EP4687220A1

EP4687220A1 - Dielectric resonator antenna, antenna array, and antenna array module

Info

Publication number: EP4687220A1
Application number: EP24192605.4A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Raimon Goeritz
Original assignee: Rohde and Schwarz GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Rohde and Schwarz GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2024-08-02
Filing date: 2024-08-02
Publication date: 2026-02-04

Abstract

A dielectric resonator antenna (16) is described. The dielectric resonator antenna (16) comprises a dielectric resonator body (20) and a stimulus element. The stimulus element comprises a connector that is connectable to an antenna feed circuit. The stimulus element is configured to transmit and/or receive electromagnetic waves. The dielectric resonator body (20) has a scale portion (28), wherein the scale portion (28) comprises at least one groove portion (36, 38) and/or at least one ridge portion (30, 42, 44). The at least one groove portion (36, 38) and/or the at least one ridge portion (30, 42, 44) extend/extends along an axial direction (A) of the scale portion (28). Further, an antenna array and an antenna array module are described.

Description

The present invention generally relates to a dielectric resonator antenna. The present invention further relates to an antenna array and to an antenna array module.
Dielectric resonator antennas generally provide sharp resonance frequencies in the microwave or mm-wavelength regime, wherein the resonance frequencies depend on the geometry of the dielectric resonator body and on the relative permittivity of the dielectric resonator body.
Such dielectric resonator antennas have a plurality of different applications, such as in phased arrays allowing for beamforming. For example, such phased arrays are employed in planes, particularly in wings of planes.
These applications pose different requirements on the antenna arrays used, for example regarding directional characteristics, bandwidth, and aerodynamic properties.
The object of the present invention is to provide a dielectric resonator antenna and an antenna array having enhanced directional characteristics, bandwidth, and/or aerodynamic properties.
According to the present invention, the problem is solved by a dielectric resonator antenna. The dielectric resonator antenna comprises a dielectric resonator body and a stimulus element. The stimulus element comprises a connector that is connectable to an antenna feed circuit. The stimulus element is configured to transmit and/or receive electromagnetic waves. The dielectric resonator body has a scale portion, wherein the scale portion comprises at least one groove portion and/or at least one ridge portion. The at least one groove portion and/or the at least one ridge portion extend/extends along an axial direction of the scale portion.
The dielectric resonator antenna according to the present invention is based on the idea to provide the dielectric resonator body with a scale portion having a scale-like shape. The scale-like shape has an axial direction, wherein the at least one groove portion and/or the at least one ridge portion extend(s) along the axial direction.
It has turned out that this shape provides several advantages compared to usual dielectric resonator bodies.
On one hand, the aerodynamic properties of the dielectric resonator antenna are improved. The groove and/or ridge portions reduce a flow resistance of the dielectric resonator antenna, which is particularly advantageous for aeronautic applications, as the reduced flow resistance reduces the fuel consumption of the plane.
In fact, the reduced flow resistance described above allows to omit radomes that are otherwise necessary, e.g. in aeronautic applications, to cover the dielectric resonator antenna. This reduces absorption losses and thus leads to an enhanced transmission and/or reception efficiency of the dielectric resonator antenna according to the present invention.
Further, the groove and/or ridge portions may cause long-stretched turbulences. When mounted to a wing of a plane, particularly to a front upper portion of the wing, these turbulences can cause an enhanced uplift, which can further reduce fuel consumption of the plane.
Moreover, it has turned out that the scale portion provides a directional characteristic that is focused in one direction, namely in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, wherein the main lobe has high gain but is rather broad nevertheless. Thus, scan losses are reduced by the dielectric resonator antenna according to the present invention.
For aeronautic applications, the dielectric resonator antenna may be mounted to a plane such that the axial direction of the dielectric resonator antenna coincides with the axial direction of the plane. This way, the flow resistance is minimized.
Further, the at least one groove portion and/or the at least one ridge portion provide additional resonance modes in the dielectric resonator body. Thus, instead of a single sharp resonance mode, a plurality of resonance modes are provided, which increases the usable bandwidth of the dielectric resonator antenna according to the present invention compared to dielectric resonator antennas known in the state of the art.
The additional resonance modes can be utilized individually and/or simultaneously by appropriately driving the stimulus element via the antenna feed circuit.
For example, the dimensions and/or the material of the dielectric resonator body may be configured such that a transmission frequency range and/or a reception frequency range of the dielectric resonator antenna is in the Ku-band, in the K-band, or in the Ka-band.
Therein, a height, length, and/or width of the dielectric resonator antenna may be half the wavelength of the lowest frequency to be transmitted and/or received by the dielectric resonator antenna.
For example, the height, length, and/or width of the dielectric resonator antenna may be in the range of 1 to 10 mm, respectively.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the stimulus element comprises a patch antenna element, wherein the patch antenna element and the dielectric resonator body are stacked on top of each other. Accordingly, electromagnetic waves are fed into the dielectric resonator body or received from the dielectric resonator body by the patch antenna element.
In a top-down view, the dielectric resonator body may have a cross section that is larger than a cross section of the patch antenna element, such that the patch antenna element is fully covered by the dielectric resonator body.
The patch antenna element may comprise a feed line, wherein the feed line establishes a connection to the antenna feed circuit. In other words, the connector may be the feed line.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the stimulus element comprises a rod antenna element, wherein the rod antenna element extends into the dielectric resonator body. Accordingly, electromagnetic waves are fed into the dielectric resonator body or received from the dielectric resonator body by the rod antenna element.
