Antenna board assembly and antenna device including same

Abstract

An antenna board assembly is provided that can improve system performance by reducing insertion loss. The antenna board assembly includes a reflecting panel for reflecting forward an antenna beam radiated from a plurality of array antenna elements provided at the front of the reflecting panel, a rear panel laminated and bonded to a rear surface of the reflecting panel and made of a non-conductive material, and a front panel laminated and bonded to a front surface of the reflecting panel and made of a non-conductive material. The rear panel and the front panel are integrally molded based on the reflecting panel by a double injection method and laminated and bonded to each other.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an antenna board assembly and an antenna apparatus including the same, and more particularly to an antenna board assembly and an antenna apparatus including the same that can minimize insertion loss by constructing a feed line pattern printed on an existing PCB as a conductive feed strip line on a panel made of a general plastic resin material. [Background technology]

[0002] Wireless communication technology, for example, MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology, is a technology that dramatically increases data transmission capacity by using multiple antennas. It is a spatial multiplexing technique in which a transmitter transmits different data through each transmitting antenna, and a receiver separates the transmitted data through appropriate signal processing.

[0003] Therefore, by simultaneously increasing the number of transmitting and receiving antennas, the channel capacity increases, enabling more data to be transmitted. For example, increasing the number of antennas to 10 secures approximately 10 times the channel capacity compared to the current single antenna system using the same frequency band.

[0004] 4G LTE-advanced uses up to eight antennas, but in the current pre-5G stage, products equipped with 64 or 128 antennas are being developed, and it is expected that 5G will use base station equipment with a much larger number of antennas, which is called Massive MIMO technology. While current cell operations are 2-dimensional, 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 the antenna radiation beams to provide optimal services in response to changes in subscriber usage density by region and time of day.

[0006] These array antenna elements are mounted on the front surface of an antenna element substrate coupled to the front portion of the RF filter, and a plurality of transmission lines can be pattern-printed on the front and rear surfaces of the antenna element substrate to electrically connect it to the RF filter.

[0007] However, since the antenna element substrate is made of a PCB material (e.g., FR4 material) having a certain dielectric constant, there is a problem that the insertion loss due to the multiple transmission lines printed on the pattern becomes large, which reduces the performance of the antenna device.

[0008] Furthermore, when connecting the RF filter and multiple transmission lines using a coaxial connector (Direct Coaxial Connector, DCC), a grounding washer made of a conductive material that serves as a ground is provided around the coaxial connector in front of the RF filter. However, since the multiple transmission lines must be connected while avoiding the grounding washer, a certain amount of avoidance space must be provided between the RF filter and the antenna element board, which creates a problem of increasing the front-to-back thickness of the entire product. 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 an object of the present invention is to provide an antenna board assembly and an antenna device including the same, which can reduce insertion loss compared to existing PCB materials and improve system performance.

[0010] Another object of the present invention is to provide an antenna board assembly and an antenna device including the same, which can easily establish electrical connection without increasing the volume of the connection portion between the RF filter and a plurality of transmission lines, thereby preventing an increase in the overall volume of the product.

[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 board assembly includes a reflecting panel configured to reflect antenna beams radiated from a plurality of array antenna elements provided at the front toward the front, a rear panel laminated and bonded to the rear surface of the reflecting panel and made of a non-conductive material, and a front panel laminated and bonded to the front surface of the reflecting panel and made of a non-conductive material, wherein the rear panel and the front panel are integrally molded using a double injection method with respect to the reflecting panel and then laminated and bonded.

[0013] Here, the reflecting panel may further include a plurality of feeding striplines coupled to the front and rear sides of the reflecting panel to feed power to the plurality of array antenna elements, and the reflecting panel may have at least one connection hole formed therethrough in the front-to-rear direction so that some of the feeding striplines provided to feed power to the plurality of array antenna elements may penetrate and connect from the rear side to the front side.

[0014] The plurality of feeding striplines may include a rear-feed stripline disposed on the rear panel, one end of which is connected to an output port of a unit RF filter body and the other end of which passes through at least one connection hole, and a front-feed stripline disposed on the front panel, one end of which is adapted to be fed from the rear-feed stripline and the other end of which is adapted to feed the plurality of array antenna elements, and stripline installation slits may be formed in the rear panel and the front panel, respectively, penetrating in the front-rear direction so that the rear-feed stripline and the front-feed stripline can be accommodated within a thickness range.

[0015] In addition, a plurality of fixing pins may be formed integrally with the rear panel and the front panel in the stripline installation slit so as to suppress any movement of the rear-fed stripline and the front-fed stripline, and a plurality of pin fixing holes may be formed in the rear-fed stripline and the front-fed stripline, through which the fixing pins pass and are fastened.

