CN115224474A - Antenna array and antenna array design method - Google Patents

Abstract

The application relates to the field of vehicle-mounted radars, in particular to an antenna array and an antenna array design method. The four-antenna array antenna comprises four receiving antennas and four transmitting antennas, wherein half of the limited working wavelength is d, in a first combination, the intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas in the first direction are 3d, 3d and 2d in sequence, the intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas in the first direction are d, d and 4d in sequence, in a second combination, the intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas in the first direction are 2d, 2d and 2d in sequence, and the intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas in the first direction are d, d and d in sequence. The antenna array solves the problem that the angular resolution (horizontal angular resolution) of the existing antenna array cannot meet the requirement in a limited space.

Description

Antenna array and antenna array design method

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of vehicle-mounted radars, in particular to an antenna array and an antenna array design method.

Background

The unmanned driving technology is a future safe driving trend, is a technology for connecting active safety and unmanned driving, and is called an Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) Advanced assistant driving system. The vehicle-mounted millimeter wave radar is a key ring of the ADAS system, and can provide functions of lane changing assistance, adaptive cruise, collision early warning and the like for a driver, so that driving comfort is improved, and accident rate is reduced. Millimeter wave radar is the key technology of ADAS system and autopilot realization, compares with other sensors, such as camera, infrared detection and laser radar sensor, and millimeter wave radar has the powerful performance of anti low visibility environmental conditions such as bad weather and limited light condition.

For automotive radars, complex traffic and road environments place very high requirements on the accuracy of radar operation, especially the angular resolution of the radar, which often determines whether automotive radars can play a role in practical scenes. However, the millimeter wave radar operating in the 76GHz-79GHz band has ideal distance and speed measurement performance, but the angle measurement performance is relatively limited, and the effective means for improving the angular resolution of the array is to directly enlarge the aperture of the array by increasing the number of antennas, but in a vehicle-mounted environment, the physical position for arranging the antennas is very limited, and a large array capable of identifying the target in an ultra-precision manner cannot be realized.

Because of its simple design and convenient processing operation, the uniform linear array has been widely used in various antenna arrays for many years, but it also has many defects: in order to avoid spatial blurring, the array element unit spacing is usually required to be set to be smaller than half wavelength, and the resolution and precision of a plurality of DOA estimation algorithms based on uniform linear arrays are affected by the number of array elements, the array element spacing, the signal-to-noise ratio, the number of snapshots and other factors. In addition, in the background of applying high carrier frequency radar, the uniform linear array with half-wavelength array often has the phenomenon of mutual coupling among elements because the array element spacing is too small, which has very adverse effect on the result of DOA estimation.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention is directed to provide an antenna array and an antenna array design method, so as to solve the problem that the angular resolution (horizontal angular resolution) of the conventional antenna array cannot meet the requirement in a limited space, for example, an excessively large interval between any two antennas not only affects the spatial layout and may cause spatial ambiguity, but also may cause mutual coupling if the interval is excessively small, and the antenna array of the present invention can achieve the angular resolution with high resolution in the limited space.

According to a first aspect of the present application, an antenna array is provided, the antenna array includes four receiving antennas and four transmitting antennas, four receiving antennas set up at intervals in the first direction, four transmitting antennas set up at intervals in the first direction, and it is d to restrict half of operating wavelength, the antenna array includes first combination and second combination, in first combination, four adjacent two among the receiving antennas two central points that receiving antennas have respectively are 3d, 2d in proper order at three intervals in the first direction, four adjacent two among the transmitting antennas two central points that transmitting antennas have respectively are d, 4d in proper order at three intervals in the first direction, in the second combination, four adjacent two among the receiving antennas two central points that receiving antennas have respectively are 2d, 2d in proper order at three intervals in the first direction, four adjacent two among the transmitting antennas two three intervals that transmitting antennas have respectively are d, d in proper order at three intervals in the first direction.

In any of the above technical solutions, further, the four receiving antennas are arranged at intervals in the second direction, the four transmitting antennas are arranged at intervals in the second direction, the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas in the second direction are sequentially 0, 0 and-3 d, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas in the second direction are sequentially 0, 0 and-6 d, in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas in the second direction are sequentially-3 d, 3d and 3d, and three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas in the second direction are sequentially 0, 0 and 0.

In any of the above technical solutions, further, in the first combination and the second combination, both the receiving antenna and the transmitting antenna are comb-shaped.

