Antenna Device

Abstract

To provide an antenna device which radiates a beam having a narrow beam width and a large antenna gain, and is advantageous in terms of cost and process. The antenna device includes a radiating element module including a plurality of antenna subarrays arranged to realize antenna beamforming by constructing a predetermined number of RF chains, and a phase shifter for shifting a phase value by changing a length ratio of a physical transmission line for the plurality of antenna subarrays to a predetermined ratio, the radiating element module being further arranged such that the antenna subarray is connected to one of two output terminals branched from an input terminal of each RF chain, and an additional antenna subarray corresponding to the antenna subarray is connected to the other output terminal.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an antenna apparatus, and more particularly to an antenna apparatus having a predetermined number of RF chains, which further includes an additional antenna subarray branched from an input end of each RF chain in addition to a plurality of antenna subarrays, and which can improve antenna gain by radiating the antenna subarray and the additional antenna subarray by transitioning their phase values ​​to be different using a phase shifter. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless communication technologies, such as Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technology, are technologies that dramatically increase data transmission capacity by using multiple antennas. The transmitter transmits different data through each transmitting antenna, and the receiver separates the transmitted data through appropriate signal processing. This is a spatial multiplexing technique.

[0003] Therefore, by simultaneously increasing the number of transmitting and receiving antennas, the channel capacity increases, making it possible to transmit more data. For example, if the number of antennas is increased to 10, the channel capacity is about 10 times that of the current single antenna system using the same frequency band.

[0004] 4G LTE-advanced uses up to 8 antennas, and in the current pre-5G stage, products equipped with 64 or 128 antennas are being developed, and 5G is expected to use base station equipment with a much larger number of antennas, which is called Massive MIMO technology.Current cell operations are 2-Dimension, but the introduction of Massive MIMO technology will enable 3D-Beamforming, so it is also called FD-MIMO (Full Dimension).

[0005] In particular, a plurality of array antenna elements can realize beamforming of antenna radiation beams so as to provide optimal services in response to changes in the usage density of subscribers by region and time period.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the construction of a 64T64R transmission signal channel using high-specification array antenna elements.

[0007] As shown in FIG. 1, multiple antenna subarrays are arranged to realize four RF chains in the V-direction (vertical direction), and are also arranged in multiple rows in the H-direction (horizontal direction), thereby constructing four V-direction RF chains V1, V2, V3, and V4 to realize a 64T64R transmission signal channel.

[0008] However, theoretically, if the number of RF chains (i.e., the number of antenna subarrays) is doubled and arranged, the channel capacity can be increased by the ratio of the increased antenna subarrays as described above, but the weight and volume increase rapidly as the number of power amplifiers (PAs) and filters increase at the same ratio. Also, since the heat generation increases due to the increased RF chains, the size of the housing for heat dissipation also increases. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] The present invention has been made to solve the above technical problems, and aims to provide an antenna device that can realize beamforming with a larger gain than an antenna device not provided with an additional antenna subarray by further constructing an additional antenna subarray to branch off from the input end of each RF chain along with a plurality of antenna subarrays arranged to form a predetermined number of RF chains, and using a phase shifter to transition the phase values ​​of the antenna subarray and the additional antenna subarray to be different, thereby radiating the beam.

[0010] In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna device capable of realizing beamforming with a linear phase distribution when radiating antenna beams of multiple antenna subarrays and an additional antenna subarray after phase shifting them using a phase shifter.

[0011] The objects of the present invention are not limited to those mentioned above, and other objects not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description. [Means for solving the problem]

[0012] According to an embodiment of the present invention, an antenna device includes a radiating element module electrically connected to the front of an RF filter, the radiating element module including a plurality of antenna subarrays arranged to realize antenna beamforming by constructing a predetermined number of RF chains, and a phase shifter for shifting a phase value by changing a length ratio of a physical transmission line for the plurality of antenna subarrays to a predetermined ratio. In each RF chain of the radiating element module, the antenna subarray is connected to one of two output terminals branched from an input terminal of each RF chain, and an additional antenna subarray corresponding to the antenna subarray is further arranged at the other output terminal.

[0013] Here, the phase shifter can shift and radiate phase values ​​of the plurality of antenna subarrays and the additional antenna subarray differently through a transmission line constituting an input end of each RF chain and one of the two branched output ends, thereby realizing a linear phase distribution according to the predetermined ratio with respect to the same reference phase plane.

[0014] In addition, when implementing antenna beamforming via a 32T32R transmission signal channel, the plurality of antenna subarrays may be arranged to form two RF chains and spaced apart in a V-direction (Vertical direction) for each chain, and the additional antenna subarray may be arranged to be spaced apart in the V-direction so as to branch off together with the antenna subarray from the input terminals of each of the two RF chains.

[0015] The phase shifter can also change the physical length of each transmission line coupled to the multiple antenna subarrays and the additional antenna subarray corresponding to each RF chain for a power feed.

