IL268104B2 - Compact array antenna system - Google Patents

Description

COMPACT ARRAY ANTENNA SYSTEM TECHNOLOGICAL FIELD The present invention is generally in the field of array antenna systems, and particularly relates to a compact array antenna system design.

؛ BACKGROUND Array antenna system design can be very challenging due to the rapidly increases demand for higher transmission powers, increased frequency ranges, beam accuracy, and integration, nowadays. Geometrical dimensions of a planar array antenna is mainly dictated by the distance between adjacent antenna elements, which is typically bounded from below by the half wavelength distance for preventing mutual coupling between the antenna elements. Straightforward antenna array system designs typically attempt to integrate the same components of the receive/transmit channels of each antenna element in separate interconnected (e.g., printed circuit boards - PCBs) layers. Such multiplayer approach can somewhat simplify the design, but it also increases the structural complexity and impair efficiency and heat dispersion of the system.US Patent Publication No. 2007/090997 describes a reflect array antenna that includes an array of rectangular monolithic sub-array modules arranged in a non-uniform pattern to leave a plurality of rectangular gaps in the pattern. A DC feed pin located within each gap may provide DC bias current to the sub-array modules. The sub-array modules may be mounted on a heat sink in the ndn-uniform pattern. The heat sink may have holes aligned with the gaps to allow passage of the DC feed pins. In some embodiments, an array cooling assembly may be coupled to the back of the heat sink to cool the reflect array antenna with a coolant.US Patent Publication No. 7,348,932 describes a radiator that includes a waveguide having an aperture and a patch antenna disposed in the aperture. In one embodiment, an antenna includes an array of waveguide antenna elements, each element having a cavity, and an array of patch antenna elements including an upper patch element and a lower patch element disposed in the cavity.US Patent Publication No. 6,114,986 describes two discrete transmit/receive (T/R) channels implemented in a single common T/R module package having the capability of providing combined functions, control and power conditioning while utilizing a single multi-cavity, multi-layer substrate comprised of high temperature cofired ceramic (HTCC) layers. The ceramic layers have outer surfaces including respective metallization patterns of ground planes and stripline conductors as well as feedthroughs or vertical vias formed therein for providing three dimensional routing of both shielded RF and DC power and logic control signals so as to configure, among other things, a pair of RF manifold signal couplers which are embedded in the substrate and which transition to a multi-pin blind mate press-on RF connector assembly at the front end of the package. DC and logic input/output control signals are connected to a plurality of active circuit components including application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and monolithic microwave integrated circuit chips (MMICs) via spring contact pads at the rear of the package. The T/R module is one module of an array of like T/R modules coupled to an active aperture of a radar system.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION | Array antenna systems are typically bulky and relatively heavy (weighing few tenths of kilograms) multilayered structures requiring heavy duty cooling systems and allocation of sufficient installation space for proper operation. Such multilayered array antenna system solutions usually don’t comply with the ongoing demands for increased efficiency and reduced geometrical dimensions. There is thus a need for compact array antenna systems designs having improved heat dispersion properties, and overall reduced weight and geometrical dimensions, jIn the conventional multilayered array antenna system designs each layer (block) of the system is configured as an independent self-sufficient block, which introduces redundancy, because such designs require each block of the antenna system to have its own power supply and distribution, control unit, and integration circuitries, arranged in a layered transmit-receive (T/R) channels architecture. The array antenna systems disclosed herein are designed to facilitate use of thin (about 1 to 1.5 mm in thickness) and small (having geometrical dimension of about 17x17 mm) 4 channels quad SIP optimized for sharing of common features and resources of the different blocks by the entire antenna array system such as power supply, power distribution, switching, signal distribution and combining, to thereby provide substantial reduction in the hardware components required by the array antenna system.

