Luneburg lens and manufacturing method therefor, and luneburg lens antenna

Abstract

This application provides a Luneburg lens, a Luneburg lens manufacturing method, and a Luneburg lens antenna. The method includes: preparing a core; covering a surface of the core with a first material and a second material by mixing the first material and the second material in a first ratio to form a first dielectric layer, and processing the first dielectric layer to form a first lens layer; and covering a surface of an (i-1)th lens layer with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material in an ith ratio to form an ith dielectric layer, and processing the ith dielectric layer to form an ith lens layer, to obtain a Luneburg lens that includes the core and N lens layers covered on the core, where i is any integer ranging from 2 to N in sequence, N is an integer, and N is greater than or equal to 2. According to the method, the first material and the second material may be mixed based on a parameter of each lens layer, to manufacture lens layers layer by layer, thereby simplifying manufacturing steps of the Luneburg lens, and reducing manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202211736116.2, filed with the China National Intellectual Property Administration on December 30, 2022 and entitled "LUNEBURG LENS, LUNEBURG LENS MANUFACTURING METHOD, AND LUNEBURG LENS ANTENNA", which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This application relates to the field of communication technologies, and in particular, to a Luneburg lens, a Luneburg lens manufacturing method, and a Luneburg lens antenna.BACKGROUND

[0003] As a special lens antenna, a Luneburg lens antenna is a centrosymmetric sphere made of a gradient dielectric material. The Luneburg lens antenna may converge, by using a focusing principle of an optical lens and a refraction feature of a multi-layer dielectric sphere, incident electromagnetic waves with a specific wavelength to a point on a surface of the sphere, and may reflect the electromagnetic waves back along an original direction. Because the Luneburg lens antenna can reduce a low gain of a single antenna element, and can aggregate wide-beam electromagnetic wave signals into high-gain and narrow-beam electromagnetic wave signals, the Luneburg lens antenna has a wide application prospect in the fields of communication, radar, astronomy, imaging, and the like. In recent years, with large-scale construction of 5G antennas, the Luneburg lens attracts people's attention of again due to its good performance achieved in scenarios such as track coverage along high-speed railways by virtue of its advantages of a high gain, strong beam directivity, and the like. However, due to high processing and production difficulty, high costs, and a heavy weight of the Luneburg lens antenna, application of the Luneburg lens antenna is limited to some extent.SUMMARY

[0004] This application provides a Luneburg lens, a Luneburg lens manufacturing method, and a Luneburg lens antenna, to simplify manufacturing steps of a Luneburg lens, and further reduce manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens.

[0005] According to a first aspect, this application provides a Luneburg lens manufacturing method. Specifically, the Luneburg lens manufacturing method may specifically include: preparing a core; covering a surface of the core with a first material and a second material by mixing the first material and the second material in a first ratio to form a first dielectric layer, and processing the first dielectric layer to form a first lens layer; and covering a surface of an (i-1) th< lens layer with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material in an i th< ratio to form an i th< dielectric layer, and processing the i th< dielectric layer to form an i th< lens layer, to obtain a Luneburg lens that includes the core and N lens layers covered on the core, where i is any integer ranging from 2 to N in sequence, N is an integer, and N is greater than or equal to 2.

[0006] During manufacturing of the Luneburg lens, the N lens layers may be manufactured layer by layer by using the method. Specifically, based on a dielectric constant requirement of a target lens layer, the first material and the second material may be directly mixed in a corresponding ratio and covered on the surface of the core or the lens layer to form a dielectric layer, and then the target lens layer may be formed through processing, thereby simplifying manufacturing steps of the Luneburg lens, and further reducing manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens. In addition, in this layer-by-layer manufacturing manner, manufacturing of each lens layer can be controlled more accurately, thereby improving performance of the Luneburg lens.

