Antenna Feed Network With Shared Phase Shifting for Wider Beam Coverage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional base station antennas face challenges in matching a large number of columns of dual-polarized antennas with fewer transceiver ports, leading to limited signal coverage and high costs, particularly when using 16-port RRUs.
Innovation Solution
A feeding network with a phase shifter that allows two columns of antennas to correspond to one antenna port, enabling phase differences in different frequency bands, facilitating beam forming with complementary spatial distribution.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If the number of antenna columns is increased to expand signal coverage area, then the coverage area is improved, but the number of required transceiver ports increases, leading to higher costs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines two antenna columns into one antenna port by using a feeding network that shares transmission lines between multiple antenna columns. This merging approach allows the system to maintain more antenna columns for broader coverage while reducing the number of required transceiver ports, thereby resolving the contradiction between coverage area expansion and cost reduction.
Solution Approach 2:
The feeding network is designed to serve multiple antenna columns simultaneously, making a single antenna port universal for controlling multiple columns. This multi-functionality enables one transceiver port to manage signals for multiple antenna columns, reducing the total number of ports needed while maintaining extensive coverage area.
2Area of stationary object
If the number of antenna columns is doubled to increase coverage area, then the coverage area is improved, but the device complexity increases due to more phase shifters required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the phase control functions for multiple antenna columns into shared phase shifters. By having phase shifters control multiple columns through the feeding network rather than dedicating one phase shifter per column, the system doubles the number of antenna columns while keeping the number of phase shifters constant, thus increasing coverage without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Each phase shifter is designed to be universal, controlling multiple antenna columns simultaneously through the shared feeding network. This multi-functional design allows the system to expand the number of antenna columns for broader coverage while maintaining a limited number of phase shifters, effectively resolving the contradiction between coverage expansion and complexity reduction.
3Area of stationary object
If more antenna ports are used to match more antenna columns, then the signal coverage area is improved, but the transceiver costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple antenna columns into fewer antenna ports through a shared feeding network structure. This merging allows the system to maintain a large number of antenna columns for extensive coverage while reducing the number of antenna ports to match a smaller, more cost-effective transceiver configuration, thereby resolving the contradiction between coverage area and manufacturing cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The feeding network creates universal antenna ports that can control multiple antenna columns. This multi-functionality enables the system to achieve broad signal coverage with fewer antenna ports, allowing the use of lower-cost transceivers while maintaining extensive coverage area, thus resolving the cost-effectiveness issue.
Data Source
AI summary
A feeding network, an antenna, an antenna system, a base station, and a beam forming method. The antenna includes an array antenna, a feeding network, and an antenna port. The array antenna includes a plurality of radiating elements. Each output of each feeding network is connected to at least one radiating element in the array antenna. Each input of each feeding network is connected to the antenna port. Each feeding network has one input and two outputs, and one of the two outputs includes a phase shifter. The phase shifter has a first operating state to increase the coverage space of beam forming.