The sharing of the features and resources provided in the array antenna systems disclosed herein eliminates the redundancy characterizing the conventional array antenna system designs, thereby providing substantial reduction in the amount of signal distribution, combining, and DC/DC conversion circuitries required. On top of the major reduction in the size of the T/R frontend (to about 17x17x1.5 mm, where in known conventional antenna systems geometrical dimensions of each T/R module is about 30x30x10 mm), substantial reduction is also achieved in the amount of area required for digital and control components of the system, and consequently, substantial reduction in PCB area and in the number of system layers required. Accordingly, the disclosed antenna array system designs optimize sharing of features/resources and practically flatten and condense the system, thereby resulting in substantial reduction in the amount of circuit components, weight, and in the geometrical dimensions of the entire system i. e., reduced profile/thickness.In a broad aspect the present application provides an array antenna system design wherein all antenna elements and all active components of the receive/transmit channels of the antenna elements are attached to one heatsink plate configured to promote heat dispersion and removal of heat generated during operation via exposed anterior and lateral surfaces thereof. The heatsink plate can be cooled relatively easily by streaming a coolant over its anterior and/or lateral surfaces, which is exploited in embodiments disclosed herein to efficiently and rapidly remove heat produced by the active elements of the antenna system. Additionally, the attachment of all antenna elements and their respective active components to a single heatsink plate significantly reduces the geometrical dimensions of the system. This way a compact and significantly reduced weight array antenna system is obtained, that can be also cooled with relative ease using less demanding cooling equipment.In some possible embodiments, the antenna elements are arranged in two or more sectors, where the antenna elements of each sector occupy a certain area of the array antenna. Each sector of antenna elements can be comprised of two or more groups of antenna elements, wherein each group of antenna elements is arranged within a respective cell area defined in the respective sector of the antenna elements, and operated by a respective RE module (a T/R module, also referred to herein as antennas group module, or antennas module for short). The RE module of each group of antenna elements is implemented in some embodiments in a form of a system-in-package module - SIP (quad), instead of the bulky RF module that is typically used in the conventional array antenna systems.The SIP implementation of the RF modules further facilitates the reduction of the profile/thickness of the entire system, and the reduction in the weight of the Aluminum casing required to pack and shield the substantially large group/layer of RF modules of the system. In conventional array antenna system designs 16 T/R channels are typically arranged in 4 different layers, wherein the 1st layer accommodates the T/R channels and their RF modules, the 2nd and 3rd layers accommodates the control units of the system, and the 4th layer accommodates the power supply, power distribution and interfacing circuitries of the system. In such conventional array antenna system designs each layer requires its own aluminum casing and shielding for proper operation of the system, which substantially increases the geometrical dimensions and weight of the system, and resulting in a total thickness of about 110 mm.In the antennas system embodiments disclosed herein the 1st and 2nd layers of the conventional array antenna system are implemented by a single thin SIP layer (also referred to herein as heatsink portion or layer), and the other two (the 3rd and 4th) layers are integrated in the array antenna system disclosed herein into a mainboard layer accommodating the control units, power supply, power distribution and interfacing circuitries of the system on a single circuit board. This arrangement of the array antenna system into two layers allows eliminating the first level of integration, by utilizing sector management SIP modules (SM in Figs. 1A, IB, IC, ID, 2Cand 2D),each connected to antennas RF modules belonging to a certain sector of antenna elements and configured to manage the operation of its respective sector of antenna elements.For example, and without being limiting, the thicknesses of the RF modules layer of the conventional multilayered array antenna system structures is in the range of 50-mm, which in some of the embodiments disclosed herein is packed into a layer of SIP RF modules (also referred to herein as frontend or heatsink portion), that includes the heatsink plate, the antenna elements, antennas SIP RF modules, and antennas sector management modules, of the system. The thickness of the main body of the SIP RF modules (z.e., without the components mounted on it) in some possible embodiments is less than 3 mm. The thickness of the heatsink plate is about 12 mm in some embodiments, so the overall thickness of the heatsink plate with the SIP RF modules, and antennas sector management modules, attached to it, is less than 15 mm in some embodiments. With this array antenna system design the cooling efforts of the system can be reduced to about heat exchanger.The other components of the array antenna systems disclosed herein are shared on a single PCB layer (also referred to herein as backend or mainboard portion) having a thickness of about 10-20 mm, and optionally about 15 mm. The backend portion of the system, which has thickness of about 30 mm, is responsible for integration and power distribution and accordingly includes in some embodiments the control units, power supply, power distribution and interfacing circuitries of the system mounted on the same PCB layer i.e., the total thickness of some embodiments of the array antenna system is؛ . about 33 mmOne disclosed inventive aspect relates to an antenna system comprising: a heatsink element having a plurality of antenna elements attached at a first side thereof and a plurality of antennas modules attached at a second side thereof, each antennas module configured to operate a group of a predetermined number of the plurality of antenna elements (e.g., comprising at least four antenna elements); a circuit board comprising a control system mounted thereon and configured to generate signals for operating the plurality of antennas modules; and a contactors assembly sandwiched between the heatsink element and the circuit board and configured to communicate signals between the control system and the plurality of antennas modules.Optionally, but in some embodiments preferably, the heatsink element comprises a plurality of pass-through bores. Each these pass-through bore being configured to constitute electrical connection between one of the plurality of antenna elements with one of the antennas modules. More particularly, each antenna element can comprise a connector component configured for insertion into a pass-through bore of the heatsink plate through the first side of the heatsink element, and each of the antennas modules can comprise a group of connector components at a first side thereof, and the connector components can be configured for insertion into a group of the pass-through bores of the heatsink element through the second side of the heatsink element, and for electrically connecting to the connector components of a respective group of the antenna elements inside the pass-through bores. Contact: pads provided at a second side of the antennas modules can be configured to establish electrical contact with respective contactors of the contactors assembly.