[0007] In this application, a manner of covering the surface of the core or the lens layer with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material is not limited. For example, covering the surface of the core with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material in the first ratio may specifically include: spraying or smearing the first material and the second material on the surface of the core, or molding the first material and the second material on the surface of the core in a compression molding or cavity molding manner, by mixing the first material and the second material in the first ratio. Similarly, covering the surface of the (i-1) th< lens layer with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material in the i th< ratio may specifically include: spraying or smearing the first material and the second material on the surface of the (i-1) th< lens layer, or molding the first material and the second material on the surface of the (i-1) th< lens layer in a compression molding or cavity molding manner, by mixing the first material and the second material in the i th< ratio. This is not specifically limited herein.

[0008] Correspondingly, after the first material and the second material are covered on the surface of the core or the lens layer, the dielectric layer may be formed in different manners. For example, forming the first dielectric layer may specifically include: performing foaming, compression molding, cavity molding, heating, drying, or water removal on the first material and the second material covered on the surface of the core, to form the first dielectric layer. Similarly, forming the i th< dielectric layer may specifically include: performing foaming, compression molding, cavity molding, heating, drying, or water removal on the first material and the second material covered on the surface of the (i-1) th< lens layer, to form the i th< dielectric layer. In a possible technical solution, the first material and the second material may be mixed in the first ratio, sprayed on the surface of the core, and reset for first duration, to foam to form the first dielectric layer; and the first material and the second material are mixed, sprayed on the surface of the (i-1) th< lens layer, and reset for (i-1) th< duration, to foam to form the (i-1) th< dielectric layer. In this technical solution, there is need to make requirements on temperature and pressure, so that manufacturing process difficulty of the Luneburg lens is further reduced.

[0009] In some technical solutions of this application, the (i-1) th< lens layer has an (i-1) th< dielectric constant, the i th< lens layer has an i th< dielectric constant, and the (i-1) th< dielectric constant may be greater than the i th< dielectric constant. In this way, dielectric constants gradually decrease from a first lens layer to an N th< lens layer, and gradient changes are formed. It is clear that dielectric constants of two adj acent lens layers of the N lens layers may alternatively be equal based on an actual application scenario. This is not specifically limited herein.

[0010] When the (i-1) th< dielectric layer and the i th< dielectric layer are separately manufactured, mixing ratios of the first material to the second material are different, in other words, the (i-1) th< ratio is different from and the i th< ratio, so that the dielectric constants of the two adjacent lens layers can be different, thereby further simplifying manufacturing difficulty.

[0011] In the technical solution of this application, processing the first dielectric layer or the i th< dielectric layer may specifically include: shaping a surface of the first dielectric layer or a surface of the i th< dielectric layer; and performing surface smoothing processing on the shaped first dielectric layer or the shaped i th< dielectric layer to form the lens layer. During the processing, shaping a dielectric layer may control a weight of a lens layer to be a target weight. The lens layer is formed by performing smoothing processing on the surface of the dielectric layer. This can improve surface precision of the lens layer, and provide a smooth manufacturing surface for the first material and the second material on a next lens layer.

[0012] During lens layer manufacturing, two adjacent lens layers may have an equal or unequal thicknesses. Specifically, the lens layer may be designed based on a performance requirement of the Luneburg lens. This is not specifically limited herein. For example, in some technical solutions, thicknesses of all lens layers may be equal. In this technical solution, a thickness of each lens layer is controlled by controlling a surface shaping amount of the dielectric layer, so that manufacturing process difficulty of the Luneburg lens may be further reduced.

[0013] During manufacturing of the Luneburg lens, because a shape of the core is different from a shape of the lens layer, and a dielectric constant of the core is also different from a dielectric constant of the lens layer, the core may be separately prepared before the lens layer is manufactured. Specifically, preparing the core may specifically include: placing a core material into a mold and molding the core material; and processing the molded core material to form the core. In the mold, the core material may be molded in any one of foaming, extrusion, and injection molding. This is not specifically limited herein. In addition, the core material may be a polypropylene material or polystyrene material.

[0014] In this application, parameters of the Luneburg lens may be designed for different size requirements and performance requirements based on different application scenarios. For example, before the core is prepared, the method may further include obtaining a size of the core, and a thickness and a dielectric constant of each lens layer. In this way, the core and the lens layer may be manufactured layer by layer based on these parameters by using the method, thereby improving manufacturing precision.

