CN216958491U - Antenna assembly and base station antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

The present disclosure relates to an antenna assembly, comprising: a feed board; an array of radiating elements mounted on a feed board; an array of parasitic elements mounted on the feed board, wherein at least a portion of the radiating elements in the array of radiating elements are each surrounded by a plurality of spaced apart parasitic elements, and wherein at least a portion of the parasitic elements in the array of parasitic elements each include a first parasitic subcomponent extending in a first direction and a second parasitic subcomponent extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction. Furthermore, the present disclosure also relates to a base station antenna comprising the antenna assembly. Thereby, cross-polarization performance of the base station antenna can be effectively improved and radiation margin of the base station antenna can be improved.

Description

Antenna assembly and base station antenna

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to radio communications, and more particularly to an antenna assembly and a base station antenna.

Background

In some conventional base station antennas, a spacer may be provided around the radiating element to improve isolation. A fence refers to a metal or metalized wall extending forward from the reflector of the base station antenna, positioned to increase the isolation between the radiating elements of the base station antenna. For example, the barriers may be mounted directly on the reflector or on one or more feed plates on the front surface of the reflector. However, mounting the partition to extend forward from the reflector may also undesirably increase the cost and/or weight of the base station antenna.

In addition, with the development of communication systems, cross-polarization performance of base station antennas may be highly required.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

It is therefore an object of the present disclosure to provide an antenna assembly and a base station antenna that overcome at least one of the deficiencies of the prior art.

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an antenna assembly comprising:

a feed board;

an array of radiating elements mounted on a feed board;

an array of parasitic elements mounted on the feed board, wherein at least a portion of the radiating elements in the array of radiating elements are each surrounded by a plurality of spaced apart parasitic elements, and wherein at least a portion of the parasitic elements in the array of parasitic elements each include a first parasitic subcomponent extending in a first direction and a second parasitic subcomponent extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

In some embodiments, the array of parasitic elements is configured to tune a radiating boundary of the array of radiating elements.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the radiating elements are each surrounded by at least four parasitic elements.

In some embodiments, four parasitic elements surrounding the radiating element form a rectangular arrangement.

In some embodiments, the first parasitic element and the second parasitic element are arranged spaced apart from each other along the first direction on a first side of one radiating element, and the third parasitic element and the fourth parasitic element are arranged spaced apart from each other along the first direction on a second side of the radiating element opposite to the first side.

In some embodiments, at least a portion of the parasitic element is electrically connected to the feed plate.

In some embodiments, a ground pad for the parasitic element is printed on the feed board, to which the corresponding parasitic element is soldered.

In some embodiments, the ground pad includes a first solder for the first parasitic sub-part and a second solder for the second parasitic sub-part.

In some embodiments, the first weld extends in a first direction and the second weld extends in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

In some embodiments, the ground pad is electrically connected to the ground plane of the feed plate via a metalized via or a conductor.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is configured to improve cross-polarization discrimination of a radiation pattern of the array of radiating elements.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is configured to: the peak cross-polarization discrimination is improved by at least 2dB at horizontal scan angles greater than the first angle and/or at horizontal scan angles less than the second angle.

In some embodiments, the first angle is between 40 ° and 55 ° and the second angle is between 0 ° and 15 °.

In some embodiments, the first angle is between 30 ° and 60 ° and the second angle is between 0 ° and 20 °.

In some embodiments, a column of parasitic elements is shared between a first column of radiating elements and a second column of radiating elements in the array of radiating elements.

In some embodiments, at least two parasitic elements are shared between every two radiating elements in the first column of radiating elements and at least two parasitic elements are shared between every two radiating elements in the second column of radiating elements.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is an axisymmetric structure.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is axisymmetric with respect to the first direction and/or the second direction.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is configured as a T-shaped member.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is configured as a cross-member.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is a unitary structure.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is a split structure, the first parasitic subcomponent and the second parasitic subcomponent being connected to form the parasitic element.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element is a metallic piece.