In any of the above technical solutions, further, in the first combination and the second combination, the receiving antenna includes a first connection piece extending in the second direction and a plurality of first patches connected in series, the plurality of first patches extend in the first direction and are connected to the first connection piece, two adjacent first patches of the plurality of first patches are arranged in a phase-reversal and crossing manner, widths from the first patch arranged in the middle of the first connection piece to the first patches at two ends of the first connection piece are sequentially reduced, the transmitting antenna includes a second connection piece extending in the second direction and a plurality of second patches connected in series, the plurality of second patches extend in the first direction and are connected to the second connection piece, two adjacent second patches of the plurality of second patches are arranged in a phase-reversal and crossing manner, and widths from the second patch arranged in the middle of the second connection piece to the second patches at two ends of the second connection piece are sequentially reduced.

In any of the above technical solutions, the wireless communication device further includes an anti-jamming module, and in the first combination, the anti-jamming module is disposed between the last of the four receiving antennas and the first of the four transmitting antennas.

In any of the above technical solutions, further, in the first combination, the interference rejection module includes a plurality of third patches connected to each other, and any one of the third patches is formed with a via hole.

According to a second aspect of the present application, there is provided an antenna array design method, including:

acquiring the geometric size of a radiation array surface;

acquiring the sizes of the comb-shaped transmitting antenna and the comb-shaped receiving antenna based on the geometric size of the radiation array;

arranging four said receive antennas and four said transmit antennas;

wherein arranging the four receiving antennas and the four transmitting antennas comprises:

the half of the limited working wavelength is d, the four receiving antennas are arranged at intervals in the first direction, the four transmitting antennas are arranged at intervals in the first direction, in a first combination, the three intervals of two central points, which are respectively arranged on the two adjacent receiving antennas, in the four receiving antennas are 3d, 3d and 2d in sequence, the three intervals of two central points, which are respectively arranged on the two adjacent transmitting antennas, in the four transmitting antennas are d, d and 4d in sequence, in the first direction, the three intervals of two central points, which are respectively arranged on the two adjacent receiving antennas, in the four receiving antennas are 2d, 2d and 2d in sequence, and the three intervals of two central points, which are respectively arranged on the two adjacent transmitting antennas, in the four transmitting antennas are d, d and d in sequence.

In any of the above technical solutions, further, the arranging four receiving antennas and four transmitting antennas includes:

the four receiving antennas are arranged at intervals in the second direction, the four transmitting antennas are arranged at intervals in the second direction, the first direction is perpendicular to the second direction, in a first combination, three intervals of two central points, in the second direction, of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas are sequentially 0, 0 and-3 d, three intervals of two central points, in the second direction, of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas are sequentially 0, 0 and-6 d, in a second combination, three intervals of two central points, in the second direction, of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas are sequentially-3 d, 3d and 3d, and three intervals of two central points, in the second direction, of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas are sequentially or 0, 0 and 0.

In any of the above technical solutions, further, in the first combination and the second combination, the receiving antenna includes a first connection plate extending in the second direction and a plurality of first patches connected in series, the plurality of first patches each extend in the first direction and are connected to the first connection plate, two adjacent first patches among the plurality of first patches are arranged in a phase-reversal and crossing manner, widths of the first patches arranged in the middle of the first connection plate from the first patches to the two ends of the first connection plate decrease in sequence, the transmitting antenna includes a second connection plate extending in the second direction and a plurality of second patches connected in series, the plurality of second patches each extend in the first direction and are connected to the second connection plate, two adjacent second patches among the plurality of second patches are arranged in a phase-reversal and crossing manner, widths of the second patches arranged in the middle of the second connection plate from the second patches to the two ends of the second connection plate decrease in sequence, and obtaining the dimensions of the transmitting antenna and the receiving antenna based on the geometric dimensions of the comb-shaped radiation wavefront includes:

the width and the length of a plurality of first patches and the interval between two adjacent first patches are designed, and the width and the length of a plurality of second patches and the interval between two adjacent second patches are designed.

In any of the above technical solutions, further comprising, after arranging four receiving antennas and four transmitting antennas, the step of:

in a first combination, an interference rejection module is disposed between a last of the four receiving antennas and a first of the four transmitting antennas, wherein the interference rejection module includes a plurality of third patches connected to each other, and any one of the third patches is formed with a via hole.

According to the antenna array, the antenna array comprises four receiving antennas and four transmitting antennas, the four receiving antennas are arranged at intervals in a first direction, half of a limited working wavelength is d, the antenna array comprises a first combination and a second combination, wherein in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas in the first direction are 3d, 3d and 2d in sequence, in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas in the first direction are 2d, 2d and 2d in sequence, four transmitting antennas are arranged at intervals in the first direction, in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas in the first direction are d, d and 4d in sequence, and in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas in the first direction are d, d and d in sequence. In the two combinations of the present application, the layout of the four receiving antennas and the four transmitting antennas in one direction (horizontal direction) can realize high-resolution angular resolution (angular resolution in the horizontal direction) in a limited space, that is, higher measurement accuracy in the horizontal direction can be achieved under the condition that the number of the antennas is less.