[0015] The first material in this application may include one or more of the following: polyurethane, phenol formaldehyde resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide, polyamic acid, polyimide, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. In other words, the first material may be one of polyurethane, phenol formaldehyde resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide, polyamic acid, polyimide, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. Alternatively, the first material may be obtained by mixing a plurality of materials from polyurethane, phenol formaldehyde resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide, polyamic acid, polyimide, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. This is not specifically limited herein.

[0016] To change a dielectric constant of the lens layer, a dielectric constant of the second material may be greater than 10, so that the dielectric constant is changed in a process of mixing the first material and the second material.

[0017] In addition, the second material may be a dielectric constant additive, and may specifically include one or more of the following: barium strontium titanate, barium copper titanate, ceramic powder, aluminum powder, or silver powder. Dielectric constants of formed lens layers may be different by changing a mixing ratio of the first material to the second material, so that changes of the dielectric constants of the N lens layers of the Luneburg lens are controlled more accurately. Specifically, when a solid material that is difficult to be dissolved is selected, the solid material may be made into a solvent to form the solvent-type second material. This facilitates mixing with the first material.

[0018] According to a second aspect, this application further provides a system for manufacturing a Luneburg lens antenna. The system is configured to perform the method in the first aspect. The system may specifically include a controller, a spraying apparatus, and a surface processing apparatus. The spraying apparatus and the surface processing apparatus are electrically connected to the controller separately. The spraying apparatus is configured to cover a surface of a core or a lens layer with a first material and a second material by mixing the first material and the second material. The surface processing apparatus is configured to process a first dielectric layer or an i th< dielectric layer. The controller is configured to: when a first lens layer or an i th< lens layer is manufactured, control the spraying apparatus to suck the first material and the second material in a first ratio or an i th< ratio.

[0019] In the system, N lens layers may be manufactured layer by layer. Specifically, based on a dielectric constant requirement of a target lens layer, the spraying apparatus may be used for directly mixing the first material and the second material in a corresponding ratio and covering the surface of the core or the lens layer with the first material and a second material to form a dielectric layer, and then the target lens layer may be formed through processing by the surface processing apparatus, thereby simplifying manufacturing steps of the Luneburg lens, and further reducing manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens. In addition, in the system, the lens layer is manufactured in a layer-by-layer manufacturing manner, so that manufacturing of each lens layer can be controlled more accurately, thereby improving performance of the Luneburg lens.

[0020] According to a third aspect, this application further provides a Luneburg lens. The Luneburg lens is manufactured by using the method in the first aspect, and manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs are low. In addition, a size and a dielectric constant of each lens layer are accurate. This can improve performance of the Luneburg lens.

[0021] According to a fourth aspect, this application further provides a Luneburg lens antenna. The Luneburg lens antenna includes a support, a feed, a circuit board, and the Luneburg lens in the third aspect, where the feed, the circuit board, and the Luneburg lens are disposed on the support. The feed is electrically connected to the circuit board and is disposed on a side of the Luneburg lens. Manufacturing steps of the Luneburg lens of the Luneburg lens antenna are simple, so that manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens antenna can be reduced.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0022] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a structure of a Luneburg lens; FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a Luneburg lens manufacturing method according to an embodiment of this application; FIG. 3 is another schematic flowchart of a Luneburg lens manufacturing method according to an embodiment of this application; FIG. 4 is another schematic flowchart of a Luneburg lens manufacturing method according to an embodiment of this application; FIG. 5 is a diagram of a structure of a Luneburg lens antenna according to an embodiment of this application; FIG. 6 is a diagram of a system for manufacturing a Luneburg lens antenna according to an embodiment of this application; and FIG. 7 is a diagram of manufacturing a Luneburg lens according to an embodiment of this application.

