CN113725628B - Addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array and control method - Google Patents
Addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array and control method Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- CN113725628B CN113725628B CN202110955522.7A CN202110955522A CN113725628B CN 113725628 B CN113725628 B CN 113725628B CN 202110955522 A CN202110955522 A CN 202110955522A CN 113725628 B CN113725628 B CN 113725628B
- Authority
- CN
- China
- Prior art keywords
- liquid crystal
- phase shifter
- phased array
- electrode
- addressable
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
- 239000004973 liquid crystal related substance Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 89
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 7
- 238000004891 communication Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 28
- 230000008878 coupling Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 17
- 238000010168 coupling process Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 17
- 238000005859 coupling reaction Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 17
- 239000000758 substrate Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 15
- 239000000725 suspension Substances 0.000 claims abstract description 5
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 claims description 12
- 230000010363 phase shift Effects 0.000 claims description 10
- 230000000903 blocking effect Effects 0.000 claims description 9
- 230000005855 radiation Effects 0.000 claims description 9
- 230000005540 biological transmission Effects 0.000 claims description 8
- 238000006243 chemical reaction Methods 0.000 claims description 7
- 238000011068 loading method Methods 0.000 claims description 7
- 239000003990 capacitor Substances 0.000 claims description 6
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 claims description 5
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 claims description 5
- 238000005530 etching Methods 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000004458 analytical method Methods 0.000 claims description 3
- 238000007789 sealing Methods 0.000 claims description 3
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 claims description 3
- 238000011049 filling Methods 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000001514 detection method Methods 0.000 abstract description 3
- 238000010586 diagram Methods 0.000 description 9
- 238000005516 engineering process Methods 0.000 description 6
- 230000010354 integration Effects 0.000 description 6
- 238000013461 design Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000012360 testing method Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000004088 simulation Methods 0.000 description 3
- 238000013139 quantization Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000011160 research Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000035945 sensitivity Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000004215 Carbon black (E152) Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000009471 action Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010923 batch production Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000919 ceramic Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000007547 defect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 229930195733 hydrocarbon Natural products 0.000 description 1
- 150000002430 hydrocarbons Chemical class 0.000 description 1
- 238000012423 maintenance Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011159 matrix material Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000007246 mechanism Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- -1 polytetrafluoroethylene Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 229920001343 polytetrafluoroethylene Polymers 0.000 description 1
- 239000004810 polytetrafluoroethylene Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000002360 preparation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000004065 semiconductor Substances 0.000 description 1
Images
Classifications
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q3/00—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system
- H01Q3/005—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system using remotely controlled antenna positioning or scanning
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
- H01Q1/36—Structural form of radiating elements, e.g. cone, spiral, umbrella; Particular materials used therewith
- H01Q1/38—Structural form of radiating elements, e.g. cone, spiral, umbrella; Particular materials used therewith formed by a conductive layer on an insulating support
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
- H01Q3/00—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system
- H01Q3/26—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture
- H01Q3/30—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array
- H01Q3/34—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array by electrical means
Landscapes
- Variable-Direction Aerials And Aerial Arrays (AREA)
Abstract
The invention discloses an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array and a control method, wherein the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array comprises a layered structure which is formed by a microwave radiator, a phase shifter, a bias electrode and a power divider from top to bottom; the bias voltage electrode and the phase shifter are on the same layer and are connected to the outer ring of the phase shifter, the wave controller and the upper computer are connected with and control the wave controller through a USB line, the phase shifter electrode is connected to the wave controller, and bias voltage is loaded to the electrode of each phase shifter through the wave controller; the microwave radiator is a double-layer broadband microstrip antenna array and is respectively etched on the two layers of substrates; the phase shifter adopts an Archimedes spiral suspension strip line structure etched on a substrate with a liquid crystal groove, and couples a radio frequency signal to an antenna in a slot coupling mode. The invention has the advantages of low profile, low cost and low power consumption, can be integrated in a small range, realizes wide-angle beam scanning, and can be used for the detection and communication of a new generation of microwave radars.
Description
Technical Field
The invention relates to a microwave phased array technology, in particular to an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array.
Background
The antenna is an indispensable module of all radio systems, and the performance of the antenna directly influences the overall performance and popularization and application of the system. At present, widely used antennas can be divided into two types, namely mechanical scanning antennas, and the antennas of the type have large geometric size, heavy weight, slow beam scanning speed and high maintenance cost; and the other is a phased array antenna manufactured by integrating a microwave Integrated Circuit (IC) chip on a Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Compared with an antenna based on mechanical scanning, although the phased array antenna has the advantages of high sensitivity, high tracking precision, short response time and the like due to the fact that a mechanical servo control mechanism is omitted, the phased array antenna has the defects of complex structure, high price, high power consumption, large heat productivity and the like, and beam deflection cannot achieve continuous beam scanning due to nonlinearity of a nonlinear device phase shift network.