In order to make the aforementioned objects, features and advantages of the present application comprehensible, preferred embodiments accompanied with figures are described in detail below.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it should be understood that the following drawings only illustrate some embodiments of the present application and therefore should not be considered as limiting the scope, and for those skilled in the art, other related drawings can be obtained from the drawings without inventive effort.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of an antenna array according to a first combination of the present application;

fig. 2 shows a schematic position diagram of an antenna array according to a first combination of the present application;

figure 3 shows a schematic diagram of a MIMO equivalent virtual array according to a first combination of the present application;

fig. 4 shows a schematic structural diagram of an antenna array according to a second combination of the present application;

fig. 5 shows a schematic position diagram of an antenna array according to a second combination of the present application;

fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a MIMO equivalent virtual array according to a second combination of the present application.

Icon: 1-a receiving antenna; 2-a transmitting antenna; 3-an anti-interference module; 11-a first connection tab; 12-a first patch; 21-a second patch; 22-a second connection piece; 31-a third patch; x-a first direction; y-second direction.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description is provided to assist the reader in obtaining a thorough understanding of the methods, devices, and/or systems described herein. However, various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatus, and/or systems described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the disclosure of the present application. For example, the order of operations described herein is merely an example, which is not limited to the order set forth herein, but rather, variations may be made in addition to operations which must occur in a particular order, which will be apparent upon understanding the disclosure of the present application. Moreover, descriptions of features known in the art may be omitted for the sake of clarity and conciseness.

The features described herein may be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the examples described herein. Rather, the examples described herein have been provided merely to illustrate some of the many possible ways to implement the methods, devices, and/or systems described herein that will be apparent after understanding the disclosure of the present application.

Throughout the specification, when an element (such as a layer, region, or substrate) is described as being "on," "connected to," coupled to, "over," or "overlying" another element, it may be directly "on," "connected to," coupled to, "over," or "overlying" the other element, or one or more other elements may be present therebetween. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly connected to," directly coupled to, "directly on" or "directly over" another element, there may be no intervening elements present.

As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any one of the associated listed items and any combination of any two or more of the items.

Although terms such as "first", "second", and "third" may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers or sections should not be limited by these terms. Rather, these terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section referred to in the examples described herein may be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the examples.

For ease of description, spatial relationship terms such as "above 8230; …," upper "," above 8230; \8230;, "below" and "lower" may be used herein to describe the relationship of one element to another element as illustrated in the figures. Such spatial relationship terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as "above" or "upper" relative to other elements would then be oriented "below" or "lower" relative to the other elements. Thus, the term "over" \\8230; \8230; "includes both orientations" over "\8230; \8230and" under "\8230;" depending on the spatial orientation of the device. The device may also be otherwise oriented (e.g., rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative terms used herein should be interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing various examples only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. The singular forms also are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms "comprises," "comprising," and "having" specify the presence of stated features, quantities, operations, elements, components, and/or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, quantities, operations, components, elements, and/or combinations thereof.

Variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances, may be expected. Thus, the examples described herein are not limited to the particular shapes shown in the drawings, but include changes in shape that occur during manufacturing.

The features of the examples described herein may be combined in various ways that will be apparent after understanding the disclosure of the present application. Further, while the examples described herein have a variety of configurations, other configurations are possible, as will be apparent after understanding the disclosure of the present application.

The first aspect of the present application provides an antenna array, thereby solving a problem that an angular resolution (horizontal angular resolution) of an existing antenna array cannot meet a requirement in a limited space, for example, an excessively large interval between any two antennas not only affects a spatial layout and may cause a spatial blur, but also may cause a mutual coupling if the interval is too small, and the antenna array of the present application may achieve a high-resolution angular resolution in the limited space.

The unmanned driving technology is a trend of safe driving in the future, is a technology for connecting active safety and unmanned driving, and is called ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems), namely an Advanced assistant driving system. The vehicle-mounted millimeter wave radar is a key ring of the ADAS system, and can provide functions of lane changing assistance, adaptive cruise, collision early warning and the like for a driver, so that driving comfort is improved, and accident rate is reduced. The millimeter wave radar is a key technology for realizing the ADAS system and the automatic driving, and compared with other sensors such as a camera, an infrared detection sensor and a laser radar sensor, the millimeter wave radar has strong performance of resisting low visibility environment conditions such as severe weather and limited light conditions.

