Antenna device and wireless communication device

Abstract

To provide an antenna device.SOLUTION: An antenna device includes: a substrate including a first surface and a second surface; a grounding layer provided between the first and second surfaces; a multi-branch circuit which is provided on the first surface and includes a signal receiving end and a plurality of signal radiation ends, and in which a plurality of receiving branches are formed between the signal receiving end and the plurality of signal radiation ends; and a plurality of antenna units which are provided on the second surface and connected to the plurality of signal radiation ends via respective vias, and which are for performing beam shaping. The beam angle of the plurality of antenna units is controlled based on difference in path length of the receiving branches of two horizontally adjacent antenna units.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to fifth generation new radio (5G new radio; 5G NR) technology, and in particular to an antenna device and a wireless communication device. [Background technology]

[0002] In the mmWave antenna array of 5G new radio (5G NR), various signals are often transmitted by adopting a beamforming method in the antenna array. However, when an antenna array having a large number of antenna units is installed in a small space and there are many users, it is necessary to transmit a large number of beams in a small space, which often causes problems such as difficulty in controlling the beam angle, inter-beam interference, side lobe interference, high power consumption, and high cost. Summary of the Invention

[0003] The present disclosure provides an antenna device including a substrate having a first surface and a second surface, a ground layer provided between the first surface and the second surface, a multi-branch circuit provided on the first surface, including a signal receiving end and a plurality of signal radiating ends, where a plurality of receiving branches are formed between the signal receiving end and the plurality of signal radiating ends, and a plurality of antenna units provided on the second surface, connected to the plurality of signal radiating ends via respective vias, for beam forming, and controlling the beam angles of the plurality of antenna units based on the difference in path lengths between the receiving branches of two horizontally adjacent antenna units.

[0004] The present disclosure provides a wireless communication device having a plurality of antenna arrays, each of the plurality of antenna arrays including a substrate including a first surface and a second surface, a ground layer provided between the first surface and the second surface, a multi-branch circuit provided on the first surface, including a signal receiving end and a plurality of signal radiating ends, where a plurality of receiving branches are formed between the signal receiving end and the plurality of signal radiating ends, and a plurality of antenna units provided on the second surface, connected to the plurality of signal radiating ends via respective vias, for beam forming, the wireless communication device being used to control the beam angle of the plurality of antenna units based on the difference in path length between the receiving branches of two horizontally adjacent antenna units. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0005] [Figure 1] 1 is a top perspective view of a wireless communication device of the present disclosure. [Diagram 2] 1 is a side perspective view of a wireless communication device of the present disclosure. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a multi-branch circuit according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a multi-branch circuit having a Wilkinson unequal splitter according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Diagram 5] 1 is a top perspective view of a wireless communication device according to some further embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 6] 1 is a schematic diagram of a vertically polarized wireless communication device according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 7] 2 is a schematic diagram of a horizontally polarized wireless communication device according to some further embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 8] 2 is a schematic diagram of antenna gain of a horizontally polarized wireless communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. [Figure 9] 2 is a schematic diagram of antenna gain of a vertically polarized wireless communication device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0006] Please refer to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a top perspective view of a wireless communication device 100 of the present disclosure, and Figure 2 is a side perspective view of the wireless communication device 100 of the present disclosure, and is a side perspective view along a line segment from end point A to end point A in the wireless communication device 100 of Figure 1. In this embodiment, the wireless communication device 100 includes a substrate S, a ground layer G, a multi-branch circuit CCT, and a plurality of antenna units ANT.

[0007] It should be noted that in this embodiment, an installation configuration is adopted in which the number of the multiple antenna units ANT is 16 and the number of each row of the multiple antenna units ANT is 8, in order to meet the needs of a beamwidth of 11 degrees and an antenna gain of the main beam of 15 dB or more, but the number of the multiple antenna units ANT and the number of each row may be adjusted according to other beamwidth and antenna gain needs.

[0008] The substrate S also includes a first surface S1 and a second surface S2 that correspond to each other. A ground layer G is provided between the first surface S1 and the second surface S2. In some embodiments, the substrate S may be a printed circuit board (PCB) made of an insulating material, and the material of the substrate S may be a material commonly used in the manufacture of PCBs, such as Teflon (PTFE) or epoxy resin (FR4). In some embodiments, the ground layer G may be made of a metal material, such as copper foil.

