond to shorter wavelengths, which in turn reduces antenna size. Therefore, the antenna array of millimeter-wave phased array antennas is typically fabricated using multi-layer PCB technology. Surface-mounted multi-function chips, RF front-end components, and other components form an integrated active phased array antenna system, demonstrating a high level of integration and a relatively mature process. The RF components involved in a millimeter-wave active phased array antenna system include passive RF antennas, passive RF feeders, active amplitude-phase multifunction chips, and active RF front-end chips. Multi-layer PCB fabrication primarily involves two components: 1) the RF passive antenna and feeders, which require high-frequency laminates; 2) the RF circuitry, such as the amplitude-phase multifunction chips and RF front-end chips, which primarily house power supply and control circuits, are typically fabricated using high-speed laminates. The millimeter-wave phased array antenna system is relatively complex, and its active array surface has relatively more layers, usually involving blind and buried vias and multiple laminations, which require the use of HDI technology.

[0003] The existing millimeter-wave active phased array antenna elements have a small spacing, and the antenna array surface and the multi-function board cannot be interconnected using traditional RF connectors. Instead, a multi-layer PCB structure integrating the antenna array surface and the multi-function board is often used. For example, Chinese Patent Publication No. CN119764876A discloses a packaged antenna and antenna array based on three-dimensional stacking technology. Its main disadvantages are: 1) The PCB processing of the antenna array surface involves the design of two parts: the RF antenna and the RF circuit. The PCB boards used are usually high-frequency boards and high-speed boards. If high-frequency boards are used, the design of the RF antenna and the RF circuit can be taken into account, but the cost of high-frequency boards is much higher than that of high-speed boards; if high-speed boards are used, the cost can be reduced, but the electric loss tangent of the high-speed boards is usually larger, which will affect the radiation efficiency of the RF antenna; if a mixture of high-frequency and high-speed boards is used, the cost is compromised, but the thermal expansion coefficients of different boards are different, which will affect the reliability of the multi-layer PCB. 2) The design of millimeter-wave active phased array antennas includes antenna design, amplitude and phase multifunctional chips, and the power supply and control circuit design of the RF front end. The array surface has a large number of RF feed lines, control lines, and power lines. The layout is very difficult under limited space conditions. Usually, the number of processing layers of the PCB board needs to be greater than 10. In the case of a large number of layers, the connection properties between each layer include power hole metal, control hole metal, antenna feed metal hole, and short-circuit metal hole. Multi-stage holes and blind buried vias are inevitable, and the number of PCB pressing times will also increase. More advanced HDI processes are required for implementation, which will result in relatively high processing cycles and costs. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is that the layout of the active phased array antenna in the prior art is difficult and costly.

[0005] The present invention solves the above technical problems by the following technical means: an active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit, comprising a first PCB board (1), a second PCB board (2) and a third PCB board (3) stacked in sequence; a beamforming chip (4) is surface-mounted on the lower surface of the first PCB board (1); a packaged antenna unit (5) including an antenna radio frequency feeder is surface-mounted on the upper surface of the first PCB board (1); a serial port control line and a power supply line of the beamforming chip (4) are arranged on the inner layer of the first PCB board (1); the first PCB board (1) and the second PCB board (2) and the second PCB board (2) and the third PCB board (3) are supported by a support member (6); the second PCB board (2) and the third PCB board are both single-sided boards; an antenna radiation metal patch (21) is printed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the second PCB board (2), and an antenna parasitic metal patch (31) is printed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the third PCB board (3).

[0006] The antenna radiation metal patch layer and the antenna parasitic metal patch layer of the single-layer PCB board structure of the present invention reduce the number of layers of the packaged antenna unit, which can reduce processing costs. The packaged antenna unit only includes the antenna RF feeder part that occupies a smaller area, which greatly simplifies the layout difficulty of the antenna array surface, reduces the number of packaging layers, and can cut out more packaged antenna units under the same package disc size, thereby reducing the individual cost of the packaged antenna unit. The structure of the beamforming chip mounted on the lower surface of the first PCB board and the packaged antenna unit mounted on the upper surface avoids the integrated mixing between the RF antenna and the first PCB board, reduces the number of layers of PCB board processing, and avoids the blind buried hole process that may occur during processing. It can effectively reduce the processing cost of the PCB board and realize the low-cost design of the entire active array.

