Waveguide array with trapezoidal cross section
By using additive manufacturing of trapezoidal cross-section waveguide networks, the problems of compactness and weight optimization in RF waveguide networks have been solved, achieving lightweight and efficient manufacturing and increasing design freedom.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202480018174.2
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Priority Date
- 2023-03-13
- Filing Date
- 2024-03-11
- Publication Date
- 2025-10-31
AI Technical Summary
Existing RF waveguide networks are difficult to optimize for compactness, minimize weight, and fit complex geometries in additive manufacturing, and existing geometries limit design freedom.
By employing a trapezoidal cross-section waveguide network and using additive manufacturing methods, the waveguides share a common trapezoidal cross-section, reducing overhanging surfaces and optimizing space utilization and weight.
It achieves a compact, lightweight, and efficient waveguide network, reducing manufacturing time and cost, enhancing design freedom, and is suitable for additive manufacturing.
Smart Images
Figure CN120883442A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to trapezoidal cross-section waveguide networks and antenna arrays including such waveguide networks. Background Technology
[0002] Radio frequency waveguide networks are widely used in many areas of telecommunications, especially satellite telecommunications.
[0003] Constraints associated with satellite payloads limit the space and weight available for all airborne components, particularly antenna components and other passive radio frequency devices.
[0004] Additive manufacturing of such devices offers the advantages of optimizing complex geometries that occupy the space of the device and requiring very few assembly steps, thereby reducing manufacturing time and costs. However, for it to be feasible, additive manufacturing also has certain constraints, particularly regarding device geometry.
[0005] Therefore, there is a need for passive RF devices that are optimized for compactness, minimize weight, and have geometries suitable for additive manufacturing.
[0006] Alternative waveguide network geometries are also needed to provide designers with greater design freedom.
[0007] Waveguide networks typically consist of a matrix arrangement of waveguides with rectangular cross-sections or a cellular arrangement of waveguides with hexagonal cross-sections. In these arrangements, each waveguide, except for those at the array edges, shares all its walls with its adjacent waveguides. This sharing of walls reduces the array's weight and footprint.
[0008] However, additive manufacturing of waveguide networks with rectangular or hexagonal cross-sections is difficult due to the number of cantilever walls during printing.
[0009] A network of circular waveguides arranged in a matrix was also designed. In this arrangement, each waveguide shares only a very limited length of its profile with its neighboring waveguides, for example, four points. Therefore, the ratio between the surface area of the channel and the surface area of the wall is unfavorable. Summary of the Invention
[0010] One object of the present invention is to provide a waveguide network that is not subject to the limitations of the prior art.
[0011] Another object of the present invention is to provide a waveguide network that facilitates additive manufacturing.
[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a waveguide network that limits the number of assembly steps during manufacturing.
[0013] Another object of the present invention is to provide a waveguide network with optimized compactness.
[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide a waveguide network that is lighter than that of existing waveguide networks.
[0015] According to the invention, these objectives are achieved in particular by means of a waveguide network obtained through additive manufacturing, the waveguide network comprising waveguides arranged in pairs to form at least one waveguide pair, each waveguide pair comprising:
[0016] A first waveguide having a trapezoidal cross-section, wherein at least one of the angles of the trapezoidal cross-section is different from 90°; and
[0017] A second waveguide having a trapezoidal cross-section, wherein at least one of the angles of the trapezoidal cross-section is different from 90°;
[0018] The feature is that the first waveguide and the second waveguide have a common wall.
[0019] A trapezoidal shape with at least one angle other than 90° reduces or eliminates horizontal overhang surfaces during printing.
[0020] A trapezoidal cross section is the trapezoidal cross section of a waveguide channel.
[0021] In one implementation, the common wall corresponds to the small base of the trapezoidal cross-section of the first and second waveguides.
[0022] According to one implementation, the common wall corresponds to the long base of the trapezoidal cross-section of the first and second waveguides.
[0023] According to one implementation, the common wall corresponds to the side adjacent to the base of the trapezoidal cross-section of the first and second waveguides.
[0024] The first waveguide can be arranged to transmit the first polarization, and the second waveguide can be arranged to transmit the second polarization.
[0025] The first waveguide can be arranged to transmit the first polarization, and the second waveguide can be arranged to transmit the same first polarization.