For example, the rod antenna element may be a monopole antenna or a monocone antenna. However, it is also conceivable that the rod antenna element may be a dipole antenna.
The rod antenna element may extend into the scale portion. In fact, the rod antenna element may at least partially extend along the axial direction of the scale portion. This enhances transmission and/or reception characteristics in the directions perpendicular to the axial direction.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the scale portion comprises a plurality of groove portions and/or a plurality of ridge portions. Thus, further resonance modes are provided due to the additional groove portions and/or ridge portions, thereby enhancing the usable bandwidth of the dielectric resonator antenna. These additional resonance modes can be utilized individually and/or simultaneously by appropriately driving the stimulus element via the antenna feed circuit.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the scale portion is formed as a placoid scale. In other words the scale portion may have the shape of a placoid scale.
Accordingly, the scale portion may comprise a central ridge portion that extends along the axial direction of the scale portion. The central ridge portion, or rather a longitudinal axis of the central ridge portion, may define the axial direction of the scale portion.
In fact, the scale portion or even the complete dielectric resonator body may be mirror-symmetric with respect to a vertical plane through the longitudinal axis of the central ridge portion.
The scale portion may further comprise a first groove portion and a second groove portion that are each provided adjacent to the central ridge portion, namely on opposite sides of the central ridge portion. The first groove portion and the second groove portion may each extend along the axial direction.
The scale portion may comprise further ridge portions that are provided adjacent to the first groove portion and the second groove portion, respectively, wherein the further ridge portions are provided on a side of the first groove portion and of second groove portion facing away from the central ridge portion. In other words, the further ridge portions may be provided laterally outside of the first groove portion and the second groove portion.
The further ridge portions may at least partially extend along the axial direction, particularly along their entire length.
However, the further ridge portions may, on a front side of the scale portion, comprise a curved portion connecting the further ridge portions to a tip point of the scale portion.
Of course, further groove portions and/or ridge portions may be provided.
A further aspect of the present invention provides that the dielectric resonator body comprises or consists of a material having a relative permittivity of at least 3, particularly of at least 10. For example, the dielectric resonator body comprises or consists of epoxy resin. As another example, the dielectric body comprises or consists of a ceramic.
The dielectric resonator antenna according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the dielectric resonator body is covered by a membrane. By choosing an appropriate material for the membrane, the flow resistance can be further reduced, and/or an achievable antenna gain can be enhanced.
Particularly, the membrane may comprise a plurality of membrane layers, wherein immediately adjacent membrane layers consist of pairwise different materials. It has turned out that the achievable antenna gain can be further enhanced by such a multi-layered structure of the membrane.
According to the present invention, the problem further is solved by an antenna array. The antenna array comprises at least one dielectric resonator antenna according to any one of the variants described above. The antenna array comprises an antenna feed circuit, wherein the connector of the stimulus element of the at least one dielectric resonator antenna is connected to the antenna feed circuit.
Regarding the advantages and further properties of the antenna array, reference is made to the explanations given above with respect to the dielectric resonator antenna, which also hold for the antenna array and vice versa.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the antenna array comprises a plurality of dielectric resonator antennas, particularly wherein the plurality of dielectric resonator antennas are connected to the same antenna feed circuit. Thus, the directional characteristics for transmission and/or reception can be adapted by appropriately driving the dielectric resonator antennas via the antenna feed circuit.
In fact, the plurality of dielectric resonator antennas may form a phased array.
For example, the antenna array may comprise more than ten dielectric resonator antennas, particularly more than 100 dielectric resonator antennas.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the antenna array is free of radomes. As already mentioned above, the improved aerodynamic properties of the individual dielectric resonator antennas allow for omitting the radomes. For example, in aeronautic applications, the antenna array can be mounted to a wing of a plane without a radome covering the antenna array. In fact, omitting the radome may even reduce the overall fuel consumption of the plane due to the reduced flow resistance and/or the additional uplift provided by the dielectric resonator antennas.
However, it is to be understood that the antenna array may nevertheless comprise at least one radome covering at least one of the dielectric resonator antennas. For example, this may be advantageous in harsh environments, where the dielectric resonator antennas may be damaged otherwise.
According to the present invention, the problem further is solved by an antenna array module. The antenna array module comprises an antenna array according to any one of variants described above.
Regarding the advantages and further properties of the antenna array module, reference is made to the explanations given above with respect to the dielectric resonator antenna and with respect to the antenna array, which also hold for the antenna array module and vice versa.
In an embodiment of the present invention, the antenna array module is mountable to a wing of a plane. As already described above, the antenna array module provides enhanced aerodynamic properties for the plane, enhanced directional characteristics, and/or enhanced usable bandwidth.
However, it is to be understood that the antenna array module may likewise be used in other applications.
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of the claimed subject matter will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 schematically shows an antenna array module according to the present invention;
Figure 2 schematically shows a first exemplary embodiment of a dielectric resonator antenna of the antenna array module of Figure 1 in across-sectional view;
Figure 3 schematically shows a second exemplary embodiment of a dielectric resonator antenna of the antenna array module of Figure 1 in a cross-sectional view; and
Figure 4 shows an exemplary embodiment of a dielectric resonator antenna of the antenna array module of Figure 1 in a perspective view.