Before the application, for automotive radars, complex traffic and road environments put very high requirements on the accuracy of radar operation, especially the angular resolution of the radar, which often determines whether automotive radars can play a role in practical scenarios. However, the millimeter wave radar working in the 76GHz-79GHz band has ideal distance and speed measurement performance, but the angle measurement performance is relatively limited, and an effective means for improving the angular resolution of the array is to increase the aperture of the array directly by increasing the number of the antennas, but in a vehicle-mounted environment, the physical position for the antennas to be arrayed is very limited, and a large array capable of identifying a target in an ultra-precision manner cannot be realized. Because of its simple design and convenient processing operation, the uniform linear array has been widely used in various antenna arrays for many years, but it also has many defects: in order to avoid spatial blurring, the array element unit spacing is usually required to be set to be smaller than half wavelength, and the resolution and precision of a plurality of DOA estimation algorithms based on uniform linear arrays are affected by the number of array elements, the array element spacing, the signal-to-noise ratio, the number of snapshots and other factors. In addition, in the background of applying high carrier frequency radar, the uniform linear array of half-wavelength array may generate mutual coupling phenomenon between elements because the array element spacing is too small, which has very adverse effect on the result of DOA estimation.

In view of this, according to a first aspect of the present application, there is provided an antenna array, which includes four receiving antennas 1 and four transmitting antennas 2, where the four receiving antennas 1 are spaced apart in a first direction X, and a half of an operating wavelength is defined as d, and in a first combination, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas 1 of the four receiving antennas 1 are sequentially spaced apart in the first direction X by 3d, and 2d, the four transmitting antennas 2 are spaced apart in the first direction X, and two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas 2 of the four transmitting antennas 2 are sequentially spaced apart in the first direction X by d, and 4d. The layout of four receiving antennas 1 and four transmitting antennas 2 in one direction (horizontal direction) can realize high-resolution angle resolution (angular resolution in the horizontal direction) in a limited space, namely, under the condition that the number of the antennas is less, the measuring precision in the horizontal direction can be higher, as shown in fig. 3, a 9-unit half-wavelength equal-spacing linear array is formed in the horizontal direction virtually, the space blurring can be effectively avoided, meanwhile, the resolution and the precision in the horizontal direction are increased, as shown in fig. 1, only 3 units are received in the actual horizontal direction, and the mutual coupling is avoided when the spacing is 1.5 times of the wavelength.

In the second combination, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, three intervals in the first direction X between two center points of two adjacent receiving antennas 1 of the four receiving antennas 1 are sequentially 2d, and three intervals in the first direction X between two center points of two adjacent transmitting antennas 2 of the four transmitting antennas 2 are sequentially d, and d. As shown in fig. 6, an 8-unit half-wavelength equidistant linear array is formed in the horizontal direction, so that spatial blurring can be effectively avoided, and the resolution and precision in the horizontal direction are increased, as shown in fig. 4, while the actual horizontal receiving only has 2 units, and the mutual coupling is avoided because the distance is 1 wavelength. The specific structure and the specific layout of the four receiving antennas 1 and the four transmitting antennas 2 will be described in detail below.

In addition, compare in traditional on-vehicle millimeter wave radar, on-vehicle 4D millimeter wave radar is at the during operation, except can calculating the distance of surveyed the target, speed, horizontal angle information, can also calculate the angle of pitch information of target, and then can provide the environmental information around the car. The 4D millimeter wave radar can provide more real path planning and passable space detection functions by providing height information of the targets and capturing space coordinates and speed information of the targets around the automobile.

Specifically, in the first combination of the embodiments of the present application, as shown in fig. 1 and fig. 2, four receiving antennas 1 are arranged at intervals in the second direction Y, the first direction X is perpendicular to the second direction Y, two center points of two adjacent receiving antennas 1 of the four receiving antennas 1 are sequentially spaced at 0, -3d in the second direction Y, four transmitting antennas 2 are arranged at intervals in the second direction Y, and two center points of two adjacent transmitting antennas 2 of the four transmitting antennas 2 are sequentially spaced at 0, -6d in the second direction Y, that is, the present application obtains the pitch angle information of the target by increasing the pitch to the antenna units and realizes high-resolution pitch angle measurement by array optimization design, as shown in fig. 3, a maximum 4-unit angle measurement array can be virtually formed by MIMO, and antenna redundancy is reduced, so that the pitch angle resolution can be greatly improved without increasing the area of the antenna panel, that is, in other words, a sparse 4-unit angle measurement array can be realized in a limited space (a small number of high-resolution).