[0007] Furthermore, the printed circuit on the upper surface of the first PCB board (1) reserves corresponding PAD positions for surface-mount soldering of the packaged antenna unit (5) according to the pin PAD layout of the packaged antenna unit (5); and the printed circuit on the lower surface of the first PCB board (1) reserves corresponding PAD positions for soldering components of the beamforming chip (4) and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip (4) according to the pin PAD layout of the beamforming chip (4).

[0008] Furthermore, the first PCB board (1) includes a plurality of PCB dielectric substrates (11), and the upper and lower surfaces of the PCB dielectric substrates (11) are both copper-clad; the PCB dielectric substrates (11) are bonded to each other by a semi-cured adhesive sheet (12) to form a multi-layer laminated structure; wherein the lower surface of the bottom PCB dielectric substrate (11) of the first PCB board (1) is a chip surface mount layer (13), and the chip surface mount layer (13) reserves corresponding PAD positions according to the pin PAD layout of the beamforming chip (4) and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip (4), for the beamforming chip (4) and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip (4). Device welding; the chip surface mount layer (13) also arranges the radio frequency main port and the radio frequency branch port to the radio frequency feed line of the package antenna unit (5); the upper surface of the topmost PCB dielectric substrate (11) of the first PCB board (1) is the package antenna surface mount layer (14), and the package antenna surface mount layer (14) reserves corresponding PAD positions according to the pin PAD layout of the package antenna unit (5); the radio frequency pin of the package antenna unit (5) is connected to the radio frequency feed line of the radio frequency branch port on the surface of the chip surface mount layer (13) through a vertical transition metal hole; the PCB dielectric substrate (11) in the middle position of the first PCB board (1) is used to arrange the serial port control line and the power supply line.

[0009] Furthermore, all PCB dielectric substrates (11) are made of FR4 board material.

[0010] Furthermore, the packaged antenna unit (5) comprises a coupling slot metal stratum (51), an antenna coupling feed line (53), and an antenna metal stratum (55); two antenna coupling slots (52) of identical structure are provided on the coupling slot metal stratum (51); the antenna coupling feed line (53) is electrically connected to an antenna feeding pad (56) provided on the antenna metal stratum (55) via a feeding metal column (54); and an antenna ground pad (57) is also provided on the antenna metal stratum (55) via a solder resist window.

[0011] Furthermore, the packaged antenna unit (5) further includes a radio frequency front-end chip (58); the antenna coupling feed line (53) is connected to the input / output port of the radio frequency front-end chip (58) via a feed metal column (54); the input / output port of the radio frequency front-end chip (58) is connected to the antenna feed pad (56) via a microstrip transmission line (59) and the feed metal column (54); and the power supply control port of the radio frequency front-end chip (58) is interconnected with the first PCB board (1) via some pins in the antenna ground pad (57).

[0012] Furthermore, the radio frequency front-end chip (58) is one of a bridge, a coupler, a power splitter, a duplexer, a low noise amplifier or a power amplifier.

[0013] Furthermore, the second PCB board (2) and the third PCB board are both manufactured using PCB processing technology.

[0014] Furthermore, the packaged antenna unit (5) adopts a three-dimensional plastic packaging process.

[0015] Furthermore, the material of the support member (6) is plastic.

[0016] The advantages of the present invention are:

[0017] (1) The antenna radiation metal patch layer and the antenna parasitic metal patch layer of the single-layer PCB board structure of the present invention reduce the number of layers of the packaged antenna unit, which can reduce the processing cost. The packaged antenna unit only contains the antenna RF feeder part with a smaller area, which greatly simplifies the layout difficulty of the antenna array surface, reduces the number of packaging layers, and can cut out more packaged antenna units under the same package disc size, thereby reducing the individual cost of the packaged antenna unit. The structure of the beamforming chip mounted on the lower surface of the first PCB board and the packaged antenna unit mounted on the upper surface avoids the integrated mixing between the RF antenna and the first PCB board, reduces the number of layers of PCB board processing, and avoids the blind buried hole process that may occur during processing. It can effectively reduce the processing cost of the PCB board and realize the low-cost design of the entire active array.