In some embodiments, the first parasitic sub-element has an extension in the first direction that is different from an extension of the second parasitic sub-element in the second direction.

In some embodiments, the radiating element is a patch radiating element.

In some embodiments, the length of extension of each radiating element in the first direction is greater than the length of extension of the first parasitic sub-part in the first direction, and the length of extension of each radiating element in the second direction is greater than the length of extension of the second parasitic sub-part in the second direction.

In some embodiments, the extended length of each radiating element in the first direction is greater than at least twice the extended length of the first parasitic sub-part in the first direction, and the extended length of each radiating element in the second direction is greater than at least twice the extended length of the second parasitic sub-part in the second direction.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an antenna assembly comprising:

a feed board;

an array of radiating elements mounted on a feed board;

an array of parasitic elements mounted on the feed panel for tuning a radiating boundary of the array of radiating elements, wherein at least some of the radiating elements in the array of radiating elements are surrounded by a plurality of parasitic elements, and the array of parasitic elements is further configured for improving cross-polarization discrimination of the radiation pattern.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an antenna assembly comprising:

a feed board;

an array of radiating elements mounted on a feed board;

a plurality of parasitic elements mounted to extend forward from the feed panel, wherein a respective group of four spaced-apart parasitic elements surround at least some of the radiating elements, wherein at least some of the parasitic elements have a T-shaped cross-section or a cross-shaped cross-section.

According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a base station antenna comprising a reflector and an antenna assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure mounted in front of the reflector.

Some embodiments according to the present disclosure may effectively reduce the weight and/or cost of a base station antenna. Some embodiments according to the present disclosure may effectively improve cross-polarization performance, such as cross-polarization discrimination, of a base station antenna. Some embodiments according to the present disclosure may effectively improve the radiation boundary of a base station antenna.

Drawings

The disclosure is explained in more detail below with the aid of specific embodiments with reference to the drawings. The schematic drawings are briefly described as follows:

fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a base station antenna with the radome removed, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 2 is a schematic front view of the base station antenna of fig. 1;

fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of an antenna assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic front view of the antenna assembly of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a metal pattern on a feed panel of the antenna assembly of FIG. 3;

fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view of the feeding board of fig. 3 with the parasitic element mounted;

7A, 7B, 7C are exemplary variations of parasitic elements, respectively, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 8A, 8B, 8C are exemplary variations of parasitic elements, respectively, according to further embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a schematic perspective view of antenna assemblies according to further embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of the antenna assembly of FIG. 9;

Detailed Description

The present disclosure will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate several embodiments of the disclosure. It should be understood, however, that the present disclosure may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, the embodiments described below are intended to provide a more complete disclosure of the present disclosure, and to fully convey the scope of the disclosure to those skilled in the art. It is also to be understood that the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide further additional embodiments.

It is understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. All terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the meaning commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art unless otherwise defined. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

When an element is referred to herein as being "on," attached to, "" connected to, "coupled to," or "contacting" another element, etc., it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled to or contacting the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly on," "directly attached to," directly connected to, "directly coupled to," or "directly contacting" another element, there are no intervening elements present. In this context, one feature being disposed "adjacent" another feature may refer to one feature having a portion that overlaps or is above or below the adjacent feature.

In this document, spatial relationship terms such as "upper", "lower", "left", "right", "front", "back", "high", "low", and the like may describe one feature's relationship to another feature in the drawings. It will be understood that the terms "spatially relative" encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, features originally described as "below" other features may be described as "above" other features when the device in the figures is inverted. The device may also be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the relative spatial relationships may be interpreted accordingly.

Herein, the term "a or B" includes "a and B" and "a or B" rather than exclusively including only "a" or only "B" unless otherwise specifically stated.

In this document, the terms "schematic" or "exemplary" mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration," and not as a "model" that is to be reproduced accurately. Any implementation exemplarily described herein is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Furthermore, the disclosure is not limited by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, utility model content, or detailed description.