In order to overcome the disadvantages of the mechanical scanning antenna and the conventional phased array, in recent years, research on the liquid crystal antenna is started according to the knowledge of the dielectric constant change rule of the liquid crystal material under the action of bias voltage. Research has shown that the liquid crystal phased array antenna has not only the technical advantages of the conventional phased array, but also advantages such as low profile, small size, light weight, high degree of integration, low power consumption, high precision, easy control and easy system integration, and is considered as a promising solution for the next generation of wireless communication and phased array radar technologies.
At present, liquid crystal phased array technology is more frequently researched in the optical band, such as laser communication or laser radar, but is less researched and practically applied in the microwave band. Since the tuning range of the liquid crystal material is small and the tuning speed is slow, a large line length is required to ensure the tuning range. However, as the length of the wire increases, a larger wiring space is required, and dense wiring will cause resonance and narrow the operating bandwidth, and the amount of phase shift will decrease, affecting the beam scanning range. To this end, the present disclosure provides an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal phased array, which is adapted to meet the technical requirements of the next generation of wireless communication and phased array radar and to overcome the shortcomings of the current phased array technology.
Disclosure of Invention
The invention aims to provide an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal phased array which is simple in structure, small in complexity, low in section, light in weight, low in cost, low in power consumption, high in precision, high in integration degree and capable of addressing.
The technical scheme adopted by the invention is as follows:
an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array is characterized in that: comprises a layered structure from top to bottom consisting of a microwave radiator, a phase shifter, a bias electrode and a power divider; the bias voltage electrode and the phase shifter are on the same layer and are connected to the outer ring of the phase shifter, the wave controller and the upper computer are connected with and control the wave controller through a USB line, the phase shifter electrode is connected to the wave controller, and bias voltage is loaded to the electrode of each phase shifter through the wave controller; the microwave radiator is a double-layer broadband microstrip antenna array and is respectively etched on the two layers of substrates; the phase shifter adopts an Archimedes spiral suspension strip line structure etched on a substrate with a liquid crystal groove, and couples a radio frequency signal to an antenna in a slot coupling mode;
the liquid crystal groove adopts an Archimedes spiral suspended strip line structure groove and is used for containing liquid crystal materials and sealing the phase shifter therein; one end of the bias electrode is connected to the phase shifter through a metal coplanar surface and etched on the phase shifter substrate, and the other end of the bias electrode is connected to the wave controller; etching a phase shift network structure formed by suspended strip lines on a substrate, cascading the phase shift network structure with the suspended strip line through a metalized via hole, and coupling a radio frequency signal to a phase shifter in a blocking coupling mode;
the double-layer broadband microstrip antenna array is connected with a phase shifting network and a power dividing network which are formed by the suspended strip lines through metallized through holes. The wave controller adopts an FPGA, an RAM memory, a DAC digital-to-analog conversion and a power amplifier chip and is used for controlling the bias voltage of the phase shifter, wherein the RAM memory is connected with the FPGA, the DAC digital-to-analog conversion is connected with the FPGA, generates a bias control signal to the DAC digital-to-analog conversion, amplifies the bias control signal to the power amplifier chip and finally outputs the bias control signal to a bias electrode;
the upper computer controls the wave controller according to the beam scanning direction, and the digital addressable wave controller is used for configuring quantized direct-current bias voltage to control the change of the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal, loading addressable phases for each antenna unit and realizing phased array beam three-dimensional space scanning.
In the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the microwave radiator consists of three layers of dielectric slabs from top to bottom, a square radiation patch is etched on the upper sides of the upper two layers of dielectric slabs, the ground plate and the microstrip feeder line are respectively positioned on the upper side and the lower side of the lower layer of dielectric slab, and the upper two layers of dielectric slabs are separated by an air layer. The etched rectangular slot on the grounding plate coincides with the center of the radiation patch, the microstrip feeder line is open-circuited at the terminal, and a center coupling feed mode is adopted.
In the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the archimedes spiral line suspension strip line of the phase shifter is led out to the bottom end surface through the metalized through hole and then is connected with the bonding pad, and meanwhile, a blocking capacitor is designed between the metalized through hole and the bonding pad.
