Millimeter Wave Antenna With Cross-Shaped Coupling Apertures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vehicle antennas suffer from significant dielectric loss and limited efficiency, especially in the millimeter wave band, due to their design, which affects data transfer rates and directivity, particularly in fifth-generation communication and radar applications.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a dual-polarized antenna system with cross-shaped coupling apertures and wave guides formed from different layers, allowing for the intersection and efficient transmission of x-axis and y-axis polarized waves, minimizing interference and maximizing directivity by distributing waves uniformly across multiple emission slots.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If patch array antennas are used for millimeter wave communication, then the antenna structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the antenna efficiency is low due to dielectric loss and the data transfer rate is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the dielectric substrate from the antenna structure, extracting the source of dielectric loss. By using a metal plate with through-holes instead of a patch array on dielectric substrate, the invention eliminates the harmful dielectric loss while maintaining manufacturability through standard metal fabrication processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite structure combining metal plates, through-holes, and reflective surfaces to create an antenna that achieves both high efficiency and manufacturability. The combination of conductive metal elements with air (replacing dielectric material) creates a loss-free transmission path while maintaining structural integrity.
2Ease of manufacture
If patch array antennas with serial type feeding structure are used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the frequency band is narrow and directivity is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the feeding structure into multiple parallel feed lines instead of a single serial feed. This segmentation allows different frequency components to be transmitted simultaneously through different paths, broadening the operational frequency band while keeping each individual feed line simple to manufacture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional patch array configuration to a three-dimensional structure with through-holes penetrating multiple layers and reflective surfaces below. This dimensional change enables broader frequency operation and improved directivity by creating multiple radiation paths and enhancing impedance matching across frequencies.
3Shape
If dielectric substrates are used in antenna construction, then the antenna can be formed with a planar structure, but dielectric loss occurs and antenna performance is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes the dielectric substrate from the antenna system entirely, replacing it with air as the medium. This elimination of dielectric material directly removes the source of dielectric loss while the planar metal plates and through-holes maintain the desired planar form factor.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent substitutes the dielectric material (electromagnetic property-based medium) with a metal structure (conductive medium). This replacement changes the fundamental mechanism from dielectric wave guidance to electromagnetic radiation through apertures, eliminating dielectric loss while maintaining structural planarity.
4Speed
If high frequency of several tens of GHz is used for fifth generation communication, then the data transfer rate increases, but antenna efficiency does not reach 30% due to losses in patch antennas
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potential harm of high-frequency operation (which exacerbates dielectric loss) into a benefit by eliminating the dielectric substrate entirely. The through-hole structure at millimeter wave frequencies creates efficient radiation paths that actually improve performance at these high frequencies where traditional patch antennas fail.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes key structural parameters: replacing dielectric material with air, using through-holes instead of surface patches, and incorporating reflective surfaces. These parameter changes fundamentally alter the electromagnetic behavior to achieve high efficiency at millimeter wave frequencies, enabling data transfer rates to increase without the 30% efficiency ceiling of conventional antennas.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach results in reduced loss and improved data transfer rates, achieving high directivity and efficiency in the millimeter wave band, with gains of 32 dBi or more and a data transfer rate twice that of single-polarized antennas, while minimizing interference between polarized waves.
Implementation Method 1
a first polarized wave guide which guides the first polarized waves to the plurality of cross-shaped coupling apertures, and a second polarized wave guide which guides the second polarized waves to the plurality of cross-shaped coupling apertures
Implementation Method 2
a plurality of cross-shaped coupling apertures formed by intersection of first slots through which the first polarized waves are transmitted and second slots through which the second polarized waves are transmitted
Data Source
AI summary
An antenna having an emission unit emits first and second polarized waves which intersect each other and a supply unit that supplies the first and second polarized waves to the emission unit is provided. The supply unit includes a plurality of cross-shaped coupling apertures that allow first and second slots that the first and second polarized waves are transmitted to intersect and supply the first and second polarized waves to the emission unit. The first and second polarized wave guide directs the first and second polarized waves to the plurality of cross-shaped coupling apertures. The distances from first polarized wave supply slots to the first polarized waves to the first polarized wave guide to the plurality of cross-shaped coupling apertures and from second polarized wave supply slots to the second polarized waves to the second polarized wave guide to the plurality of cross-shaped coupling apertures are respectively about the same.