CN108808224B

CN108808224B - MASSIVE MIMO antenna

Info

Publication number: CN108808224B
Application number: CN201810698247.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 刘培涛; 陈礼涛; 李明超; 赖展军; 黄明达; 李轶帆; 苏国生; 段红彬; 丁海; 范颂东
Original assignee: Comba Telecom Technology Guangzhou Ltd
Current assignee: Comba Telecom Technology Guangzhou Ltd
Priority date: 2018-06-29
Filing date: 2018-06-29
Publication date: 2020-12-15
Anticipated expiration: 2038-06-29
Also published as: CN108808224A; WO2020001270A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a MASSIVE MIMO antenna which comprises a reflecting plate, a plurality of radiating units and a calibration module. The PCB board of the calibration module is integrated with a calibration network, a filter and a radio frequency connector, so that the calibration module has the functions of signal calibration and filtering. Therefore, the MASSIVE MIMO antenna does not need an external filter in the using process. Moreover, the calibration network, the filter and the radio frequency connector are integrated through the PCB, so that the structure of the calibration module is more compact. Therefore, the size of the masive MIMO antenna is more reduced, so that the communication base station is reduced in size. In addition, the filter and the calibration network are designed in an integrated mode, so that the matching performance of the electrical parameters of the two cascaded components can be fully considered in the design process. Therefore, the electrical parameter matching performance can be optimized as much as possible, thereby realizing the optimal interconnection design of the filter performance and the antenna performance.

Description

MASSIVE MIMO antenna

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of wireless communication, in particular to a MASSIVE MIMO antenna.

Background

Mobile communication is evolving from 4G to 5G, and masive MIMO (large-scale multiple input multiple output) antennas are widely used. In a conventional large-scale MIMO antenna, a cavity filter is generally required to be mounted on the back surface of the antenna, an input port of the cavity filter is connected to a signal receiving/transmitting circuit module of a base station device, and an output port of the cavity filter is connected to an antenna port.

With the development of mobile communication and the deepening of network coverage, the station resources are increasingly tense, and therefore, higher requirements on miniaturization and light weight of base station equipment are provided. However, in the conventional base station antenna, since filters with the same number as that of antenna ports are required to be externally arranged, the size of the conventional base station antenna is increased, which is not favorable for miniaturization of the base station.

Disclosure of Invention

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a massize MIMO antenna with a high degree of miniaturization to solve the problem of a large volume of the conventional base station antenna.

A massize MIMO antenna comprising:

a plurality of radiating elements; and

a calibration module, the calibration module comprising:

a PCB board;

the calibration network is formed on the PCB and comprises a calibration port, a plurality of main signal channels and a plurality of coupling signal channels, and the output ends of the main signal channels are electrically connected with the plurality of radiating units in a one-to-one correspondence manner;

the PCB comprises a plurality of filters and a plurality of radio frequency connectors, wherein the filters and the radio frequency connectors are arranged on the PCB, the input ends of the main signal channels are electrically connected with the output ends of the filters in a one-to-one correspondence mode, and the output ends of the radio frequency connectors are electrically connected with the input ends of the filters in a one-to-one correspondence mode.

In one embodiment, the calibration network includes a power divider and a plurality of directional couplers, each of the directional couplers forms one main signal channel and one coupled signal channel, and a common end of the power divider forms the calibration port.

In one embodiment, the calibration module further includes a second rf connector electrically connected to the common terminal of the power divider to form the calibration port.

In one embodiment, the line type of the calibration network is a microstrip line or a stripline.

In one embodiment, the filter is a dielectric filter.

In one embodiment, the output end of the coupling signal channel is electrically connected with a circuit matching load.

In one embodiment, the PCB board has a ground plane, and the calibration network, the filter and the radio frequency connector are all electrically connected to the ground plane.

In one embodiment, the filter and the rf connector are disposed on the PCB by surface mount technology, and a plurality of metalized vias are formed on the surface of the PCB to electrically connect the filter and the rf connector to the ground layer.

In one embodiment, the filters and the corresponding rf connectors form two sets of queues, and the two sets of queues are symmetrically distributed on the surface of the PCB.

In one embodiment, the calibration module further comprises a reflecting plate, the plurality of radiation units are arranged on the surface of the reflecting plate, and the calibration module is arranged on the side, opposite to the plurality of radiation units, of the reflecting plate.

