Antenna device and phase shifter with electronic control for third order phase shifter

Abstract

This invention discloses an antenna device with an electronically controlled third-order phase shifter and the third-order phase shifter. The antenna device includes several third-order phase shifters, an array antenna, an electronic control unit, and a power distribution network. Each third-order phase shifter is mainly composed of a first phase shifter, a second phase shifter, and a third phase shifter connected in series. Each third-order phase shifter is coupled to the power distribution network and the array antenna. The power distribution network feeds radio frequency signals to each third-order phase shifter, and each third-order phase shifter feeds radio frequency signals to the array antenna. Each third-order phase shifter is coupled to the electronic control unit, which controls the input control signals to each third-order phase shifter, thereby changing the beam angle of the radiation pattern of the array antenna.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to an antenna device; in particular, it relates to an antenna device and a third-order phase shifter with electronic control. [Previous Technology]

[0002] An array antenna includes multiple antennas, and the beam of the array antenna radiation field pattern can be adjusted to achieve the purpose of gain or improving directivity.

[0003] A varactor-loaded Schiffman phase shiffer is used as a first-order phase shifter for an array antenna. By changing the DC voltage input to the first-order phase shifter, the beam angle of the radiation pattern of the array antenna can be changed.

[0004] Existing array antennas can only achieve first-order phase shifting using this first-order phase shifter, as shown in Figures 3 and 4. Its phase delay angle is 120°. If it is necessary to change the beam angle of the radiation field pattern of the 360° full circumference of the space surrounding the array antenna, the antenna equipment that configures the array antenna needs to be configured with multiple array antennas. Different array antennas project radio waves to different azimuth ranges, which makes the antenna equipment occupy a large space. Moreover, the beam angle range of the field pattern beam of the array antenna transmitted by the first-order phase shifter is within ±20°.

[0005] The array antenna controlled by the input voltage cannot automatically adjust the output voltage of its power supply circuit. The array antenna must be removed and adjusted manually. [Summary of the Invention]

[0006] The main objective of this invention is to provide an antenna device for an electronically controlled third-order phase shifter and a third-order phase shifter.

[0007] To achieve the aforementioned objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution:

[0008] An antenna device with an electronically controlled third-order phase shifter includes several third-order phase shifters, an array antenna, an electronic control unit, and a power distribution network. The array antenna is mainly composed of several antenna elements arranged in a series. Each antenna element is coupled to at least one third-order phase shifter. Each third-order phase shifter is mainly composed of a first phase shifter, a second phase shifter, and a third phase shifter connected in series. Each third-order phase shifter is coupled to a radio frequency (RF) signal input terminal and an RF signal output terminal. Each RF signal input terminal is coupled to the power distribution network. Each third-order phase shifter is coupled to the array antenna through its respective RF signal output terminal. The power distribution network feeds an input RF signal to each third-order phase shifter through its respective RF signal input terminal, and each third-order phase shifter feeds an output RF signal to the array antenna through its respective RF signal output terminal.

[0009] Each of the third-order phase shifters is connected in parallel to the electronic control unit, thereby enabling the electronic control unit to control the input control signal of each of the third-order phase shifters.

[0010] The main effect and advantage of the present invention is that the electronic control unit can change the control signal input to each of the third-order phase shifters, thereby changing the beam angle of the radiation field pattern of the array antenna, and achieving third-order phase shifting by utilizing each of the third-order phase shifters, thereby reducing the number of array antennas required for the antenna device and reducing the space occupied by the antenna device.

[0011] Another objective of the present invention is that, by transmitting the control signal to each of the third-order phase shifters through the electronic control unit, the array antenna does not need to be removed for adjustment during the process of changing the beam angle.

Implementation Method

[0013] A preferred embodiment of the antenna device of the electronically controlled third-order phase shifter of the present invention is illustrated in Figures 1 to 10B. However, these embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and are not limited to the preferred embodiments in the patent application.