In the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the blocking capacitor is designed in a mode of upper and lower interdigital separation coupling, so that radio frequency signals in a microwave band can be coupled to the phase shifter and bias signals can be isolated.
In the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the low-refractive-index material is used for filling the gaps of the surface structures of the phase shifters, so that the orientation of the upper liquid crystal molecules is more uniform, and the direct coating structure of the liquid crystal is prevented from being infiltrated into the structure.
In the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the FPGA operator is adopted for carrying out a wave control algorithm, the voltage of the driving electrode and the addressable scanning wave bit data are output in a pulse width modulation mode, and the output voltage loaded on the liquid crystal is modulated by the duty ratio of the output electrode, so that the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning data are generated.
In the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the quantization voltage is obtained by calculating the relationship between the phase shift amount and the scanning angle of each microwave radiation unit, and the quantization voltage to be loaded on the array electrode is obtained.
In the above addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the wave controller comprises
And the power supply module is used for supplying power to other modules of the whole wave controller and supplying power to the liquid crystal phased array driving voltage.
The data communication system module is used for data communication with the control center, and comprises instructions, angle data, voltage data and the like for receiving the control center; and feeding back the operation result and the driving state to the control center.
And the management system module is used for starting the wave controller, managing the communication passwords, selecting the working mode of the wave controller, selecting the communication mode and managing the communication passwords.
The memory module is used for caching communication data, control instructions and the like sent by the upper computer; the arithmetic unit module is used for carrying out corresponding analysis and rapid operation according to the received instruction and data;
and the driver module is used for loading the data of the arithmetic unit to each electrode of the liquid crystal phased array according to a specific communication protocol.
In the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, a USB2.0 interface protocol is used for phase control instruction transmission, and the interface protocol is used for wave control data high-speed transmission; the microwave radiator antenna adopts parallel feed, the feed network is formed by cascading a plurality of T-shaped power dividers and a plurality of sections of quarter-wavelength impedance matchers, and the output ports of the power dividers and the phased array antenna have the same number.
A control method of an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array is characterized by comprising the following steps: comprises that
step 2, calculating bias voltage to be loaded on each phase shifter electrode according to the relation between the phase shift quantity and the bias voltage of the liquid crystal phase shifter;
step 3, listing and storing the scanning angle of the liquid crystal phased array wave beam and the bias voltage of each electrode in an RAM memory of the wave controller;
step 4, before the liquid crystal phased array works, controlling a wave controller through an upper computer to enable each phase shifter of the phased array to read and configure corresponding bias voltage according to the bias list in the step 3;
and 5, loading the radio-frequency signals on the microstrip antenna array through the power divider network, starting the system to work simultaneously, and radiating the radio-frequency signals along the beam direction.
The addressable three-dimensional wave beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array is connected with the suspended stripline phase shifter and the power divider through the metallized through holes, so that the phased array has the advantages of low section, high integration degree, low cost and low power consumption, can be integrated in a small range, realizes wide-angle wave beam scanning, and can be used for detection and communication of a new generation of microwave radar.
Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages:
(1) Compared with the traditional phased array and MEMS technology, the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array adopts the discrete digital addressable technology, avoids phase shifters and TR components formed by semiconductors, is easy to control, low in power consumption, high in efficiency and high in integration degree, and greatly reduces the cost.
(2) The addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array has the advantages of common materials, compact structure, small complexity, low profile, high integration degree, simple preparation process, high processing precision, small error and easy batch production.
(3) The addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array provided by the invention has the advantages that through the simple microstrip patch antenna unit and the liquid crystal phase shifting and power divider, based on the sensitivity of a wave controller liquid crystal material to bias voltage, the bias voltage is quantized through the addressable wave controller, the voltage at two ends of a liquid crystal electrode is changed, the dielectric constant of liquid crystal is changed, and therefore, the phase shifter attached to the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal phased array generates phase change, and the beam is scanned in space. The invention has good universality and can be used in a new generation of wireless communication and radar detection system.
(4) According to the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the low-refractive-index material is used for replacing liquid crystal to fill the surface structure gap of the phase shifter, so that the efficiency of the whole liquid crystal integrated surface device is improved; and because a flat dielectric layer is also reserved on the structure, the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules above is more uniform; meanwhile, the design also avoids the problem of wettability caused by a direct liquid crystal coating structure, and the system performance is effectively improved.