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appended drawings, where like numerals reference like elements, is intended as a description of various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter and is not intended to represent the only embodiments. Each embodiment described in this disclosure is provided merely as an example or illustration and should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The illustrative examples provided herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the claimed subject matter to the precise forms disclosed.
For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase "at least one of A, B, and C", for example, means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C), including all further possible permutations when more than three elements are listed. In other words, the term "at least one of A and B" generally means "A and/or B", namely "A" alone, "B" alone or "A and B".
Figure 1 schematically shows an antenna array module 10 comprising at least one antenna array 12 and a control module 14.
In fact, the antenna array module 10 may comprise an arbitrary number of antenna arrays 12.
Therein and in the following, the term "module" is understood to describe suitable hardware, suitable software, or a combination of hardware and software that is configured to have a certain functionality.
The hardware may, inter alia, comprise a CPU, a GPU, an FPGA, an ASIC, or other types of electronic circuitry.
In general, the at least one antenna array 12 comprises a plurality of dielectric resonator antennas 16 that are each connected to an antenna feed circuit 18 of the respective antenna array 12.
The at least one antenna array 12 may be a phased array, i.e. the individual complex-valued weighting factors of the individual dielectric resonator antennas 16 may be controlled by the control module 14 in order to set desired transmission and/or receiving properties of the at least one antenna array 12.
It is noted that the antenna array module 10 may, of course, comprise further signal-shaping and signal-processing components, such as amplifiers, filters, mixers, local oscillators, radio-frequency (RF) frontends, etc. These components are not shown in Figure 1 for better visual clarity.
The antenna array module 10 may, for example, be mounted to a wing of a plane, particularly at a front upper side of the wing.
The at least one antenna array 12 may be free of any radomes covering the dielectric resonator antennas 16.
Alternatively, at least one of the dielectric resonator antennas 16 may be covered by a radome.
For example, a common radome may be provided for all dielectric resonator antennas 16 of the at least one antenna array 12.
Figure 2 schematically shows a cross-sectional view of an exemplary embodiment of a dielectric resonator antenna 16 of the at least one antenna array 12 described above.
The dielectric resonator antenna 16 comprises a dielectric resonator body 20 and a stimulus element 22.
The stimulus element 22 comprises a connector 24 that is connectable to the antenna feed circuit 18.
In general, the stimulus element 22 is configured to feed RF signals received from the antenna feed circuit 18 via the connector 24 into the dielectric resonator body 20, and/or to forward RF signals received by the dielectric resonator body 20 to the antenna feed circuit 18.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 2, the stimulus element 22 is established as a patch antenna element.
The connector 24 may be a feed line that is connected to the antenna feed circuit 18.
The dielectric resonator body 20 comprises a base portion 26 and a scale portion 28.
The base portion 26 is provided on top of the stimulus element 22, wherein the base portion 26 and the stimulus element 22 are in physical contact.
It is also conceivable that the stimulus element 22 may be provided within the base portion 26, particularly in a corresponding recess of the base portion 26.
The scale portion 28 is provided on a side of the base portion 26 facing away from the stimulus element 22.
The scale portion 28 has a longitudinal axis L that defines an axial direction A.
The exact geometry of the scale portion 28 will be described in more detail below.
Therein, it is to be understood that the base portion 26 and the scale portion 28 may be formed in one piece, particularly be manufactured from one piece.
Optionally, the dielectric resonator body 20 or at least the scale portion 28 may be covered by a membrane.
Particularly, the membrane may comprise a plurality of membrane layers, wherein immediately adjacent membrane layers consist of pairwise different materials.
Figure 3 shows a further exemplary embodiment of the dielectric resonator antenna 16, wherein only the differences compared to the exemplary embodiment described above with reference to Figure 2 are explained hereinafter.
In this exemplary embodiment, the stimulus element 22 is established as a rod antenna element, wherein the rod antenna element extends into the dielectric resonator body, particularly into the base portion 26 and, optionally, into the scale portion 28.
In fact, the rod antenna element may comprise a portion extending perpendicular to the axial direction A, wherein this portion comprises or is connected to the connector 24.
Optionally, the rod antenna element may further comprise a portion 29 that is provided in the scale portion 28 and that extends parallel to the axial direction A.
Figure 4 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the dielectric resonator antenna 16, wherein only the dielectric resonator body 20 is visible.
In this exemplary embodiment, the dielectric resonator body 20 has the shape of a placoid scale.
The scale portion 28 comprise a central ridge portion 30 that extends along the axial direction A of the scale portion 28, namely from a front end 32 of the dielectric resonator body 20 to a back end 34 of the dielectric resonator body 20.