[0016] In addition, the plurality of fixing pins formed in the stripline installation slits may be formed to a size that allows them to protrude outside the plurality of pin fixing holes so as to be meltable by external heat after being fixed to the plurality of pin fixing holes of the rear power feeding stripline and the front power feeding stripline.

[0017] Also, the rear-fed stripline may have a low-pass filter (LPF) at one end connected to the output port of the RF filter body for removing high-frequency noise.

[0018] In addition, the tip end of the low pass filter (LPF) is electrically connected via a coaxial connector (Direct Coaxial Connector, DCC) provided at the output port of the plurality of unit RF filter bodies, and can be connected via an open portion of a grounding washer provided in a semicircular shape around the coaxial connector.

[0019] Furthermore, the rear power-feed stripline and the front power-feed stripline may be provided in the form of a thin conductor bar made of a conductive material that does not exceed the thickness of the stripline installation slit (hereinafter referred to as the "rear installation slit") formed in the rear panel and the stripline installation slit (hereinafter referred to as the "front installation slit") formed in the front panel, respectively.

[0020] In addition, the rear feeding stripline can be electrically connected to either an input end of a variable circuit board fixed to the front surface of the reflecting panel or an input end of the front feeding stripline via connecting pins formed to extend and protrude forward from each end.

[0021] In addition, the front-fed stripline has one end connected to either a variable circuit board fixed to the front surface of the reflecting panel or an input end connected to the rear-fed stripline, and the other end supported by a support pin inserted into the front surface of the front panel and can be connected to feed power to the plurality of array antenna elements.

[0022] The reflecting panel may further include a phase shifter fixed to a front surface of the reflecting panel, the phase shifter including a variable circuit board having a variable circuit pattern printed on the front surface, the variable circuit having at least one or more disconnection points capable of varying the phase of a frequency according to a change in the physical length of a transmission line, and the front panel may be formed with a variable circuit board avoidance groove cut out to expose the variable circuit board forward.

[0023] The phase shifter may include a phase shift drive motor fixed between the unit RF filter bodies behind the rear panel; a horizontal mounting bar that moves up and down behind the rear panel while maintaining horizontality in accordance with a rotation direction of a motor shaft of the phase shift drive motor; a variable switch panel that is rotatably mounted on a front surface of the variable circuit board fixed on a front surface of the reflecting panel; and a vertical mounting bar that has one end connected to the horizontal mounting bar and the other end hingedly connected to the variable switch panel. The reflecting panel, the rear panel, and the front panel may be formed with upper and lower guide slots that protrude forward from the horizontal mounting bar and prevent interference with the vertical movement of a hinge connecting pin connected to the vertical mounting bar.

[0024] According to an embodiment of the present invention, an antenna device includes an RF filter including a plurality of unit RF filter bodies stacked on a front surface of a main board; and a radiating element module electrically connected to the front of the RF filter and including a plurality of array antenna elements arranged to realize antenna beamforming. The radiating element module includes an antenna board assembly including a reflecting panel configured to reflect antenna beams radiated from the plurality of array antenna elements forward, a rear panel stacked on the rear surface of the reflecting panel and made of a non-conductive material, and a front panel stacked on the front surface of the reflecting panel. The rear panel and the front panel are stacked on top of the reflecting panel, with the rear panel and the front panel made of a plastic resin material, among the non-conductive materials, being integrally molded using a double injection method and then stacked.

[0025] In addition, an antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the above-described antenna board assembly. [Effects of the Invention]