(5) According to the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, the addressable wave controller randomly configures the quantized bias voltage for each patch antenna unit through the phase shifter, so that the RCS (radar cross section) of the phased array can be reduced, and the stealth effect of the phased array antenna is achieved.
Drawings
The invention is further illustrated with reference to the following figures and examples.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array in an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the control principle of an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array in the embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 3 is a 3D view of an antenna unit according to an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 4 is a side view of an antenna unit in an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 5 is a top view of an antenna unit according to an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of an 8 × 8 antenna array in an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an 8 × 8 phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 8 is a diagram of a power divider network according to an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a double-layer coupling of a power divider network and a phase shifter according to an embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of the bias electrode in one embodiment of the invention
FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of the connection between the bias electrode and the phase shifter in the embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of the wave controller in the embodiment of the present invention
In fig. 1: 1-1 denotes a microwave radiator; 1-2 denotes a phase shifter; 1-3 represents a power divider; 1-4 represent bias electrodes; 1-5 represents a wave controller; 1-6 represent an upper computer.
In FIG. 2: 2-1 represents an upper computer, 2-2 represents a USB connecting line, 2-3 represents a USB chip, 2-4 represents an FPGA chip, 2-5 represents a liquid crystal driving chip array, 2-6 represents a liquid crystal phase shifter, and 2-7 represents an RAM random access memory.
In fig. 3: 3-1 denotes a patch antenna 1;3-2 denotes a patch antenna 2;3-3 denotes a metal ground plate; 3-4 denote microstrip feed lines; 3-5 represent a radio frequency coupling rectangular slot; 3-6 represent a dielectric sheet 1;3-7 represent a dielectric sheet 2;3-8 represents an air layer; 3-9 show a dielectric plate 3.
In fig. 4: 3-1 denotes a patch antenna 1;3-2 denotes a patch antenna 2;3-3 denotes a metal ground plate; 3-4 denote microstrip feed lines; 3-5 represent a radio frequency coupling rectangular slot; 3-6 represent a dielectric sheet 1;3-7 represent a dielectric plate 2;3-8 represents an air layer; 3-9 show a dielectric plate 3.
In fig. 5: 3-1 denotes a patch antenna 1;3-2 denotes a patch antenna 2;3-4 denote microstrip feed lines; 3-5 represent radio frequency coupled rectangular slots.
In fig. 6: 6-1 denotes a patch antenna unit 1; \8230;, 6-64 denotes the patch antenna element 64.
In FIG. 7: 7-1 denotes a phase shifter of the patch antenna unit 1; \8230;, 7-64 denotes a phase shifter of the patch antenna element 64.
In fig. 8: 8-1 represents a 1-to-2 power divider unit; and 8-2 denotes a radio frequency input port.
In fig. 10: 10-1 denotes an electrode 1; \8230;, 10-64 denotes the electrode 64.
In fig. 12: 12-1 represents an upper computer; 12-2 represents a USB bus; 12-3 denotes data transmission; 12-4 denotes a handler; 12-5 denotes a driver; 12-6, memory; 12-7 denotes a management system; 12-8 represent a power supply.
Detailed Description
In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention clearer, the following describes the present invention in further detail by taking an 8 × 8 phased array as an example, with reference to the following embodiments and accompanying drawings.
The addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array comprises a microwave radiator, a phase shifter, a liquid crystal groove, a bias electrode, a power divider, a wave controller and an upper computer. The microwave radiator is a double-layer broadband patch antenna and is respectively etched on the two layers of substrates; the phase shifter adopts an Archimedes spiral suspended strip line structure, is etched on a substrate with a liquid crystal groove, and couples a radio frequency signal to an antenna in a slot coupling mode; the liquid crystal groove is similar to the groove of the Archimedes spiral suspended strip line structure and is used for containing liquid crystal materials and sealing the phase shifter; the bias electrode is connected to the phase shifter through a metal coplanar surface and etched on the phase shifter substrate; the power divider is etched on a substrate by adopting a network structure formed by suspended strip lines, is cascaded with a suspended strip line phase-shifting network through a metalized through hole, and couples a radio-frequency signal to a phase shifter in a blocking coupling mode; the double-layer patch antenna is connected with the suspended stripline phase-shifting network and the power dividing network through the metalized through holes. The wave controller adopts FPGA, RAM random access memory, DAC digital-to-analog conversion and LM power amplifier chip design, is used for controlling the bias voltage of the phase shifter; the upper computer controls the wave controller according to the beam scanning direction, and the digital addressable wave controller is used for configuring quantized direct-current bias voltage to control the change of the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal, loading addressable phases for each antenna unit and realizing phased array beam three-dimensional space scanning.