[0014] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, a preferred embodiment of the antenna device for the electronically controlled third-order phase shifter includes several third-order phase shifters 10, an array antenna 20, an electronic control unit 30, and a power distribution network 40. The array antenna 20 is mainly composed of several antenna elements 22 arranged together. Each antenna element 22 is respectively coupled to at least one third-order phase shifter 10. Each third-order phase shifter 10 is mainly composed of a first phase shifting section 11, a second phase shifting section 12, and a third phase shifting section 13 connected in series. Each first phase shifting section 11, each second phase shifting section 12, and each third phase shifting section 13 is constructed using a variable capacitance load Skidfield phase shifter. Each third-order phase shifter 10... Each of the three RF signal input terminals 14 and RF signal output terminals 15 is coupled to a power distribution network 40. Each of the three RF signal input terminals 14 is coupled to the array antenna 20 in parallel through its respective RF signal output terminal 15. The power distribution network 40 feeds an input RF signal to each of the three RF signal input terminals 14, and each of the three RF signal output terminals 10 feeds an output RF signal to the array antenna 20 through its respective RF signal output terminal 15. The three RF signal output terminals 10 control the field pattern beam of the signal transmitted by the array antenna 20. Figure 1 shows the system architecture for controlling the horizontally polarized field pattern beam of a preferred embodiment.

[0015] The array antenna 20 and the power distribution network 40 are prior art familiar to those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains, and the specific configuration of the array antenna 20 and the power distribution network 40 will not be described in detail.

[0016] Each of the third-order phase shifters 10 is connected in parallel and coupled to the electronic control unit 30. The electronic control unit 30 controls the input of control signals to each of the third-order phase shifters 10. The control signals are selected from any electronic signal among DC voltage, current, magnetic field, low-frequency signal, high-frequency signal, signal phase, electromagnetic signal and pulse.

[0017] When the control signal input to each of the third-order phase shifters 10 by the electronic control unit 30 is a DC voltage, the phase delay curves are shown in Figures 3 and 4. In Figure 3, the horizontal axis represents the voltage value of the control signal input by the electronic control unit 30 in volts, and the vertical axis represents the phase delay in degrees. In Figure 3, a continuous line represents a frequency of 3.3 GHz, a dashed line represents a frequency of 3.5 GHz, a single-point chain represents a frequency of 3.8 GHz, and a two-point chain represents the phase delay curve of the first-order phase shifter at a frequency of 3.5 GHz. In Figure 4, the horizontal axis represents the capacitance value of the third-order phase shifter 10 in picofarads (pF), and the vertical axis represents the phase delay in degrees. In Figure 4, a continuous line represents the phase delay curve of the third-order phase shifter 10, and a single-point chain represents the phase delay curve of the first-order phase shifter.

[0018] Figures 8A, 9A, and 10A illustrate the horizontal polarization field pattern of the beam control array radiation direction at different beam angles, respectively. Figures 8B, 9B, and 10B illustrate the vertical polarization field pattern of the beam control array radiation direction at different beam angles, respectively. The unit along the circumference is angle, and the unit along the diameter is dB. In Figures 8A to 10B, the continuous line represents a frequency of 3.3 GHz, the dashed line represents a frequency of 3.5 GHz, and the dotted chain line represents a frequency of 3.8 GHz.

[0019] The electronic control unit 30 changes the control signal input to each of the third-order phase shifters 10, which can change the beam angle of the radiation pattern of the array antenna 20. The third-order phase shift is achieved by each of the third-order phase shifters 10. The phase delay angle of the third-order phase shifter 10 can vary up to 360°. When it is necessary to change the beam angle of the radiation pattern of the array antenna 20 around the 360° circumference, the number of array antennas 20 required in the preferred embodiment can be reduced, and the space occupied by the preferred embodiment can be reduced. The third-order phase shifter 10 can change the beam angle of the radiation pattern of the array antenna 20 by ±45°. Compared with the antenna beam angle change of ±20° of the first-order phase shifter, the coverage area of ​​the present invention is larger.

[0020] As shown in Figure 1, the electronic control unit 30 includes a microprocessor 32, a memory 34, and a control signal generation circuit 36. The memory 34 and the control signal generation circuit 36 ​​are electrically connected to the microprocessor 32. The control signal generation circuit 36 ​​is coupled to each of the third-order phase shifters 10. The memory 34 is selected to be composed of a read-only memory medium or a read-write memory medium. The memory 34 stores a lookup table, which includes multiple control messages bound to different beam angles. The microprocessor 32 runs a program to obtain the corresponding control message from the lookup table according to the beam angle requirement. The microprocessor 32 transmits the corresponding electronic message to the control signal generation circuit 36 ​​according to the control message. The control signal generation circuit 36 ​​generates the control signal accordingly and transmits the corresponding control signal to each of the third-order phase shifters 10, thereby controlling the beam angle of the radiation field pattern of the array antenna 20.

