WO2022062472A1 - Active array antenna and mobile communication base station - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an active array antenna and a mobile communication base station. The active array antenna comprises at least two transceiver units, multiplexers having the same number as the transceiver units, and antenna units having the same number as the multiplexers; each transceiver unit comprises at least two transceivers for operating on different preset frequency bands of the active array antenna, and each transceiver is connected to one end of the multiplexer corresponding to the transceiver unit where the transceiver is located; each antenna unit comprises antenna elements, and each antenna element is connected, by means of a phase shifter, to the other end of the multiplexer corresponding to the antenna unit where the antenna element is located; and the phase shifter is used for operating on all preset frequency bands of the active array antenna. According to the active array antenna and the mobile communication base station provided in embodiments of the present invention, by reasonably configuring the numbers and the functions of transceivers and phase shifters, the total number of devices required for the active array antenna is reduced while the electrically tunable function of the active array antenna is achieved.

Description

An active array antenna and mobile communication base station

Priority number: 202011029344.7 Priority area: China Priority date: September 25, 2020

technical field

The present invention relates to the field of antenna technology, in particular to an active array antenna and a mobile communication base station.

Background technique

The system that receives or transmits electromagnetic waves composed of active circuits (mainly T/R components) directly connected to each radiating element or sub-array channel in the antenna array is called an active array antenna. The radiating/receiving unit not only radiates/receives electromagnetic signals, but also acts as a part of the circuit, and has the functions of resonance, filtering, power amplification, etc.

The adjustment of the downtilt angle of the composite beam of the array antenna on the elevation plane or the vertical plane can realize the corresponding ESC function. In the prior art, the ESC function of the active array antenna is mainly realized by the following two antenna configuration structures.

As shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of an active array antenna with an electrical adjustment function in the prior art, wherein the active array antenna includes antenna units, and the number of antenna units is K×N (divided into K groups , N in each group), each antenna unit corresponds to a group of transceivers 11 (TRX) from frequency band 1 to frequency band M through the corresponding multiplexer 2, and each transceiver 11 has corresponding baseband processing. In device 5, the ESC function of each frequency band of the active array antenna can be realized by adjusting the weight of the frequency band Wm=[w1m, w2m,..., 2KNm] (where m=1...M).

As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of another active array antenna with an electrical adjustment function in the prior art. In the active array antenna, the number of antenna units is unchanged, but as K with the antenna unit Corresponding to the group, the transceivers 11 have K groups, and each group includes a total of M transceivers 11 from the frequency band 1 to the frequency band M. The feeding network of the source realizes phase shifting and interconnection. As shown in Figure 3, it is a schematic diagram of the configuration of the feeding network in the above-mentioned active array antenna. In the feeding network, the path of each transceiver is first divided into N channels are connected to the corresponding antenna units through the combiner/splitter A after passing through the phase shifter 4. The electrical adjustment function of the active array antenna can be realized by the weights of the baseband of each frequency band and the phase shifter.

It can be seen that although the above two active array antennas can both realize the corresponding ESC function, in practical applications, the number of transceivers required by the active array antenna shown in Figure 1 is K×N While the active array antenna shown in FIG. 2 has K×M transceivers, it uses a large number of phase shifters, which requires K×N×M in total. Therefore, the above two active array antennas require a large number of devices (such as transceivers and phase shifters), the related circuit power consumption is high, the wiring of the antenna is complicated, and the hardware cost of the antenna is increased.

technical solutions

The present invention provides an active array antenna and a mobile communication base station, so as to solve the technical problem that the existing active array antenna needs to be equipped with a large number of transceivers or phase shifters, which leads to complex antenna wiring and high power consumption , by reasonably configuring the number and function of transceivers and phase shifters, the total number of components required by the active array antenna is reduced.

In order to solve the above technical problems, an embodiment of the present invention provides an active array antenna, including:

at least two sets of transceiver units, the same number of multiplexers as the transceiver units, and the same number of antenna units as the multiplexers;

Each group of the transceiver units includes at least two transceivers for working in different preset frequency bands of the active array antenna, and each of the transceivers corresponds to the transceiver unit in which it is located. One end of the multiplexer is connected;

Each group of the antenna units includes at least two antenna elements, and each of the antenna elements is connected to the other end of the multiplexer corresponding to the antenna unit where it is located through a phase shifter; wherein, each of the phase shifters The device is used to work on all preset frequency bands of the active array antenna.