The radio frequency radiator is composed of three layers of dielectric slabs from top to bottom, a square radiation patch is etched on the upper side of an upper dielectric slab and a lower dielectric slab, a ground plate and a microstrip feeder are respectively positioned on the upper side and the lower side of the lower dielectric slab, the upper dielectric slab is made of polytetrafluoroethylene slabs, the two layers are separated by an air layer, the thickness of the air layer is 0.1 lambda (lambda microwave wavelength), and the feed dielectric slab is made of a ceramic hydrocarbon mixture slab. The rectangular slot etched on the grounding plate is coincided with the center of the radiation patch, the microstrip feeder line terminal is open-circuited, and a center feed mode is adopted.
The phase shifter suspends a strip line by an Archimedes spiral line, leads out to the surface of the bottom end through a metalized via, connects a pad, designs a blocking capacitor between the metalized via and the pad, and fills a gap of a phase shifter surface structure by using a low-refractive index material, so that the orientation of upper liquid crystal molecules is more uniform, and the problem of wettability brought by a liquid crystal direct coating structure is avoided.
The blocking capacitor is designed in a mode of upper and lower interdigital separation coupling, so that signals can be transmitted in a radio frequency wave band and the radio frequency signals can be isolated.
The low-refractive index material is used for replacing liquid crystal to fill the gaps of the surface structure of the phase shifter, so that the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules above the phase shifter is more uniform, and the problem of wettability caused by a direct liquid crystal coating structure is avoided.
The dielectric substrate for etching the phase shifter and the power divider layer adopts Rogers5880 or Rogers4350.
And an FPGA arithmetic unit is adopted to carry out a wave control algorithm, the voltage of the driving electrode and the addressable scanning wave bit data are output by utilizing a pulse width modulation mode, and the output voltage loaded on the liquid crystal is modulated by depending on the duty ratio of the output electrode, so that the addressable three-dimensional wave beam scanning data are generated.
The quantized voltage obtains the quantized voltage to be loaded on the array electrode by calculating the relation between the phase shift amount and the scanning angle of each microwave radiation unit, and provides addressable different phases for each microwave patch antenna unit, thereby realizing phased array beam three-dimensional space scanning.
The design of the wave controller mainly comprises a power supply module, a data communication system module, a management system module, a memory module, an arithmetic unit module and a phase shifter driving module. The power supply module is mainly responsible for supplying power to other modules of the whole wave controller and supplying driving voltage to the liquid crystal phased array. The data communication system module is mainly responsible for data communication with the control center, and comprises instructions, angle data, voltage data and the like for receiving the control center; and feeding back the operation result and the driving state to the control center. The management system module is mainly responsible for the starting of the wave controller, the management of communication passwords, the selection of the working mode of the wave controller, the selection of the communication mode and the management of the communication passwords. The memory module is mainly used for caching communication data and control instructions and the like sent by the upper computer; the arithmetic unit module mainly carries out corresponding analysis and rapid operation according to the received instruction and data; the driver module is mainly responsible for loading the data of the arithmetic unit to each electrode of the liquid crystal phased array according to a specific communication protocol.
In order to realize a liquid crystal phase shifter for controlling 8 × 8 antennas by voltage, a reasonable bias voltage source needs to be designed. For this purpose, a 64-way adjustable power supply module is designed based on the FPGA. The module is realized by combining an FPGA (field programmable gate array) with a high-voltage DAC (digital-to-analog converter) so as to realize step adjustability and independence and program control of direct-current voltage of 0-30V. The compiled output voltage value is changed through a matrix keyboard, bias output required by each load is realized, and the board is provided with a serial port and a spi interface and can be used for a computer upper computer to control and the like.
The electrode voltage value is generated by the FPGA control chip writing the wave control data in the RAM into the liquid crystal driving chip periodically and then the output interface of the liquid crystal driving chip.
The method comprises the following steps that (1) chips such as an FPGA, a power supply chip, an RAM, a DAC chip and the like realize a hardware circuit, and a main control FPGA chip Verilog control program is compiled; and programming a display control data transmission interface of the upper computer.
And a USB2.0 bus is used for connecting the upper computer and the wave controller, phase control instruction transmission is carried out through an interface protocol, and wave control data high-speed transmission is carried out by adopting the interface protocol.