[0026] According to one embodiment, the number of waveguides is greater than or equal to four to form at least two waveguide pairs, the common wall of the first pair of waveguides corresponding to the small base of the trapezoidal cross section, and the common wall of the second pair of waveguides corresponding to the long base of the trapezoidal cross section.
[0027] According to one embodiment, the number of waveguides is greater than or equal to four, and the waveguide pairs are arranged continuously in a first direction such that two consecutive pairs in the first direction have at least one common waveguide wall.
[0028] According to one embodiment, the number of waveguides is greater than or equal to four, and the waveguide pairs are arranged consecutively in a first direction and a second direction, such that two consecutive pairs in the first direction have at least one common waveguide wall, and two consecutive pairs in the second direction have at least one common waveguide wall.
[0029] According to one embodiment, at least one common waveguide wall of a consecutive pair in a first direction corresponds to the bottom of the trapezoidal section of the waveguide, and at least one common waveguide wall of a consecutive pair in a second direction corresponds to the side adjacent to the bottom of the trapezoidal section of the waveguide.
[0030] According to one embodiment, the inner walls of the first waveguide and the inner walls of the second waveguide include ridges.
[0031] According to one embodiment, the two inner walls of the first waveguide and the two inner walls of the second waveguide include ridges.
[0032] According to one embodiment, the two inner walls with ridges correspond to the bottom of the trapezoidal cross-section of the first waveguide and the second waveguide.
[0033] According to one implementation, each trapezoidal cross section is an isosceles trapezoid or a parallelogram.
[0034] According to one implementation, the waveguide network is adapted to operate as a combiner network.
[0035] These objectives are also achieved by means of a dual-polarized antenna array obtained through additive manufacturing, the dual-polarized antenna array comprising:
[0036] The waveguide network according to any one of the preceding claims
[0037] Multiple radiating elements, each coupled to the end of exactly one waveguide pair of the array.
[0038] According to one embodiment of the antenna array, the waveguide network includes at least eight waveguides, and the waveguide pairs are arranged consecutively in a first direction and a second direction, such that two consecutive pairs in the first direction have at least one common waveguide wall, and two consecutive pairs in the second direction have at least one common waveguide wall.
[0039] The present invention may also relate to a waveguide network for transmitting a single polarization, comprising a plurality of waveguide rows (or sheets), each row comprising a power combiner, a bent waveguide, and a straight segment, wherein the straight waveguides in each row have a trapezoidal cross-section, and the waveguides in each row are alternately in a first orientation and a second orientation connected end-to-end relative to the first orientation, such that each waveguide in each row shares an edge adjacent to the base of the trapezoid with its neighboring waveguides in that row. The network may comprise a plurality of rows, with the trapezoidal bases of adjacent rows being shared.
[0040] The present invention may also relate to a waveguide network for transmitting two polarizations, comprising at least one waveguide row (or sheet) for transmitting a first polarization signal and at least one second waveguide row (or sheet) for transmitting a second polarization signal. Each row includes a power combiner, a bent waveguide, and a straight segment, wherein the straight waveguides in each row have a trapezoidal cross-section, and the waveguides in each row are alternately positioned in a first orientation and a second orientation that is connected end-to-end relative to the first orientation, such that each waveguide in each row shares an edge adjacent to the trapezoidal base with its neighboring waveguides in that row. The trapezoidal bases of adjacent rows may be shared. Attached Figure Description
[0041] Examples of the invention are shown in the description illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0042] · Figure 1a and Figure 1b Two cross-sectional views of a trapezoidal waveguide pair are schematically shown.
[0043] · Figure 2a Two cross-sectional views of a waveguide array arranged in one direction are schematically shown.
[0044] · Figure 3 A cross-sectional view of a waveguide network arranged in two directions is shown schematically.
[0045] · Figure 4 A cross-sectional view of an antenna array including a waveguide network with a trapezoidal cross-section is shown.
[0046] · Figure 5 A perspective cross-sectional view of an antenna array including a waveguide network with a trapezoidal cross-section is shown.
[0047] · Figure 6 A perspective view of an antenna array including a waveguide network according to the present invention is shown. Detailed Implementation
[0048] This invention primarily relates to a waveguide network in which each waveguide has a trapezoidal cross-sectional shape, wherein at least one of the angles is different from 90°. In other words, the geometric profile obtained by intersecting the waveguide with a plane substantially perpendicular to the wave propagation direction in the waveguide is trapezoidal, i.e., a quadrilateral with at least one pair of parallel sides (called the base of the trapezoid), wherein at least one of the angles is different from 90°. The trapezoid has a small base and a long base.