As one of the preferred solutions, each of the antenna units further includes a number of antenna elements.

As one of the preferred solutions, the active array antenna further includes the same number of baseband processing devices as the transceiver units;

Each of the transceivers is also connected to the baseband processing device corresponding to the transceiver unit in which it is located.

As one of the preferred solutions, each of the antenna elements has a bandwidth for covering all preset frequency bands of the active array antenna.

As one of the preferred solutions, the active array antenna further includes a feeding circuit, and the feeding circuit is used to feed the antenna unit.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a mobile communication base station, including a plurality of the above-mentioned active array antennas.

Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effect of the embodiments of the present invention is that, unlike the prior art that requires a large number of transceivers or phase shifters, the active array antenna of the present invention is configured with a number of transceivers or phase shifters corresponding to one-to-one. The signal unit, the multiplexer and the antenna unit, and the phase shifter is configured to be shared by each frequency band, and the adjustment of the downtilt angle is realized by adjusting the weight value, thereby realizing the ESC function of the active array antenna, and transmitting and receiving signals at the same time. The number of transceivers and phase shifters is greatly reduced. By rationally configuring the number and functions of transceivers and phase shifters, the total number of components required by the active array antenna is greatly reduced, the wiring structure of the antenna is simplified, and the number of antennas is reduced. hardware cost.

Description of drawings

Fig. 1 is the configuration schematic diagram of a kind of active array antenna with electric adjustment function in the prior art;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of another active array antenna with an electrical adjustment function in the prior art;

3 is a schematic configuration diagram of a feeding network of an active array antenna in the prior art;

4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an active array antenna in one of the embodiments of the present invention;

5 is a configuration diagram of an active array antenna in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is the directional diagram of the 2.6GHz antenna element in the embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a directional diagram of a 3.5GHz antenna element in an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a directional diagram of the 2.6GHz baseband and the phase shifter adjustment in the embodiment of the present invention, which are both down-tilted by 6°;

Fig. 9 is the directional diagram that the 3.5GHz baseband and the phase shifter in the embodiment of the present invention are both tilted down by 6°;

FIG. 10 is a directional diagram of a 2.6GHz baseband downtilt by 3° and a phase shifter adjusted downtilt by 6° in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a directional diagram of a 3.5GHz baseband with a downward tilt of 9° and a phase shifter adjustment with a downward tilt of 6° in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a directional diagram of a 2.6 GHz baseband with a downward tilt of 9° and a phase shifter adjustment of a downward tilt of 6° in an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a directional diagram of a 3.5GHz baseband downtilt by 3° and a phase shifter adjusted downtilt by 6° in an embodiment of the present invention;

1. Transceiver unit; 11. Transceiver; 2. Multiplexer; 3. Antenna unit; 31. Antenna element; 4. Phase shifter; 5. Baseband processing device; Splitter.

Embodiments of the present invention

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, but not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

In the description of this application, unless stated otherwise, "plurality" means two or more. In addition, unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected" and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it may be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it may be a mechanical connection. The connection can also be an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or an internal connection between two components. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in this application can be understood in specific situations.

In the description of the present application, it should be noted that, unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in the present invention have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art. The terms used in the description of the present invention are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application in specific situations.