The scale portion 28 further comprises a first groove portion 36 and a second groove portion 38 that are each provided adjacent to the central ridge portion 30, namely on opposite sides of the central ridge portion 30.
Referring to a bottom side 40 of the dielectric resonator body 20, the central ridge portion 30 has a height exceeding the respective height of the first groove portion 36 and of the second groove portion 38.
In fact, the first groove portion 36 and the second groove portion 38 may have equal heights.
Therein, the height of the central ridge portion 30 may vary along the axial direction A.
Likewise, the heights of the first groove portion 36 and of the second groove portion 38 may vary along the axial direction A.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 4, the scale portion 28 further comprises a first lateral ridge portion 42 and a second lateral ridge portion 44.
The first lateral ridge portion 42 is provided adjacent to the first groove portion 36 on a side of the first groove portion 36 facing away from the central ridge portion 30.
The second lateral ridge portion 44 is provided adjacent to the second groove portion 38 on a side of the second groove portion 38 facing away from the central ridge portion 30.
The lateral ridge portions 42, 44 extend along the axial direction A at least partially, particularly along their entire length.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 4, the lateral ridge portions 42, 44 each comprise a curved portion connecting the lateral ridge portions 42, 44 to a tip of the scale portion 28 at the front end 32.
The lateral ridge portions 42, 44 each have a height exceeding the heights of the first groove portion 36 and of the second groove portion 38, respectively
The height of the lateral ridge portions 42, 44 may be smaller than the height of the central ridge portion 30.
Therein, the height of the lateral ridge portions 42, 44 may vary along the axial direction A.
The lateral ridge portions 42, 44 may have equal heights.
In the exemplary embodiment shown in Figure 4, the central ridge portion 30 extends beyond the lateral ridge portions 42, 44 in the axial direction A both towards the front end 32 and towards the back end 34 of the dielectric resonator body 20.
Further, the lateral ridge portions 42, 44 extend beyond the groove portions 38, 38 in the axial direction A both towards the front end 32 and towards the back end 34 of the dielectric resonator body 20.
It is to be understood that the embodiment shown in Figure 4 is exemplary. Particularly, the scale portion 28 may comprise further ridge portions and/or groove portions laterally outside of the lateral ridge portions 42, 44.
In general, the resonance frequencies of the dielectric resonator body 20 and thus the operating frequency band(s) of the dielectric resonator antenna 16 depend on the dimensions and the material of the dielectric resonator body 20.
For example, the dielectric resonator body 20 may be configured such that a transmission frequency range and/or a reception frequency range of the dielectric resonator antenna is in the Ku-band, in the K-band, or in the Ka-band.
Therein, a height, length, and/or width of the dielectric resonator antenna 16 or rather of the dielectric resonator body 20 may be half the wavelength of the lowest frequency to be transmitted and/or received by the dielectric resonator antenna 16.
For example, the height, length, and/or width of the dielectric resonator antenna may be in the range of 1 to 10 mm, respectively.
The dielectric resonator body 20 may comprise or consist of a material having a relative permittivity of at least 3, particularly of at least 10.
For example, the dielectric resonator body 20 comprises or consists of epoxy resin. As another example, the dielectric body comprises or consists of a ceramic.
Certain embodiments disclosed herein, particularly the respective module(s) and/or unit(s), utilize circuitry (e.g., one or more circuits) in order to implement standards, protocols, methodologies or technologies disclosed herein, operably couple two or more components, generate information, process information, analyze information, generate signals, encode/decode signals, convert signals, transmit and/or receive signals, control other devices, etc. Circuitry of any type can be used.
In an embodiment, circuitry includes, among other things, one or more computing devices such as a processor (e.g., a microprocessor), a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a system on a chip (SoC), or the like, or any combinations thereof, and can include discrete digital or analog circuit elements or electronics, or combinations thereof. In an embodiment, circuitry includes hardware circuit implementations (e.g., implementations in analog circuitry, implementations in digital circuitry, and the like, and combinations thereof).
In an embodiment, circuitry includes combinations of circuits and computer program products having software or firmware instructions stored on one or more computer readable memories that work together to cause a device to perform one or more protocols, methodologies or technologies described herein. In an embodiment, circuitry includes circuits, such as, for example, microprocessors or portions of microprocessor, that require software, firmware, and the like for operation. In an embodiment, circuitry includes one or more processors or portions thereof and accompanying software, firmware, hardware, and the like.
The present application may reference quantities and numbers. Unless specifically stated, such quantities and numbers are not to be considered restrictive, but exemplary of the possible quantities or numbers associated with the present application. Also in this regard, the present application may use the term "plurality" to reference a quantity or number. In this regard, the term "plurality" is meant to be any number that is more than one, for example, two, three, four, five, etc. The terms "about", "approximately", "near" etc., mean plus or minus 5% of the stated value.