[0016] The phase shifter may also include a variable switch panel including a first current conducting pattern terminal and a second current conducting pattern terminal, and the radiating element module may include an antenna board assembly on which the antenna subarray and the multiple additional antenna subarrays are arranged, and in which transmission lines contacting the first current conducting pattern terminal and the second current conducting pattern terminal are coupled to each other in the form of multiple power supply strip lines made of a conductive material.

[0017] In addition, the plurality of power supply striplines of the antenna board assembly may be provided by a variable circuit board having a variable circuit pattern printed thereon, the variable circuit having a first interruption point and a second interruption point that are respectively energized by a first current-carrying pattern terminal and a second current-carrying pattern terminal of the variable switch panel.

[0018] Also, the variable circuit board may be provided in the form of a printed circuit board made of FR-4 material.

[0019] The plurality of feeding striplines may include a rear feeding stripline electrically connected to the variable circuit of the variable circuit board having two input terminals so as to be fed at at least two points, and a front feeding stripline electrically connected to the rear feeding stripline, branching and extending to have at least two output terminals, and connected to the plurality of antenna subarrays and the plurality of additional antenna subarrays.

[0020] Moreover, the phase shifter can realize a phase transition value at the predetermined ratio according to a position where the first current carrying pattern terminal and the second current carrying pattern terminal contact the transmission line as the variable switch panel rotates.

[0021] In addition, the radiating element module may include an antenna board assembly including a reflecting panel configured to reflect antenna beams radiated from the plurality of antenna subarrays and the additional antenna subarray forward, a rear panel and a front panel laminated and coupled to a rear surface and a front surface of the reflecting panel, and a plurality of feeding striplines made of a conductive material, the feeding striplines penetrating the reflecting panel or disposed in one of stripline installation slits processed into a slit shape in the rear panel and the front panel, and disposed for electrical connection with the RF filter, the front panel and the rear panel being made of a plastic resin material different from that of the reflecting panel, and the antenna board assembly may be manufactured such that the rear panel and the front panel are integrally manufactured using a double injection method based on the reflecting panel.

[0022] The front surface of the front panel may also be configured with a variable circuit board on which a variable circuit having at least two disconnection points is pattern-printed so as to form part of a physical transmission line that is changed by the phase shifter. Effect of the Invention

[0023] According to an antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention, an additional antenna subarray is constructed in addition to the antenna subarray provided to construct a basic RF chain, and beamforming is realized by transitioning to phase values ​​having a linear phase distribution using phase shifters at multiple points of a transmission line constituting an output end branched into two from the input end of the RF chain. Not only can beamforming be realized with performance according to the specifications of the antenna device, but it also has the advantage of being more cost-effective and less complex than existing high-specification antenna devices. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] This is a conceptual diagram showing how a 64T64R transmission signal channel is constructed using high-specification array antenna elements. [Diagram 2] 1 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of an antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the configuration of FIG. 2 with a radome panel separated. [Figure 4A] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a front portion of the radiating element module. [Figure 4B] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the rear part of the radiating element module. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the antenna board assembly and the feed strip line coupled thereto in the configuration of the radiating element module of FIGS. 4A and 4B. [Figure 6] 4 is a cross-sectional view for explaining an operational relationship of a phase shifter in the configuration of the antenna device according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a cutaway perspective view showing part "A" of FIG. 6. [Figure 8] 7 is a plan view for explaining the principle of power supply by a variable circuit board and a variable switch panel in the configuration of the phase shifter in FIG. 6 and of phase value transition of the phase shifter. FIG. [Figure 9] FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view showing an antenna device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a front view of FIG. [Figure 11A] FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a front portion showing a phase shifter in the configuration of an antenna device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11B] FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of a rear portion showing a phase shifter in the configuration of an antenna device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 12A] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the front part showing a specific coupling relationship of a phase shift drive motor in the configuration of a phase shifter. [Figure 12B] FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the rear portion showing a specific coupling relationship of a phase shift drive motor in the configuration of the phase shifter. [Figure 13] 1A and 1B are a circuit diagram and a phase difference diagram for explaining the principle of phase conversion performed in an RF stage using a phase shifter of an antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] 1 is a conceptual diagram for explaining a 32T32R transmission signal channel and phase transition of an antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0025] Hereinafter, an antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. When assigning reference numerals to components in each drawing, it should be noted that the same components are assigned the same numerals as much as possible even if they are displayed in different drawings. In addition, when describing the embodiment of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of such known configurations or functions would hinder understanding of the embodiment of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

[0026] In describing components of the embodiments of the present invention, terms such as 1, 2, A, B, (a), (b) and the like may be used. Such terms are merely used to distinguish the components from other components, and do not limit the essence, order, or procedure of the components. Furthermore, unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the art to which the present invention belongs. Terms as defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning they have in the context of the relevant art, and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly defined in this application.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of an antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the configuration of FIG. 2 with the radome panel separated, FIGS. 4A and 4B are exploded perspective views of the front and rear parts of a radiating element module, FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of an antenna board assembly and a feed strip line coupled thereto in the configuration of the radiating element module of FIGS. 4A and 4B, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operational relationship of a phase shifter in the configuration of an antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 7 is a cutaway perspective view showing part "A" of FIG. 6, and FIG. 8 is a plan view for explaining the principle of power feeding by a variable circuit board and a variable switch panel and phase value transition of the phase shifter in the configuration of the phase shifter of FIG. 6.