[0026] According to an embodiment of the antenna board assembly and an antenna device including the same, the antenna element substrate made of the existing PCB material is changed to a plastic resin material, and a power feed strip line corresponding to a plurality of transmission lines is arranged so that the medium of the dielectric layer is an air layer, thereby significantly reducing insertion loss, improving the signal quality of the system, and preventing an increase in the front and rear thickness. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0027] [Figure 1A] 1 is a front perspective view showing an antenna board assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention and some components of an antenna device including the same; [Figure 1B] 1 is a rear perspective view showing an antenna board assembly according to an embodiment of the present invention and some components of an antenna device including the same; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the coupling structure of a phase shifter in the configurations of FIGS. 1A and 1B. [Figure 3A] 1B is an exploded perspective view of the front part of the configuration of FIG. 1A in which the antenna board assembly is disassembled. FIG. [Figure 3B] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the rear portion of the configuration of FIG. 1B, in which the antenna board assembly is disassembled. [Figure 4A] 1B is an exploded perspective view of the front portion of the antenna board assembly shown in FIG. 1A, in which a front-fed stripline and a rear-fed stripline equipped with a low-pass filter (LPF) are exploded. [Figure 4B] 1C is an exploded perspective view of the rear portion of the antenna board assembly shown in FIG. 1B, in which a front-feed stripline and a rear-feed stripline equipped with a low-pass filter (LPF) are exploded. [Figure 5A] 1B is an exploded perspective view of the reflecting panel and related components of the antenna board assembly of FIG. 1A. FIG. [Figure 5B] 1C is an exploded perspective view of the reflecting panel and related components of the antenna board assembly shown in FIG. 1B. FIG. [Figure 6A] 1B is an exploded perspective view of the antenna board assembly shown in FIG. 1A, showing the rear panel and related components. FIG. [Figure 6B] FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the antenna board assembly shown in FIG. 1B, showing the rear panel and related components. [Figure 7A] 1B is an exploded perspective view of the antenna board assembly shown in FIG. 1A, showing the front panel and related components. FIG. [Figure 7B] 1C is an exploded perspective view of the antenna board assembly shown in FIG. 1B, showing the front panel and related components. FIG. [Figure 8] 1A and 1B are a front perspective view and a partially enlarged view showing a connection portion between an RF filter and a rear-fed stripline including a low-pass filter (LPF). [Figure 9] 1A and 1B are a rear perspective view and a partially enlarged view showing a connection portion between an RF filter and a rear-fed stripline including a low-pass filter (LPF). DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An antenna board assembly and an antenna device including the same according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0029] 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. Furthermore, when describing the embodiments of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of such well-known configurations or functions would hinder understanding of the embodiments of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

[0030] When describing components of embodiments of the present invention, terms such as "first," "second," "A," "B," "(a)," and "(b)" may be used. These terms are merely used to distinguish the component from other components and do not limit the nature, 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 pertains. Terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted to have 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.

[0031] Figures 1A and 1B are front and rear perspective views showing some components of an antenna board assembly according to one embodiment of the present invention and an antenna device including the same; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the coupling structure of a phase shifter in the configuration of Figures 1A and 1B; Figures 3A and 3B are front and rear exploded perspective views of the antenna board assembly in the configuration of Figures 1A and 1B; and Figures 4A and 4B are front and rear exploded perspective views of the antenna board assembly in the configuration of Figures 1A and 1B, showing a front-fed stripline and a rear-fed stripline equipped with a low-pass filter (LPF).

[0032] The antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention may be an antenna device incorporating MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology.

[0033] MIMO technology dramatically increases data transmission capacity by using multiple array antenna elements. It is a spatial multiplexing technique in which the transmitter transmits different data through each transmit antenna and the receiver separates the transmitted data through appropriate signal processing. Therefore, by simultaneously increasing the number of transmit and receive antennas, channel capacity increases, enabling more data to be transmitted. For example, increasing the number of antennas to 10 ensures approximately 10 times the channel capacity compared to a single antenna system using the same frequency band.

[0034] In particular, the antenna device may have TRx modules (not shown) that function as transmitters and receivers arranged in a V (Vertical)-H (Horizontal) configuration, with a plurality of array antenna elements 350 electrically connected to each TRx module. Here, the channel capacity established for each TRx module can be redefined as an "RF chain," and a group of a plurality of antenna elements arranged for antenna beamforming can be defined as a plurality of "array antenna elements 350" as described above.

[0035] Here, the multiple array antenna elements 350 in a MIMO antenna device for mobile communications are generally designed as multiple dual-polarized antenna module arrays to reduce the effects of fading due to multipath and to perform polarization diversity functions.

[0036] More specifically, an antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention may include an antenna housing section (not shown) that forms the left, right, and rear exteriors of the antenna device, and a radome panel (not shown) that forms the front exterior of the antenna device, is provided to shield the open front surface of the antenna housing section, and protects internal components (including an RF filter 210 and an antenna board assembly 310, which will be described later) provided in the internal space of the antenna housing section from the outside.

[0037] Here, the functions and detailed features of the antenna housing and the radome panel are not particularly relevant to the technical features of the embodiment of the present invention, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0038] The RF filter 210 may be comprised of a plurality of unit RF filter bodies disposed on the front surface of a main board (not shown) disposed in the internal space of the antenna housing.

[0039] 1A and 1B, the RF filter 210 may be a dual-band antenna type having various specifications combined to cover multiple frequency bands. For example, the RF filter 210 may be a low-frequency RF filter (see reference numeral 210A) for covering a low-frequency band, or a high-frequency RF filter (see reference numeral 210B) for covering a high-frequency band.

[0040] In particular, as shown in FIG. 1B, low-frequency RF filter 210A is relatively larger in size than high-frequency RF filter 210B, and low-frequency band antenna patch element 350A of the front array antenna element 350 described later, which is electrically connected to low-frequency RF filter 210A, may also be formed with a larger radiation surface area than high-frequency band antenna patch element 350B.