[0021] The electronic control unit 30 is selectively coupled to a human-machine interface unit 50, which is coupled to the microprocessor 32. The user can select to operate the human-machine interface unit 50 to send commands to the microprocessor 32. The microprocessor 32 runs the program according to the commands and controls the beam angle of the radiation field pattern of the array antenna 20 accordingly.

[0022] The electronic control unit 30 transmits the control signal to each of the third-order phase shifters 10. The control signal can be automatically adjusted by the result of the program run by the microprocessor 32, or the user can operate the human-machine interface unit 50 to control the control signal transmitted by the electronic control unit 30. During the process of adjusting the beam angle, it is not necessary to remove the array antenna 20 for adjustment.

[0023] As shown in FIG2, each of the radio frequency signal input terminals 14 is coupled to each of the first phase shifting parts 11 constituting each of the third-order phase shifters 10. Each of the radio frequency signal input terminals 14 is coupled to a first DC isolation capacitor 16 between itself and the first phase shifting part 11 to which it is coupled. Each of the radio frequency signal output terminals 15 is coupled to each of the third phase shifting parts 13 constituting each of the third-order phase shifters 10 and the array antenna 20. Each of the radio frequency signal output terminals 15 is coupled to a second DC isolation capacitor 17 between itself and the third phase shifting part 13 to which it is coupled. Several control signal input terminals 18 are coupled to each of the third-order phase shifters 10 and the electronic control unit 30. The electronic control unit 30 transmits the control signal to each of the third-order phase shifters 10 through each of the control signal input terminals 18.

[0024] Each of the control signal input terminals 18 is selectively coupled to each of the third phase shifting sections 13 and the electronic control unit 30 constituting each of the third-order phase shifters 10. Each of the control signal input terminals 18 can be replaced by selectively coupling to each of the first phase shifting sections 11 and the electronic control unit 30 constituting each of the third-order phase shifters 10. Each of the control signal input terminals 18 can also be replaced by selectively coupling to each of the second phase shifting sections 12 and the electronic control unit 30 constituting each of the third-order phase shifters 10, thereby constituting a variation of the preferred embodiment.

[0025] As shown in Figures 5, 6, and 7, each of the third-order phase shifters 10 and the power distribution network 40 is laid out using a microstrip line made of conductive material to form a phase-shifting layer 62 on a circuit board 60. The array antenna 20 is laid out using a microstrip line made of conductive material to form an antenna layer 64 on the circuit board 60. The phase-shifting layer 62 is formed on one side of the circuit board 60 in the thickness direction, and the antenna layer 64 is formed on the other side of the circuit board 60 in the thickness direction. A [missing information] is formed inside the circuit board 60. A ground layer 66 is located between the phase-shifting layer 62 and the antenna layer 64. Each of the first phase-shifting parts 11, each of the second phase-shifting parts 12 and each of the third phase-shifting parts 13 are respectively coupled to the ground layer 66 to form a ground. Several transmission parts 68 made of conductive material are respectively located inside the circuit board 60, and each of the transmission parts 68 is respectively coupled to each of the third-order phase shifters 10 and the array antenna 20. Figure 6 shows a two-phase-shifting unit 63 that controls the beam angle of the array antenna 20 to form a horizontal polarization field pattern and a vertical polarization field pattern, respectively.