[0028] The antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be an antenna device incorporating MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology.

[0029] MIMO technology is a technology that dramatically increases data transmission capacity by using multiple antenna subarrays, and is a spatial multiplexing technique in which the transmitter transmits different data through each transmitting antenna, and the receiver separates the transmitted data through appropriate signal processing. Therefore, by simultaneously increasing the number of transmitting and receiving antennas, the channel capacity increases, making it possible to transmit more data. For example, if the number of antennas is increased to 10, approximately 10 times the channel capacity is secured using the same frequency band compared to a single antenna system.

[0030] In particular, the antenna device may have TRx modules (not shown) that function as transmitters and receivers arranged vertically and horizontally in a V (Vertical)-H (Horizontal) configuration, and may have a plurality of antenna elements 350 electrically connected to each TRx module. Herein, the channel capacity established for each TRx module may be redefined as an "RF chain", and a group unit of the antenna elements 350 arranged for antenna beamforming may be redefined as an "antenna subarray 350". Hereinafter, it will be made clear that the term "TRx module" may be used interchangeably with the term "RF chain", and that the definition of the arrangement of the antenna elements 350 that establishes RF communication for each RF chain may basically be used interchangeably with the term "antenna subarray".

[0031] 3, two RF chains may be constructed in the V-direction, where three antenna subarrays 350 may be arranged in the V-direction for each RF chain.

[0032] In addition, each RF chain may further include an additional antenna subarray 350' having the same specifications and number as the antenna subarray 350 described above.

[0033] Here, each RF chain is constructed via a transmission line (feed strip lines 311B and 311C described later) so as to branch from one input terminal to two output terminals, and the above-mentioned antenna subarray 350 is connected to one of the two output terminals, and the above-mentioned additional antenna subarray 350' may be further arranged at the other of the two output terminals.

[0034] Therefore, the antenna subarrays 350 and the additional antenna subarrays 350' can be arranged in the V-direction in a total of 24 pieces. In general, when three antenna subarrays 350 or 350' arranged in the V-direction are associated with one TRx, when a total of eight are arranged in the H-direction, a 64T64R transmission channel is constructed, but in one embodiment of the present invention, in that the antenna subarrays 350 and the additional antenna subarrays 350' are associated with one TRx, when a total of eight are arranged in the H-direction, a 32T32R transmission channel may be constructed.

[0035] That is, the antenna subarray 350 and the additional antenna subarray 350' are arranged in a total of 24 antenna elements 350 in the V-direction without any distinction in name, and when the phase shifter 500 described later is not provided, they generally have the meaning of an antenna device realizing a 64T64R transmission signal channel (i.e., a total of four RF chains) as already described with reference to Fig. 1. However, in one embodiment of the present invention, after constructing a transmission line so as to branch from one input terminal to two output terminals, the antenna subarray 350 and the additional antenna subarray 350' are provided at the positions corresponding to each output terminal, and two RF chains can be realized by phase shifting at two points of the transmission line by the phase shifter 500.

[0036] To this end, as shown in Figures 3 to 6, an antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a radiating element module 300 that is electrically connected in front of an RF filter 210 and includes a plurality of antenna subarrays 350 and an additional antenna subarray 350' arranged to realize antenna beamforming, and a phase shifter 500 that changes the length ratio of physical transmission lines for the plurality of antenna subarrays 350 and the additional antenna subarray 350' to a predetermined ratio to shift the phase value.

[0037] Here, the radiation beams of the antenna subarray 350 and the additional antenna subarray 350', which are radiated with a phase value shifted by the phase shifter 500, can realize beamforming with a gain improved by +3 dB compared to the conventional case in which a beam is radiated through an antenna subarray for each RF chain instead of branching from the input terminal of each RF chain to two output terminals.

[0038] In other words, the radiation beams of antenna subarray 350 and additional antenna subarray 350' radiating at phase values ​​shifted by phase shifter 500 can achieve antenna device performance with an improved gain of +3 dB compared to an antenna device having the same number of RF chains.

[0039] In an antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, additional antenna subarrays may be further arranged in the V-direction so as to branch out from the radiating element module 300 together with a plurality of antenna subarrays arranged to realize a predetermined antenna beamforming for each of a predetermined number of RF chains provided to realize a 32T32R transmission signal channel.

[0040] In this case, the phase shifter 500 can be interpreted as being able to have the improved gain as described above by radiating the phase values ​​of the multiple array antenna elements 350 of each RF chain and the additional array antenna element 350 in different transitions.

[0041] This is the same as realizing a 32T32R transmission signal channel and enabling radiation of an antenna beam with improved gain by adding the phase shifter 500 to a high-spec antenna device that is generally designed to realize a 64T64R transmission signal channel without the phase shifter 500 and applying the unique phase shifting method of the present invention. However, in this case, it is necessary to construct a transmission line so as to branch into two output ends compared to the input end of each RF chain, and to design the transmission line before branching into two output ends by the phase shifter 500 to shift the phase once, and to shift the phase once in one of the transmission lines connected to the two output ends after branching, so that the phase shift value realizes a linear distribution with respect to the reference identical phase plane.