In some embodiments the plurality of antenna elements are distributed over the surface area of the heatsink element to form two or more, or four or more, separate antennas sectors. The antenna system comprises in some embodiments a respective sector management module for each of the antennas sectors of the system. The sector management module can be configured, to modify the signals generated by the control system, and transfer the modified signals to the antennas modules associated the respective sector of the antenna elements. The antenna system can comprise for each of the sector management modules a respective mounting cavity formed in the second side of the heatsink element. The mounting cavity can be configured to receive and hold therein at least some portion of a first side of one of the sector management modules.Contact pads can be provided on؛ a second side of each of the sector management modules for establishing electrical contact with respective contactors of the contactors assembly. The sector management modules are configured to receive the signals generated by the control system. The connectors assembly is configured to electrically connect the sector management module jof each sector of antenna elements (also referred to herein as antennas sector) to the antennas modules associated the respective sector of the antenna elements.The control system comprises in some embodiments a main control unit and a respective sector control unit for each one of the sector of antenna elements. The sector control unit can be configured to receive signals generated by the main control unit and adjust them for transmission by the antenna elements of the sector of antenna elements associated therewith. The control system comprises in possible embodiments a summation-differentiation unit configured to manipulate signals received by the system, or signals to be thereby transmitted.Optionally, an antennas board is used for holding the antenna elements thereon, and facilitate attachment of the antenna 'elements to the first side of the heatsink element. The heatsink element can be a passive heatsink element made of metallic plate having heat-transfers pipes embedded in it and configured to equalize the distribution of heat thereover.Another disclosed inventive aspect relates to a method of constructing an array antenna. The method comprising attaching a plurality of antenna elements to a first side of a heatsink element, attaching one or more antennas modules to a second side of the heatsink element, and electrically connecting each of the one or more antennas modules with a respective group of the plurality of antenna elements. Optionally, but in some embodiments preferably, one or more channels are formed in the heatsink element, each channel extending between high and low temperature regions of the heatsink element. A heat-transfer pipe is then placed in each of the channels formed in the heatsink plate for substantially equalizing distribution of heat over the heatsink element.The method can comprise forming a plurality of pass-through bores in the heatsink plate. The attaching of the plurality of antenna elements can comprise introducing a connector component of each antenna element to a respective one of the plurality of pass- through bores at the first side of the heatsink element. The attaching the one or more of the antennas modules comprises introducing a group of connector components of each antennas module to a respective group of the plurality of pass-through bores at the ,second side of the heatsink element.Optionally, but in some embodiments preferably, the electrically connecting of each of the one or more antennas modules with a respective group of antenna elements comprises electrically connecting the connector component of each antenna element in the respective group of antenna elements with a respective connector component of the antennas module inside their pass-through bore. The forming of the plurality of pass- through bores can comprise forming the bores within defined sector areas of the heatsink element for attachment of two or more groups of the antenna elements thereto within each one of the sector areas.The method comprises in some embodiments forming in each sector area of the heatsink element a mounting cavity,׳ placing a sector management module in the mounting cavity, and electrically connecting between the sector management module and the one or more antennas modules associated with the two or more groups of the antenna elements of the sector of antenna elements. The electrically connecting between the sector management modules and the antennas modules can comprise contacting contactors of a contactors assembly with contact pads pf the modules.The method can be used to construct an array antenna system by mounting one or more control units to a circuit board comprising contact pads and conducting lines connecting between the contact pads and the one or more control units, and attaching the circuit board to the contactors assembly for establishing electrical contact between the contact pads and contactors of the contactors assembly, to thereby electrically connect between the one or more control units and the sector management modules.