[0018] (2) Most of the RF feed lines, control lines, and power lines of the present invention are arranged on the PCB board. The antenna array does not involve the layout of a large number of RF feed lines, control lines, and power lines, which greatly reduces the difficulty of layout under limited space conditions. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 A schematic structural diagram of an active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a structural schematic diagram of a first PCB board in an active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 3 A specific example of a packaged antenna unit in an active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention;

[0022] Figure 4 This is another specific example of a packaged antenna unit in an active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention more clear, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field based on the embodiments of the present invention without making any creative efforts shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0024] Example 1

[0025] like Figure 1Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the basic architecture of an active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit. Embodiment 1 of the present invention provides an active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit. The antenna comprises, from bottom to top, a multifunctional PCB 1 (also known as a first PCB), an antenna radiation patch layer PCB 2 (also known as a second PCB), a parasitic matching layer PCB 3 (also known as a third PCB), a beamforming chip 4, a packaged antenna unit 5, and a support member 6. The support member 6 is a plastic support member. The multifunctional PCB 1 has a beamforming chip 4 mounted on its bottom surface, and a packaged antenna unit 5, including an antenna RF feeder, mounted on its top surface. The internal layers of the multifunctional PCB 1 house the serial control and power supply lines for the beamforming chip 4. Support members 6 support the multifunctional PCB 1 and the antenna radiating patch layer PCB 2, as well as the parasitic matching layer PCB 3. Both the antenna radiating patch layer PCB 2 and the parasitic matching layer PCB 3 are single-sided boards. Antenna radiating metal patches 21 are printed on the top or bottom surface of the antenna radiating patch layer PCB 2, and antenna parasitic metal patches 31 are printed on the top or bottom surface of the parasitic matching layer PCB 3. This active phased array can be a one-dimensional linear array or a two-dimensional planar array. Multiple packaged antenna units 5 can be arranged in an array, and the corresponding beamforming chip 4, antenna radiating metal patches 21, antenna parasitic metal patches 31, and support members 6 can also be arranged in an array. The following details the structure of each component.

[0026] The multifunctional PCB 1 is a multilayer PCB structure, with the beamforming chip 4 surface-mounted on the bottom surface and the packaged antenna unit 5 surface-mounted on the top surface. The inner layer primarily houses the serial control lines and power supply lines for the beamforming chip 4. The printed circuit on the top surface of the multifunctional PCB 1 must be based on the pin PAD layout of the packaged antenna unit 5, with corresponding PAD positions reserved for surface-mount soldering of the packaged antenna unit 5. The bottom surface of the multifunctional PCB 1, based on the pin PAD layout of the beamforming chip 4 and its reference circuit, also reserves corresponding PAD positions for soldering the capacitors, inductors, resistors, and other components of the beamforming chip 4 and its reference circuit.