[0009] In addition, the multi-branch circuit CCT is provided on the first surface S1, and includes a signal receiving end and a plurality of signal radiating ends, and a plurality of receiving branches are formed between the signal receiving end and the plurality of signal radiating ends. In some embodiments, the multi-branch circuit has a plurality of branch nodes with a plurality of layer structures to form a plurality of receiving branches between the signal receiving end and the plurality of signal radiating ends.

[0010] In some embodiments, the branch nodes may be Unequal Wilkinson Power Dividers to improve isolation between the antenna units ANT to control antenna gain of the antenna units ANT and further reduce interference due to sidelobes. In some embodiments, the Unequal Wilkinson Power Dividers are further used to control antenna gain of the antenna units ANT by controlling power ratios between the antenna units ANT.

[0011] In addition, a plurality of antenna units ANT are provided on the second surface S2, and are connected to a plurality of signal radiating ends through respective vias VIA, and are used for beamforming. In some embodiments, a receiving point FP of each antenna unit ANT may be connected to a corresponding signal radiating end through a corresponding via VIA.

[0012] Also, it is used to control the beam angle θ (i.e., the included angle between the direction of the beams generated by the antenna units ANT and the normal direction of the second surface S2) of the multiple antenna units ANT based on the difference in path length of the receiving branches of two adjacent antenna units ANT in the horizontal direction (i.e., the +x direction). In some embodiments, the antenna unit ANT may be a patch antenna or an antenna applicable to other antenna arrays. In other words, the multiple antenna units ANT may constitute one or more antenna arrays, and the antenna array may be a patch antenna array.

[0013] In some embodiments, when each of the plurality of antenna units ANT is a vertically polarized patch antenna, the plurality of antenna units ANT are arranged on the second surface S2 in vertical mirror rows, and when each of the plurality of antenna units ANT is a horizontally polarized patch antenna, the plurality of antenna units ANT are arranged on the second surface S2 in horizontal mirror rows.

[0014] In some embodiments, a phase difference between two horizontally adjacent antenna units ANT is proportional to the difference in length. In some embodiments, a beam angle θ of the multiple antenna units ANT is proportional to the difference in length. In some embodiments, an antenna distance formed by the geometric center positions of two horizontally adjacent antenna units ANT is half the wavelength of a center frequency of a resonance band of the multiple antenna units ANT.

[0015] According to the wireless communication device 100 of the present disclosure, the path length of the receiving branch in the multi-branch circuit CCT can be used to adjust the beam direction of the wireless communication device 100. Also, since a large number of antenna units are adopted in the wireless communication device 100, the beam width of the main beam can be significantly reduced, and interference between beams caused by the need to use many beams in a small space can be solved.

[0016] The wireless communication device 100 will now be further described with reference to a practical example.

[0017] Please also refer to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a portion of a multi-branch circuit CCT according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, where the portion of the multi-branch circuit CCT is the upper half of the multi-branch circuit CCT in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 3, the portion of the multi-branch circuit CCT includes a signal receiving end IN and eight signal radiating ends OUT1 to OUT8, and has seven branch nodes ND1 to ND7 of three layer structures ST1 to ST3 between the signal receiving end IN and the signal radiating ends OUT1 to OUT8 to form a plurality of receiving branches. In some embodiments, the branch nodes ND4 to ND7 are upper layer branch nodes. The branch nodes ND2 to ND3 are middle layer branch nodes. And the branch node ND1 is a lower layer branch node.

[0018] Furthermore, a first receiving branch can be formed from the signal receiving end IN to the signal radiating end OUT1 via the branch nodes ND1, ND2, and ND4 in order. A second receiving branch can be formed from the signal receiving end IN to the signal radiating end OUT2 via the branch nodes ND1, ND2, and ND4 in order. By this analogy, a third to eighth receiving branches can be formed between the signal receiving end IN and the signal radiating ends OUT3 to OUT8.

[0019] On the other hand, for the layer structure ST1, the difference in length between the path length of the first receiving branch and the path length of the second receiving branch is ΔL, and the difference in length between the path length of the second receiving branch and the path length of the third receiving branch is also ΔL. By analogy, the differences in path length between the other two adjacent receiving branches are all also ΔL. In other words, the path lengths of the first to eighth receiving branches can form an arithmetic progression.