[0041] Meanwhile, the antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention may further include a radiating element module 300 that is electrically connected to the front of the RF filter 210 configured as described above and includes a plurality of array antenna elements 350 arranged to realize antenna beamforming.

[0042] The radiating element module 300 may include an antenna board assembly 310 to which a plurality of array antenna elements 350 are fixed in a VH arrangement on the front surface.

[0043] Here, the "VH arrangement" refers to the arrangement direction of multiple array antenna elements 350, with the up / down vertical direction on the front surface of the antenna board assembly 310 being defined as the "V-direction (Vertical direction)" and the left / right horizontal direction on the front surface of the antenna board assembly 310 being defined as the "H-direction (Horizontal direction)," as described above.

[0044] Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 3A, an antenna board assembly 310 according to one embodiment of the present invention may include a reflecting panel 310A configured to reflect antenna beams radiated from a plurality of array antenna elements 350 forward, a rear panel 310B stacked and bonded to the back surface of the reflecting panel 310A, and a front panel 310C stacked and bonded to the front surface of the reflecting panel 310A.

[0045] The reflecting panel 310A may be made of an electromagnetic wave shielding material that does not transmit antenna beams, and preferably made of a metal material with at least a high melting point. In addition, 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 non-conductive (non-conductive) plastic resin material that can be easily manufactured integrally with the reflecting panel 310A by a molding method (e.g., a double injection method described below).

[0046] More specifically, the antenna board assembly 310 is configured such that the material of the reflecting panel 310A is different from the material constituting the rear panel 310B and the front panel 310C, and the rear panel 310B and the front panel 310C may be made of a plastic resin material that is easy to manufacture integrally using a double injection method based on the reflecting panel 310A.

[0047] For reference, conventionally, the antenna board part 310 is provided in the form of a printed circuit board made of a normal PCB material (e.g., FR4 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.

[0048] When the feed lines are printed on the front or rear surface of such a printed circuit board by a pattern printing method, the feed lines are formed directly on a dielectric layer having a predetermined dielectric constant, which increases the insertion loss, as already explained in the "Background Art" section of this specification.

[0049] Meanwhile, in an antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention, the radiating element module 300 may further include a plurality of feeding striplines 320A, 320B, 330A, 330B made of a conductive material, which are arranged to penetrate the reflecting panel 310A or at least one of the rear panel 310B and the front panel 310C, as shown in FIGS. 1A to 4B, for electrical connection between the RF filters 210A, 210B.

[0050] The plurality of feed striplines 320A, 320B, 330A, 330B includes a plurality of rear feed striplines 330A, 330B disposed on the rear panel 310B and a plurality of front feed striplines 320A, 320B disposed on the front panel 310C, as shown in Figures 3A and 3B, which will be described in more detail below.

[0051] Here, stripline installation slits 311B and 311C may be formed penetrating the rear panel 310B and front panel 310C of the antenna board assembly 310 in the front-to-rear direction so that each of the multiple power supply striplines 320A, 320B, 330A, and 330B is accommodated using an air layer as a medium.

[0052] Similarly, stripline installation slits 311B and 311C can be defined as "rear installation slit 311B" when they are formed in rear panel 310B, and as "front installation slit 311C" when they are formed in front panel 310C.

[0053] The electrical connection structure and characteristics of the plurality of feed striplines 320A, 320B, 330A, 330B to the stripline placement slits 311B, 311C in the rear panel 310B and front panel 310C will be described in more detail later.

[0054] Meanwhile, as shown in Figures 1A, 1B, and 2, an antenna apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may further include a phase shifter 500 that physically changes the length of the transmission line of the front-feed striplines 320A and 320B connecting the RF filter 210 to the plurality of array antenna elements 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.

[0055] Fixed antennas were initially used as base station antennas in mobile communication systems, but recently, vertical beam tilt control antennas, which are capable of vertical (and / or horizontal) beam tilting, have become popular due to their many advantages. The beam tilt methods in such vertical beam tilt control antennas can be broadly divided into mechanical beam tilt methods and electrical beam tilt methods, and an antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention employs a mechanical beam tilt phase shifter 500.

[0056] Mechanical beam tilt systems typically rely on a manually or power-operated bracket structure attached to the antenna where it connects to the support pole. The operation of this bracket structure changes the installation angle of the antenna, enabling vertical beam tilt of the antenna.

[0057] The phase shifter 500 may include a phase shift drive motor 510 fixed between the unit RF filter bodies on the rear side of the antenna board assembly 310, a horizontal mounting bar 520 that moves up and down on the rear side of the antenna board unit 310 while maintaining horizontality according to the rotation direction of the motor shaft of the phase shift drive motor 510, a vertical mounting bar 530 that is connected at one end to the horizontal mounting bar 520 and at the other end hingedly connected to a variable switch panel 540 (described later), and the above-mentioned variable switch panel 540 that is rotatably mounted on the front side of a variable circuit board 505 fixed on the front side of the reflecting panel 310A of the antenna board assembly 310.