The electrical connection between the one or more control units and the sector management modules results in a substantially short electrical paths between the antenna elements and the control units, thereby substantially improving voltage standing wave ratio and return loss of the array antenna system. The method further comprising sharing resources of the modules by the array antenna system to thereby significantly reduce manufacture costs of the system, the number of layers of the array antenna system and the amount of shielding elements required therefore. In addition, the attaching of the antenna elements and modules to the heatsink element and the placing of the heat-transfer pipes in the heatsink element, results in substantially improve thermal performance of the array antenna system. !As described hereinabove and hereinbelow, the embodiments disclosed herein provide solderless layered array antenna configurations, which are thus substantially easy and not expensive for maintenance. In addition, the manufacture costs of the array antenna configurations disclosed herein are substantially smaller than the manufacture costs of corresponding conventional array antenna systems. For example, and without being limiting, the manufacture costs of each R/T channel of array antenna of some embodiments of the present application is less that USD 150, and expected to be about USD 80 after some optimizations of the system.A total decrease of about 40% to 60% in the weight of the array antenna system is also achieved by sharing of system resources, which enables removal of the redundant components typically required in the conventional designs, and due to the reduction in the number of layers and their shieldings e.g., the weight of 25 Kg of conventional array system designs is reduced in the array antenna systems disclosed herein to about 12 Kg.The array antenna systems of embodiments of the present application comprises the frontend and backend layers connected by the connectors assembly, substantially improves the voltage standing wave ratio (VSWR) and return loss of the array antenna system due to substantial shortening of the electrical paths within the system. Particularly, the electrical paths of the signals transferred between the frontend and backend is mostly composed of the electrically conducting lines of the mainboard, the contactors of the contactor assemblies, and components of the sector management modules and of the antennas modules.The array antenna embodiments disclosed herein further provides improved thermal performance due to the significant reduction in the number of layers, and the ! -9- arrangement of active components on aicooling plate. For example, and without being limiting, junction temperature in the array antenna systems embodiments hereof is reduced by about 15°C to 25°C. : BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings!. Features shown in the drawings are meant to be illustrative of only some embodiments of the invention, unless otherwise implicitly indicated. In the drawings like reference numerals are used to indicate corresponding parts, and in which: Figs. 1Ato IEschematically illustrate array antenna systems according to some possible embodiments, wherein Fig.1Aland IBrespectively show exploded side view of an array antenna system assembled over ]anterior and posterior surfaces of a heatsink plate and an assembled side view of the array antenna system after its components are assembled over the surfaces of the heatsink plate, Fig. ICand IDrespectively show exploded and assembled side views of the array antenna system employing an array antenna support element, and Fig. IEis a block diagram showing electrical structure of the array antenna system; Figs. 2Ato Fig. 2Dschematically illustrate attachment of the antenna elements and active components of the system to surfaces of the heatsink plate according to some possible embodiments, wherein Fig. 2A:shows the heatsink plate before system assembly, Fig. 2Bshows the heatsink plate after the antenna elements are assembled thereonto, and Figs. 2Cand 2Drespectively show perspective and front views of the heatsink plate after the antennas modules are assembled thereonto; Figs. 3Ato 3Dschematically illustrate an antennas module according to some possible embodiments, wherein Figs. 3Aand 3Bare perspective views showing upper and bottom components of an antennas I module, Fig. 3Cis a bottom view of the antennas module, and Fig. 3Dis a block diagram showing electrical components of the antennas؛ ; module Fig. 4 schematically illustrates a connectors assembly according to some possible embodiments configured for electrically connecting between the components of the heatsink plate to the mainboard of the system; Fig. 5 schematically illustrates a mainboard of the array antenna system according to some possible embodiments; and 1 Fig. 6 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a process of constructing an array antenna according to some possible embodiments. 1 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS One or more specific embodiments of the present application will be described below with reference to the drawings, which are to be considered in all aspects as illustrative only and not restrictive in any manner. In an effort to provide a concise description of these embodiments, not all features of an actual implementation are described in the specification. Elements illustrated in the drawings are not necessarily to scale, or in correct proportional relationships, which are not critical. Emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the invention such that persons skilled in the art will be able to make and use the array antenna system designs, once they understand the principles of the subject matter disclosed herein. This invention may be provided in other specific forms and embodiments without departing from the essential characteristics described herein.The present disclosure provides compact array antenna system designs for construction of array antenna systems having substantially reduced thickness and weight, and improved heat dispersion properties. The disclosed array antenna system embodiments generally comprise two portions/layers, a heatsink portion/layer carrying the antenna array and all active electrical components of its receive/transmit channels, and a mainboard portion/layer carrying control and power management circuitries of the system. Electric contactors assembly located between the heatsink and mainboard portions/layers provides electrical interconnection between antennas modules of the heatsink portion/layer, and electrical connection between the antennas modules of the heatsink