In the second combination of the application, as shown in fig. 4 and 5, three intervals of two central points in the second direction Y of two adjacent receiving antennas 1 in the four receiving antennas are-3 d, and 3d in sequence, and three intervals of two central points in the second direction Y of two adjacent transmitting antennas 2 in the four transmitting antennas 2 are 0, and 0 in sequence. As shown in fig. 6, a maximum of 2 columns of 6-element goniometers can be virtually formed by MIMO in the elevation direction, and antenna redundancy is reduced, so that the elevation angle resolution can be greatly improved without increasing the area of the antenna board, in other words, high-resolution angular resolution can be achieved in a limited space (a small number of antennas). Here, as shown in fig. 4 (the first receiving antenna and the second receiving antenna on the left have two center points separated by-3 d in the second direction Y, i.e., the second receiving antenna is below the first receiving antenna, and the second receiving antenna and the third receiving antenna have two center points separated by 3d in the second direction Y, i.e., the third receiving antenna is above the second receiving antenna).

In the first combination of the embodiments of the present application, as shown in fig. 1, there are a first receiving antenna, a second receiving antenna, a third receiving antenna, a fourth receiving antenna, a first transmitting antenna, a second transmitting antenna, a third transmitting antenna and a fourth transmitting antenna in sequence from left to right in a first direction X, a distance between a center point of the first receiving antenna and a center point of the second receiving antenna in the first direction X is 3d, a distance between a center point of the second receiving antenna and a center point of the third receiving antenna in the first direction X is 3d, a distance between a center point of the third receiving antenna and a center point of the fourth receiving antenna in the first direction X is 2d, distances between a center point of the first receiving antenna and a center point of the second receiving antenna and between a center point of the second receiving antenna and a center point of the third receiving antenna in the second direction Y are both 0, the distance between the center point of the third receiving antenna and the center point of the fourth receiving antenna in the second direction Y is-3 d, the distances between the center point of the first transmitting antenna and the center point of the second transmitting antenna and between the center point of the second transmitting antenna and the center point of the third transmitting antenna in the first direction X are both d, the distance between the center point of the third transmitting antenna and the center point of the fourth transmitting antenna in the first direction X is 4d, the distances between the center point of the first transmitting antenna and the center point of the second transmitting antenna and between the center point of the second transmitting antenna and the center point of the third transmitting antenna in the first direction X are both 0, and the distance between the center point of the third transmitting antenna and the center point of the fourth transmitting antenna in the second direction Y is-6 d.

In a second combination of embodiments of the present application, as shown in fig. 4.

The MIMO array has four receiving and four transmitting channels, the maximum virtual number of the MIMO array is 16 units, and the MIMO array has horizontal and pitching angle measurement capabilities.

In the first and second combinations of the present application, as shown in fig. 1 and 4, the receiving antenna and the transmitting antenna 2 may be both comb-shaped. As an example, the receiving antenna 1 may include a first connection piece 11 extending in the second direction Y and a plurality of first patches 12 connected in series, each of the plurality of first patches 12 extends in the first direction X and is connected to the first connection piece 11, two adjacent first patches 12 of the plurality of first patches 12 are disposed in a phase-reversed and crossing manner, a width of the first patch 12 disposed in a middle of the first connection piece 11 to the first patches 12 at both ends of the first connection piece 11 is sequentially reduced, the transmitting antenna 2 includes a second connection piece 22 extending in the second direction Y and a plurality of second patches 21 connected in series, each of the plurality of second patches 21 extends in the first direction X and is connected to the second connection piece 22, two adjacent second patches 21 of the plurality of second patches 21 are disposed in a phase-reversed and crossing manner, a width of the second patch 21 disposed in a middle of the second connection piece 22 to the second patches 21 at both ends of the second connection piece 22 is sequentially reduced, and the antenna may perform amplitude weighting by controlling a width of the comb-shaped patches, thereby enabling effective Field angle (FOV) widening. The specific design process of the comb antenna will be described in detail below.

In an embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 1, a tamper-resistant module 3 may be further included, and in a first combination, the tamper-resistant module 3 may be disposed between the last of the four receiving antennas 1 and the first of the four transmitting antennas 2. As an example, the tamper resistant module 3 may comprise a plurality of third patches 31 connected to each other, any of the third patches 31 being formed with vias. The square electromagnetic band gap structure is arranged, and interference of the transmitting channel to the receiving channel is effectively reduced.