[0058] Such a phase shifter 500 can be applied to dual-band antenna types that can cover multiple frequency bands, and can also be configured to vary only the phase value of the antenna beam associated with the antenna patch element 350A in the low frequency band, as shown in Figures 1A and 1B.

[0059] The variable circuit board 505 is a type of printed circuit board, and has a variable circuit pattern printed on its front surface, which has at least one or more disconnection points that can change the phase of the frequency through the transmission line, and at least one current-carrying terminal pattern that energizes the disconnection points of the variable circuit board 505 may be printed on the back surface of the variable switch panel 540.

[0060] 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 570 provided with a plate spring, and the elastic member 570 is hingedly fixed by a hinge panel 571 so as to be elastically supported toward the variable switch panel 540.

[0061] Meanwhile, the variable circuit board 505 can be electrically connected and fed by rear feed striplines 330A and 330B arranged on the rear surface of the antenna board assembly 310.

[0062] More specifically, the other ends of the rear feed striplines 330A and 330B are formed to protrude forward so as to penetrate the reflecting panel 310A and can be connected to at least two input points 507a and 507b of the variable circuit 506 whose pattern is printed on the variable circuit board 505.

[0063] The variable circuit 506 printed on the variable circuit board 505 can function as a variable length pattern that changes the physical transmission length to the first polarization side and second polarization side of each of the multiple array antenna elements 350 for dual-polarized beam formation via the front feed stripline 320A branched from input points 507a, 507b of the feed signal supplied from the rear feed stripline 330A.

[0064] Here, the front panel 310C may be formed with a variable circuit board avoidance groove 313C cut out to expose the variable circuit board 505 forward. The variable switch panel 540 described above may be rotatably disposed by the vertical mounting bar 530 in front of the variable circuit board 505 exposed through the variable circuit board avoidance groove 313C.

[0065] In addition, the horizontal mounting bar 520 is located on the back surface of the rear panel 310B and is arranged so as not to interfere with the unit RF filters 210A for covering the low frequency band among the RF filters 210A, 210B arranged at a distance in the V-direction, and the vertical mounting bar 530 may be located on the front surface of the front panel 310C, and a plurality of hinge connection pins 525 provided for hinge connection with the vertical mounting bar 530 may be formed protruding forward by a predetermined length on the front surface of the horizontal mounting bar 520.

[0066] Here, as shown in FIG. 2, the reflecting panel 310A, rear panel 310B and front panel 310C may be formed with upper and lower guide slots 317A, 317B and 317C, respectively, through which multiple hinge connection pins 525 of the horizontal mounting bar 530 pass and which prevent interference with the vertical movement of the horizontal mounting bar 530.

[0067] Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 2, the vertical mounting bar 530 and the variable switch panel 540 can be hingedly coupled to each other so as to be relatively rotatable by fastening hinge screws 535 to the variable switch panel 540 through screw through-holes 533 .

[0068] Figures 5A and 5B are exploded perspective views of the reflecting panel and related components of the antenna board assembly of Figures 1A and 1B, Figures 6A and 6B are exploded perspective views of the rear panel and related components of the antenna board assembly of Figures 1A and 1B, and Figures 7A and 7B are exploded perspective views of the front panel and related components of the antenna board assembly of Figures 1A and 1B.

[0069] Referring to Figures 5A and 5B, the reflecting panel 310A is a panel type made of a material capable of shielding electromagnetic waves, as described above, and the variable circuit board 505 of the phase shifter 500 described above may be fixed to the front surface, and at least one connection hole 311A ​​may be formed penetrating in the front-to-rear direction so that parts of the rear feed striplines 330A and 330B may penetrate and connect from the rear side to the front side.

[0070] On the other hand, in an antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention, the rear panel 310B may be provided with a plurality of rear-feed striplines 330A, 330B as shown in Figures 6A and 6B, and the front panel 310C may be provided with a plurality of front-feed striplines 320A, 320B as shown in Figures 7A and 7B.

[0071] The rear feed striplines 330A and 330B may have one end connected to the output port of the unit RF filter body (see reference numeral "250" in FIG. 8) and the other end connected to two input points 507a and 507b formed in the variable circuit 506 of the variable circuit board 505 described above.

[0072] In addition, the rear feed striplines 330A and 330B may have a low pass filter (335A, 335B, Low Pass Filter, LPF) at a portion of one end connected to the output port 250 of the unit RF filter body to remove high frequency noise.

[0073] The rear feed striplines 330A and 330B may be provided in the form of thin conductor bars made of a conductive material except for low pass filters (LPFs) 335A and 335B provided to remove high frequency noise.