portion/layer and the control and power management circuitries of the mainboard portion/layer.This architecture thus place the heavy power consumption elements of the array antenna system on a single heatsink plate configured to dissipate the heat thereby produced during system operation. The dissipated heat is transferred to the external environment, and/or to a coolant, via its anterior side surface, and also via its exposed lateral surface areas, which surface areas being substantially exposed to the external environment. In addition, this two part/layer array antenna system configuration optimizes transversal distribution of the active components over the heatsink plate, and of the control circuitries over the mainboard, to minimize the thicknesses of the heatsink and mainboard portions, to thereby obtain substantially flat distribution of the active and control/power management components/circuitries thereover, which significantly reduces the overall thickness (e.g., to about 33 mm) and weight (e.g., to about 8 to 10 Kg) of the array antenna system.These properties of the array antenna system are further facilitated by electrical design of the power driving elements to construct efficient and transversely distributed power driving infrastructure over one (inner) side of the heatsink plate, and by locating the electrical connection of each antenna element to its respective antennas module inside a respective pass-through bore formed in the heatsink plate, which thereby assures that the heat produced by the power delivered to the antenna elements is dissipated by the heatsink plate and don’t propagate posteriorly to the mainboard. This way the operating temperatures of the mainboard/backend components can be maintained within their respective nominal bounds without requiring further cooling considerations/efforts.Particularly, the electrical design of the array antenna system according to some possible embodiments defines two or more, and in some embodiments four or more, sectors of antenna elements over the heatsink plate, and divides each sector of antenna elements into antennas groups, each antennas group comprising two or more, and in some embodiments four or more, antenna elements. With this arrangement of the antenna elements each group of antenna elements is electrically driven by a respective antennas module (e.g., implemented as a system in package - SIP, module), and the antennas modules of each antenna sector are interconnected for electrically driving each sector of antenna elements by a respective sector management module (e.g., implemented as a SIP module), each sector management module is configured to integrate and combine operation of a plurality (e.g., 20) of quad SIP T/R RF antenna modules. The antennas modules and their sector management modules are placed on an inner side surface of the heatsink plate, while the antenna elements are placed on an external side surface (z.e., 12- exposed to the environment and/or to a coolant) and electrically connected to the antennas modules through the pass-through bores formed in the heatsink plate.The mainboard portion of the array antenna system can be similarly divided into separate control and power management sectors, where each separate control and power management sector is configured to communicate control and power management signals to its respective sector management ؛ module. In some embodiments each sector management module is electrically coupled to a respective sector controller (also referred to herein as slave controller) for communicating therewith the control and power management signals. A main control unit located in the mainboard portion can be used to orchestrate and synchronize operation of the antenna/modules sectors of the array antenna system. The main control unit can be electrically coupled to each one of the sector controllers via respective electrically conducting lines for communicating the control i and/or power management signals therewith.The mainboard portion comprises in some embodiments a summation- differentiation unit configured to compute summations and/or differences of signals communicated via the different sectors of the array antenna system e.g., for computing angle information of transmit or receive signal transmissions. The summation- differentiation unit can be electrically coupled to the different sector management modules and/or to the main controller, iFor an overview of several example features, process stages, and principles of the invention, the examples of array antenna systems illustrated schematically and diagrammatically in the figures are mainly intended for a radar system. Such radar systems are however one example implementation that demonstrates a number of features, processes, and principles used in array antenna systems, but they are also useful for other applications and can be made in different variations. Therefore, this description will proceed with reference to the shown examples, but with the understanding that the invention recited in the claims below can also be implemented in myriad other ways, once the principles are understood from the descriptions, explanations, and drawings herein. All such variations, as well as any other modifications apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art and useful in array antenna system applications may be suitably employed, and are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. Fig. 1shows an exploded side view of an antenna system 10according to some possible embodiments. The antenna system 10generally comprises a heatsink portion i -13 - 10h,a mainboard portion 10m,and a connectors assembly 13configured to constitute electrical interconnection between elements of the heatsink portion lOh,and to electrically connect between components of the heatsink portion lOhand components of the mainboard portion 10m.The heatsink portion lOhcomprises a heatsink plate 12,a plurality of antenna elements 11 configured to attach to an anterior side of the heatsink plate 12,a plurality of antennas modules 12aconfigured to attach to a posterior side of the heatsink plate 12, and one or more sector management modules S/M configured to attach to the posterior side of the heatsink plate 12 and manage operation of the antennas modules 12a. The mainboard portion 10mcomprises an electrical circuit board (e.g., printed circuit board - PCB) 14 having contact pads (not shown) patterned on an anterior side thereof for establishing electrical connection with the connectors assembly 13, and electrically conducting lines and IC-sockets (integrated circuit sockets - not shown) on a posterior side thereof. The sockets provided on the posterior side of the