In this document, the term "substantially" is intended to encompass any minor variations due to design or manufacturing imperfections, tolerances of the devices or components, environmental influences and/or other factors.

In this context, the term "at least a portion" may be a portion of any proportion. For example, it may be greater than 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or even 100%, i.e., all.

In addition, "first," "second," and like terms may also be used herein for reference purposes only, and thus are not intended to be limiting. For example, the terms "first," "second," and other such numerical terms referring to structures or elements do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context.

It will be further understood that the terms "comprises/comprising," "includes" and/or "including," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, and/or groups thereof.

In some base station antennas, a spacer may be installed between different radiating elements. The partitions may include vertically extending partitions that extend parallel to the longitudinal axis of the base station antenna, and may also include horizontally extending partitions. The barriers can improve the isolation between adjacent radiating element rows and can adjust the radiating boundary of the radiating element array. However, mounting these barriers on the reflector or feed plate may also undesirably increase the cost and/or weight of the base station antenna. Furthermore, the mounting of the spacer also increases the wiring difficulty on the feed board, since the spacer typically spans a plurality of radiating elements and thus has a long extension.

Furthermore, with the development of communication systems, cross-polarization performance, such as cross-polarization isolation, of base station antennas may have higher requirements. Cross-polarization isolation refers to the degree of isolation of the radiating element of the base station antenna having a first polarization from the radio frequency energy radiated by the radiating element of the base station antenna having a second (orthogonal) polarization. The cross-polarization performance of a base station antenna may vary due to the angle of electrical scanning of the antenna beam it generates (i.e., the angle at which the antenna beam is electrically scanned from the "boresight" pointing direction of the radiating element, which is typically the axis extending through the center of the radiating element, which is perpendicular to the reflector on which the radiating element is mounted). It is desirable to provide tuning elements of different shapes and sizes, e.g. extension lengths and/or extension directions, for different horizontal electrical scan angles in order to maintain good cross-polarization performance over a wide scan angle range.

The present disclosure provides a base station antenna that may include a feed board, an array of radiating elements mounted on the feed board, and an array of parasitic elements mounted on the feed board. At least a portion of the radiating elements or all of the radiating elements in the array of radiating elements may be surrounded by parasitic elements. The parasitic element may be used to tune the radiating boundary of the array of radiating elements while maintaining good isolation.

Furthermore, the array of parasitic elements may be configured to improve cross-polarization performance, e.g., cross-polarization discrimination, of the base station antenna. In some embodiments, the array of parasitic elements may be configured to: the peak cross-polarization discrimination is improved by at least 2dB or 3dB at horizontal scan angles greater than the first angle and/or at horizontal scan angles less than the second angle.

Some embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, fig. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of a base station antenna 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; fig. 2 shows a schematic front view of the base station antenna 100.

The base station antenna 100 may be mounted on a raised structure, such as an antenna tower, a utility pole, a building, a water tower, etc., such that its longitudinal axis may extend substantially perpendicular to the ground.

The base station antenna 100 is typically mounted within a radome (not shown) that provides environmental protection. The base station antenna 100 may comprise a reflector 10, which reflector 10 may comprise a metal surface providing a ground plane and reflecting, e.g. redirecting forward propagation, of electromagnetic waves arriving thereto.

The base station antenna 100 may include one or more antenna assemblies 200 arranged at the front side of the reflector 10, and each antenna assembly 200 may include a feeding board 20 and a radiating element array including a plurality of radiating elements 30 mounted on the feeding board 20. In the illustrated embodiment, the base station antenna 100 may include a plurality (illustratively 4) of antenna assemblies 200, and each antenna assembly 200 may include a feed board 20 and an array of patch radiating elements mounted on the feed board 20. It should be understood that the patch radiating elements 30 may be various forms of radiating elements, such as a middle band (1427) and 2690MHz or sub-bands thereof) radiating element or a high band (3.1-4.2GHz or sub-bands thereof) radiating element of a low band (617 and 960MHz or sub-bands thereof) radiating element, and so on, and are not limited herein. It should also be understood that the patch radiating element 30 may be replaced with some other type of radiating element, such as a cross dipole radiating element in other embodiments.