[0074] That is, the rear-feed striplines 330A and 330B are preferably manufactured thin enough to be accommodated in the stripline installation slit (311B, which corresponds to the "rear installation slit" described later).

[0075] The low pass filters 335A, 335B are formed in different shapes according to the specifications of the RF filters 210A, 210B, and may include a first low pass filter 335A and a second low pass filter 335B. Here, the low pass filters (LPFs) 335A, 335B are provided differently according to the specifications of the RF filters 210A, 210B, but since the low pass filters 335A, 335B essentially have the same function of removing high frequency noise from a certain frequency band, only one of them will be described, and meaningless redundant description will be omitted.

[0076] 6A and 6B, a stripline installation slit 311B (hereinafter abbreviated as "rear installation slit") may be formed penetrating the rear panel 310B in the front-to-rear direction to accommodate rear-fed striplines 330A and 330B including low-pass filters (LPFs) 335A and 335B. However, the rear installation slit 311B does not necessarily have to be formed penetrating the entire front-to-rear direction, and it may be machined into a groove shape that opens at least rearward, or it may be formed penetrating only the portion where the low-pass filters (LPFs) 335A and 335B are formed.

[0077] In particular, the rear-fed striplines 330A, 330B including the low-pass filters (LPFs) 335A, 335B are provided in the form of conductor bars thin enough to fit inside the rear mounting slit 311B, and an air dielectric layer having the dielectric constant of air is naturally formed inside the rear mounting slit 311B, which leads to the achievement of the same effect as if a transmission line were constructed in the air dielectric layer.

[0078] In addition, a plurality of fixing pins 311B-1 may be formed integrally with the rear panel 310B inside the rear installation slit 311B to suppress any movement of the rear feed striplines 330A, 330B including the housed low pass filters (LPFs) 335A, 335B, and a plurality of pin fixing holes 330A-1 through which the plurality of fixing pins 311B-1 pass and are fastened may be formed in the rear feed striplines 330A, 330B including the low pass filters (LPFs) 335A, 335B.

[0079] After the multiple fixing pins 311B-1 are respectively passed through and fixed in the multiple pin fixing holes 330A-1, their tips can be heated by external heat using a predetermined heating tool, so that they can be melted and fixed to the outer parts of the multiple pin fixing holes 330A-1.

[0080] More specifically, the plurality of fixing pins 311B-1 formed in the rear installation slit 311B may be formed to a size that allows them to protrude outside the plurality of pin fixing holes 330A-1 after being fixed to the plurality of pin fixing holes 330A-1 of the rear power supply striplines 330A, 330B and to be meltable by external heat.

[0081] A connecting pin 330A-2 is integrally formed at each end of the rear feeding striplines 330A and 330B and extends forward, allowing electrical connection to input points 507a and 507b of a variable circuit board 505 fixed to the front surface of the reflecting panel 310A or input ends 327a and 327b of the front feeding striplines 320A and 320B via the connecting pin 330A-2.

[0082] On the other hand, the front panel 310C may be provided with front feed striplines 320A and 320B for feeding power to a plurality of array antenna elements 350, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B.

[0083] Additionally, the front panel 310C may be formed with a stripline installation slit (311C, hereinafter abbreviated as "front installation slit") in which the front feeding striplines 320A and 320B can be accommodated and fixed, as described above.

[0084] The front installation slit 311C may also be formed to penetrate from front to back, similar to the above-described rear installation slit 311B, and may be formed in a shape corresponding to the arrangement shape of the front feeding striplines 320A and 320B.

[0085] Furthermore, a plurality of fixing pins 311C-1 may be formed integrally with the front panel 310C inside the front installation slit 311C to prevent the housed front feeding striplines 320A, 320B from moving freely, and a plurality of pin fixing holes 320B-1 through which the fixing pins 311C-1 pass and are fastened may be formed in the feeding striplines 320A, 320B. The shape characteristics of the plurality of fixing pins 311C-1 and the method of fixing the plurality of fixing pins 311C-1 to the plurality of pin fixing holes 320B-1 are the same as those of the rear panel 310B, and therefore, detailed description thereof will be omitted wherever necessary.

[0086] One end of the front feed striplines 320A, 320B may be electrically connected to the above-mentioned variable circuit board 505 or may be provided as an input end connected to the connection pin 330A-2 of the feed stripline 335B provided on the rear panel 310B, and the other ends 325A, 325B of the front feed striplines 320A, 320B may be supported on the front surface of the front panel 310C by support pins 315C-1, 315C-2, respectively, and connected to feed power to multiple array antenna elements 350.