In the embodiment of the present application, as shown in fig. 4, in the second combination, the interference rejection module 3 may be disposed on two sides of the four transmitting antennas 2, and as an example, the interference rejection module 3 may include two matching dummy units, which may effectively reduce channel interference.

In addition, the antenna array of the present application may further include a microstrip dielectric plate, the microstrip dielectric plate may be made of a rocky 3003 plate, the dielectric constant is 3, and the receiving antenna 1 and the transmitting antenna 2 are both connected to the microstrip dielectric plate.

According to a second aspect of the present application, there is provided an antenna array design method, including:

determining the geometrical size of the radiation front, namely determining the wavelength (for example, 3.9 mm) of an operating signal according to the operating frequency of the vehicle-mounted radar system from 76GHz to 79GHz, and determining the geometrical size of the radiation front according to the FOV and the gain requirement;

determining the sizes of the comb-shaped transmitting antenna 2 and the comb-shaped receiving antenna 1;

four receiving antennas 1 and four transmitting antennas 2 are arranged;

wherein arranging four receiving antennas 1 and four transmitting antennas 2 comprises:

the half of the defined operating wavelength is d, the four receiving antennas 1 are arranged at intervals in the first direction X, the four transmitting antennas 2 are arranged at intervals in the first direction X, in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas 1 in the four receiving antennas 1 in the first direction X are 3d, 3d and 2d in sequence, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas 2 in the four transmitting antennas 2 in the first direction X are d, d and 4d in sequence, in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas 1 in the four receiving antennas in the first direction X are 2d, 2d and 2d in sequence, and in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas 2 in the four transmitting antennas 2 in the first direction X are d, d and d in sequence.

Arranging the four receiving antennas 1 and the four transmitting antennas 2 further includes:

the four receiving antennas 1 are arranged at intervals in the second direction Y, the four transmitting antennas 2 are arranged at intervals in the second direction Y, the first direction X is perpendicular to the second direction Y, in a first combination, three intervals of two central points, which are respectively arranged on the two adjacent receiving antennas 1, in the four receiving antennas 1 are sequentially 0, 0 and-3 d, three intervals of two central points, which are respectively arranged on the two adjacent transmitting antennas 2, in the four transmitting antennas 2 are sequentially 0, 0 and-6 d, in the second combination, three intervals of two central points, which are respectively arranged on the two adjacent receiving antennas 1, in the four receiving antennas 1 are sequentially-3 d, 3d and 3d, in the second direction Y, and three intervals of two central points, which are respectively arranged on the two adjacent transmitting antennas 2, in the four transmitting antennas 2 are sequentially 0, 0 and 0.

Further, the receiving antenna 1 includes a first connection plate 11 extending in the second direction Y and a plurality of first patches 12 connected in series, each of the plurality of first patches 12 extends in the first direction X and is connected to the first connection plate 11, two adjacent first patches 12 in the plurality of first patches 12 are arranged in opposite phases and in a crossing manner to form a low sidelobe array, the widths of the first patches 12 arranged in the middle of the first connection plate 11 to the first patches 12 at both ends of the first connection plate 11 decrease in sequence, the transmitting antenna 2 includes a second connection plate 22 extending in the second direction Y and a plurality of second patches 21 connected in series, each of the plurality of second patches 21 extends in the first direction and is connected to the second connection plate 22, two adjacent second patches 21 in the plurality of second patches 21 are arranged in opposite phases and in a crossing manner to form a low-lobe array, the widths of the second patches 21 arranged in the middle of the second connection plate 22 to the second patches 21 at both ends of the second connection plate 22 decrease in sequence, where, in the first combination, the receiving antenna 1 may include an eleventh patch 12, and the transmitting unit may include ten second patches 21. In a second combination, the receiving antenna 1 may comprise eleven elements of the first patch 12 and the transmitting antenna 2 may comprise fourteen elements of the second patch 21.

Determining the dimensions of comb transmit antenna 2 and comb receive antenna 1 includes: according to the requirement of the array element number (antenna number) of the array antenna and the tapering distribution requirement of the radiation excitation power of each array element, the width and the length of the comb-shaped microstrip patch and the space between two adjacent patches are designed (namely, the width and the length of a plurality of first patches 12 and the space between two adjacent first patches 12 are designed, the width and the length of a plurality of second patches 21 are designed, and the space between two adjacent second patches 21 are designed).