An embodiment of the present invention provides an active array antenna. Specifically, please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of an active array antenna in one embodiment of the present invention, including:

at least two groups of transceiver units 1, multiplexers 2 with the same number as the transceiver units, and antenna units 3 with the same number as the multiplexers;

Each group of the transceiver units 1 includes at least two transceivers 11 for operating in different preset frequency bands of the active array antenna, and each of the transceivers 11 and the transceiver where it is located One end of the multiplexer 2 corresponding to the unit 1 is connected;

Each group of the antenna units 3 includes at least two antenna elements 31, and each of the antenna elements 31 is connected to the other end of the multiplexer 2 corresponding to the antenna unit 3 through a phase shifter 4 (for convenience It should be understood that in Fig. 1, Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the serial numbers of the antenna elements only represent the serial numbers of their numbers, while in Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, only the antenna elements 3 and the antenna elements 31 are shown, but the quantitative relationship is not shown) ; wherein, each of the phase shifters 4 is used to work on all preset frequency bands of the active array antenna.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment of the present invention, preferably, there are K groups of transceivers TRX in total, and each group includes transceivers with preset M frequency bands. On the antenna side, after each group of transceivers TRX is combined Then add a phase shifter, the phase shifter is shared by each frequency band. In order to realize the adjustment of the down-tilt angle, the weights of the phase shifter and the baseband part are used together, and the weight of the frequency band m is expressed as Wm=[wk1, wk2 , ..., wkM], where the weight Wm can be adjusted according to the frequency band.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present invention, the phase shifter is shared for each frequency band, which can meet the requirements of most application scenarios. For mobile communication, the adjustment of the downtilt angle is used to optimize network coverage, and the coverage requirements of different frequency bands are generally the same. , the down angle is basically the same. The phase shifter can be implemented in a manner equivalent to a variable delay line. If only the phase shifter is adjusted, theoretically, different frequency bands will maintain the same downtilt angle. Combined with the adjustment of the baseband weights, the inclination angles of different frequency bands can be slightly different.

As one of the preferred embodiments, please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of an active array antenna in one of the preferred embodiments of the present invention. Two sets of transceiver units 1 are arranged on the vertical plane. One group includes a 2.6GHz transceiver 11 and a 3.5GHz transceiver 11. Each group of transceiver units 1 is combined and then divided into two channels, each of which is connected to the corresponding antenna after passing through the corresponding phase shifter 4. Unit 3, each antenna unit 3 consists of 3 antenna elements. Assuming that the electrical spacing between vertically adjacent antenna elements is 0.5 times the wavelength at 2.6GHz (about 0.67 times the wavelength at 3.5GHz), the horizontal and vertical lobe widths of the antenna elements at 2.6GHz are both 110°, and at 3.5GHz The horizontal and vertical lobe widths are 80° (due to some individual differences in the specific implementation, but there will be no difference in conclusion).

It should be noted that the pattern in the above-mentioned embodiment has a horizontal lobe width of 110° and a vertical lobe width of 110° for a 2.6GHz single-oscillator pattern, and a horizontal lobe width of 80° and a vertical lobe width of 80° for the 3.5GHz single-oscillator pattern. °, and because of the resonators, the physical spacing of the 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz arrays is the same. Specifically, please refer to FIG. 6 , FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 , wherein FIG. 6 is a directional diagram of a 2.6 GHz antenna element in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a directional diagram of a 3.5 GHz antenna element in an embodiment of the present invention. 8 is the directional diagram of the 2.6GHz baseband and the phase shifter adjustment in the embodiment of the present invention with a downward tilt of 6°. As shown in the figure, the actual downward tilt direction after the two are combined is 6°; please refer to Figure 9, Figure 9 It is a pattern in which the 3.5GHz baseband and the phase shifter in the embodiment of the present invention are both down-tilted by 6°. As shown in the figure, the actual down-tilt direction after the combination of the two is 6°. In FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, for The configuration and operation of the active array antenna phase shifters are all the same; in addition, please refer to FIG. 10 , which is a directional diagram of a 2.6 GHz baseband downtilt of 3° and a phase shifter adjusted downtilt of 6° in an embodiment of the present invention , as shown in the figure, the actual downtilt angle after synthesis is about 5°; please refer to FIG. 11 again. FIG. 11 is a directional diagram of a 3.5GHz baseband downtilt of 9° and a phase shifter adjusted downtilt of 6° in an embodiment of the present invention , as shown in the figure, the actual downtilt angle after synthesis is about 7°; please refer to FIG. 12 again. FIG. 12 is a directional diagram of a 2.6GHz baseband downtilt of 9° and a phase shifter adjusted downtilt of 6° in an embodiment of the present invention. , as shown in the figure, the actual downtilt angle after synthesis is about 7°; please refer to FIG. 13 again. FIG. 13 is a directional diagram of a 3.5GHz baseband downtilt of 3° and a phase shifter adjusted downtilt of 6° in the embodiment of the present invention , as shown in the figure, the actual downtilt angle after synthesis is about 5°. In Figure 12 and Figure 13, the configuration and operation of the active array antenna phase shifter are the same. It can be seen from the above embodiment that there is at least 2° adjustment space for the difference between the downtilt angles of different frequency bands. To sum up, the active array antenna in the embodiment of the present invention is configured with a multi-band transceiver (TRX) to share the antenna element, and the phase shifter used for electronically adjusting the antenna (changing the downtilt angle of the antenna composite beam) is located in the multi-band transceiver. The frequency band combining/shunting is close to the common part of the antenna element, and the electrical downtilt angle of the antenna is jointly determined by the phase shifter and the weights assigned to each frequency band of the baseband part of the transceiver, which can greatly reduce the number of transceivers and phase shifters. At the same time, the electronic adjustment function of the active array antenna is realized, and the cost, power consumption and electrical performance of the antenna are optimized and improved.