[0027] like Figure 2The figure shows the basic stacked structure of a multifunctional PCB board 1. The multifunctional PCB board 1 comprises multiple PCB dielectric substrates 11, each of which has copper cladding on its upper and lower surfaces for etching circuits. The PCB dielectric substrates 11 are bonded together by a prepreg adhesive sheet 12 to form a multifunctional PCB board 1 with a multilayer laminate structure. The bottom layer of the multifunctional PCB board 1 is a chip surface mount layer 13. Based on the pin PAD layout of the beamforming chip 4 and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip 4, corresponding PAD positions are reserved for soldering components such as the capacitors, inductors, and resistors of the beamforming chip 4 and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip 4. The chip surface mount layer 13 is then provided with a reference metal ground 15 on the upper surface of the PCB dielectric substrate 11 where the chip surface mount layer 13 is located. The chip surface mount layer 13 also needs to arrange the RF main port combiner and splitter, and the RF feeder from the RF branch port to the packaged antenna unit 5 according to the location of the chip's RF main port and branch port. The top layer of the multifunctional PCB board 1 is the packaged antenna surface mount layer 14. According to the pin PAD layout of the packaged antenna unit 5, corresponding PAD positions are reserved for surface mount soldering of the packaged antenna unit 5. The RF pins of the packaged antenna unit 5 are connected to the RF feeder of the RF branch port on the surface of the chip surface mount layer 13 through vertical transition metal holes. The packaged antenna surface mount layer 14 is provided with a reference metal ground 18 on the lower surface of the PCB dielectric substrate 11 where the packaged antenna surface mount layer 14 is located. The packaged antenna surface mount layer 14 can also serve as the RF metal ground of the packaged antenna unit 5; the PCB dielectric substrate 11 in the middle position of the multifunctional PCB board 1 has metal copper cladding of the power control circuit on its upper and lower surfaces, which is used to arrange the serial port control circuit 16 or the power supply circuit 17. The specific number of layers is increased or decreased according to the system requirements of the active array; the RF vertical transition, serial port control circuit 16, and power supply circuit 17 of the multifunctional PCB board 1 are all electrically connected using through holes from the packaged antenna surface mount layer 14 to the chip surface mount layer 13; all PCB dielectric substrates 11 can use low-cost high-speed board material FR4, and the stacked structure has no blind buried hole structure, which is relatively simple to process and has a low-cost advantage.

[0028] Continue reading Figure 1The entire active phased array antenna is divided into three parts, of which the packaged antenna unit 5 is manufactured using a three-dimensional plastic packaging process. Its cost is directly related to the area of ​​the individual packaged antenna unit 5 and the number of internal metal patch layers. From the perspective of cost reduction, the packaged antenna unit 5 only includes the antenna RF feeder portion, which occupies a smaller area. This reduces the number of packaging layers and allows more packaged antenna units 5 to be cut out under the same package disc size, thereby reducing the cost of each packaged antenna unit 5. The antenna's radiation patch layer and parasitic matching layer are both manufactured using PCB boards. The antenna radiation patch layer PCB board 2 and the parasitic matching layer PCB board 3 are both single-sided boards. The upper or lower surface of the antenna radiation patch layer PCB board 2 is printed with an antenna radiation metal patch 21, and the upper or lower surface of the parasitic matching layer PCB board 3 is printed with an antenna parasitic metal patch 31. The single-sided board is manufactured using PCB processing technology, which is extremely simple and has extremely low cost.

[0029] The basic structure of the packaged antenna unit 5 includes two types: pure passive structure packaging and passive structure plus RF front-end integrated active packaging; Figure 3 The figure shows an exploded structure of a purely passive structure package, which includes three metal redistribution layers, namely: a coupling slot metal layer 51, an antenna coupling feed line 53, and an antenna metal layer 55; two antenna coupling slots 52 with the same structure are arranged on the coupling slot metal layer 51; the antenna coupling feed line 53 is electrically connected to the antenna feed pad 56 arranged on the antenna metal layer 55 through a feeding metal column 54; a packaged antenna ground pad 57 is also provided on the antenna metal layer 55 through a solder resist window.

[0030] The antenna radiating metal patch 21 and the antenna parasitic metal patch 31 of the present invention are single-layer microstrip structures, with no electrical connection to other array structures, requiring physical support via plastic supports. The internal structure of the packaged antenna unit 5 comprises the antenna's RF feeder structure, and its connection to the multifunctional PCB 1 is achieved by soldering the packaged antenna unit feed pad 56 and the packaged antenna ground pad 57 at the bottom of the packaged antenna unit 5 to the pads reserved on the multifunctional surface. The antenna is manufactured using a packaging process, while the multifunctional PCB 1 is manufactured using PCB processing. These two processes are separated, preventing the antenna and multifunctional PCB from being mixed.