The base station antenna 100 may further comprise mechanical and electronic components (not shown), such as connectors, cables, phase shifters, remote electronic tilt units, duplexers, etc., which are typically arranged at the rear side of the reflector 10.

Referring next to fig. 3-6, an antenna assembly 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is described in detail. Fig. 3 shows a schematic perspective view of an antenna assembly 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; fig. 4 shows a schematic front view of the antenna assembly 200.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the antenna assembly 200 may include a feed panel 20, an array of radiating elements 30 mounted on the feed panel 20, and an array of parasitic elements 40 mounted on the feed panel 20. The feed plate 20 may, for example, comprise a printed circuit board. In the illustrated embodiment, the array of radiating elements 30 of each antenna assembly 200 may include a plurality of rows and columns (3 rows and 8 columns in the figure) of radiating elements, and a plurality of antenna assemblies 200 are combined to form an array of radiating elements (12 rows and 8 columns in the figure) of the entire base station antenna 100.

At least some or all of the radiating elements 30 in the array of radiating elements 30 may be surrounded by a plurality of parasitic elements 40, respectively. In the illustrated embodiment, each radiating element 30 may be surrounded by four parasitic elements 40, respectively. The four parasitic elements 40 may be distributed around the radiating element 30 at a distance from each other. The four parasitic elements 40 may form a rectangular (e.g., square) arrangement, with each parasitic element being adjacent a respective one of the corners of the radiating element 30. The first parasitic element 40-1 and the second parasitic element 40-2 may be arranged at a first side of the radiating element 30 in the horizontal direction spaced apart from each other along a first direction, i.e., a vertical direction, and the third parasitic element 40-3 and the fourth parasitic element 40-4 may be arranged at a second side of the radiating element 30 in the horizontal direction opposite to the first side, spaced apart from each other along the first direction, i.e., the vertical direction.

As shown in fig. 3 and 4, a column of parasitic elements 40 may be disposed between adjacent columns of radiating elements in the array of radiating elements 30, and at least one (here, two) parasitic elements 40 may also be disposed between adjacent radiating elements 30 in each column of radiating elements 30. In order to maintain good isolation between adjacent columns of radiating elements 30, at least a portion or all of the parasitic elements 40 may each include a first parasitic sub-element 41 extending in a first direction, i.e., the vertical direction, thereby forming a column of first parasitic sub-elements 41 aligned in the vertical direction. In order to maintain good isolation between adjacent radiating elements 30 of each column of radiating elements 30, at least a portion or all of the parasitic elements 40 may include a second parasitic sub-element 42 extending in a second direction, i.e., a horizontal direction, thereby forming a row of second parasitic sub-elements 42 aligned in the second horizontal direction. Thus, the antenna assembly 200 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may eliminate some, or even all, of the barriers installed in conventional designs, while maintaining good isolation performance. Advantageously, parasitic element 40 may be configured as an axially symmetric structure, since the symmetry of parasitic element 40 facilitates the symmetry of the electromagnetic environment. In some embodiments, parasitic element 40 may be axisymmetric with respect to the vertical and/or horizontal directions.

Furthermore, the parasitic element 40 of the present disclosure is significantly reduced in size compared to conventional septa that extend across multiple radiating elements. The extension of the radiating element 30 in the vertical direction may be significantly larger than the extension of the first parasitic sub-part 41 in the vertical direction, for example larger than 1.5 times, 2 times, or even 3 times. The extension of the radiating element 30 in the horizontal direction may be significantly larger than the extension of the second parasitic sub-part 42 in the horizontal direction, for example larger than 1.5 times, 2 times, or even 3 times. This can reduce the weight and/or cost of the base station antenna 100, and can reduce the wiring difficulty of the feeder line. As shown in fig. 3 and 4, the parasitic element 40 may be mounted in the space between the feed lines of adjacent columns of radiating elements 30, such that additional detours of the feed lines to avoid the parasitic element 40 may be at least partially avoided.