Compared with the prior art, the MASSIVE MIMO antenna has at least the following advantages:

1. the PCB is integrated with a calibration network, a filter and a radio frequency connector, so that the MASSIVE MIMO antenna does not need an external filter in the use process. Moreover, the calibration network, the filter and the radio frequency connector are integrated through the PCB, so that the structure of the calibration module is more compact. Therefore, the MASSIVE MIMO antenna has higher miniaturization degree, and is beneficial to realizing the miniaturization of the communication base station;

2. because the filter and the calibration network are designed in an integrated manner, the matching performance of the electrical parameters of the two cascaded components can be fully considered during design. Therefore, the electrical parameter matching performance can be optimized as much as possible, thereby realizing the optimal interconnection design of the filter performance and the antenna performance.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a MASSIVE MIMO antenna according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a calibration module in the MASSIVE MIMO antenna shown in FIG. 1;

fig. 3 is a partial enlarged view of the calibration module shown in fig. 2.

Detailed Description

To facilitate an understanding of the invention, the invention will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "secured to" another element, it can be directly on the other element or intervening elements may also be present. When an element is referred to as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. The terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," and the like as used herein are for illustrative purposes only.

Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The terminology used in the description of the invention herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Referring to fig. 1, a communication base station and a masive MIMO antenna 100 are provided. The communication base station includes a signal transceiver (not shown) and a masive MIMO antenna 100. The signal transceiver comprises a transmitting end and a receiving end. Furthermore, the massize MIMO antenna 100 is electrically connected to the signal transceiver, and can radiate an electrical signal transmitted from a transmitting end of the signal transceiver, and can also transmit a feedback signal to a receiving end of the signal transceiver.

Referring to fig. 2 and fig. 3 together, the massize MIMO antenna 100 in the preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a reflector 110, a radiation unit 120 and a calibration module 130.

The reflective plate 110 is generally a metal plate structure formed by metal materials, and plays a role of reflecting electromagnetic wave signals and supporting. The edge of the reflective plate 110 is generally provided with a folded edge, which can improve the efficiency of signal transmission and reception. The reflection plate 110 may have a circular, rectangular, or the like shape. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the reflective plate 110 has a long bar shape.

The plurality of radiation units 120 is used to realize multiple input and multiple output. Each radiation unit 120 can independently perform radiation and reception of low-frequency or high-frequency signals. A plurality of radiation units 120 are disposed on the surface of the reflective plate 110. Specifically, the radiation units 120 may be fixed on the reflection plate 110 by welding, clamping, or the like, and the plurality of radiation units 120 may be arranged in an array on the surface of the reflection plate 110.

The calibration module 130 is disposed on a side of the reflection plate 110 facing away from the radiation unit 120. Specifically, the calibration module 130 is a functional module integrated with filtering and calibrating the signal of each radiation unit 120. The calibration module 130 includes a PCB 131, a calibration network 133, a filter 135, and a radio frequency connector 137.

The PCB 131 functions as a carrier, and the shape thereof may match the shape of the reflective plate 110. The PCB 131 has a predetermined circuit formed thereon. Specifically, a strip line or a microstrip line is formed on the PCB 131, so that electrical components mounted on the PCB 131 can be electrically connected.

It is noted that the surface of the PCB 131 may function like the reflective plate 110. Therefore, in other embodiments, the reflection plate 110 may be omitted and the plurality of radiation units 120 may be directly mounted on the surface of the PCB.

The calibration network 133 is formed on the PCB 131 and functions to calibrate signals of the respective radiation units 120. In the present embodiment, the line type of the calibration network 133 is microstrip line or stripline. Further, calibration network 133 includes a calibration port 1331, a plurality of main signal channels 1333, and a plurality of coupling signal channels 1335. The output ends of the plurality of main signal channels 1333 are electrically connected to the plurality of radiating elements 120 in a one-to-one correspondence. Specifically, the number of the main signal channels 1333 is not less than the number of the radiation units 120, and one main signal channel 1333 corresponds to one radiation unit 120.

The electrical signal sent by the signal transceiver can be transmitted to the corresponding radiation unit 120 through the output end of the main signal channel 1333.

In the present embodiment, the calibration network 133 includes a power divider 1332 and a plurality of directional couplers 1334. Each directional coupler 1334 forms a main signal path 1333 and a coupled signal path 1335, with a calibration port 1331 formed at a common end of power splitter 1332.