[0031] The multifunctional PCB board 1 is a multi-layer PCB structure, with a beamforming chip 4 mounted on the bottom surface and a packaged antenna unit 5 mounted on the top surface. The inner layer mainly contains the serial control lines and power supply lines of the beamforming chip 4. The internal connection metal holes need to include antenna feed metal holes from the top to the bottom layer (packaged antenna surface mount layer 14 to chip surface mount layer 13), connection metal holes from the internal serial control lines to the bottom (serial control circuit 16 to chip surface mount layer 13), and metal connection holes at the bottom of the internal power supply circuit (power supply circuit 17 to chip surface mount layer 13). When processing these three types of holes, they can all pass directly from the chip surface mount layer 13 to the packaged antenna surface mount layer 14. Electrical connections can be made between the chip surface mount layer 13, serial control circuit 16, and power supply circuit 17 and the packaged antenna surface mount layer 14. The entire PCB board has no blind or buried vias. The overall architecture avoids the processing of blind and buried PCB vias on the array surface, reducing processing difficulty and significantly reducing processing costs. If the antenna is processed in an integrated PCB, the antenna feeding metal holes from the top layer to the bottom layer of the PCB (the packaged antenna surface mount layer 14 to the chip surface mount layer 13) need to be connected from the antenna coupling feed line 53 to the packaged antenna surface mount layer 14, while the internal serial port control line to the connection metal hole at the bottom (the serial port control circuit 16 to the chip surface mount layer 13) and the internal power supply circuit to the metal connection hole at the bottom (the power supply circuit 17 to the chip surface mount layer 13) can only pass through from the packaged antenna surface mount layer 14 to the chip surface mount layer 13, which is a blind buried hole process. The number of PCB layers and the number of pressing times increase, the processing difficulty also increases, and the processing cost of the PCB board will also increase significantly.

[0032] The charging standard for the packaging process is directly related to the number of packaging layers, and it does not follow a linear pattern. The more layers, the more expensive it is. Secondly, the cost of the packaging process is charged once for each processed panel, not according to the number of packaged antenna units. Compared with the packaged antenna unit with antenna radiation metal patch 21 and antenna parasitic metal patch 31, the feeder part occupies a smaller area, and the package size of the single unit is also smaller. When the packaging process is used, a single panel of the same area can be cut out to produce more packaged antenna units 5, and the unit price is lower, thereby reducing the cost. If two more layers of antenna radiation metal patch 21 and antenna parasitic metal patch 31 are packaged together, the cost will increase significantly; if these two layers are single-layer boards using PCB technology, the cost price is very low. Combining the two processes and system architecture, the method of the present invention can achieve the highest cost-effectiveness and the lowest cost.

[0033] Through the above technical solution, the present invention designs the antenna as a packaged antenna unit with a chip structure similar to that of a chip through the three-dimensional plastic packaging process commonly used in chip packaging. The system architecture of the entire active phased array can be simplified to an architecture with a beamforming chip mounted on the lower surface of a multifunctional PCB board that is simple to process and extremely low in cost, and a packaged antenna unit mounted on the upper surface. This avoids the integrated mixing between the RF antenna and the multifunctional PCB board, reduces the number of layers of PCB board processing, and avoids the blind buried hole process that may occur during processing. It can effectively reduce the processing cost of the PCB board and achieve a low-cost design of the entire active array surface. In order to reduce the design cost of the packaged antenna unit, the antenna part is divided into a packaged antenna basic unit of the packaged feed line or feed line + RF front-end chip, an antenna radiation metal patch layer of a single-layer PCB board structure, and an antenna parasitic metal patch layer of a single-layer PCB board structure. Reducing the number of layers of the packaged antenna unit can reduce the processing cost. At the same time, the packaged antenna unit only contains the packaged feed line or feed line + RF front-end chip, and the area of ​​a single unit is greatly reduced. Under the same packaging disc size, more packaged antenna units can be cut out, which can further reduce the cost of the packaged antenna unit.

[0034] Example 2

[0035] The difference between the embodiment 2 of the present invention and the embodiment 1 is that the structure of the packaged antenna unit 5 is different. Figure 4 The figure shows a passive structure plus RF front-end integrated active packaging structure diagram. On the basis of the pure passive structure packaging, an RF front-end chip 58 is added, and the bare chip of the RF front-end chip 58 is integrated with the antenna in the package, wherein the antenna coupling feed line 53 is connected to the input / output port of the RF front-end chip 58 through the feed metal column 54, and the input / output port of the RF front-end chip 58 is connected to the antenna feed pad 56 through the microstrip transmission line 59 and the feed metal column 54; the power supply control port of the RF front-end chip 58 is interconnected with the control signal and power supply of the multi-functional PCB board 1 through some pins in the package antenna ground pad 57; the RF front-end chip 58 can be a device such as a bridge, a coupler, a power divider, a duplexer, a low-noise amplifier, or a power amplifier.