Claims

A dielectric resonator antenna, wherein the dielectric resonator antenna (16) comprises a dielectric resonator body (20) and a stimulus element (22), wherein the stimulus element (22) comprises a connector (24) that is connectable to an antenna feed circuit (18), wherein the stimulus element (22) is configured to transmit and/or receive electromagnetic waves, and wherein the dielectric resonator body (20) has a scale portion (28), wherein the scale portion (28) comprises at least one groove portion (36, 38) and/or at least one ridge portion (30, 42, 44), wherein the at least one groove portion (36, 38) and/or the at least one ridge portion (30, 42, 44) extend/extends along an axial direction (A) of the scale portion (28).
The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 1, wherein the stimulus element (22) comprises a patch antenna element, wherein the patch antenna element and the dielectric resonator body (20) are stacked on top of each other.
The dielectric resonator antenna according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the stimulus element (22) comprises a rod antenna element, wherein the rod antenna element extends into the dielectric resonator body (20).
The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 3, wherein the rod antenna element extends into the scale portion (28).
The dielectric resonator antenna according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scale portion (28) comprises a plurality of groove portions (36, 38) and/or a plurality of ridge portions (30, 42, 44).
The dielectric resonator antenna according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the scale portion (28) is formed as a placoid scale.
The dielectric resonator antenna according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the dielectric resonator body (20) comprises or consists of a material having a relative permittivity of at least 3, particularly of at least 10.
The dielectric resonator antenna according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the dielectric resonator body (20) is covered by a membrane.
The dielectric resonator antenna of claim 8, wherein the membrane comprises a plurality of membrane layers, wherein immediately adjacent membrane layers consist of pairwise different materials.
An antenna array, the antenna array (12) comprising at least one dielectric resonator antenna(16) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the antenna array (12) comprises an antenna feed circuit (18), and wherein the connector (24) of the stimulus element (22) of the at least one dielectric resonator antenna (16) is connected to the antenna feed circuit (18).
The antenna array of claim 10, wherein the antenna array (12) comprises a plurality of dielectric resonator antennas (16), particularly wherein the plurality of dielectric resonator antennas (16) are connected to the same antenna feed circuit (18).
The antenna array of claim 10 or 11, wherein the antenna array (12) is free of radomes.
The antenna array of claim 10 or 11, wherein the antenna array (12) comprises at least one radome covering at least one of the dielectric resonator antennas (16).
An antenna array module, the antenna array module (10) comprising an antenna array (12) according to any one of claims 11 to 13.
The antenna array module of claim 14, wherein the antenna array module (10) is mountable to a wing of a plane.