[0049] A trapezoidal section having at least one angle other than 90° excludes all rectangular and square sections. However, this definition covers parallelogram sections having at least one angle other than 90°. For the remainder of this document, the term "trapezoidal section" should be understood to mean "a trapezoidal section having at least one angle other than 90°".
[0050] The waveguide network preferably comprises an even number of waveguides. The waveguides of the network can be arranged in pairs to form waveguide pairs 12. Each waveguide pair 12 includes a first waveguide 10 for propagating electromagnetic waves with a first polarization P1 and a second waveguide 11 for propagating electromagnetic waves with a second polarization P2. Thus, each waveguide pair supports two polarizations. These pairs are characterized by a common wall 100 forming them. This common wall corresponds to the base of the trapezoidal cross-section of each waveguide, or to the side adjacent to the base.
[0051] A network of the type described in this description may also be provided, but in which each waveguide transmits the same polarization.
[0052] like Figure 1a and Figure 1b As shown, the common wall 100 of the first waveguide 10 and the second waveguide 11 can correspond to the larger base or the smaller base of the trapezoidal cross-section. The common wall can also correspond to the side adjacent to the base of the trapezoidal cross-section.
[0053] exist Figure 2a and Figure 2b In the illustrated embodiment, the waveguide network 1 includes a plurality of trapezoidal cross-section waveguide pairs 12 arranged in one direction. Two consecutive pairs share at least one waveguide wall. In other words, the first pair of waveguides shares a wall with the second pair of waveguides.
[0054] exist Figure 2a In the illustrated embodiment, multiple pairs 12 consisting of waveguide pairs sharing a large base with a trapezoidal cross-section can be arranged in the X direction. Two consecutive pairs can share a common base with... Figure 2a The smaller base of the trapezoidal cross section shown corresponds to or corresponds to the larger base (not shown) of the waveguide wall.
[0055] exist Figure 2b In the illustrated embodiment, multiple pairs 12 consisting of waveguide pairs with a small or large base sharing a trapezoidal cross-section can be arranged in the Y direction. Two consecutive pairs share two waveguide walls corresponding to the side adjacent to the base of the trapezoidal cross-section.
[0056] exist Figure 3 In the implementation shown, multiple pairs 12 consisting of waveguide pairs (10, 11) sharing a trapezoidal cross-section, either with a small or large base, can be arranged in the first X direction and the second Y direction. The resulting array 1 consists of a waveguide matrix with a trapezoidal cross-section.
[0057] These arrangements, in particular, enable the creation of dense and compact waveguide networks. The trapezoidal shape of the cross-section allows for optimal space utilization by avoiding any free space between adjacent waveguides. Furthermore, sharing walls between some adjacent waveguides reduces the overall weight of the network due to the shared walls. Thus, the shared walls serve two waveguides simultaneously.
[0058] In one implementation, at least one inner wall of the waveguide is provided with a ridge. The ridge particularly allows for network miniaturization and / or facilitates the transmission of certain modes by restricting higher-order modes. The ridge can be arranged on any inner wall of the waveguide. Ridges within the same waveguide can be identical or have different geometries.
[0059] The described trapezoidal cross-section waveguide can be straight or curved. Combiners with several branches having the trapezoidal cross-section described, such as Y-shaped or H-shaped combiners, can also be provided.
[0060] exist Figure 4 In the illustrated embodiment, the waveguide of the network is provided with a plurality of ridges. In particular, the waveguide includes ridges on the smaller base of the trapezoidal cross-section and ridges on the larger base of the trapezoidal cross-section.
[0061] The walls of the grooves can be adapted to facilitate their additive manufacturing. For example, the angle between the walls of the ridges and the printing direction can be adapted to limit the cantilever portion. Alternatively or additionally, the ridges may include rounded portions to facilitate additive printing.
[0062] The present invention also relates to a dual-polarized antenna array 2 obtained by additive manufacturing, which includes a waveguide network 1 as described above and a plurality of radiating elements coupled to a waveguide pair 12.
[0063] exist Figure 5 In the illustrated embodiment, each radiating element is connected to a waveguide pair 12 to transmit or receive dual-polarized signals (P1, P2), wherein the first waveguide 10 of the pair 12 propagates the first polarization P1, and the second waveguide 11 of the pair 12 propagates the second polarization P2.