The power divider 1332 may be a multi-stage wilkinson power divider, which includes a common terminal and a plurality of branches, and each branch is electrically connected to an input terminal of a coupling signal channel 1335. Main signal path 1333 is used to transmit radio frequency signals for massize MIMO antenna 100; the coupled signal channel 1335 is used to transmit the radio frequency signal coupled by the directional coupler 1334, and the radio frequency signal is transmitted to the calibration port 1331 through the power divider 1332, so as to monitor the radio frequency signal at each port of the antenna (one radiation unit 120 corresponds to one antenna port).

In this embodiment, the output of coupling signal path 1335 is electrically connected to circuit matching load 1336. Where a circuit matching load 1336 is used to match the circuit, absorbing the power energy delivered to the end of the circuit, resulting in a circuit with smaller standing waves.

The filters 135 and the rf connector 137 are plural. Specifically, in the present embodiment, the filter 135 is a dielectric filter 135. The dielectric filter has the advantages of small volume and light weight. Moreover, when the dielectric filter is electrically connected to the PCB 131, it can be directly connected to the PCB pad by soldering without adding an additional interconnection joint.

The filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are disposed on the PCB 131, and are electrically connected through the PCB 131. Specifically, the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are generally disposed on the PCB 131 by Surface Mount Technology (SMT), and may be connected to the PCB 131 by a blind-mate connector.

The input terminals of the main signal channels 1333 are electrically connected to the output terminals of the filters 135 in a one-to-one correspondence, and the output terminals of the rf connectors 137 are electrically connected to the input terminals of the filters 135 in a one-to-one correspondence. Thus, each filter 135 is serially connected to a corresponding rf connector 137 and calibration network 133 to form an antenna channel. Each radiating element 120 corresponds to one antenna channel, i.e. the number of antenna channels is equal to the number of radiating elements 120. Furthermore, each antenna channel includes an rf connector 137, filter 135, and common calibration network 133.

In the above-described communication base station, the receiving end of the signal transmission/reception device is electrically connected to the calibration port 1331. The transmitting end of the signal transceiving means is electrically connected to the input ends of the plurality of radio frequency connectors 137. Specifically, the signal transceiver may be electrically connected to the rf link 137 and the calibration port 1331 through a blind-mate type connector.

When the communication base station operates, the radio frequency signal transmitted by the transmitting end of the signal transceiver enters the radio frequency connector 137, is filtered by the filter 135 to remove noise, then enters the corresponding radiation unit 120 through the output end of the main signal channel 1333 of the calibration network 133, and is radiated to the space through the radiation unit 120; meanwhile, the coupling signal channel 1335 of the calibration network 133 couples the rf signal passing through the main signal channel 1333, and the coupled signal enters the power divider 1332 connected to the coupling signal channel 1335 through the output end of the coupling signal channel 1335 and reaches the calibration port 1331, and is finally received by the receiving end of the signal transceiver.

Since the calibration network 133, the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are integrated on the PCB 131, the masive MIMO antenna 100 does not need an external filter during use. Moreover, the calibration network 133, the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are integrated through the PCB 131, so that the structure of the calibration module 130 is more compact. Therefore, the masive MIMO antenna 100 is more miniaturized, which is advantageous for realizing miniaturization of a communication base station.

In addition, since the filter 135 and the calibration network 133 are designed integrally, the matching performance of the electrical parameters of the two cascade components can be considered sufficiently in the design. Thus, the electrical parameter matching performance can be optimized as much as possible, thereby achieving an optimal interconnect design for filter 135 performance and antenna performance.

In this embodiment, the calibration module 130 further includes a second rf connector 139. The second rf connector 139 is electrically connected to the common terminal of the power divider 1332 to form a calibration port 1331.

In the present embodiment, the PCB 131 has a ground layer (not shown), and the calibration network 133, the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are electrically connected to the ground layer.

Since the calibration network 133, the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are commonly disposed through the ground plane of the PCB 131. Therefore, it is not necessary to separately design the grounding structures, so that the structure of the calibration module 130 can be simplified, thereby further improving the miniaturization degree of the massize MIMO antenna 100.

Further, in this embodiment, a plurality of metallized vias (not shown) are formed on the surface of the PCB 131 to electrically connect the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 to the ground plane.

Specifically, the metallized via hole is a conductive structure formed by punching a hole in the PCB 131, filling liquid metal into the hole, and solidifying the liquid metal. Also, the metallized vias communicate the surface of the PCB 131 with the ground plane.