[0020] As an example, for the layer structure ST1, one length difference can be calculated from the path length from the branch node ND4 to the signal radiating end OUT1 and the path length from the branch node ND4 to the signal radiating end OUT2, and this length difference is ΔL. Also, one length difference can be calculated from the path length from the branch node ND5 to the signal radiating end OUT3 and the path length from the branch node ND5 to the signal radiating end OUT4, and this length difference is also ΔL. By this analogy, the length difference between the radiating end OUT5 and the radiating end OUT6 and the length difference between the radiating end OUT7 and the radiating end OUT8 are also all ΔL.

[0021] In addition, in the layer structure ST2, the difference in length between the path length from the signal receiving end IN to the branch node ND4 via the branch nodes ND1 and ND2 in that order and the path length from the signal receiving end IN to the branch node ND5 via the branch nodes ND1 and ND2 in that order is twice ΔL, and the difference in length between the path length from the signal receiving end IN to the branch node ND5 via the branch nodes ND1 and ND2 in that order and the path length from the signal receiving end IN to the branch node ND6 via the branch nodes ND1 and ND3 in that order is also twice ΔL. By this analogy, in the layer structure ST2, the path length differences of the other adjacent paths are all also twice ΔL (similarly forming one arithmetic progression).

[0022] As an example, for layer structure ST2, a difference in length can be calculated from the path length from branch node ND2 to branch node ND4 and the path length from branch node ND2 to branch node ND5, and this difference in length is twice ΔL. Also, a difference in length can be calculated from the path length from branch node ND3 to branch node ND6 and the path length from branch node ND3 to branch node ND7, and this difference in length is also twice ΔL.

[0023] In addition, for the layer structure ST3, the difference in length between the path length from the signal receiving end IN via branch node ND1 to node ND2 and the path length from the signal receiving end IN via branch node ND1 to branch node ND3 is four times ΔL.

[0024] As an example, for the layer structure ST3, one length difference can be calculated from the path length from branch node ND1 to branch node ND2 and the path length from branch node ND1 to branch node ND3, and this length difference is four times ΔL.

[0025] In this manner, the beam angle θ of the multiple antenna units ANT can be adjusted by utilizing the length difference value ΔL corresponding to the layer structure ST1 according to the needs of the antenna design.

[0026] It should be noted that the phases of the radiation signals from the signal radiating ends OUT1 to OUT8 can form another arithmetic progression, and the phase difference between two adjacent signal radiating ends is proportional to the difference in length.

[0027] According to the above installation form, the relationship between the beam angle θ of the multiple antenna units ANT, the antenna distance d, and the numerical value ΔL of the difference in length corresponding to the above layer structure ST1 is as shown in the following formula (1). ΔL=d×sinθ...Formula (1)

[0028] As can be seen from formula (1), when a large beam angle θ is required, the length of the line in the multi-branch circuit CCT can be adjusted to make the length difference value ΔL larger. Conversely, when a small beam angle θ is required, the length of the line in the multi-branch circuit CCT can be adjusted to make the length difference value ΔL smaller. In other words, the length difference value ΔL (which may be any positive number) can be selected as needed, and thus the length difference value ΔL can be used to adjust the beam angle of the wireless communication device 100, and ΔL is not particularly limited.

[0029] Please also refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a multi-branch circuit CCT' with Wilkinson unequal dividers according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 4, a Wilkinson unequal divider is adopted at each branch node in the multi-branch circuit CCT of FIG. 3 to form a circuit structure of the multi-branch circuit CCT' with Wilkinson unequal dividers, which can improve the isolation between the two radiation ends of the Wilkinson unequal divider and adjust the power difference between the two radiation ends. It should be noted that the relationship between the path lengths in the layer structure ST1-ST3 of the multi-branch circuit CCT' is the same as that of the multi-branch circuit CCT. Therefore, it will not be further described here.

[0030] In order to set the power difference between the side lobe and the main beam to 18 dB or more, the signal radiation end OUT1 in the multi-branch circuit CCT' can be used as a reference and the power of the signal radiation ends OUT1 to OUT8 in the multi-branch circuit CCT' can be set as shown in the following table (1). [Table 1]

[0031] As can be seen from Table (1), there are certain power ratios between the signal radiation ends OUT1 to OUT8, so that the power difference between the two radiation ends of the Wilkinson unequal distributor in the multi-branch circuit CCT' can be adjusted based on these power ratios.