[0042] Here, in a MIMO antenna device for mobile communication, multiple antenna subarrays 350 are generally designed with multiple dual-polarized antenna module arrays to reduce the effects of fading due to multipath and to perform polarization diversity function.

[0043] More specifically, as shown in Figures 2 to 6, an antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention includes an antenna housing section 10 that forms the left and right lateral and rear appearances of the antenna device, and a radome panel 20 that forms the front appearance of the antenna device and is arranged to shield the open front surface of the antenna housing section 10 and protect internal components (including an RF filter 210 and an antenna board assembly 310, described later) provided in the internal space of the antenna housing section 10 from the outside.

[0044] The radome panel 20 is removably fastenable to the front end of the antenna housing section 10 by a plurality of connecting clips 21 provided along the edge.

[0045] Here, the functions and detailed features of the antenna housing portion 10 and the radome panel 20 are not particularly related to the technical features of the embodiment of the present invention, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0046] The RF filter 210 may be stacked on the front surface of a main board (not shown) disposed in the internal space of the antenna housing part 10, and may be provided with a plurality of unit RF filter bodies (reference numeral not shown in the drawing). Here, the plurality of unit RF filter bodies may be arranged corresponding to the number of antenna sub-arrays 350 and additional antenna sub-arrays 350' arranged in the H-direction, which will be described later.

[0047] Meanwhile, the antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention may further include a radiating element module 300 including a plurality of antenna subarrays 350 and an additional antenna subarray 350' arranged to realize antenna beamforming, and electrically connected to the front of the RF filter 210 configured as described above.

[0048] The radiating element module 300 may include an antenna board assembly 310 to which a plurality of antenna subarrays 350 and an additional antenna subarray 350' are fixed in a VH arrangement on the front surface.

[0049] Here, the antenna board assembly 310 may include a reflecting panel 310A configured to reflect antenna beams radiated from multiple antenna subarrays 350 and additional antenna subarrays 350' forward, and a rear panel 310B and a front panel 310C stacked and bonded to the rear and front surfaces of the reflecting panel 310A.

[0050] The reflecting panel 310A is preferably made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material that does not transmit antenna beams, and the rear panel 310B and the front panel 310C provided on the rear and front sides of the reflecting panel 310A are preferably made of a plastic resin material that is a non-conductive material and can be easily manufactured integrally with the reflecting panel 310A by a molding method.

[0051] More specifically, the reflecting panel 310A is made of a different material from the material constituting the rear panel 310B and the front panel 310C, and may be made of a plastic resin material that allows the rear panel 310B and the front panel 310C to be easily manufactured integrally using a double injection method based on the reflecting panel 310A.

[0052] For reference, conventionally, an antenna board assembly 310 is provided in the form of a printed circuit board made of a normal PCB material, and a power feed line (a transmission line, which corresponds to the power feed strip line of the present invention described later) is printed and formed on the front or rear surface of the printed circuit board by a pattern printing method.

[0053] When the power feed line is printed on the front or rear surface of such a printed circuit board by a pattern printing method, the power feed line is formed directly on a dielectric layer having a certain dielectric constant, which increases the insertion loss.

[0054] The antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention has an advantage over the conventional technology in that the antenna board assembly 310 is not a printed circuit board made of a normal PCB material, but is integrally molded with a rear panel 310B and a front panel 310C made of a plastic resin material on the back and front sides of a reflecting panel 310A, and the feed striplines 311B and 311C that function as transmission lines are housed in an air dielectric layer, thereby minimizing insertion loss.

[0055] On the other hand, in an antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention, the radiating element module 300 may further include, as shown in FIG. 5, a plurality of rear-fed striplines 311B arranged in a stripline installation slit (312B, hereinafter referred to as the "rear installation slit") formed in a slit shape in the rear panel 310B, and a front-fed stripline 311C arranged in a stripline installation slit (312C, hereinafter referred to as the "front installation slit") formed in a slit shape in the front panel 310C.

[0056] The rear power feed stripline 311B and the front power feed stripline 311C may have a plurality of pin fixing holes 311B-1, 311C-1 formed therein, and inside the rear mounting slit 312B and the front mounting slit 312C, a plurality of fixing pins 312B-1, 312C-1 may be formed which are press-fitted into and fixed in the pin fixing holes 311B-1, 311C-1 of the rear power feed stripline 311B and the front power feed stripline 311C, respectively.

[0057] Here, the rear installation slit 312B and the front installation slit 312C may be formed penetrating in the front-to-rear direction so that the rear power feed stripline 311B and the front power feed stripline 311C are accommodated in the air layer as a medium, or may be processed into a groove shape that is at least larger than the thickness of the rear power feed stripline 311B and the front power feed stripline 311C.