[0023] Reference numerals: Conventional technology: 10: Luneburg lens antenna; 11: feed; 12: Luneburg lens; This application: 50: Luneburg lens antenna; 51: feed; 52: Luneburg lens; 53: support; 54: circuit board; 60: system; 61: spraying apparatus; 62: surface processing apparatus; 71: core; 72: lens layer. DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0024] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the following further describes this application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0025] Reference to "an embodiment", "some embodiments", or the like described in this specification indicates that one or more embodiments of this application include a specific feature, structure, or characteristic described with reference to embodiments. Therefore, statements such as "in an embodiment", "in another embodiment", "in some embodiments", "in some other embodiments", or "in other embodiments" that appear at different places in this specification do not necessarily mean reference to a same embodiment. Instead, the statements mean "one or more but not all of embodiments", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in another manner. The terms "include", "comprise", "have", and their variants all mean "include but are not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in another manner.

[0026] FIG. 1 is a diagram of a structure of a Luneburg lens. As shown in FIG. 1, a Luneburg lens antenna 10 includes a feed 11 and a Luneburg lens 12. The Luneburg lens 12 is an onion-shaped centrosymmetric sphere, and the Luneburg lens 12 specifically includes a core and a plurality of lens layers covered on the core. During application, the feed 11 is disposed on a side of the Luneburg lens 12, so that the Luneburg lens 12 can refract and amplify a signal radiated by the feed 11, and radiate the signal in a specified direction, thereby generating a good gain effect.

[0027] Currently, a Luneburg lens may be manufactured by using a mixed material including expandable beads. During the manufacturing, the expandable bead material is usually mixed with another material, and then is molded through foaming at high temperature, and a dielectric constant is changed by adjusting appearance density of each lens layer. However, in an actual foaming process, it is difficult to control consistency between an inner layer structure and an outer layer structure that are formed through bead foaming. As a result, the dielectric constant of each lens layer is difficult to be controlled, and consequently, performance of the Luneburg lens is affected.

[0028] In addition, the Luneburg lens is manufactured by using a 3D printing technology. Specifically, before printing, a printing substrate needs to be configured, and then the printing substrate is printed into a spherical structure by using a fused deposition molding method, to obtain a spherical blank mold. Then, the spherical blank mold needs to be impregnated with supercritical fluid, and foams to form the Luneburg lens. However, for the Luneburg lens manufactured by using the foregoing method, 3D printing costs are high, and printing time is long. In addition, a foaming supercritical environment process has a high requirement on a manufacturing environment, temperature and pressure changes need to be accurately controlled, the process is complex, and consequently, manufacturing of the Luneburg lens is difficult.

[0029] In view of the technical problems described above, this application provides a Luneburg lens, a Luneburg lens manufacturing method, and a Luneburg lens antenna, to simplify manufacturing steps of a Luneburg lens, and further reduce manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens.

[0030] FIG. 2 is a schematic flowchart of a Luneburg lens manufacturing method according to an embodiment of this application. In this embodiment of this application, a Luneburg lens includes a core and N lens layers covered on the core, where N=2, 3, 4, ..., in other words, N may be a positive integer greater than or equal to 2. The Luneburg lens may be a sphere shape, an ellipsoid shape, a column shape, or another shape. As shown in FIG. 2, the Luneburg lens manufacturing method may specifically include the following step.

[0031] Step S101: Prepare a core.

[0032] FIG. 3 is another schematic flowchart of a Luneburg lens manufacturing method according to an embodiment of this application. During manufacturing of a Luneburg lens, because a shape of a core is different from a shape of a lens layer, and a dielectric constant of the core is usually also different from a dielectric constant of the lens layer, the core may be separately prepared before the lens layer is manufactured. As shown in FIG. 3, step S101 may specifically include:

[0033] Step S201: Place a core material into a mold and mold the core material. In step S201, the core material may be specifically a polypropylene material or polystyrene material. In the mold, the core material may be molded in a manner like foaming, extrusion, or injection molding. This is not specifically limited herein.

[0034] Step S202: Process the molded core material to form the core. In step S202, a smooth surface may be obtained by processing a surface of the molded core material. This facilitates subsequent manufacturing of the lens layer on a surface of the core.

[0035] Still refer to FIG. 2. After step S101, the method may further include the following steps.