circuit board 14 are configured to receive one or more sector/slave control units 14a,a summation- differentiation unit 16,and a main control unit 14m,and the conducting lines (not shown) are configured to electrically connect between the sockets and the contact pads patterned on the anterior side of the circuit board 14؛. The antenna elements 11are arranged into antennas groups An,each antenna group Angenerally comprising two or more, and in some embodiments four or more, antenna elements 11.Each antenna element 11comprises a posterior connector component laconfigured to electrically connect to an anterior connector component 2a of one of the antennas modules 12avia a pass-through bore 3aformed in the heatsink plate 12.In some possible embodiments the anterior connectors 2aof the antennas modules 12aare in a form of socket (female) connector elements, the posterior connectors laof the antenna elements 11are in a form of pin (male) connectors. Each pass-through bore 3apasses between anterior and posterior sides of the heatsink plate 12,and each anterior/socket connector 2aof the antennas modules 12ais configured to be snugly introduced into a respective pass-through bore 3aof the heatsink plate 12,and to snugly receive thereinside a posterior/pin connector laof an antenna element 11. Accordingly, the antenna elements 11are attached to the anterior side of the heatsink plate 12by posteriorly introducing their posterior/pin connectors lainto an anterior opening of one of the pass-through bores 3a,and the antennas modules 12aare attached to the posterior side of the heatsink plate 12 by anteriorly introducing their anterior/sockets connectors 2ainto posterior openings of pass-through bores 3a. Electrical connection between the posterior/pin connectors laof the antenna elements 11 and the antennas modules 12ais thus established and maintained inside the pass-through bores 3aof the heatsink plate 12.In possible embodiments the configuration of the electrical connectors laand 2acan be inversed to provide the anterior connectors 2aof the antennas modules 12ain a form of connector pins, and the posterior connectors laof the antenna elements 11 in a form of connector sockets.In this specific and non-limiting example each antennas group Ancomprises four antenna elements 11 (al, a2, a3, a4),and each respective antennas module 12acomprises respective four anterior connector elements 2aconfigured to establish electrical connection therewith inside a respective group of four pass-through bores 3aof the heatsink board 12.The antennas module 12ais configured to supply signals originating from the mainboard portion 10mfor transmission by the antenna elements 11of the antennas group An,to adjust the supplied signals to assure each antenna element 11is fed with transmission signals having suitable phase shift and gain to achieve desired transmission direction and pattern from the antenna system 10, and to combine and transfer signals received by the antennas elements 11of the antennas group Anfor processing by the mainboard portion 10mof the system 10. In some embodiments the groups Anof antenna elements 11are arranged to form two or more antennas sectors Sn,wherein the antenna elements 1 1of each antennas sector Snare located over a different surface area of the anterior side of the heatsink plate 12 not intersecting with a surface area of any of the other antennas sectors. Each antennas module 12afurther comprises posterior connection pads 2b,and the connectors assembly 13is configured to interconnect between the posterior connection pads 2bof the antennas modules 12aof each antennas sector Snand its respective sector management module SM,and to electrically connect each sector management module SMto a respective sector/slave control unit 14aof the mainboard portion 10m.The sector management module SMis configured to supply to each antennas module 12avia its posterior connection pads 2bsignals to be transmitted by its respective antennas groups An generally defining the transmission directionality and pattern required according to relative location of its antennas groups Anon the anterior side of the heatsink element 12,and to combine the signals received and combined by the antennas modules 12aof - 15 - ؛ the antennas sector Snand transfer the same to the respective sector/slave control unit 14ain the mainboard portion 10m. In some embodiments the heatsink plate 12comprises one or more cavities cl formed on it posterior surface. Each cavity clcan be configured to receive and hold at least some portion of a respective antennas sectors modules SM thereinside, and to transfer heat produced by the antennas sectors modules SMto the heatsink plate 12.The fabrication of the heatsink plate, formation of its pass-through bores 3aand cavities cl, requires tight tolerance to ensure mechanical and electromechanical assembly of the heatsink portion lOh,i.e., to ensure electrical connection between the T/R-SIP RF modules and the antenna elements through the pass-through bores 3a,electrical connection of the T/R-SIP RF nodules to the mainboard portion 14through the contactors assembly 13,and electrical connection of the antennas sector modules SMSIPs to the mainboard portion 14through the contactors assembly 13. The shape and structure of the antennas sectors modules SMcan be substantially similar to the shape and structure of the !antennas modules 12a,but without the anterior connectors 2aof the antennas modules 12a.Thus, the antennas modules 12acan be attached to the heatsink plate 12only by introducing their anterior connectors 2ainto the pass-through bores 3a,and the antennas sectors modules SMare attached to the heatsink plate 12by introducing some portion of their base body into a respective cavity clof the 1 heatsink plate 12. In some embodiments the antennas groups Anof the antenna system 10are arranged to form four antennas sectors Sn,wherein the operation of each antennas sector Snis managed by a respective sector/slave control unit 14aof the mainboard portion 10m.Optionally, but in some embodiments preferably, each antennas group Anis constructed from four antenna elements' 11 forming a square-shaped, or parallelogram- shaped, group antenna structure. In a specific embodiment of the antenna system 10 each antennas sector Snis constructed from twenty antennas groups An.Accordingly, in possible embodiments the antenna system 10 comprises four sector management modules SM,each of the sector management modules SMis operated by a respective sector/slave control unit 14aand being configured to operate twenty antennas modules 12a,each of which configured to operate an antennas group Ancomprising four antenna elements al, a2, a3and a4.