[0058] 8, the front-feed striplines 311C can be arranged above and below one variable circuit board 505. In the antenna device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, two variable circuit boards 505 are provided for one RF channel, so that four front-feed striplines 311C can be arranged above and below each of the two variable circuit boards 505 arranged at a distance in the V-direction. Here, the variable circuit boards 505 play a role of forming a part of a physical transmission line changed by a phase shifter 500 described later.

[0059] In addition, the front feed stripline 311C is electrically connected to the variable circuit board 505 by the rear feed stripline 311B connected to extended ends extending from the two input terminals 507a, 507b of the variable circuit board 505, and may include a left front feed stripline 311C-α and a right front feed stripline 311C-β that branch out and extend upward and downward from the center of the variable circuit board 505 so as to have at least two output terminals.

[0060] Although not shown in detail in the drawings, the rear feed stripline 311B has one end connected to each of the extended ends extending from the two input terminals 507a, 507b of the variable circuit board 505, and the other end connected to pass current to the left front feed stripline 311C-α and the right front feed stripline 311C-β arranged on the upper and lower sides of the variable circuit board 505, respectively, and serves to branch and transmit the feed signal via the low pass filter 330 described later.

[0061] Meanwhile, as shown in Figures 2 to 6, the antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention may further include a phase shifter 500 that physically changes the length of the transmission lines of the feed striplines 311B and 311C connected from the RF filter 210 to the multiple antenna subarrays 350 and the additional antenna subarray 350', thereby varying the phase by a predetermined value relative to the same plane of the reference phase to achieve a desired phase transition value.

[0062] The phase shifter 500 may include a phase shift drive motor 510 fixed between unit RF filter bodies on the rear side of the antenna board assembly 310, a horizontal mounting bar 520 that moves horizontally up and down on the rear and front sides of the antenna board assembly 310 along the rotation direction of the motor shaft of the phase shift drive motor 510, a plurality of vertical mounting bars 530 each having one end connected to the horizontal mounting bar 520 and the other end hinged to a variable switch panel 540 described later, and the above-mentioned variable switch panel 540 rotatably provided on the front side of a variable circuit board 505 fixed to the front side of the front panel 310C of the antenna board assembly 310.

[0063] Here, as shown in Figures 4A and 4B, the horizontal mounting bar 520 may include a rear horizontal mounting bar 520A that moves up and down while maintaining left and right horizontality on the rear side of the antenna board assembly 310, and a front horizontal mounting bar 520B that is connected to the left and right ends of the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A via the outer portions of the left and right side ends of the antenna board assembly 310, respectively, and moves up and down while maintaining left and right horizontality on the front side of the antenna board assembly 310 in conjunction with the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A.

[0064] The rear horizontal mounting bar 520A functions to support the left and right inner ends of the antenna housing part 10 for vertical movement, and the front horizontal mounting bar 520B is connected to the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A to receive the vertical moving force, and at the same time, functions to provide a connection point to which the other ends of the multiple vertical mounting bars 530 are connected.

[0065] As shown in FIG. 6, a phase shift drive motor 510 is disposed on the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A so as to have a motor rotation shaft in the vertical direction, and a rotating screw rod 511 may be axially coupled to the motor rotation shaft of the phase shift drive motor 510 so as to be rotatable on one side or the other side.

[0066] Here, the phase transition drive motor 510 is fixed inside the antenna housing part 10, and when the rotating screw rod 511 rotates while engaging with the female thread of the screw rod through hole 526h provided in the screw guide mounting block 526, the screw guide mounting block 526 moves vertically, thereby moving the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A vertically.

[0067] A detailed description of the connection structure between the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A and the front horizontal mounting bar 520B and the connection structure between the front horizontal mounting bar 520B and the multiple vertical mounting bars 530 is provided in the description of the configuration of the antenna device 1A according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0068] The variable circuit board 505 is a type of printed circuit board made of FR-4 material or the like, and has a variable circuit 506 having at least one or more disconnection points that can change the phase of the frequency through the transmission line printed on its front surface, and at least one energization terminal pattern 546 for energizing the disconnection points of the variable circuit board 505 may be printed on the back surface of the variable switch panel 540.

[0069] More specifically, the variable circuit 506 pattern-printed on the variable circuit board 505 receives power supply signals from two input terminals 507a, 507b as shown in FIG. 8, and the portions pattern-printed and extending from each of the input terminals 507a, 507b may have two interruption points as described above.

[0070] Here, the variable switch panel 540 is provided so as to be constantly elastically supported on the front side of the variable circuit board 505 via an elastic member 541 provided with a leaf spring, and the elastic member 541 is hinged by a hinge screw 542 so as to be elastically supported toward the variable switch panel 540.

[0071] In this manner, the elastic member 541 allows the energizing terminal pattern 546 of the variable switch panel 540 to rotate without being separated from the variable circuit 506 of the variable circuit board 505, thereby making it possible to prevent errors due to contact separation.

[0072] The front surface of the reflecting panel 310A is provided as a panel type made of a material capable of shielding electromagnetic waves as described above with reference to Figures 4A and 4B, and the variable circuit board 505 of the phase shifter 500 described above can be fixed to the front surface.