An array of parasitic elements 40 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may also be configured to improve cross-polarization performance, e.g., cross-polarization discrimination, of the base station antenna 100. The cross-polarization discrimination is the ratio of the main polarization field strength received in the direction of maximum radiation to the cross-polarization field strength. The horizontal and vertical components of the antenna beam at some scan angles may be balanced by adjusting the horizontal and/or vertical components of the parasitic element 40 (e.g., the dimensional parameters of the first parasitic sub-assembly 41 and/or the second parasitic sub-assembly 42) to improve the cross-polarization performance of the base station antenna 100. In some embodiments, the extension of the first parasitic sub-element 41 in the first direction may be different (e.g., greater or less) than the extension of the second parasitic sub-element 42 in the second direction.

In some embodiments, the array of parasitic elements 40 may be configured to: improve peak cross-polarization discrimination for antenna beams produced by base station antenna 100 at horizontal scan angles greater than a first angle and/or improve peak cross-polarization discrimination for antenna beams produced by base station antenna 100 at horizontal scan angles less than a second angle.

In some embodiments, the array of parasitic elements 40 may be configured to: the peak cross-polarization discrimination is improved by at least 2dB, 3dB at horizontal scan angles greater than a first angle (e.g., 30 ° to 60 ° or 40 ° to 55 °), and/or by at least 2dB, 3dB at horizontal scan angles less than a second angle (e.g., 0 ° to 15 °).

Referring to fig. 5 and 6, the mounting of the parasitic element 40 on the feeding board 20 will be described in detail. Fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of a metal pattern on the feeding board 20 of the antenna assembly 200; fig. 6 shows a schematic perspective view of the feeder board 20 with the parasitic element 40 mounted.

Base station antennas sometimes include an electrically suspended tuning element that may be mounted in front of a reflector for fine tuning the shape of the antenna beam produced by the base station antenna. However, such electrically suspended tuning elements cannot be used to form the radiating boundaries of an array of radiating elements of a base station antenna. In contrast, an array of parasitic elements 40 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may be electrically connected to the feed board 20 and/or reflector 10 for tuning the radiating boundary. A ground pad 60 for the corresponding parasitic element 40 may be printed on the feeding board 20. The ground pads 60 may be electrically connected to the ground plane on the backside of the feed plate 20 via metallized vias or other electrical conductors.

The ground pad 60 may include a first weld 61 for the first parasitic sub-part 41 of the parasitic element 40 and a second weld 62 for the second parasitic sub-part 42. In order to match the shape of the parasitic element 40, the first soldering portion 61 of the ground pad 60 may extend in a vertical direction, and the second soldering portion 62 may extend in a horizontal direction. Furthermore, in order to mount the array of parasitic elements 40 efficiently and reliably, each parasitic element 40 may be soldered to the corresponding ground pad 60 by way of reflow soldering (reflow soldering).

Referring next to fig. 7A-8C, exemplary designs of parasitic element 40 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail.

Fig. 7A to 7C show three exemplary variants of the parasitic element 40, in each case the parasitic element 40 being realized as a T-shaped component. The vertically extending portion of the T-shaped member may constitute a first parasitic sub-part 41 of parasitic element 40 and the horizontally extending portion of the T-shaped member may constitute a second parasitic sub-part 42 of parasitic element 40.