[0087] In this way, the rear feed striplines 330A, 330B and the front feed striplines 320A, 320B are provided in the form of thin conductor bars made of a conductive material that does not exceed the thickness of the rear mounting slit 311B formed in the rear panel 310B and the front mounting slit 311C formed in the front panel 310C, respectively, thereby minimizing insertion loss through the air dielectric layer formed by the rear mounting slit 311B and the front mounting slit 311C.

[0088] That is, in the antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention, compared to the prior art, the antenna board assembly 310 is not manufactured on a printed circuit board made of a normal PCB material, but is integrally formed with a rear panel 310B and a front panel 310C made of a plastic resin material on the rear and front sides, respectively, of a reflecting panel 310A provided with a shielding material made of a metal material, and the rear feeding striplines 330A, 330B and the front feeding striplines 320A, 320B, which function as transmission lines, are accommodated in an air dielectric layer, thereby providing the advantage of minimizing insertion loss.

[0089] 8 and 9 are perspective views of the front and rear parts showing the connection part between the RF filter and the rear-fed stripline including the low-pass filter (LPF), and partially enlarged views thereof.

[0090] 8 and 9, output port 250 of unit RF filter body 211 of RF filters 210A and 210B can be connected to tip end 331A of low pass filters 335A and 335B via coaxial connector 252.

[0091] Conventionally, low pass filters 335A and 335B are provided at output port 250 inside unit RF filter body 211 to remove high frequency noise, but this has the disadvantages of increasing the volume of unit RF filter body 211 and making the internal design very complicated. To solve these problems, one embodiment of the present invention proposes a connection configuration in which low pass filters 335A and 335B are provided outside unit RF filter body 211 while minimizing insertion loss.

[0092] More specifically, the coaxial connector 252 is generally configured so that one end and the other end in the axial direction are in contact with two contact portions, with one axial end in contact with the output port 250 of the unit RF filter body 211 and the other axial end in contact with the tip 331A of the low-pass filters 335A, 335B provided at one end of the rear feed striplines 330A, 330B.

[0093] Here, the coaxial connector 252 is provided to protrude from the antenna board assembly 310 (particularly, the rear surface of the rear panel 310B), and a grounding washer 253 may be provided around the axis of the coaxial connector 252 and fixed to the unit RF filter body 211 via a washer fixing screw 255 to perform a grounding function.

[0094] Typically, grounding washer 253 is preferably provided to surround the entire axis of coaxial connector 252. In this case, however, in order to connect tip portions 331A of low-pass filters 335A and 335B to the other end of coaxial connector 252, tip portions 331A of low-pass filters 335A and 335B must be bent in a circular fashion so as not to interfere with grounding washer 253. When tip portions 331A of low-pass filters 335A and 335B are bent, the front surface of unit RF filter body 211 must be spaced further away from antenna board 310 to ensure sufficient space. In this case, since grounding washer 253 must be spaced away from the rear surface of antenna board 310, it may be impossible to perform a complete grounding (GND) function.

[0095] Therefore, in an antenna apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, grounding washer 253 may be cut into a semicircular shape and provided around coaxial connector 252 so that contact with the other end of coaxial connector 252 can be made directly without bending tip portions 331A of low pass filters 335A and 335B. In this case, tip portions 331A of low pass filters (LPF) 335A and 335B can be connected via open portions 257 of grounding washer 253.

[0096] On the other hand, an air guide groove 251 having the same groove shape as the portion corresponding to the rear mounting slit 311B may be processed and formed on the front surface of the unit RF filter body 211 so that the feed striplines 330A, 330B including the low-pass filters 335A, 335B can be accommodated in the air dielectric layer as a medium.

[0097] In this way, the antenna device according to one embodiment of the present invention has grounding washer 253 in a semicircular shape and is configured so as to be electrically connected to tip portions 331A of low pass filters 335A and 335B via open portion 257 without the need for bending process, thereby not only overcoming the difficulties in designing unit RF filter body 211 but also achieving the advantage of reducing insertion loss.

[0098]

[0030] An antenna device according to an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and that various modifications and variations within the scope of equivalents may be made by those skilled in the art. Therefore, the true scope of the present invention is defined by the following claims. [Industrial Applicability]

[0099] The present invention provides an antenna board assembly and an antenna device including the same, which can improve system performance by reducing insertion loss compared to existing PCB materials, and can easily provide electrical connection without increasing the volume of the connection portion between an RF filter and multiple transmission lines, thereby preventing an increase in the overall volume of the product. [Explanation of symbols]

[0100] 210A, 210B: RF filters, 211: unit RF filter body 250: Output port, 251: Air guide groove 252: Coaxial connector, 253: Grounding washer 257: Opening part, 310: Antenna board part 310A: Reflecting panel, 310B: Rear panel 310C: Front panel, 311B: Rear installation slit 311C: Front-mounted slit, 320A, 320B: Front-fed stripline 330A, 330B: Rear-fed stripline, 335A, 335B: Low-pass filter