With this configuration of the heatsink portion 10h, comprising the heatsink plate 12,the antennas modules 12a,and the antennas sector management modules SM,can be arranged to form a frontend layer of the array antenna system having a thickness of less than 15 mm (without the antenna elements 11),and the mainboard portion 10m, comprising the circuit board 14,the sector/slave control units 14a,the main control unit 14m,and the summation-differentiation unit 16,can be arranged to form a backend layer of the array antenna system having a thickness of about 15 mm. Fig. IBshows a sectional side view of the antenna system 10when assembled by attaching all components of the heatsink portion lOhto the heatsink plate 12,attaching all components of the mainboard portion 10mto the circuit board 14,and placing the connectors assembly 13sandwiched between the heatsink portion lOhand the mainboard portion 10mto interconnect between the antennas modules 12aof each antennas sector Snand their respective sector management module SM,and to electrically connect the sector management modules SMto their respective sector/slave control units 14aand to the summation-differentiation unit 16. More particularly, in the heatsink portion lOhthe antenna elements 11are attached to the anterior side of the heatsink plate 12 electrically connected to their respective antennas modules 12a,that are attached to the posterior side of the heatsink plate 12,and the sector management modules SMare attached to the posterior side of the heatsink plate 12by placing them in their respective cavities cl.In the mainboard portion 10mthe sector/slave control units 14a,the main control unit 14m,and the summation- differentiation unit 16,are attached to the posterior side of circuit board 14which is configured to electrically connect the main control unit 14mto the sector/slave control units 14aand the summation-differentiation unit 16.The anterior side of the connectors assembly 13is directly connected to the posterior connection pads 2bof the antennas modules 12aand of the sector management modules SMto electrically connect each sector management module SMto the antennas modules 12abelonging to its antennas sector Sn,and the posterior side of the connectors assembly 13is directly connected to the circuit board 14 to electrically connect each sector management module SM to its respective sector/slave control units 14aand to the summation-differentiation unit 16of the mainboard section 10m. As seen in Fig. IB,anterior surface areas of the antennas modules 12aand of the sector management modules SM are directly connected to the heatsink plate 12, and their signals transmission connectors are surrounded in direct contact of inner wall of the pass- through bore 3 aaccommodating them, to thereby optimize the transfer of heat from the antennas modules 12aand the sector management modules SMto the heatsink plate 12. As also seen, the spatial distribution of the antenna elements 11over the anterior side of the heatsink plate 12,and of the antennas modules 12aand the sector management modules SM over the posterior side of the heatsink plate 12, guaranties a significantly narrow profile of the heatsink portion lOh,and thus also of the entire array antenna system 10.The connectors assembly 13and the mainboard portion 10mare inherently narrow and of low weight further due to their resources sharing architecture, so proper selection of the materials and geometrical dimensions of the antenna elements and heatsink plate can further permit designs of the antenna system 10 to be of substantially low weights (about 8 to 10 Kg). Fig.IC shows an exploded side view of antenna system 10' further comprising an antennas board 11bto which the antenna elements 11are attached before they are connected to the heatsink plate 12. The antenna system 10' also comprises a heatsink portion lOhand a mainboard portion 10m,whose components and elements are substantially similar to those of the antenna system 10shown in Figs. 1Aand IB,and thus will not be described again in details. Fig. IDshows antenna system 10'when its heatsink and mainboard portions, 10band 10m,are assembled and electrically connected by the connectors assembly 13, as described hereinabove. As seen, in its assembled state the antennas board 11bcan directly contact the heatsink plate 12,and thus it is made in some embodiments from materials having high thermal conductivity in order to facilitate removal of heat from the heatsink plate 12. Fig. IDshows the antenna system 10'in its assembled state, wherein the antennas board 11bis directly connected to the heatsink plate 12 for facilitating heat removal therefrom.As exemplified in shown in Figs. 1Ato ID, the geometrical dimensions of the heatsink plate 12 can extend in lateral/transversal directions to form laterally/transversally extending cooling elements or ribs 12rconfigured to facilitate removal of heat from the system/the heatsink plate to the external environment and/or a coolant streamed over the heatsink plate 12. In other possible embodiments the geometrical dimensions of the heatsink plate 12 are adjusted for compactly accommodating the array of antenna elements 11, to minimize the geometrical dimensions of the array antenna system 10.