[0036] Step S102: Cover a surface of the core with a first material and a second material by mixing the first material and the second material in a first ratio to form a first dielectric layer, and process the first dielectric layer to form a first lens layer.

[0037] Step S103: Repeatedly perform the following steps when i is 2, 3, 4, 5, ..., or N in sequence, where N is a quantity of lens layers that need to be prepared for the Luneburg lens: covering a surface of an (i-1) th< lens layer with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material in an i th< ratio to form an i th< dielectric layer, and processing the i th< dielectric layer to form an i th< lens layer.

[0038] In this application, a manner of covering surfaces of the core and the lens layer with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material may include spraying, smearing, compression molding, or cavity molding. Specifically, any one of the manners may be selected based on an actual requirement. This is not specifically limited herein. After the first material and the second material are covered on the surface of the core or the lens layer, a dielectric layer may be formed in different manners, for example, may be formed in any one manner of foaming, compression molding, cavity molding, heating, drying, or water removal. For example, in a specific embodiment, step S102 may be specifically: mixing the first material and the second material in the first ratio and spraying the first material and the second material on the surface of the core, and resting for first duration, to foam to form the first dielectric layer ; and mixing the first material and the second material and spraying the first material and the second material on the surface of the (i-1) th< lens layer, and resting for (i-1) th< duration, to foam to form an (i-1) th< dielectric layer. In this embodiment, there is need to make requirements on temperature and pressure, so that manufacturing process difficulty of the Luneburg lens is further reduced. In another specific embodiment, step S102 may be specifically: placing the core in a mold, mixing the first material and the second material in the first ratio, filling the first material and the second material between the core and the mold, and molding the first material and the second material by using a compression molding technology, to attach the first material and the second material to the surface of the core or the surface of the lens layer. In another specific embodiment, step S102 may be specifically: placing the core in a mold, mixing the first material and the second material in the first ratio, filling the first material and the second material between the core and the mold, and molding the first material and the second material by using a compression molding technology to attach the first material and the second material to the surface of the core or the surface of the lens layer, and then drying the first material and the second material to form the dielectric layer.

[0039] During specific manufacturing, the first material may be one or more of the following: polyurethane, phenol formaldehyde resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide, polyamic acid, polyimide, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. In other words, the first material may be one of polyurethane, phenol formaldehyde resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide, polyamic acid, polyimide, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. Alternatively, the first material may be obtained by mixing a plurality of materials from polyurethane, phenol formaldehyde resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide, polyamic acid, polyimide, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene. This is not specifically limited herein.

[0040] To change a dielectric constant of the lens layer, a dielectric constant of the second material may be greater than 10, so that the dielectric constant may be changed by changing a mixing proportion of the second material in a process of mixing the first material and the second material. Specifically, the second material may be a dielectric constant additive, for example, may include one or more of the following: barium strontium titanate, barium copper titanate, ceramic powder, aluminum powder, or silver powder. In other words, the second material may be one of the following: barium strontium titanate, barium copper titanate, ceramic powder, aluminum powder, or silver powder. Alternatively, the second material may be obtained by mixing a plurality of materials from barium strontium titanate, barium copper titanate, ceramic powder, aluminum powder, or silver powder. This is not specifically limited herein. Specifically, when a solid material that is difficult to be dissolved is selected, the solid material may be made into a solvent to form the second material. This facilitates mixing of the first material and the solvent-type second material.

[0041] Dielectric constants of formed lens layers may be different by changing a mixing ratio of the first material to the second material, so that changes of the dielectric constants of the N lens layers of the Luneburg lens are controlled more accurately. For example, in a specific embodiment, a dielectric constant of the first material before foaming may be increased by increasing the mixing proportion of the second material, thereby increasing a foaming rate, reducing density of a dielectric layer formed through foaming, and further reducing a weight of the Luneburg lens.

[0042] FIG. 4 is another schematic flowchart of a Luneburg lens manufacturing method according to an embodiment of this application. In this embodiment of this application, processing performed on a surface of a core, a surface of a first dielectric layer or an i th< dielectric layer may specifically include shaping and surface smoothing processing. As shown in FIG. 4, the processing on the surface of the dielectric layer is used as an example, and the processing specifically includes the following steps.