Since the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are generally disposed by SMT, they are soldered after being mounted and positioned. The metal vias are typically located at the pads so that the filter 135 and rf connector 137 may be electrically connected to the ground plane when mounted. It can be seen that the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 can be grounded without additional routing through the metalized via holes, so that the calibration module 130 has a compact structure, and the miniaturization of the massize MIMO antenna 100 can be further improved.

In the present embodiment, the filters 135 and the rf connectors 137 form two sets of queues, and the two sets of queues are symmetrically distributed on the surface of the PCB 131. Therefore, the plurality of filters 135 and the plurality of rf connectors 137 are more compactly arranged on the PCB 131, so that the volume of the calibration module 130 can be reduced. Furthermore, the plurality of radiating elements 120 may be arranged in a symmetrical manner when arranged, thereby facilitating a reduction in the size of the massize MIMO antenna 100.

In the present embodiment, the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are disposed on the surface of the PCB 131 facing the reflective plate 110.

Specifically, a receiving cavity may be formed between the PCB 131 and the reflection plate 130, and the receiving cavity may provide protection for the filter 135 and the rf connector 137. Moreover, the massize MIMO antenna 100 is more compact in structure due to the arrangement, and miniaturization of the massize MIMO antenna 100 is facilitated.

In the masive MIMO antenna 100, the calibration network 133, the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are integrated on the PCB 131, so that the calibration module 130 has both signal calibration and filtering functions. Thus, the massize MIMO antenna 100 does not require external filters during use. Moreover, the calibration network 133, the filter 135 and the rf connector 137 are integrated through the PCB 131, so that the structure of the calibration module 130 is more compact. Therefore, the size of the masive MIMO antenna is more reduced, so that the communication base station is reduced in size. In addition, since the filter 135 and the calibration network 133 are designed integrally, the matching performance of the electrical parameters of the two cascade components can be considered sufficiently in the design. Thus, the electrical parameter matching performance can be optimized as much as possible, thereby achieving an optimal interconnect design for filter 135 performance and antenna performance.

The technical features of the embodiments described above may be arbitrarily combined, and for the sake of brevity, all possible combinations of the technical features in the embodiments described above are not described, but should be considered as being within the scope of the present specification as long as there is no contradiction between the combinations of the technical features.

The above-mentioned embodiments only express several embodiments of the present invention, and the description thereof is more specific and detailed, but not construed as limiting the scope of the invention. It should be noted that, for a person skilled in the art, several variations and modifications can be made without departing from the inventive concept, which falls within the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present patent shall be subject to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A MASSIVE MIMO antenna, comprising:

a plurality of radiating elements; and

a calibration module, the calibration module comprising:

a PCB board;

the PCB comprises a plurality of filters and a plurality of radio frequency connectors, wherein the filters and the radio frequency connectors are arranged on the PCB, the input ends of a plurality of main signal channels are electrically connected with the output ends of the filters in a one-to-one correspondence manner, the output ends of the radio frequency connectors are electrically connected with the input ends of the filters in a one-to-one correspondence manner, the filters and the radio frequency connectors are arranged on the PCB through a surface mounting technology, and a blind-mate connector is adopted to be in butt joint with the PCB.

2. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 1, wherein the calibration network comprises a power divider and a plurality of directional couplers, each directional coupler forming one of the main signal paths and one of the coupled signal paths, a common end of the power divider forming the calibration port.

3. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 2, wherein the calibration module further comprises a second RF connector electrically connected to a common terminal of the power divider to form the calibration port.

4. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 1, wherein the calibration network is of the microstrip or stripline type.

5. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 1, wherein the filter is a dielectric filter.

6. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 1, wherein the output of the coupled signal path is electrically connected to a circuit matched load.

7. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 1, wherein the PCB board has a ground plane, and the calibration network, the filter, and the radio frequency connector are all electrically connected to the ground plane.

8. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 7, wherein the filters and the RF connectors are disposed on the PCB by SMT, and a plurality of metalized vias are formed on the surface of the PCB to electrically connect the filters and the RF connectors to the ground plane.

9. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 1, wherein the plurality of filters and the corresponding plurality of RF connectors form two sets of queues, and the two sets of queues are symmetrically distributed on the surface of the PCB board.

10. The MASSIVE MIMO antenna of claim 1, further comprising a reflector plate, wherein the plurality of radiating elements are disposed on a surface of the reflector plate, and wherein the calibration module is disposed on a side of the reflector plate facing away from the plurality of radiating elements.