[0032] In addition, based on the above table (1), by adopting the Wilkinson unequal distributor, the power difference between the two radiation ends of the branch node ND4 can be adjusted to 1.12 dB, the power difference between the two radiation ends of the branch node ND5 can be adjusted to 1.16 dB, the power difference between the two radiation ends of the branch node ND2 can be adjusted to 3.59 dB, and the power difference between the two radiation ends of the branch node ND1 can be adjusted to 0 dB. By analogy, the power difference between the two radiation ends of the branch nodes ND7, ND6, and ND3 can be adjusted in the same way.

[0033] According to the above installation configuration, the power difference between the main beam and the side lobe of the multiple antenna units ANT can be increased to more than 18 dB, so that the antenna gain of the multiple antenna units ANT is controlled to more than 15 dB, and the side lobe interference is further reduced.

[0034] Please also refer to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a top perspective view of a wireless communication device 100 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 5, the multi-branch circuit CCT' (corresponding to the antenna units ANT in the first row) in the upper half of the wireless communication device 100 in Fig. 5 is the multi-branch circuit CCT' shown in Fig. 4, and the difference between Fig. 5 and Fig. 1 is only in the branch nodes ND1 to ND7 in the multi-branch circuit CCT, so other similar contents will not be described repeatedly.

[0035] Please also refer to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a vertically polarized wireless communication device 100 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 6, the antenna units ANT in the first and second rows are antenna arrays with a vertically polarized beam angle of -5 degrees, the antenna units ANT in the third and fourth rows are antenna arrays with a vertically polarized beam angle of -16 degrees, the antenna units ANT in the fifth and sixth rows are antenna arrays with a vertically polarized beam angle of 5 degrees, and the antenna units ANT in the seventh and eighth rows are antenna arrays with a vertically polarized beam angle of 16 degrees.

[0036] Also, the antenna units ANT in the first row may be set as a reference and the antenna units ANT in the second row may be set so that the rows are vertical mirror images of each other. In other words, the receiving point FP of the antenna units ANT in the first row is close to the upper edge of the antenna units ANT in the first row, and the receiving point FP of the antenna units ANT in the second row is close to the lower edge of the antenna units ANT in the second row. By this analogy, each antenna array may have the same installation form.

[0037] Please also refer to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram of a horizontally polarized wireless communication device 100 according to some other embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 7, the antenna units ANT in the first and second rows are antenna arrays with a horizontally polarized beam angle of -5 degrees, the antenna units ANT in the third and fourth rows are antenna arrays with a horizontally polarized beam angle of -16 degrees, the antenna units ANT in the fifth and sixth rows are antenna arrays with a horizontally polarized beam angle of 5 degrees, and the antenna units ANT in the seventh and eighth rows are antenna arrays with a horizontally polarized beam angle of 16 degrees.

[0038] Also, the antenna units ANT in the first to fourth rows may be used as a reference and the antenna units ANT in the eighth to fifth rows may be installed such that the rows are horizontal mirror images. In other words, the reception points FP of the antenna units ANT in the first to fourth rows are adjacent to the left side of the antenna units ANT in the first to fourth rows, respectively, and the reception points FP of the antenna units ANT in the eighth to fifth rows are adjacent to the right side of the antenna units ANT in the eighth to fifth rows, respectively. By this analogy, each antenna array may have the same installation form.

[0039] On the other hand, if the wireless communication device 100 needs to cover 45 degrees in the horizontal direction, there are eight users, and the antenna gain needs to be 15 dB or more, the antenna arrays of FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 may be simultaneously adopted, and the multi-branch circuit of FIG. 5 may be adopted for each antenna array. Thereby, four beams can be generated in the horizontal and vertical polarization directions to generate eight beams, each beam has a beam width of about 11 degrees, and the antenna gain of each antenna array is about 15 dB. In addition, the cross polarization between the vertical polarization and the horizontal polarization of the wireless communication device 100 is greater than 25 dB. In this way, the effects of narrow beam width, low side lobe interference, low power consumption, and low cost can be achieved at the same time.