Fig. 8A to 8C show three exemplary variants of the parasitic element 40, in each case the parasitic element 40 being realized as a cross-member. The vertically extending portion of the cross-shaped member may constitute a first parasitic sub-part 41 of parasitic element 40 and the horizontally extending portion of the cross-shaped member may constitute a second parasitic sub-part 42 of parasitic element 40. Referring to fig. 9 and 10, a schematic perspective view and a front view of the antenna assembly 200 are shown when the parasitic element 40 is a cross-shaped member. As with the T-shaped member as parasitic element 40, one column of parasitic elements 40 may be shared between adjacent columns of radiating elements 30 when parasitic element 40 is a cross-shaped member. Furthermore, since the cross-shaped member is symmetrical both with respect to the vertical direction and with respect to the horizontal direction, it is possible that: a parasitic element 40, such as at least two parasitic elements 40, may also be shared between every two radiating elements 30 in each column of radiating elements 30. The cost and/or weight of the base station antenna 100 may be further reduced and the space utilization may be further improved by sharing the parasitic element 40.

In some embodiments, to balance weight and/or cost, only some of the radiating elements 30 in the array of radiating elements 30 may be surrounded by four parasitic elements. In some embodiments, a reduced number of parasitic elements may be provided for a portion of radiating element 30, for example, a portion of radiating element 30 may be surrounded by three or two parasitic elements.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element 40 may be a unitary structure, that is, the first parasitic sub-element 41 and the second parasitic sub-element 42 are unitary.

In some embodiments, the parasitic element 40 may also be a split structure, that is, the first parasitic sub-element 41 and the second parasitic sub-element 42 may be connected to each other to form the parasitic element 40. For example, the first parasitic sub-element 41 and the second parasitic sub-element 42 may be inserted, welded, screwed or glued to each other to form the parasitic element 40.

In some embodiments, the first parasitic sub-assembly 41 and the second parasitic sub-assembly 42 of the parasitic element 40 may be mounted on the feed plate 20 separately from each other, thereby forming an independent tuning element.

In some embodiments, parasitic element 40 may be a metallic piece. In some embodiments, the parasitic element 40 may be a printed circuit board on which corresponding metal patterns may be printed.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made to the exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure without substantially departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, all changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims. The disclosure is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.

Claims (39)

1. An antenna assembly, comprising:

a feed board;

an array of radiating elements mounted on a feed board;

an array of parasitic elements mounted on the feed board, wherein at least a portion of the radiating elements in the array of radiating elements are each surrounded by a plurality of spaced apart parasitic elements, and wherein at least a portion of the parasitic elements in the array of parasitic elements each include a first parasitic subcomponent extending in a first direction and a second parasitic subcomponent extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

2. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the array of parasitic elements is configured for tuning a radiating boundary of the array of radiating elements.

3. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the radiating elements are each surrounded by at least four parasitic elements.

4. An antenna assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that the four parasitic elements surrounding the radiating element form a rectangular arrangement.

5. An antenna assembly according to claim 3, characterized in that the first parasitic element and the second parasitic element are arranged spaced apart from each other along the first direction on a first side of one radiating element, and the third parasitic element and the fourth parasitic element are arranged spaced apart from each other along the first direction on a second side of the radiating element opposite to the first side.

6. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the parasitic element is electrically connected to the feed board.

7. An antenna assembly according to claim 6, characterized in that a ground pad for the parasitic element is printed on the feed board, to which ground pad the respective parasitic element is soldered.

8. The antenna assembly of claim 7, wherein the ground pad includes a first weld for a first parasitic sub-component and a second weld for a second parasitic sub-component.

9. The antenna assembly of claim 8, wherein the first weld extends in a first direction and the second weld extends in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

10. The antenna assembly of claim 7, wherein the ground pad is electrically connected to the ground layer of the feed board via a metalized via or a conductor.

11. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the parasitic element is configured for improving cross-polarization discrimination of a radiation pattern of the array of radiating elements.

12. The antenna assembly of claim 11, wherein the parasitic element is configured for: the peak cross-polarization discrimination is improved by at least 2dB at horizontal scan angles greater than the first angle and/or at horizontal scan angles less than the second angle.

13. The antenna assembly of claim 12, wherein the first angle is between 40 ° and 55 ° and the second angle is between 0 ° and 15 °.