[0036] The working process of the packaged antenna unit 5 is mainly to drive the coupling slot metal layer 51 through the antenna coupling feed line 53 to excite the current distribution on the surface of the antenna radiation metal patch 21 to produce resonance, thereby realizing the antenna radiation metal patch 21 to receive or radiate external signals; further, an antenna parasitic metal patch 31 is added above the antenna radiation metal patch 21, and the antenna parasitic metal patch 31 can also be excited to produce resonance by the current distribution to receive or radiate external signals. The combination of the antenna radiation metal patch 21 and the antenna parasitic metal patch 31 can generate two resonant frequencies. The combination of the two resonant frequencies can expand the working bandwidth of the packaged antenna unit, so that the antenna unit can transmit and receive signals within a wide frequency band. The signal received or transmitted by the antenna unit is transmitted to the antenna feed pad 56 through the feeding metal column 54 and the microstrip transmission line 59 between the antenna radiation metal patch 21 and the radio frequency device. Figure 4 The structure compared to Figure 3 The difference is that a radio frequency front-end chip 58 is added to the signal flow inside the antenna. The antenna receives or transmits signals first through the radio frequency front-end chip 58 and then transmits or receives them externally.

[0037] Taking transmission as an example, the entire active array comprises multiple packaged antenna units 5 and multiple beamforming chips 4. A power supply circuit 17 provides the required voltage and circuitry to the beamforming chips 4, keeping them powered on. Based on the array beam's pointing requirements, the amplitude and phase information required to feed each packaged antenna unit 5 can be calculated, corresponding to the amplitude attenuation and phase shift code values ​​for each channel of the beamforming chip 4. The serial port control circuit 16 inputs this code value information to each beamforming chip 4, which then feeds the corresponding amplitude and phase information to each branch port based on the code value information. The array's RF signal is delivered to the main RF port of each chip via a combiner / splitter. The RF signal input from the main RF chip port is transmitted to the branch ports of the RF chip via the chip's internal power splitter network circuit. The amplitude and phase information of the RF signal fed to the antenna port by the branch ports of the RF chip are adjusted by the beamforming chip 4 based on the code value information. The branch ports of the RF chip are connected to the feed ports of the antenna unit via RF feed lines, radiating the RF signal through the antenna.

[0038] Taking reception as an example, the entire active array comprises multiple packaged antenna units 5 and multiple beamforming chips 4. The power supply circuit 17 provides the required voltage and circuitry to the beamforming chips 4, keeping them powered and operational. Based on the array's beam pointing requirements, the amplitude and phase information required to be fed to each packaged antenna unit 5 can be calculated. This corresponds to the code values ​​for amplitude attenuation and phase shift for each channel of the beamforming chip 4. The serial port control circuit 16 inputs this code value information to each beamforming chip 4, which then feeds the corresponding amplitude and phase information to each sub-port based on the code value information. The antenna unit receives the external RF signal and transmits it to each branch of the RF chip through the RF feeder connected to the branch of the RF chip; the beamforming chip 4 adjusts the amplitude and phase of each channel according to the code value information, and the RF chip summarizes the received RF signal to the chip's RF main port through the internal power division and synthesis network circuit according to the amplitude and phase relationship corresponding to each channel; the signals received by each chip are summarized to the RF main port of the entire array through the combiner power divider; in the synthesis process of the received signal, the direction of the incoming wave received by the array is determined by the beam pointing of the array, and the beam pointing of the array is achieved by the beamforming chip 4 adjusting the amplitude and phase of each packaged antenna unit 5.