[0043] Step S301: Shape a surface of a j th< dielectric layer, where j is 1, 2, 3, 4, ..., and N in sequence.

[0044] Step S302: Perform surface smoothing processing on the shaped j th< dielectric layer to form a j th< lens layer.

[0045] During the processing, shaping a dielectric layer may control a final weight of a lens layer within a designed weight range. The lens layer is formed by performing smoothing processing on the surface of the dielectric layer. In this way, surface precision of the lens layer can be improved, thereby improving performance of a Luneburg lens; and a smooth manufacturing surface may be provided for a next layer of lens layer, and the first material and the second material are attached to the surface. The shaping may be performed in a manner of polishing and / or cutting, and the surface smoothing processing may also be performed in a manner of polishing and / or cutting. This is not specifically limited herein.

[0046] In some embodiments of this application, an (i-1) th< lens layer has an (i-1) th< dielectric constant, an i th< lens layer has an i th< dielectric constant, and the (i-1) th< dielectric constant is greater than the i th< dielectric constant. In this way, dielectric constants gradually decrease from a first lens layer to an N th< lens layer, and gradient changes are formed. It is clear that, based on an actual application scenario, a dielectric constant of at least one lens layer in N lens layers may alternatively be equal to a dielectric constant of a lens layer that is adjacent to the at least one lens layer. This is not specifically limited herein.

[0047] During lens layer manufacturing, thicknesses of two adjacent lens layers may be equal, or thicknesses of two adjacent lens layers may be not equal. Specifically, the lens layer may be designed based on a performance requirement of the Luneburg lens. This is not specifically limited herein. For example, in some embodiments, thicknesses of all lens layers may be equal, and a thickness of each lens layer is controlled by controlling a surface shaping amount of a dielectric layer, so that manufacturing process difficulty of the Luneburg lens may be further reduced.

[0048] In the foregoing method, the N lens layers of the Luneburg lens are manufactured layer by layer. Specifically, the first material and the second material may be directly mixed in a corresponding ratio based on a dielectric constant of a manufactured lens layer, and then are covered on the surface of the core or the surface of the lens layer to form the dielectric layer. This process does not need high requirements on temperature and pressure. Then, the dielectric layer is processed to form a lens layer, to obtain a smooth surface of the lens layer. According to the method, manufacturing steps of the Luneburg lens can be simplified, and further, manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens are reduced. In addition, in this layer-by-layer manufacturing manner, a size and a dielectric constant of each lens layer can be controlled more accurately, thereby improving performance of the Luneburg lens.

[0049] In this application, parameters of the Luneburg lens may be designed for different size requirements and performance requirements based on different application scenarios. For example, before step S101, a size of the core, and a thickness and the dielectric constant of each lens layer may be obtained first. In this way, the core and the lens layer may be manufactured layer by layer based on these parameters by using the method shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4.

[0050] Based on a same technical concept, this application further provides a Luneburg lens. The Luneburg lens is prepared by using the method in the foregoing embodiments, and manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs are low. In addition, a size and a dielectric constant of each lens layer are accurate. This can improve performance of the Luneburg lens.

[0051] Based on a same technical concept, this application further provides a Luneburg lens antenna. FIG. 5 is a diagram of a structure of a Luneburg lens antenna according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 5, the Luneburg lens antenna 50 includes a feed 51, the Luneburg lens 52 prepared in the foregoing embodiments, a support 53, and a circuit board 54. The feed 51, the circuit board 54, and the Luneburg lens 52 may be fastened to the support 53. The feed 51 is electrically connected to the circuit board 54, and is disposed on a side of the Luneburg lens 52. During actual application, the Luneburg lens 52 can refract and amplify a signal radiated by the feed 51, and radiate the signal in a specified direction, thereby generating a good gain effect. Manufacturing steps of the Luneburg lens 52 of the Luneburg lens antenna 50 are simple, so that manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens antenna 50 can be reduced.