14. The antenna assembly of claim 12, wherein the first angle is between 30 ° and 60 ° and the second angle is between 0 ° and 20 °.

15. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein a column of parasitic elements is shared between a first column of radiating elements and a second column of radiating elements in the array of radiating elements.

16. The antenna assembly of claim 15, wherein at least two parasitic elements are shared between every two radiating elements in the first column of radiating elements and at least two parasitic elements are shared between every two radiating elements in the second column of radiating elements.

17. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the parasitic element is an axisymmetric structure.

18. The antenna assembly of claim 17, wherein the parasitic element is axisymmetric to the first direction and/or the second direction.

19. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the parasitic element is configured as a T-shaped member.

20. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the parasitic element is configured as a cruciform member.

21. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the parasitic element is a unitary structure.

22. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the parasitic element is a split structure, and the first parasitic sub-assembly and second parasitic sub-assembly are connected to form the parasitic element.

23. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the parasitic element is a metallic piece.

24. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the first parasitic sub-element has an extension in the first direction that is different from an extension of the second parasitic sub-element in the second direction.

25. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the radiating element is a patch radiating element.

26. The antenna assembly of claim 1, wherein the extension of each radiating element in the first direction is greater than the extension of the first parasitic sub-assembly in the first direction, and wherein the extension of each radiating element in the second direction is greater than the extension of the second parasitic sub-assembly in the second direction.

27. The antenna assembly of claim 26, wherein the extension length of each radiating element in the first direction is greater than at least twice the extension length of the first parasitic sub-assembly in the first direction, and the extension length of each radiating element in the second direction is greater than at least twice the extension length of the second parasitic sub-assembly in the second direction.

28. An antenna assembly, comprising:

a feed board;

an array of radiating elements mounted on a feed board;

an array of parasitic elements mounted on the feed board for tuning a radiating boundary of the array of radiating elements, wherein at least some of the radiating elements in the array of radiating elements are surrounded by a plurality of parasitic elements, and the array of parasitic elements is further configured for improving cross-polarization discrimination of the radiation pattern.

29. The antenna assembly of claim 28, wherein the array of parasitic elements is configured to: the peak cross-polarization discrimination is improved by at least 2dB at horizontal scan angles greater than the first angle and/or at horizontal scan angles less than the second angle.

30. The antenna assembly of claim 29, wherein the array of parasitic elements is configured to: the peak cross-polarization discrimination is improved by at least 3dB at horizontal scan angles greater than the first angle and/or at horizontal scan angles less than the second angle.

31. The antenna assembly of claim 29 or 30, wherein the first angle is between 40 ° and 55 ° and the second angle is between 0 ° and 15 °.

32. The antenna assembly of claim 28, wherein at least some of the radiating elements are each surrounded by four parasitic elements arranged in a distributed manner and spaced apart from each other.

33. The antenna assembly of claim 32, wherein each parasitic element is electrically connected to the feed board by reflow soldering.

34. The antenna assembly of claim 28, wherein each parasitic element includes a first parasitic sub-element extending in a first direction and a second parasitic sub-element extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction.

35. An antenna assembly, comprising:

a feed board;

an array of radiating elements mounted on a feed board;

a plurality of parasitic elements mounted to extend forward from the feed panel, wherein a respective group of four spaced-apart parasitic elements surround at least some of the radiating elements, wherein at least some of the parasitic elements have a T-shaped cross-section or a cross-shaped cross-section.

36. The antenna assembly of claim 35, wherein each parasitic element is electrically connected to the feed board.

37. The antenna assembly of claim 35, characterized in that a ground pad for the parasitic element is printed on the feed board, to which ground pad the respective parasitic element is soldered.

38. The antenna assembly of claim 37, wherein the respective parasitic element is electrically connected to the ground pad by reflow soldering.

39. Base station antenna, characterized in that it comprises a reflector and an antenna assembly according to one of claims 1 to 38 mounted in front of the reflector.

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