[0026] Each of the third-order phase shifters 10, the power distribution network 40 and the array antenna 20 are arranged on the circuit board 60 using microstrip lines made of conductive material, which can effectively reduce the space requirements of the overall device and improve the stability of each of the third-order phase shifters 10, the power distribution network 40 and the array antenna 20 in signal transmission. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0012] Figure 1 is a system architecture diagram of a horizontally polarized beam control according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a circuit diagram of a third-order phase shifter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a comparison diagram of the phase delay curves of a third-order phase shifter and a first-order phase shifter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 4 is another comparison diagram of the phase delay curves of a third-order phase shifter and a first-order phase shifter according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view of a circuit board with a third-order phase shifter and an array antenna configured according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 6 is a layout diagram of a circuit board with a third-order phase shifter configured according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 7 is a layout diagram of a circuit board with an array antenna configured according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8A is a horizontally polarized beam pattern diagram of the radiation direction of a beam-controlled array with a beam angle of 0° according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 8B is a vertically polarized beam pattern diagram of the radiation direction of a beam-controlled array with a beam angle of 0° according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9A is a horizontal polarization field pattern diagram of the radiation direction of a beam control array with a beam angle of 45° according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 9B is a vertical polarization field pattern diagram of the radiation direction of a beam control array with a beam angle of 45° according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 10A is a horizontal polarization field pattern diagram of the radiation direction of a beam control array with a beam angle of -45° according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. Figure 10B is a vertical polarization field pattern diagram of the radiation direction of a beam control array with a beam angle of -45° according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. An antenna device with an electronically controlled third-order phase shifter, comprising a plurality of third-order phase shifters, an array antenna, an electronic control unit, and a power distribution network, wherein the array antenna is mainly composed of a plurality of antenna elements arranged in a series, each antenna element being at least correspondingly coupled to one of the third-order phase shifters, each third-order phase shifter being mainly composed of a first phase shifter, a second phase shifter, and a third phase shifter connected in series, each third-order phase shifter being coupled to a radio frequency (RF) signal input terminal and an RF signal output terminal, each RF signal input terminal being coupled to the power distribution network, and each third-order phase shifter being coupled to the array antenna in parallel through its respective RF signal output terminal, thereby enabling the power distribution network to feed an input RF signal to each third-order phase shifter through its respective RF signal input terminal, and each third-order phase shifter to feed an output RF signal to the array antenna through its respective RF signal output terminal; Each of the third-order phase shifters is connected in parallel and coupled to the electronic control unit, which controls the input control signals to each of the third-order phase shifters. The electronic control unit includes a microprocessor, a memory, and a control signal generation circuit. The memory and the control signal generation circuit are electrically connected to the microprocessor. The control signal generation circuit is coupled to each of the third-order phase shifters. The memory stores a lookup table containing multiple control messages bound to different beam angles. The microprocessor runs a program to obtain the corresponding control messages from the lookup table and transmits corresponding electronic messages to the control signal generation circuit according to the control messages. This causes the control signal generation circuit to transmit the corresponding control signals to each of the third-order phase shifters, thereby controlling the beam angle of the radiation pattern of the array antenna.

2. The antenna device with electronically controlled third-order phase shifters as described in claim 1, wherein each of the third-order phase shifters, the power distribution network, and the array antenna are respectively arranged on a circuit board as microstrip lines made of conductive material, each of the third-order phase shifters and the power distribution network are formed on one side of the circuit board in the thickness direction, the array antenna is formed on the other side of the circuit board in the thickness direction, a ground layer is formed inside the circuit board, and each of the third-order phase shifters is respectively coupled to the ground layer.

3. The antenna device with an electronically controlled third-order phase shifter as described in claim 1, wherein the microprocessor is coupled to a human-machine interface unit, which enables an operator to transmit commands to the microprocessor through the human-machine interface unit to control the beam angle of the radiation pattern of the array antenna.

4. An antenna device with an electronically controlled third-order phase shifter as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control signal is selected from any one of the following electronic signals: DC voltage, current, magnetic field, low-frequency signal, high-frequency signal, signal phase, electromagnetic signal, and pulse.

5. The antenna device for an electronically controlled third-order phase shifter as described in claim 1, wherein each of the radio frequency signal input terminals is respectively coupled to each of the first phase shifting sections constituting each of the third-order phase shifters, each of the radio frequency signal input terminals is respectively coupled to a first DC isolation capacitor between itself and the corresponding first phase shifting section, each of the radio frequency signal output terminals is respectively coupled to each of the third phase shifting sections constituting each of the third-order phase shifters and the array antenna, each of the radio frequency signal output terminals is respectively coupled to a second DC isolation capacitor between itself and the corresponding third phase shifting section, and a plurality of control signal input terminals are respectively coupled to each of the third-order phase shifters and the electronic control unit.

6. A third-order phase shifter, which is used to construct an antenna device for an electronically controlled third-order phase shifter as described in claim 1; the third-order phase shifter mainly comprises a first phase shifter, a second phase shifter and a third phase shifter connected in series, wherein a radio frequency signal input terminal is coupled to the first phase shifter and a first DC isolation capacitor is coupled between the radio frequency signal input terminal and the first phase shifter, a radio frequency signal output terminal is coupled to the third phase shifter and a second DC isolation capacitor is coupled between the radio frequency signal output terminal and the third phase shifter.

7. The third-order phase shifter as described in claim 6, wherein the third phase shifter is coupled to a control signal input.

Images