[0052] Based on a same technical concept, this application provides a system for manufacturing a Luneburg lens antenna. FIG. 6 is a diagram of a system for manufacturing a Luneburg lens antenna according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 6, the system 60 is configured to perform the method in the foregoing embodiments. The system 60 may specifically include a controller (not shown in the figure), a spraying apparatus 61, and a surface processing apparatus 62. The spraying apparatus 61 and the surface processing apparatus 62 are electrically connected to the controller separately. The spraying apparatus 61 is configured to cover a surface of a core or a lens layer with a first material and a second material by mixing the first material and the second material. The surface processing apparatus 62 is configured to process a first dielectric layer or an i th< dielectric layer. The controller is configured to: when a first lens layer or an i th< lens layer is manufactured, control the spraying apparatus 61 to suck the first material and the second material in a first ratio or an i th< ratio.

[0053] In the system 60, N lens layers may be manufactured layer by layer. Specifically, based on a dielectric constant requirement of a target lens layer, the spraying apparatus 61 may be used for directly mixing the first material and the second material in a ratio and covering the surface of the core or the lens layer with the first material and a second material, and then the lens layer may be formed through processing by the surface processing apparatus 62, thereby simplifying manufacturing steps of the Luneburg lens, and further reducing manufacturing process difficulty and manufacturing costs of the Luneburg lens. In addition, the system can control manufacturing of each lens layer more accurately, thereby improving performance of the Luneburg lens.

[0054] In a specific embodiment, the spraying apparatus 61 may mix the first material and the second material in the first ratio, spray the first material and the second material on the surface of the core, and rest for first duration, to foam to form the first dielectric layer. Then, the spraying apparatus 61 mixes the first material and the second material, sprays the first material and the second material on the surface of an (i-1) th< lens layer, and rest for (i-1) th< duration, to foam to form an (i-1) th< dielectric layer. In this embodiment, the controller may be further configured to control the surface processing apparatus 62 to rest for j th< duration after the spraying apparatus 61 performs spraying, to wait for the first material and the second material to foam to form the dielectric layer.

[0055] FIG. 7 is a diagram of manufacturing a Luneburg lens according to an embodiment of this application. As shown in FIG. 7, the following describes the method in this application by using a complete manufacturing procedure as an example.

[0056] First, a Luneburg lens with a radius R of 150 millimeters is designed. Based on a size of the Luneburg lens, a radius R1 of a core of the Luneburg lens is designed to be 20 millimeters, a quantity of lens layers is designed to be 26, and a thickness of each lens layer is designed to be 5 millimeters. As shown in Table 1, a dielectric constant of the core and a dielectric constant of each lens layer of the Luneburg lens are calculated based on a size of the core and a size of the lens layer. Table 1Quantity of layersDielectric constantThickness (unit: millimeter)core1.9852011.977521.967531.955541.941551.926561.908571.889581.868591.8455101.8205111.7935121.7655131.7355141.7025151.6695161.6335171.5955181.5565191.5145201.4715211.4265221.3795231.3315241.2805251.2285261.1745

[0057] Then, the core is prepared according to step S201 and step S202. In this embodiment, specifically, a polypropylene material may be used, and after a volume of the polypropylene material is foamed to 1.25 times, the polypropylene material is machined into a sphere shape to form the core 71. Subsequently, the core 71 is placed at a nozzle of a spraying apparatus 61.

[0058] A controller controls, based on the dielectric constants of the lens layers in Table 1, the spraying apparatus 61 to mix a first material and a second material in a first ratio. Then, the spraying apparatus 61 sprays the first material and the second material on a surface of the core 71 evenly, rests for a few minutes, and waits for a mixture of the first material and the second material to foam evenly, to form a first dielectric layer. Then, the controller adjusts a position of a cutting tool of a surface processing apparatus 62, and performs cutting on a surface of the first dielectric layer. A thickness of a processed first lens layer 72 is 5 millimeters, and a radius R2 of a processed sphere is 25 millimeters.