[0064] In an embodiment not shown, each radiating element is connected to a single waveguide.
[0065] The connection between the radiating element and the waveguide or waveguide pair may include one or more cross-section adapters, for example, if the cross-section of the radiating element is circular, rectangular, or more generally non-trapezoidal.
[0066] Figure 5 The antenna array shown can be combined with multiple identical arrays to form a matrix array. The trapezoidal shape of the waveguide cross-section allows for a dense and compact array to be obtained by restricting the free space between the antenna arrays. Such a matrix array is as follows: Figure 6 As shown.
[0067] Additive manufacturing is particularly well-suited for producing waveguide networks and antenna arrays. It allows for optimized densities of various waveguide networks. Furthermore, it significantly reduces manufacturing time and costs. Using additive manufacturing to produce monolithic components minimizes the number of parts that need to be assembled to obtain the final device. In some cases, this number of parts is equal to one and assembly is unnecessary.
[0068] In one implementation, waveguide network 1 operates as a combiner / splitter and / or beamforming network.
[0069] Reference numerals in the attached figures
[0070] 1 Waveguide Network
[0071] 10 First Waveguide
[0072] 11 Second Waveguide
[0073] 12 waveguide pairs
[0074] 14. Spine
[0075] 10 Public walls
[0076] 2-antenna array
Claims
1. A waveguide network (1) obtained by additive manufacturing, comprising waveguides arranged in pairs to form at least one waveguide pair (12), each waveguide pair comprising: The first waveguide (10) has a trapezoidal cross-section, and A second waveguide (11) with a trapezoidal cross section; The first waveguide and the second waveguide are characterized in that they have a common wall (100).
2. The network according to claim 1, wherein, The common wall corresponds to the small base of the trapezoidal cross-section of the first waveguide and the second waveguide.
3. The network according to claim 1, wherein, The common wall corresponds to the long base of the trapezoidal cross-section of the first waveguide and the second waveguide.
4. The network according to claim 1, wherein, The common wall corresponds to the side adjacent to the bottom of the trapezoidal cross-section of the first waveguide and the second waveguide.
5. The network according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the first waveguide is intended to propagate a first polarization (P1) and the second waveguide is intended to propagate a second polarization (P2).
6. The network according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the number of waveguides is greater than or equal to four to form at least two waveguide pairs (12), wherein the common wall of the waveguides of the first pair corresponds to the small base of the trapezoidal cross section, and the common wall of the waveguides of the second pair corresponds to the long base of the trapezoidal cross section.
7. The network according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the number of waveguides is greater than or equal to four, and the waveguide pairs are arranged consecutively in a first direction such that two consecutive pairs in the first direction have at least one common waveguide wall.
8. The network according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the number of waveguides is greater than or equal to four, and the waveguide pairs are arranged consecutively in a first direction and a second direction such that two consecutive pairs in the first direction have at least one common waveguide wall, and two consecutive pairs in the second direction have at least one common waveguide wall.
9. The network according to the preceding claim, wherein, The at least one common waveguide wall of the consecutive pair in the first direction corresponds to the bottom of the trapezoidal section of the waveguide, and the at least one common waveguide wall of the consecutive pair in the second direction corresponds to the side adjacent to the bottom of the trapezoidal section of the waveguide.
10. The network according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The inner wall of the first waveguide (10) and the inner wall of the second waveguide (11) include a ridge (14).
11. The network according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The two inner walls of the first waveguide (10) and the two inner walls of the second waveguide (11) include ridges (14).
12. The network according to the preceding claim, wherein, The two inner walls correspond to the bottom of the trapezoidal cross-section of the first waveguide and the second waveguide.
13. The network according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, Each trapezoidal section is either an isosceles trapezoid or a parallelogram.
14. The waveguide network according to any one of the preceding claims is suitable for operation as a combiner network.
15. A dual-polarized antenna array (2) obtained by additive manufacturing, comprising: According to the waveguide network (1) of any one of the preceding claims, Multiple radiating elements (20), each radiating element being coupled to the end of exactly one waveguide pair (12) of the network.
16. The antenna array (2) according to the preceding claim, wherein, The waveguide network (1) includes at least eight waveguides, and the waveguide pairs are arranged consecutively in a first direction and a second direction, such that two consecutive pairs in the first direction have at least one common waveguide wall, and two consecutive pairs in the second direction have at least one common waveguide wall.