[0073] The variable circuit board 505 can be fixed by being pressed into a board mounting boss 508 fixed to pass through the antenna board assembly 310 in the front-to-rear direction, as shown in FIG. 7, and the variable switch panel 540 may also be screwed to the tip of the board mounting boss 508 using a hinge screw 542.

[0074] Meanwhile, the antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention may further include a low pass filter (330, Low Pass Filter, LPF) connected to an output port (not shown) of the unit RF filter body and connected to each input end 507a, 507b of a variable circuit board 505 provided for feeding power to the multiple feeding striplines 311B, 311C, as shown in Figures 4A and 4B.

[0075] The low pass filter (LPF) 330 is a filter for removing high frequency noise, and may be configured in a sort of tubular shape with its upper and lower ends connected to the input ends 507a, 507b of each upper / lower variable circuit board 505.

[0076] 5 and 7, a plurality of ground washers 315 are disposed in pairs on the front surface of the reflecting panel 310A corresponding to the input terminals 507a and 507b of the variable circuit board 505 among the upper and lower ends of the low band pass filter 330, thereby performing a grounding (GND, Ground) function. In order to install the plurality of ground washers 315, a washer installation groove 310A-h may be formed by being recessed backward on the front surface of the reflecting panel 310A.

[0077] As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 8, when the phase shift drive motor 510 is electrically operated and the rotating screw rod 511 rotates to one side or the other side, the phase shifter 500 moves up or down along the rotation direction of the screw guide mounting block 526, the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A to which the screw guide mounting block 526 is fixed and the front horizontal mounting bar 520B fixed thereto move up or down while maintaining left and right horizontality, and the multiple vertical mounting bars 530 move up and down at the same time, and the variable switch panel 540 connected to the end of the vertical mounting bars 530 rotates, thereby realizing a phase shift value due to a change in the physical transmission length of the variable circuit board 505 and the front power supply strip line 311C.

[0078] Figure 9 is an exploded oblique view showing an antenna device according to another embodiment of the present invention, Figure 10 is a front view of Figure 9, Figures 11A and 11B are exploded oblique views of the front and rear parts showing a phase shifter in the configuration of an antenna device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and Figures 12A and 12B are exploded oblique views of the front and rear parts showing the specific connection relationship of a phase transition drive motor in the configuration of the phase shifter.

[0079] The antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention described with reference to Figures 2 to 8 is an embodiment in which a 32T32R transmission channel is constructed using two phase shifters 500 simultaneously to achieve a predetermined phase transition value, whereas another embodiment (1A) of the present invention can be defined as an embodiment in which a 16T16R transmission channel is constructed using one phase shifter 500.

[0080] In other words, compared to the antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in Figures 2 to 8, the antenna subarray 350 and the additional antenna subarray 350' are arranged so that two RF chains are substantially constructed in the V-direction, and when the phase shifter 500 changes the phase to a desired value to radiate an antenna beam, the antenna device 1A according to another embodiment of the present invention is an embodiment that achieves the same effect as realizing a 16T16R transmission signal channel by realizing one RF chain.

[0081] Hereinafter, an antenna device 1A according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described in a form that has other differences compared to the embodiment (1) of the present invention other than the differences described above, or that provides additional explanation of techniques that are insufficient in the description of the embodiment (1) of the present invention.

[0082] As shown in Figures 9 to 12B, an antenna device 1A according to another embodiment of the present invention may have a difference from embodiment (1) of the present invention in that a low-pass filter (not shown) is installed inside adjacent to the output port of RF filter 210.

[0083] However, the low-pass filter does not necessarily have to be provided inside the RF filter 210, and the front-powered stripline 311C may be provided so as to be directly electrically connected to the variable circuit board 505. In one embodiment (1) of the present invention, it may be possible to delete the rear-powered stripline 311B provided between the rear panel 310B and the reflecting panel 310A, or to provide the low-pass filter integrally on the rear-powered stripline 311B.

[0084] Meanwhile, an antenna device 1A according to another embodiment of the present invention can simultaneously transition the phase values ​​of two RF chains (RF Chain 1, RF Chain 2) using only a single phase shifter 500 as shown in Fig. 10. This is different from the antenna device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, which simultaneously transitions the phase values ​​of two RF chains using two phase shifters 500.

[0085] In addition, in an antenna device 1A according to another embodiment of the present invention, the horizontal mounting bar 520 of the phase shifter 500 may include a rear horizontal mounting bar 520A and a front horizontal mounting bar 520B, as shown in Figures 11A to 12B.

[0086] The rear horizontal mounting bar 520A may include a support mounting bar 521A having both ends supported by the left and right side walls of the internal space of the antenna housing part 10, and a fixing mounting bar 522A which is coupled to the front of the support mounting bar 521A and has a plurality of screw fastening holes 522A-1 formed at both left and right ends for fixing to the front horizontal mounting bar 520B.