[0059] Then, the controller controls the spraying apparatus 61 to mix the first material and the second material in a second ratio. Then, the spraying apparatus 61 sprays the first material and the second material on a surface of the first lens layer 72 evenly, rests for a few minutes, and waits for a mixture of the first material and the second material to foam evenly, to form a second dielectric layer. The controller adjusts the position of the cutting tool of the surface processing apparatus 62, and performs cutting on a surface of the second dielectric layer. A thickness of a processed second lens layer is 5 millimeters, and a radius R2 of a processed sphere is 30 millimeters.

[0060] The foregoing steps are repeated, to manufacture a third lens layer to a twenty-sixth lens layer. Finally, a sphere radius R of the Luneburg lens 52 is 150 millimeters, and the dielectric constants of the lens layers are distributed based on the dielectric constants in Table 1.

[0061] Terms used in the foregoing embodiments are merely for a purpose of describing specific embodiments, but are not intended to limit this application. As used in the specification and the appended claims of this application, the singular expressions "a / an", "one", "said", "the foregoing", "the", and "this" are intended to also include such expressions as "one or more", unless otherwise clearly indicated in the context.

[0062] The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of this application, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of this application. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A Luneburg lens manufacturing method, wherein the method comprises: preparing a core; covering a surface of the core with a first material and a second material by mixing the first material and the second material in a first ratio to form a first dielectric layer, and processing the first dielectric layer to form a first lens layer; and covering a surface of an (i-1)th lens layer with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material in an ith ratio to form an ith dielectric layer, and processing the ith dielectric layer to form an ith lens layer, to obtain a Luneburg lens that comprises the core and N lens layers covered on the core, wherein i is any integer ranging from 2 to N in sequence, N is an integer, and N is greater than or equal to 2.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein covering the surface of the core with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material in the first ratio comprises: spraying or smearing the first material and the second material on the surface of the core, or molding the first material and the second material on the surface of the core in a compression molding or cavity molding manner, by mixing the first material and the second material in the first ratio; and covering the surface of the (i-1)th lens layer with the first material and the second material by mixing the first material and the second material in the ith ratio comprises: spraying or smearing the first material and the second material on the surface of the (i-1)th lens layer, or molding the first material and the second material on the surface of the (i-1)th lens layer in a compression molding or cavity molding manner, by mixing the first material and the second material in the ith ratio.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein forming the first dielectric layer comprises: performing foaming, compression molding, cavity molding, heating, drying, or water removal on the first material and the second material covered on the surface of the core, to form the first dielectric layer; and forming the ith dielectric layer comprises: performing foaming, compression molding, cavity molding, heating, drying, or water removal on the first material and the second material covered on the surface of the (i-1)th lens layer, to form the ith dielectric layer.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the (i-1)th lens layer has an (i-1)th dielectric constant, the ith lens layer has an ith dielectric constant, and the (i-1)th dielectric constant is greater than the ith dielectric constant.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the (i-1)th ratio is different from the ith ratio.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein processing the first dielectric layer or the ith dielectric layer comprises: shaping a surface of the first dielectric layer or a surface of the ith dielectric layer; and performing surface smoothing processing on the shaped first dielectric layer or the shaped ith dielectric layer to form the first lens layer or the ith lens layer.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein preparing the core comprises: placing a core material into a mold and molding the core material; and processing the molded core material to form the core.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein before preparing the core, the method further comprises: obtaining a size of the core, and a thickness and a dielectric constant of each lens layer.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a dielectric constant of the second material is greater than 10.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the second material comprises one or more of the following: barium strontium titanate, barium copper titanate, ceramic powder, aluminum powder, and silver powder.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first material comprises one or more of the following: polyurethane, phenol formaldehyde resin, ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, polyamide, polyamic acid, polyimide, polypropylene, polyethylene, and polystyrene.

12. A Luneburg lens, wherein the Luneburg lens is manufactured by using the method according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. A Luneburg lens antenna, wherein the Luneburg lens antenna comprises a support, a feed, a circuit board, and the Luneburg lens according to claim 12, wherein the feed, the circuit board, and the Luneburg lens are disposed on the support, and the feed is electrically connected to the circuit board and disposed on a side of the Luneburg lens.

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