[0040] Please also refer to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a schematic diagram of antenna gain of horizontally polarized wireless communication device 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 8, curve CH1_HM1 is the antenna gain of antenna units ANT in the third and fourth columns in Fig. 7, curve CH1_HM2 is the antenna gain of antenna units ANT in the fifth and sixth columns in Fig. 7, curve CH2_HM1 is the antenna gain of antenna units ANT in the first and second columns in Fig. 7, and curve CH2_HM2 is the antenna gain of antenna units ANT in the seventh and eighth columns in Fig. 7.

[0041] As can be seen from FIG. 8, the antenna gain of each antenna array is also about 15 dB, the horizontal polarization beam direction of each antenna array is also -16 degrees, -5 degrees, 5 degrees and 16 degrees respectively, and the power difference between the side lobe and the main beam is also greater than 18 dB.

[0042] Please also refer to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of antenna gain of vertically polarized wireless communication device 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 9, curve CH1_VM1 is the antenna gain of antenna units ANT in the third and fourth columns in Fig. 6, curve CH1_VM2 is the antenna gain of antenna units ANT in the fifth and sixth columns in Fig. 6, curve CH2_VM1 is the antenna gain of antenna units ANT in the first and second columns in Fig. 6, and curve CH2_VM2 is the antenna gain of antenna units ANT in the seventh and eighth columns in Fig. 6.

[0043] As can be seen from FIG. 9, the antenna gain of each antenna array is about 15 dB, the vertical polarization beam direction of each antenna array is -16 degrees, -5 degrees, 5 degrees and 16 degrees respectively, and the power difference between the side lobe and the main beam is greater than 18 dB.

[0044] In summary, the wireless communication device of the present disclosure can control the beam angle of the antenna unit based on the difference in path length of the receiving branches of two horizontally adjacent antenna units, and can employ a large number of antenna units to reduce the beam width. It can also adjust the power ratio between the multiple branch nodes of the multiple layer structures of the multi-branch circuit to control the antenna gain of the antenna unit and further reduce side lobe interference. Meanwhile, this installation form can also significantly reduce power consumption and costs.

[0045] The present disclosure has been disclosed as above by the embodiments, but the embodiments do not limit the present disclosure, and those skilled in the art can make some changes or modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present disclosure is based on the contents specified in the following claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0046] 100 Wireless communication device CCT Multi-branch circuit G ground layer S-substrate VIA ANT Antenna Unit θ Beam angle S1 1st surface S2 2nd surface FP receiving point A end point ST1~ST3 layer structure OUT1~OUT8 Signal radiation end ND1~ND7 branch nodes IN signal receiving end ΔL is the length difference value corresponding to layer structure ST1 CCT' Multi-branch circuit with Wilkinson unequal divider CH1_HM1, CH1_HM2, CH2_HM1, CH2_HM2, CH1_VM1, CH1_VM2, CH2_VM1, CH2_VM2 curve

Claims

1. a substrate including a first surface and a second surface; a ground layer disposed between the first surface and the second surface; a multi-branch circuit having a plurality of branch nodes provided on the first surface, the multi-branch circuit including a signal receiving end and a plurality of signal radiating ends, a plurality of receiving branches being formed between the signal receiving end and the plurality of signal radiating ends; a plurality of antenna units provided on the second surface and connected to the signal radiating end through respective vias for beam forming; Including, controlling a beam angle of the antenna unit based on a difference in path length between the receiving branches of two horizontally adjacent antenna units; The plurality of receiving branches form at least two layer structures, a first layer and a second layer, the plurality of branch nodes in the at least two layer structures are a plurality of Wilkinson unequal dividers, and the path lengths of the plurality of receiving branches having the plurality of Wilkinson unequal dividers in the at least two layer structures form an arithmetic progression; An antenna apparatus, wherein the plurality of Wilkinson unequal power dividers are configured to improve isolation between the plurality of Wilkinson unequal power dividers employed and the plurality of antenna units, and to control antenna gain of the plurality of antenna units, thereby reducing side lobe interference.

2. The antenna device according to claim 1 , wherein a plurality of branch nodes form the receiving branch between the signal receiving end and the signal radiating end.

3. the first layer is connected to the signal radiating end; 3. The antenna device according to claim 2, wherein the difference in length is a difference in path lengths from two adjacent signal radiation ends having a shared upper branch node to the shared upper branch node.

4. the second layer is connected to the first layer; The antenna device according to claim 3 , wherein a difference in the path lengths of the second layer from two adjacent upper layer branch nodes having a shared middle layer branch node to the shared middle layer branch node is twice the difference in the lengths.