In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the antenna array design method may further include a step of, after arranging four receiving antennas and four transmitting antennas: in a first combination, the interference suppression module 3 is provided between the last of the four receiving antennas and the first of the four transmitting antennas, wherein the interference suppression module 3 includes a plurality of third patches 31 connected to each other, and any one of the third patches 31 is formed with a via hole. Here, the via and patch sizes can be adjusted to match the radar operating frequency. In the second combination, two matching dummy units are arranged on both sides of the four transmitting antennas 2, which can effectively reduce channel interference.

This application acquires as big array aperture as possible in the space as little as possible in order to solve the limited array unit number of traditional radar, suppresses the influence of mutual coupling between the antenna unit simultaneously, increases the angle of pitch information of target and effectively improves DOA's angle measurement precision, and this application provides a novel on-vehicle radar 4D MIMO antenna array. Compared with the traditional vehicle-mounted radar, the automobile radar under the MIMO system has higher angular resolution, simultaneously takes the cost into consideration, and can achieve higher DOA measurement precision in the horizontal direction and the height direction under the condition that the number of arrays is less.

In addition, the application relates to an antenna array and an antenna array launching method, which can reduce coupling interference by adding an electromagnetic band gap structure between a receiving array and a transmitting array. The commercial chip has four receiving and four sending channels, the maximum virtual MIMO equivalent array is 16 units, the horizontal and pitching angular resolution can be effectively improved, and the method can be widely applied to the field of automotive radars.

According to the antenna array, the antenna array comprises four receiving antennas and four transmitting antennas, the four receiving antennas are arranged at intervals in a first direction, half of the limited working wavelength is d, the antenna array comprises a first combination and a second combination, in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas in the first direction are 3d, 3d and 2d in sequence, in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas in the four receiving antennas in the first direction are 2d, 2d and 2d in sequence, and four transmitting antennas are arranged at intervals in the first direction, in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas in the first direction are d, d and 4d in sequence, and in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas in the four transmitting antennas in the first direction are d, d and d in sequence. In the two combinations of the present application, the arrangement of the four receiving antennas and the four transmitting antennas in one direction (horizontal direction) can realize high-resolution angular resolution (angular resolution in the horizontal direction) in a limited space, that is, higher measurement accuracy in the horizontal direction can be achieved under the condition that the number of the antennas is less. Finally, it should be noted that: the above-mentioned embodiments are only specific embodiments of the present application, and are used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, but not to limit the technical solutions, and the scope of the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, although the present application is described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that: any person skilled in the art can modify or easily conceive the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments or equivalent substitutes for some technical features within the technical scope disclosed in the present application; such modifications, changes or substitutions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of the present application, and are intended to be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims (10)

1. An antenna array, characterized in that the antenna array comprises four receiving antennas (1) and four transmitting antennas (2),

the four receiving antennas (1) are arranged at intervals in a first direction (X), the four transmitting antennas (2) are arranged at intervals in the first direction (X),

defining half of the operating wavelength as d, the antenna array comprising a first combination and a second combination,

in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas (1) in the four receiving antennas in the first direction (X) are 3d, 3d and 2d in sequence,

three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas (2) in the four transmitting antennas (2) in the first direction (X) are d, d and 4d in sequence,

in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas (1) in the four receiving antennas in the first direction (X) are sequentially 2d, 2d and 2d,

three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas (2) in the four transmitting antennas (2) in the first direction (X) are d, d and d in sequence.

2. An antenna array according to claim 1,

the four receiving antennas (1) are arranged at intervals in a second direction (Y), the four transmitting antennas (2) are arranged at intervals in the second direction (Y), the first direction (X) is vertical to the second direction (Y),

in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas (1) in the four receiving antennas (1) in the second direction (Y) are 0, 0 and-3 d in sequence,

three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas (2) in the four transmitting antennas (2) in the second direction (Y) are 0, 0 and-6 d in sequence,

in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas (1) in the four receiving antennas (1) in the second direction (Y) are-3 d, 3d and 3d in sequence,

and three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas (2) in the four transmitting antennas (2) in the second direction (Y) are 0, 0 and 0 in sequence.

3. An antenna array according to claim 1, characterized in that in the first and second combination the receiving antenna (1) and the transmitting antenna (2) are both comb-shaped.