The microwave radiator antenna adopts parallel feed, the feed network is formed by cascading a plurality of T-shaped power dividers and a plurality of sections of quarter-wavelength impedance matchers, and the output ports of the power dividers and the phased array antenna have the same number.
As an embodiment feasibility proof, simulation is carried out through numerical simulation HFSS software, and a simulation result shows that in a frequency range of 15 GHz-17 GHz, an addressable 8 x 8 three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array has a standing-wave ratio of a radio frequency input port smaller than 2, the widths of main lobes of an E surface test and an H surface test are about 8 degrees, the maximum gain is about 24dBi, the levels of first side lobes of the E surface test and the H surface test are about-14 dB, and through random feeding, the radar scattering cross section of the antenna array can be reduced by more than 3dB on average.
Although the illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described above to enable those skilled in the art to understand the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the scope of the embodiments, and it is apparent to those skilled in the art that all the inventive concepts using the present invention are protected as long as they can be changed within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined and defined by the appended claims.
Claims (2)
1. An addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array is characterized in that: comprises a layered structure from top to bottom consisting of a microwave radiator, a phase shifter, a bias electrode and a power divider; the bias voltage electrode and the phase shifter are on the same layer and are connected to the outer ring of the phase shifter, the wave controller and the upper computer are connected with and control the wave controller through a USB line, the phase shifter electrode is connected to the wave controller, and bias voltage is loaded to the electrode of each phase shifter through the wave controller; the microwave radiator is a double-layer broadband microstrip antenna array and is respectively etched on the two layers of substrates; the phase shifter adopts an Archimedes spiral suspension strip line structure etched on a substrate with a liquid crystal groove, and couples a radio frequency signal to an antenna in a slot coupling mode;
the liquid crystal groove adopts an Archimedes spiral suspended strip line structure groove and is used for containing liquid crystal materials and sealing the phase shifter therein; one end of the bias electrode is connected to the phase shifter through a metal coplanar surface and etched on the phase shifter substrate, and the other end of the bias electrode is connected to the wave controller; etching a power divider network structure formed by suspended strip lines on a substrate, cascading the power divider network structure with a suspended strip line phase shift network through a metalized via hole, and coupling a radio frequency signal to a phase shifter in a blocking coupling mode;
the double-layer broadband microstrip antenna array is connected with a phase shifting network and a power dividing network which are formed by the suspended strip lines through metallized through holes; the wave controller adopts an FPGA, an RAM memory, a DAC digital-to-analog conversion and a power amplifier chip and is used for controlling the bias voltage of the phase shifter, wherein the RAM memory is connected with the FPGA, the DAC digital-to-analog conversion is connected with the FPGA, and generates a bias control signal to the DAC digital-to-analog conversion, then amplifies the bias control signal to the power amplifier chip and finally outputs the bias control signal to a bias electrode;
the upper computer controls the wave controller according to the beam scanning direction, and the quantized direct-current bias voltage is configured by the digital addressable wave controller to control the dielectric constant change of the liquid crystal, so that addressable phases are loaded for each antenna unit, and the phased array beam three-dimensional space scanning is realized;
the microwave radiator consists of three layers of dielectric slabs from top to bottom, a square radiation patch is etched on the upper sides of the upper dielectric slab and the lower dielectric slab, the ground plate and the microstrip feeder are respectively positioned on the upper side and the lower side of the lower dielectric slab, and the upper dielectric slab and the lower dielectric slab are separated by an air layer; etching rectangular slot on the grounding plate to coincide with the center of the radiation patch, opening the microstrip feeder line terminal, and adopting center coupling feed mode;
the Archimedes spiral line suspension strip line of the phase shifter is led out to the surface of the bottom end through the metalized through hole and then is connected with the bonding pad, and meanwhile, a blocking capacitor is designed between the metalized through hole and the bonding pad;
the blocking capacitor is designed in a mode of upper and lower interdigital separation coupling, so that radio frequency signals in a microwave band can be coupled to the phase shifter, and bias signals can be isolated;