[0039] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit the same. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. However, these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the various embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. An active phased array antenna based on a packaged antenna unit, characterized in that: The invention comprises a first PCB board (1), a second PCB board (2) and a third PCB board (3) which are sequentially stacked, a beamforming chip (4) being surface-mounted on the lower surface of the first PCB board (1), a packaged antenna unit (5) including an antenna radio frequency feeder being surface-mounted on the upper surface of the first PCB board (1), and a serial port control line and a power supply line of the beamforming chip (4) being arranged on the inner layer of the first PCB board (1); the first PCB board (1) and the second PCB board (2), as well as the second PCB board (2) and the third PCB board (3) are supported by a support member (6); the second PCB board (2) and the third PCB board are both single-sided boards, an antenna radiation metal patch (21) being printed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the second PCB board (2), and an antenna parasitic metal patch (31) being printed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the third PCB board (3).

2. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 1, characterized in that: The printed circuit on the upper surface of the first PCB board (1) reserves corresponding PAD positions for surface-mount soldering of the packaged antenna unit (5) according to the pin PAD layout of the packaged antenna unit (5); and the lower surface of the first PCB board (1) reserves corresponding PAD positions for soldering components of the beamforming chip (4) and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip (4) according to the pin PAD layout of the beamforming chip (4) and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip (4).

3. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 2, characterized in that: The first PCB board (1) comprises a plurality of PCB dielectric substrates (11), and the upper and lower surfaces of the PCB dielectric substrates (11) are both copper-clad; the PCB dielectric substrates (11) are bonded to each other via a semi-cured adhesive sheet (12) to form a multi-layer laminated structure; wherein the lower surface of the bottom PCB dielectric substrate (11) of the first PCB board (1) is a chip surface mount layer (13), and the chip surface mount layer (13) reserves corresponding PAD positions according to the pin PAD layout of the beamforming chip (4) and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip (4), for soldering components of the beamforming chip (4) and the reference circuit of the beamforming chip (4). The chip surface mount layer (13) also arranges the radio frequency main port and the radio frequency branch port to the radio frequency feed line of the package antenna unit (5); the upper surface of the topmost PCB dielectric substrate (11) of the first PCB board (1) is the package antenna surface mount layer (14), and the package antenna surface mount layer (14) reserves corresponding PAD positions according to the pin PAD layout of the package antenna unit (5); the radio frequency pin of the package antenna unit (5) is connected to the radio frequency feed line of the radio frequency branch port on the surface of the chip surface mount layer (13) through a vertical transition metal hole; the PCB dielectric substrate (11) in the middle position of the first PCB board (1) is used to arrange the serial port control line and the power supply line.

4. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 3, characterized in that: All PCB dielectric substrates (11) are made of FR4 board material.

5. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 1, characterized in that: The packaged antenna unit (5) comprises a coupling slot metal stratum (51), an antenna coupling feed line (53), and an antenna metal stratum (55); two antenna coupling slots (52) of identical structure are provided on the coupling slot metal stratum (51); the antenna coupling feed line (53) is electrically connected to an antenna feeding pad (56) provided on the antenna metal stratum (55) via a feeding metal column (54); and an antenna ground pad (57) is also provided on the antenna metal stratum (55) via a solder resist window.

6. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 5, characterized in that: The packaged antenna unit (5) also includes a radio frequency front-end chip (58); the antenna coupling feed line (53) is connected to the input / output port of the radio frequency front-end chip (58) via a feed metal column (54); the input / output port of the radio frequency front-end chip (58) is connected to the antenna feed pad (56) via a microstrip transmission line (59) and the feed metal column (54); and the power supply control port of the radio frequency front-end chip (58) is interconnected with the first PCB board (1) via some pins in the antenna ground pad (57).

7. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 6, characterized in that: The radio frequency front-end chip (58) is one of a bridge, a coupler, a power splitter, a duplexer, a low noise amplifier or a power amplifier.

8. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 1, characterized in that: The second PCB board (2) and the third PCB board are both manufactured using PCB processing technology.

9. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 1, characterized in that: The packaged antenna unit (5) adopts a three-dimensional plastic packaging process.

10. The active phased array antenna based on packaged antenna units according to claim 1, characterized in that: The material of the support member (6) is plastic.

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