Preferably, in one of the embodiments, each of the antenna units 3 further includes a number of antenna elements.

Preferably, in one of the embodiments, the active array antenna further includes the same number of baseband processing devices 5 as the transceiver units 1; each of the transceivers 11 also includes the transceiver where it is located. The baseband processing device 5 corresponding to the unit 1 is connected.

Preferably, in one of the embodiments, each of the antenna elements 31 has a bandwidth for covering all preset frequency bands of the active array antenna. Of course, the bandwidths of all preset frequency bands of the active array antenna need to be configured according to the actual requirements of the base station system, and the selected antenna elements also need to be adjusted accordingly.

Preferably, in one of the embodiments, the active array antenna further includes a feeding circuit (not shown in the figure), and the feeding circuit is used to feed the antenna unit 3 .

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a mobile communication base station (not shown in the figure), which includes a plurality of the above-mentioned active array antennas.

The active array antenna and the mobile communication base station provided by the embodiments of the present invention are different from the prior art which requires a large number of transceivers or phase shifters. The unit, the multiplexer and the antenna unit are configured, and the phase shifter is configured to be shared by each frequency band. The adjustment of the downtilt angle is realized by adjusting the weight value, thereby realizing the ESC function of the active array antenna. At the same time, the transceiver The number of selected phase shifters and phase shifters is greatly reduced. By rationally configuring the number and functions of transceivers and phase shifters, the total number of components required by the active array antenna is greatly reduced, the wiring structure of the antenna is simplified, and the cost of the antenna is reduced. hardware cost.

The above are the preferred embodiments of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can be made, and these improvements and modifications may also be regarded as It is the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (6)

1. An active array antenna, comprising:

   at least two sets of transceiver units, the same number of multiplexers as the transceiver units, and the same number of antenna units as the multiplexers;

   Each group of the transceiver units includes at least two transceivers for working in different preset frequency bands of the active array antenna, and each of the transceivers corresponds to the transceiver unit in which it is located. One end of the multiplexer is connected;

   Each group of the antenna units includes at least two antenna elements, and each of the antenna elements is connected to the other end of the multiplexer corresponding to the antenna unit where it is located through a phase shifter; wherein, each of the phase shifters The device is used to work on all preset frequency bands of the active array antenna.
2. The active array antenna according to claim 1, wherein each of the antenna elements further comprises a plurality of antenna elements.
3. The active array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the active array antenna further comprises a baseband processing device with the same number of the transceiver units;

   Each of the transceivers is also connected to the baseband processing device corresponding to the transceiver unit in which it is located.
4. The active array antenna according to claim 1, wherein each of the antenna elements has a bandwidth for covering all preset frequency bands of the active array antenna.
5. The active array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the active array antenna further comprises a feeding circuit, and the feeding circuit is used for feeding the antenna unit.
6. A mobile communication base station, characterized by comprising a plurality of active array antennas as claimed in claim 1 .