4. An antenna array according to claim 3, characterized in that in the first and second combination the receiving antenna (1) comprises a first connection tab (11) extending in the second direction (Y) and a plurality of first patches (12) connected in series, each of the plurality of first patches (12) extending in the first direction (X) and connecting the first connection tab (11),

two adjacent first patches (12) of the plurality of first patches (12) are arranged in phase opposition and crosswise,

the widths of the first patch (12) arranged in the middle of the first connecting sheet (11) to the first patches (12) at the two ends of the first connecting sheet (11) are reduced in sequence,

the transmitting antenna (2) comprising a second connection pad (22) extending in a second direction (Y) and a plurality of second patches (21) connected in series, the plurality of second patches (21) each extending in a first direction (X) and being connected to the second connection pad (22),

two adjacent second patches (21) of the plurality of second patches (21) are arranged in opposite phases and crossed,

the widths from the second patch (21) arranged in the middle of the second connecting sheet (22) to the second patches (21) at the two ends of the second connecting sheet (22) are reduced in sequence.

5. An antenna array according to claim 1, further comprising an interference rejection module (3), the interference rejection module (3) being disposed between a last of the four receive antennas (1) and a first of the four transmit antennas (2) in a first combination.

6. An antenna array according to claim 5, characterized in that in a first combination the interference rejection module (3) comprises a plurality of third patches (31) connected to each other, any of said third patches (31) being formed with vias.

7. A method for designing an antenna array, comprising:

acquiring the geometric size of a radiation array surface;

acquiring the sizes of the comb-shaped transmitting antenna (2) and the comb-shaped receiving antenna (1) based on the geometrical size of the radiation array;

-arranging four said receiving antennas (1) and four said transmitting antennas;

wherein arranging the four receiving antennas (1) and the four transmitting antennas (2) comprises:

defining half of the operating wavelength as d, four of said receiving antennas (1) being spaced apart in a first direction (X), four of said transmitting antennas (2) being spaced apart in the first direction (X),

in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas (1) in the four receiving antennas (1) in the first direction (X) are 3d, 3d and 2d in sequence,

three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas (2) in the four transmitting antennas (2) in the first direction (X) are d, d and 4d in sequence,

in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas (1) in the four receiving antennas in the first direction (X) are sequentially 2d, 2d and 2d,

three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas (2) in the four transmitting antennas (2) in the first direction (X) are d, d and d in sequence.

8. An antenna array design method according to claim 7,

arranging four of the receiving antennas (1) and four of the transmitting antennas (2) comprises:

the four receiving antennas (1) are arranged at intervals in the second direction (Y), the four transmitting antennas (2) are arranged at intervals in the second direction (Y),

the first direction (X) being perpendicular to the second direction (Y),

in the first combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas (1) in the four receiving antennas (1) in the second direction (Y) are 0, 0 and-3 d in sequence,

three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas (2) in the four transmitting antennas (2) in the second direction (Y) are 0, 0 and-6 d in sequence,

in the second combination, three intervals of two central points of two adjacent receiving antennas (1) in the four receiving antennas (1) in the second direction (Y) are-3 d, 3d and 3d in sequence,

and three intervals of two central points of two adjacent transmitting antennas (2) in the four transmitting antennas (2) in the second direction (Y) are sequentially equal to or 0, 0 and 0.

9. An antenna array design method according to claim 8, characterized in that in a first combination and a second combination, the receiving antenna (1) comprises a first connection piece (11) extending in the second direction (Y) and a plurality of first patches (12) connected in series, each of the plurality of first patches (12) extending in the first direction (X) and connecting the first connection piece (11),

adjacent two of the first patches (12) of the plurality of first patches (12) are arranged in phase opposition and crosswise,

the widths of the first patch (12) arranged in the middle of the first connecting sheet (11) to the first patches (12) at the two ends of the first connecting sheet (11) are reduced in sequence,

the transmitting antenna (2) comprising a second connection pad (22) extending in a second direction (Y) and a plurality of second patches (21) connected in series, the plurality of second patches (21) each extending in a first direction (X) and being connected to the second connection pad (22),

two adjacent second patches (21) of the plurality of second patches (21) are arranged in opposite phases and crossed,

the widths of the second patch (21) arranged in the middle of the second connecting sheet (22) and the second patches (21) at the two ends of the second connecting sheet (22) are reduced in sequence,

acquiring the dimensions of the comb-shaped transmitting antenna (2) and the comb-shaped receiving antenna (1) based on the geometrical dimensions of the radiation front comprises:

designing the width and length of a plurality of first patches (12) and the interval between two adjacent first patches (12),

the width and length of the plurality of second patches (21) and the interval between two adjacent second patches (21) are designed.

10. An antenna array design method according to claim 9, characterized in that it further comprises the step after arranging four said receiving antennas (1) and four said transmitting antennas (2):

in a first combination, an interference rejection module is provided between the last of the four receiving antennas (1) and the first of the four transmitting antennas (2), wherein the interference rejection module comprises a plurality of third patches (31) connected to each other, any one of the third patches (31) being formed with a via hole.

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