[0087] Here, a plurality of screw through holes 522B-2 may be formed at both left and right ends of the front horizontal mounting bar 520B for screw fastening with fixing screws 522B-3 of the fixing mounting bar 522A of the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A.

[0088] On the other hand, as shown in Figures 11A and 11B, one end of a plurality of vertical mounting bars 530 is connected to the front horizontal mounting bar 520B, and a variable switch panel 540 can be connected to the other end of the plurality of vertical mounting bars 530 via predetermined hinge members 543, 544, respectively.

[0089] Here, a given hinge member 543, 544 includes a hinge bolt 543 and a hinge nut 544 fastened thereto, and a bolt through hole 533 through which the hinge bolt 543 passes may be formed at the other end of the variable switch panel 540 and the vertical mounting bar 530.

[0090] In this manner, the variable switch panel 540 is hinged to the other end of the multiple vertical mounting bars 530 by the hinge bolt 543 and the hinge nut 544, so that when the multiple vertical mounting bars 530 are moved up and down, the variable switch panel 540 freely rotates a predetermined angle based on the center of rotation, thereby making it possible to change the physical length of the transmission line.

[0091] Meanwhile, the phase shift drive motor 510 can be coupled to a screw guide mounting block 526 provided on the support mounting bar 521A of the rear horizontal mounting bar 520A via a motor mounting bracket 515 therebetween.

[0092] The screw guide mounting block 526 further includes a lower coupling end 523a integrally formed at the lower part centered on the screw rod through hole 526h, and an upper coupling end 523b integrally formed at the upper part centered on the screw rod through hole 526h, and the lower coupling end 523a and the upper coupling end 523b may be formed with lower screw rod through holes 523a-h and upper screw rod through holes 523b-h that communicate or are connected to the screw rod through hole 526h.

[0093] The motor installation bracket 515 may have a fixing screw through hole 515h-1 formed therein so that the fixing screw 515s may pass through and be fastened to a fixing screw fastening hole 525h-2 formed at the lower coupling end 523a of the screw guide mounting block 526.

[0094] In addition, the upper end of the rotating screw rod 511 exposed at the top by passing through the upper screw rod through hole 523b-h of the upper connecting end 523b of the screw guide mounting block 526 can be fixed via a hinge bush 524 and a C-ring 525.

[0095] FIG. 13 is a circuit diagram and a phase difference diagram for explaining the principle of phase conversion performed in the RF stage using phase shifter 500 of an antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 14 is a conceptual diagram for explaining the transmission signal channel and phase transition of the 32T32R of the antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0096] Generally, when the length of the transmission line is changed in each RF chain, in order to realize a mirror symmetry structure, the phase of the signals fed to at least two of the four antenna subarrays 350 requires support work in the digital stage.

[0097] In an antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, the phase shifter 500 is intended to eliminate the support work in the digital stage described above, and as shown in FIG. 14, a power supply signal input from one TRx module (meaning a transmitting / receiving element mounted on a main board or an amplifying element section, respectively) may be configured to rotate so that the lengths of one side transmission line and the other side transmission line are variable at a predetermined ratio by a first current-carrying pattern terminal (not shown in the drawing) and a second current-carrying pattern terminal (not shown in the drawing) of a variable switch panel 540 at a first current-carrying point (not shown) before branching from each input terminal to two output terminals and at a second current-carrying point (not shown) after branching.

[0098] Therefore, at the first power interruption point before branching from one input end to two output ends, the physical lengths of the one-side transmission line and the other-side transmission line are changed by the first current-carrying pattern terminal of the variable switch panel 540, and the phase is changed by △φ and -△φ to realize the desired phase transition value, and at the second power interruption point, which is the transmission line of the output end after branching to two output ends, the physical length of the other-side transmission line is changed by the second current-carrying pattern terminal of the variable switch panel 540, and the phase is changed by 2△φ and -2△φ to realize the desired phase transition value.

[0099] In this case, the phase transition values ​​for the two antenna subarrays 350 and the two additional antenna subarrays 350' based on the same phase plane can form a linear phase distribution, and a Mirror Symmetry structure with the most efficient beamforming performance as shown in Figure 13 can be realized.

[0100] Here, as shown in FIG. 14, the antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention realizes beamforming by performing phase transition so as to have a predetermined physical length ratio at one point of the transmission line before branching from the input end of the RF chain to two output ends and at one point of the transmission line connecting one of the two output ends after branching, among the antenna subarray 350 and additional antenna subarray 350' arranged to realize a total of 32T32R transmission line channels.

[0101] This provides an improvement of +6 dB in gain compared to an antenna device having a 32T32R transmission line channel with two RF chains and no phase shifter 500, and an improvement of +3 dB in gain compared to an antenna device having a 32T32R transmission line channel with two RF chains and a phase shifter but not branched to two output ends, providing the advantage of being able to radiate a beam with a narrow beam width and large antenna gain.

[0102] In addition, the antenna device 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention shown in Figures 13 and 14 can provide phase changes to four antenna subarrays for each RF chain, so it can achieve beamforming with the same effect as a 64T64R antenna device.However, since it has two RF chains, it has the advantage of being more advantageous in terms of cost and process compared to a 64T64R antenna device having four RF chains.