filling gaps of the surface structure of the phase shifter with a low-refractive-index material, so that the orientation of liquid crystal molecules above the phase shifter is more uniform, and the direct coating structure of the liquid crystal is prevented from infiltrating into the structure;
an FPGA arithmetic unit is adopted to carry out a wave control algorithm, the voltage of a driving electrode and addressable scanning wave bit data are output by using a pulse width modulation mode, and the output voltage loaded on the liquid crystal is modulated by depending on the duty ratio of the output electrode, so that the addressable three-dimensional wave beam scanning data are generated;
the quantized voltage obtains the quantized voltage to be loaded on the array electrode by calculating the relation between the phase shift quantity and the scanning angle of each microwave radiation unit;
the wave controller comprises
The power supply module is used for supplying power to other modules of the whole wave controller and supplying power to the liquid crystal phased array driving voltage;
the data communication system module is used for data communication with the control center and receiving instructions, angle data and voltage data of the control center; feeding back the operation result and the driving state to the control center;
the management system module is used for starting the wave controller, managing communication passwords, selecting the working mode of the wave controller, selecting the communication mode and managing the communication passwords;
the memory module is used for caching the communication data and the control instruction sent by the upper computer; the arithmetic unit module is used for carrying out corresponding analysis and rapid operation according to the received instruction and data;
the driver module is used for loading the data of the arithmetic unit to each electrode of the liquid crystal phased array according to a specific communication protocol;
the method comprises the steps of carrying out phase control instruction transmission by using a USB2.0 interface protocol, and carrying out wave control data high-speed transmission by using the interface protocol; the microwave radiator antenna adopts parallel feed, the feed network is formed by cascading a plurality of T-shaped power dividers and a plurality of sections of quarter-wavelength impedance matchers, and the output ports of the power dividers and the phased array antenna have the same number.
2. A method for controlling an addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array, which adopts the addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array of claim 1, and is characterized in that: comprises that
Step 1, calculating the corresponding phase of each microstrip antenna unit of the phased array according to the wave beam scanning angle of the liquid crystal phased array;
step 2, calculating bias voltage to be loaded by each phase shifter electrode according to the relation between the phase shift quantity and the bias voltage of the liquid crystal phase shifter;
step 3, listing and storing the scanning angle of the liquid crystal phased array wave beam and the bias voltage of each electrode in an RAM memory of the wave controller;
step 4, before the liquid crystal phased array works, controlling a wave controller through an upper computer to enable each phase shifter of the phased array to read and configure corresponding bias voltage according to the bias list in the step 3;
and 5, loading the radio-frequency signals on the microstrip antenna array through the power divider network, starting the system to work simultaneously, and radiating the radio-frequency signals along the beam direction.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202110955522.7A CN113725628B (en) | 2021-08-19 | 2021-08-19 | Addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array and control method |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202110955522.7A CN113725628B (en) | 2021-08-19 | 2021-08-19 | Addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array and control method |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CN113725628A CN113725628A (en) | 2021-11-30 |
| CN113725628B true CN113725628B (en) | 2023-01-03 |
Family
ID=78676906
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CN202110955522.7A Expired - Fee Related CN113725628B (en) | 2021-08-19 | 2021-08-19 | Addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array and control method |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CN (1) | CN113725628B (en) |
Families Citing this family (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN114326182B (en) * | 2022-01-10 | 2022-12-20 | 北京华镁钛科技有限公司 | Device and method for testing phase-shifting gray curve of liquid crystal phase shifter |
Citations (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN107645049A (en) * | 2017-08-16 | 2018-01-30 | 电子科技大学 | A kind of super wide band plane phased array antenna and its beam sweeping method |
| CN107924081A (en) * | 2015-08-31 | 2018-04-17 | 富士胶片株式会社 | Liquid crystal cells and three-dimensional structure liquid crystal cells |