Claims

1. a reflecting panel provided to reflect antenna beams radiated from a plurality of array antenna elements provided in the front direction; a rear panel laminated and bonded to the rear surface of the reflecting panel and made of a non-conductive material; a front panel laminated and bonded to the front surface of the reflecting panel and made of a non-conductive material; a plurality of feed striplines coupled to the front and rear surfaces of the reflecting panel for feeding the plurality of array antenna elements; At least one connection hole is formed in the reflecting panel so as to penetrate in a front-rear direction, so that a portion of a plurality of feeding strip lines provided for feeding the plurality of array antenna elements is connected to the reflecting panel by penetrating from the rear side to the front side; The plurality of feed striplines include: a rear feed stripline disposed on the rear panel, one end of which is connected to the output port of the unit RF filter body and the other end of which passes through the at least one connection hole; a front-fed stripline disposed on the front panel, one end of which is adapted to be fed from the rear-fed stripline and the other end of which is adapted to feed the plurality of array antenna elements; The antenna board assembly has stripline installation slits formed in the rear panel and the front panel, respectively, penetrating in the front-rear direction so that the rear-feed stripline and the front-feed stripline can be accommodated within a thickness range.

2. a plurality of fixing pins are formed integrally with the rear panel and the front panel in the stripline installation slit to prevent the rear-fed stripline and the front-fed stripline from moving arbitrarily; The antenna board assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the rear feed stripline and the front feed stripline are formed with a plurality of pin fixing holes through which the plurality of fixing pins are fastened.

3. 3. The antenna board assembly of claim 2, wherein the plurality of fixing pins formed in the stripline installation slits are formed to a size such that they protrude outside the plurality of pin fixing holes so as to be meltable by external heat after being fixed to the plurality of pin fixing holes of the rear feed stripline and the front feed stripline.

4. 2. The antenna board assembly of claim 1, wherein the rear-fed stripline has a low-pass filter (LPF) at one end thereof connected to the output port of the unit RF filter body for filtering out high-frequency noise.

5. The tip of the low pass filter (LPF) is 5. The antenna board assembly according to claim 4, wherein the plurality of unit RF filter bodies are electrically connected to each other via coaxial connectors (Direct Coaxial Connectors, DCCs) provided at output ports thereof and are connected to each other via open portions of ground washers provided in semicircular shapes around the coaxial connectors.

6. 2. The antenna board assembly of claim 1, wherein the rear-fed stripline and the front-fed stripline are provided in the form of thin conductor bars made of a conductive material that do not exceed the thickness of the stripline installation slit (hereinafter referred to as the "rear installation slit") formed in the rear panel and the stripline installation slit (hereinafter referred to as the "front installation slit") formed in the front panel, respectively.

7. 2. The antenna board assembly of claim 1, wherein the rear feeding stripline is electrically connected to one of an input end of a variable circuit board fixed to the front surface of the reflecting panel and an input end of the front feeding stripline via connecting pins formed to extend and protrude forward from each end.

8. 2. The antenna board assembly of claim 1, wherein the front-feed stripline has one end connected to either a variable circuit board fixed to the front surface of the reflecting panel or an input end connected to the rear-feed stripline, and the other end supported by a support pin inserted into the front surface of the front panel and connected to feed power to the plurality of array antenna elements.

9. a phase shifter fixed to the front surface of the reflecting panel, the phase shifter including a variable circuit board having a variable circuit pattern printed on the front surface, the variable circuit having at least one or more disconnection points capable of varying the phase of the frequency by changing the physical length of at least a transmission line; The antenna board assembly according to claim 1 , wherein the front panel is provided with a variable circuit board avoidance groove cut out to expose the variable circuit board forward.

10. The phase shifter a phase shift drive motor fixed between the unit RF filter bodies behind the rear panel; a horizontal mounting bar that moves vertically behind the rear panel while maintaining horizontality according to a rotation direction of a motor shaft of the phase shift drive motor; a variable switch panel rotatably mounted on the front surface of the variable circuit board fixed to the front surface of the reflecting panel; a vertical mounting bar having one end connected to the horizontal mounting bar and the other end hinged to the variable switch panel; 10. The antenna board assembly of claim 9, wherein the reflecting panel, the rear panel, and the front panel are formed with upper and lower guide slots to avoid interference with the vertical movement of a hinge connection pin that protrudes forward from the horizontal mounting bar and is connected to the vertical mounting bar.

11. An antenna board assembly as described in claim 1, wherein the rear panel and the front panel are integrally molded using a double injection method with the reflecting panel as a base and then laminated and bonded together.

12. An antenna device comprising the antenna board assembly according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

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