[0103] The antenna device according to the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and it is obvious that various modifications and equivalent implementations are possible by those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains. Therefore, the true scope of the present invention is defined by the claims below. [Industrial Applicability]

[0104] The present invention provides an antenna device that can realize beamforming with a larger gain than an antenna device not provided with an additional antenna subarray by further constructing an additional antenna subarray to branch off from the input end of each RF chain along with a plurality of antenna subarrays arranged to form a predetermined number of RF chains, and radiating by transitioning the phase values ​​of the antenna subarray and the additional antenna subarray to be different using a phase shifter. [Explanation of symbols]

[0105] 210: RF filter, 211: unit RF filter body 310: Antenna board assembly, 310A: Reflecting panel 310B: Rear panel, 310C: Front panel 311B: rear-fed stripline, 311C: front-fed stripline 350: antenna subarray, 350': additional antenna subarray 500: phase shifter, 510: phase shift drive motor 520: Horizontal mounting bar, 530: Vertical mounting bar 540: Variable switch panel, 590: Front horizontal moving bar

Claims

1. a radiating element module including a plurality of antenna subarrays arranged to realize antenna beamforming by forming a predetermined number of RF chains, the radiating element module being electrically connected to a front side of the RF filter; a phase shifter that changes a length ratio of a physical transmission line to the plurality of antenna subarrays to a predetermined ratio to transition a phase value; Each RF chain of the radiating element module is further arranged such that one of two output terminals branched from an input terminal of each RF chain is connected to the antenna subarray, and the other output terminal is connected to an additional antenna subarray corresponding to the antenna subarray.

2. 2. The antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the phase shifter radiates an antenna beam by transitioning phase values ​​of the plurality of antenna subarrays and the additional antenna subarray in different ways in a transmission line constituting an input end of each RF chain and one of the two branched output ends, thereby realizing a linear phase distribution according to the predetermined ratio with respect to an identical reference phase plane.

3. When implementing antenna beamforming via a 32T32R transmission signal channel, The plurality of antenna subarrays are arranged to form two RF chains, and are spaced apart in a V-direction (Vertical direction) for each chain; The antenna apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the additional antenna subarray is arranged at a distance in a V-direction so as to branch off together with the antenna subarray from the input ends of the two RF chains.

4. The phase shifter comprises:

4. The antenna apparatus of claim 3, further comprising: a transmission line coupled to the plurality of antenna subarrays corresponding to the respective RF chains for a power feed, the transmission line having a physical length that is changed in accordance with the power feed.

5. the phase shifter includes a variable switch panel including a first current-carrying pattern terminal and a second current-carrying pattern terminal; 2. The antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the radiating element module includes an antenna board assembly on which the plurality of antenna subarrays and the plurality of additional antenna subarrays are arranged, and on which transmission lines at which the first current carrying pattern terminal and the second current carrying pattern terminal are in contact are coupled to form a plurality of power supply strip lines made of a conductive material.

6. 6. The antenna device according to claim 5, wherein the plurality of power supply striplines of the antenna board assembly are provided on a variable circuit board on which a variable circuit having a first disconnection point and a second disconnection point that are respectively energized by a first current-carrying pattern terminal and a second current-carrying pattern terminal of the variable switch panel is pattern-printed.

7. 7. The antenna device of claim 6, wherein the variable circuit board is in the form of a printed circuit board made of FR-4 material.

8. The plurality of feed striplines include a rear feed stripline electrically connected to the variable circuit of the variable circuit board, the variable circuit board having two input terminals for feeding at least two points; 7. The antenna device according to claim 6, further comprising: a front-fed stripline electrically connected to the rear-fed stripline, branching and extending to have at least two output ends, and connected to the plurality of antenna subarrays and the plurality of additional antenna subarrays.

9. 6. The antenna device according to claim 5, wherein the phase shifter realizes a phase transition value at the predetermined ratio according to a position where the first current carrying pattern terminal and the second current carrying pattern terminal contact the transmission line when the variable switch panel rotates.

10. The radiating element module comprises: an antenna board assembly including: a reflecting panel configured to reflect antenna beams radiated from the plurality of antenna subarrays and the additional antenna subarray forward; and a rear panel and a front panel laminated and coupled to a rear surface and a front surface of the reflecting panel; a plurality of feeding striplines made of a conductive material, the feeding striplines penetrating the reflecting panel or disposed in one of stripline installation slits formed in the rear panel and the front panel in a slit shape, for electrical connection with the RF filter; The front panel and the rear panel are made of a plastic resin material different from the material of the reflecting panel, The antenna device according to claim 1 , wherein the antenna board assembly is formed by integrally manufacturing the rear panel and the front panel on the basis of the reflecting panel using a double injection method.

11. The antenna device according to claim 10, wherein a front surface of the front panel is provided with a variable circuit board on which a variable circuit having at least two disconnection points is pattern-printed so as to form a part of a physical transmission line changed by the phase shifter.

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