| CN108963402A (en) * | 2018-08-16 | 2018-12-07 | 北京华镁钛科技有限公司 | It is a kind of for making the transmission structure and production method of frequency microwave device and antenna |
| CN110350325A (en) * | 2019-06-12 | 2019-10-18 | 电子科技大学 | A kind of compact LCD phased array antenna |
| CN111769359A (en) * | 2020-05-20 | 2020-10-13 | 东南大学 | THz super-surface antenna based on digital coding liquid crystal and wave beam reconstruction method thereof |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN110970718A (en) * | 2018-09-28 | 2020-04-07 | 北京京东方传感技术有限公司 | Liquid crystal antenna unit and liquid crystal phased array antenna |
| CN109494462B (en) * | 2018-11-09 | 2020-06-09 | 哈尔滨工业大学 | Terahertz two-dimensional electronic control beam scanning array antenna based on liquid crystal |
| CN112736435A (en) * | 2020-12-16 | 2021-04-30 | 扬州船用电子仪器研究所(中国船舶重工集团公司第七二三研究所) | Miniaturized broadband angle circular polarization scanning phased array antenna based on tight coupling structure |
-
2021
- 2021-08-19 CN CN202110955522.7A patent/CN113725628B/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
Patent Citations (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CN107924081A (en) * | 2015-08-31 | 2018-04-17 | 富士胶片株式会社 | Liquid crystal cells and three-dimensional structure liquid crystal cells |
| CN107645049A (en) * | 2017-08-16 | 2018-01-30 | 电子科技大学 | A kind of super wide band plane phased array antenna and its beam sweeping method |
| CN108963402A (en) * | 2018-08-16 | 2018-12-07 | 北京华镁钛科技有限公司 | It is a kind of for making the transmission structure and production method of frequency microwave device and antenna |
| CN110350325A (en) * | 2019-06-12 | 2019-10-18 | 电子科技大学 | A kind of compact LCD phased array antenna |
| CN111769359A (en) * | 2020-05-20 | 2020-10-13 | 东南大学 | THz super-surface antenna based on digital coding liquid crystal and wave beam reconstruction method thereof |
Non-Patent Citations (3)
| Title |
|---|
| Bang-Jun Che etc.."Reconfigurable Holographic Antenna with Low Sidelobe Level Based on Liquid Crystals".《Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics》.2020, * |
| Jaehoon Kim etc.."Liquid-Crystal-Embedded Aperture-Coupled Microstrip Antenna for 5G Applications".《IEEE ANTENNAS AND WIRELESS PROPAGATION LETTERS》.2020, * |
| 梁凯淋."液晶相控阵波控技术研究与应用".《中国优秀博硕士学位论文全文数据库(硕士)信息科技辑》.2016, * |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| CN113725628A (en) | 2021-11-30 |
Similar Documents
| Publication | Publication Date | Title |
|---|---|---|
| EP1597797B1 (en) | 2-d electronically scanned array with compact cts feed and mems phase shifters | |
| EP1597793B1 (en) | Wideband 2-d electronically scanned array with compact cts feed and mems phase shifters | |
| CN103326115B (en) | Integrated electric is adjusted phased-array antenna and is comprised module, the system of this antenna | |
| CN111293425A (en) | Liquid crystal active phased array antenna | |
| CN111817001B (en) | Ka wave band is based on 1X 4 plane phased array that liquid crystal reflective phase shifter | |
| EP1920494A1 (en) | Power divider | |
| CN101533961B (en) | Shared substrate multi-beam antenna based on eight port junctions | |
| CN110350325A (en) | A kind of compact LCD phased array antenna | |
| CN113871886A (en) | Directional coupler feed for a patch antenna | |
| CN115036684B (en) | Ka wave band two-dimensional wave beam scanning reflective array antenna based on liquid crystal | |
| CN113725628B (en) | Addressable three-dimensional beam scanning liquid crystal microwave phased array and control method | |
| WO2022111170A1 (en) | Antenna and manufacturing and driving methods therefor, and antenna system | |
| CN201383549Y (en) | Multibeam antenna with high radiation efficiency | |
| CN114024129B (en) | Balanced type microstrip series-feed array antenna | |
| US20230361466A1 (en) | Array Antenna Module, Manufacturing Method Thereof, and Phased Array Antenna System | |
| CN100511827C (en) | Ferroelectric thin-membrane phase shifter, and method for detecting and optimizing reflection characteristics | |
| WO2022087872A1 (en) | Phased array antenna system and electronic device | |
| CN211655054U (en) | Liquid crystal active phased array antenna | |
| CN114156641A (en) | Antenna and manufacturing method thereof, antenna device and manufacturing method thereof | |
| Tang et al. | Array technology | |
| US20240072453A1 (en) | Antenna, antenna array and communication system | |
| CN115995686A (en) | Antenna with digital regulation and control of radiation characteristics | |
| US11670852B2 (en) | Scanning antenna | |
| CN116053732B (en) | Terahertz MEMS bandwidth reconfigurable filter and implementation method thereof | |
| WO2023206438A1 (en) | Antenna and electronic device |
Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| PB01 | Publication | ||
| PB01 | Publication | ||
| SE01 | Entry into force of request for substantive examination | ||
| SE01 | Entry into force of request for substantive examination | ||
| GR01 | Patent grant | ||
| GR01 | Patent grant | ||
| CF01 | Termination of patent right due to non-payment of annual fee |
Granted publication date: 20230103 |
|
| CF01 | Termination of patent right due to non-payment of annual fee |