5. a third layer, the third layer being sandwiched between the signal radiating end and the second layer; The antenna device according to claim 4, wherein the difference in path length of each of the third layer from two adjacent middle layer branch nodes having a shared lower layer branch node to the shared lower layer branch node is twice as long as the difference in the path lengths of the second layer.

6. 2. The antenna device according to claim 1, wherein the Wilkinson unequal divider is further used to control the antenna gain of the antenna units by controlling a power ratio between the antenna units.

7. The antenna device according to claim 1 , wherein a phase difference between the two horizontally adjacent antenna units is proportional to the difference in length.

8. 2. The antenna device according to claim 1, wherein an antenna distance formed by the geometric center positions of the two horizontally adjacent antenna units is half the wavelength of a center frequency of a resonance band of the antenna units.

9. if each of the antenna units is a vertically polarised patch antenna, the antenna units are arranged on the second surface in a row-to-row vertical mirror image; 2. The antenna arrangement of claim 1, wherein when each of said antenna units is a horizontally polarised patch antenna, said antenna units are arranged on said second surface in a horizontal mirror image fashion, row by row.

10. 1. A wireless communication device having a plurality of antenna arrays, Each of the antenna arrays comprises: a substrate including a first surface and a second surface; a ground layer disposed between the first surface and the second surface; a multi-branch circuit provided on the first surface, the multi-branch circuit having a plurality of branch nodes including a signal receiving end and a plurality of signal radiating ends, where a plurality of receiving branches are formed between the signal receiving end and the plurality of signal radiating ends; a plurality of antenna units provided on the second surface and connected to the signal radiating end through respective vias for beam forming; Including, controlling a beam angle of the antenna unit based on a difference in path length between the receiving branches of two horizontally adjacent antenna units; The plurality of receiving branches form at least two layer structures, a first layer and a second layer, the plurality of branching nodes are a plurality of Wilkinson unequal dividers, and the path lengths of the plurality of receiving branches having the plurality of Wilkinson unequal dividers in the at least two layer structures form an arithmetic progression; A wireless communication device, wherein the plurality of Wilkinson unequal dividers are configured to improve isolation between the plurality of Wilkinson unequal dividers employed and the plurality of antenna units, and to control antenna gain of the plurality of antenna units, thereby reducing side lobe interference.

11. The wireless communication device of claim 10 , wherein for each of a plurality of the antenna arrays, a plurality of the branch nodes form the receive branch between the signal receiving end and the signal radiating end.

12. For each of the plurality of antenna arrays, the first layer is connected to the signal radiating end; The wireless communication device of claim 11, wherein for each of the plurality of antenna arrays, the difference in length is a difference in path length from two adjacent signal radiating ends having a shared upper branch node to the shared upper branch node.

13. For each of a plurality of said antenna arrays, said second layer is connected to said first layer; 13. The wireless communication device of claim 12, wherein for each of the plurality of antenna arrays, a difference in the second layer path lengths from two adjacent upper layer branching nodes having a shared middle layer branching node to the shared middle layer branching node is twice the difference in the lengths.

14. a third tier having a lower tier branch node for each of the plurality of antenna arrays, the third tier being sandwiched between the lower tier branch node and the second tier; 14. The wireless communication device of claim 13, wherein for each of the plurality of antenna arrays, the difference in the path lengths of the third layer from two adjacent middle layer branch nodes having a shared lower layer branch node to the shared lower layer branch node is twice as long as the difference in the path lengths of the second layer.

15. The wireless communication device of claim 10 , wherein for each of the plurality of antenna arrays, the Wilkinson unequal divider is further used to control the antenna gain of the antenna units by controlling a power ratio between the antenna units.

16. The wireless communication device of claim 10 , wherein for each of the plurality of antenna arrays, a phase difference between the two horizontally adjacent antenna units is proportional to a difference in length.

17. if each of the plurality of antenna arrays is a vertically polarized patch antenna, for each of the plurality of antenna arrays, the plurality of antenna units are disposed on the second surface in a row-to-row vertical mirror image; 11. The wireless communication device of claim 10, wherein when each of the plurality of antenna arrays is a horizontally polarized patch antenna, for each of the plurality of antenna arrays, the plurality of antenna units are arranged on the second surface such that rows and rows are horizontal mirror images.

Images