Claims (22)

268104/- 25 - CLAIMS

1. An antenna system comprising: a heatsink element having a plurality of antenna elements attached at a first anterior surface thereof and a plurality of antennas modules attached at a second posterior surface thereof, each antennas module configured to operate a group of a predetermined number of said plurality of antenna elements; a circuit board comprising a control system mounted thereon and configured to generate signals for operating said plurality of antennas modules; and a contactors assembly sandwiched between said heatsink element and said circuit board and configured to communicate signals between said control system and said plurality of antennas modules, wherein the heatsink element comprises a plurality of pass-through bores, each pass-through bore configured to constitute electrical connection between one of the plurality of antenna elements with one of the antennas modules.

2. The antenna system of claim 1 wherein each antenna element comprises a connector component configured for insertion into a pass-through bore of the heatsink plate through the anterior surface of the heatsink element, and wherein each antennas module comprises a group of connector components at a first side thereof, said connector components configured for insertion into a group of the pass-through bores of the heatsink element through the posterior surface of the heatsink element, and for electrically connecting to the connector components of a respective group of the antenna elements inside the pass-through bores.

3. The antenna system of claim 2 wherein each antennas module comprises contact pads at a second side thereof, each of said contact pads configured to establish electrical contact with a respective contactor of the contactors assembly.

4. The antenna system of any one of the preceding claims wherein each group of antenna elements comprises at least four antenna elements. 268104/- 26 -

5. The antenna system of any one of the preceding claims wherein the plurality of antenna elements are distributed over the surface area of the heatsink element to form a plurality of separate antennas sectors.

6. The antenna system of claim5 comprising a respective sector management module for each of the antennas sectors of the system, said sector management module configured to modify the signals generated by the control system and transfer them to the antennas modules associated the respective sector of the antenna elements.

7. The antenna system of claim 6 comprising for each of the sector management modules a respective mounting cavity formed in the posterior surface of the heatsink element, said mounting cavity configured to receive and hold therein at least some portion of a first side of one of said sector management modules.

8. The antenna system of claim 7 wherein each of the sector management modules comprises contact pads on a second side thereof, said contact pads configured to establish electrical contact with respective contactor of the contactors assembly.

9. The antenna system of any one of claims 7 to 8 wherein the sector management modules are configured to receive the signals generated by the control system, and wherein the connectors assembly is configured to electrically connect the sector management module of each antennas sector to the antennas modules associated with the respective sector of the antenna elements.

10. The antenna system of any one of claims 5 to 9 wherein the control system comprises a main control unit and a respective sector control unit for each one of the antennas sectors, said sector control unit configured to receive signals generated by said main control unit and adjust them for transmission by the antenna elements of the antennas sectors associated therewith.

11. The antenna system of any one of the preceding claims wherein the control system comprising a summation-differentiation unit configured to manipulate signals received by the system, or signals to be thereby transmitted. 268104/- 27 -

12. The antenna system of any one of the preceding claims comprising an antennas board configured to holding the antenna elements thereon, and facilitate attachment of the antenna elements to the anterior surface of the heatsink element.

13. The antenna system of any one of the preceding claims wherein the heatsink element is a passive heatsink element made of metallic plate having heat-transfer pipes embedded in it and configured to equalize the distribution of heat thereover.

14. A method of constructing an array antenna comprising: attaching a plurality of antenna elements to a first anterior surface side of a heatsink element; attaching one or more antennas modules to a second posterior surface side of said heatsink element; and electrically connecting each of said one or more antennas modules with a respective group of said plurality of antenna elements, further comprising forming a plurality of pass-through bores in said heatsink plate, and wherein the attaching of the plurality of antenna elements comprises introducing a connector component of each antenna element to a respective one of said plurality of pass-through bores at the anterior surface of the heatsink element, and wherein the attaching the one or more of the antennas modules comprises introducing a group of connector components of each antennas module to a respective group of said plurality of pass-through bores at to the posterior surface of the heatsink element.

15. The method of claim 14 comprising forming in the heatsink element one or more channels, each channel being configured to equalize the temperature over the heatsink element, and placing in each channel a heat-transfer pipe.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the electrically connecting each of the one or more antennas modules with a respective group of antenna elements comprises electrically connecting the connector component of each antenna element in said respective group of antenna elements with a respective connector component of said antennas module inside their pass-through bore. 268104/- 28 -

17. The method of any one of claims 14 to 16 wherein the forming of the plurality of pass-through bores comprises forming said bores within defined sector areas of the heatsink element for attachment of two or more groups of the antenna elements thereto within each one of said sector areas.

18. The method of any one of claims 14 to 17 comprising forming in each sector area of the heatsink element a mounting cavity, placing a sector management module in said mounting cavity, and electrically connecting between said sector management module and the one or more antennas modules associated with the two or more groups of the antenna elements of said sector.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the electrically connecting between the sector management modules and the antennas modules comprises contacting contactors of a contactors assembly with contact pads of said modules.

20. A method of constructing an array antenna system comprising mounting one or more control units to a circuit board, said circuit board comprising contact pads and conducting lines connecting between said contact pads and said one or more control units, and attaching said circuit board to the contactors assembly of claim 22 for establishing electrical contact between said contact pads and contactors of the contactors assembly, to thereby electrically connect between said one or more control units and the sector management modules.

21. The method of claim 20 comprising sharing resources of the modules by the array antenna system to thereby reduce the number of layers and amount of shielding required therefore.

22. The method of any one of claims 14 to 21 wherein attaching the antenna elements and modules to the heatsink element and the placing of the heat-transfer pipes in the heatsink element, results in improving thermal performance of the system.