JP2001284953A - Transmitter/receiver module integrated with antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a transmitter/receiver module integrated with antenna applicable even to a high frequency. SOLUTION: This device is composed of an antenna 40 where an antenna element 42 is formed on a dielectric substrate 41, a transmitter/receiver module 10 for amplifying a signal to be supplied to this antenna 40 and amplifying a signal received by the antenna 40, and a transmission line 30 composed of a microstrip line electromagnetically coupled with the antenna element 42 of the antenna 40 and a coplanar line connected to this microstrip line.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an integrated antenna type transmitting / receiving module used for an array antenna or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An array antenna used in a radar device or the like has a plurality of antenna elements arranged at predetermined intervals, controls the phase of a signal supplied to each antenna element, and electrically controls the directivity of a transmission pattern. Has been changed.

[0003] In a radar device or the like using an array antenna, in order to reduce noise, a transmission / reception module that amplifies a transmission signal supplied to an antenna element or amplifies a reception signal received by the antenna element is provided, for example. A configuration in which the antenna elements are arranged near each antenna element is employed.

Here, a conventional antenna integrated transmission / reception module for connecting a transmission / reception module near an antenna element will be described with reference to FIG.

[0005] A high-frequency circuit 52 for amplifying a transmission signal or a reception signal is arranged, for example, on a bottom plate 51 a in a housing 51. The high frequency circuit 52 is connected to a transmission line 54 via a wire 53. The transmission line 54 penetrates the housing 51 and is connected to one first connection component 55 of the coaxial connector attached to the side wall 51b of the housing 51, and the first connection component 55 has a thread groove formed on the outer surface. .

The antenna element 56 is connected to a second connection part 57 of a coaxial connector. The second connection part 57 has a cylindrical shape having a thread groove on the inner surface.
The connecting part 57 is connected using the two screw grooves. Thereby, the antenna element 56 and the transmission / reception module 50 are electrically connected. The first connection component 55 and the second connection component 57 are detachable, for example, in a direction indicated by an arrow Y.

[0007]

In a conventional transmitting / receiving module with an integrated antenna, a coaxial connector is used to connect the transmitting / receiving module 50 and the antenna element 56. However, coaxial connectors have an upper limit on the usable frequency,
When the frequency becomes higher than the millimeter wave band, the transmission characteristics deteriorate,
There is a problem that it cannot be used.

When the frequency becomes higher than the millimeter wave band, the interval between the antenna elements constituting the array antenna becomes narrow. Therefore, the shape of the coaxial connector becomes relatively larger than the interval between the antenna elements, and it becomes difficult to use the coaxial connector.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned disadvantages and to provide an antenna-integrated transmission / reception module applicable to high frequencies.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided an antenna-integrated transmission / reception module, comprising: an antenna having a conductive surface formed on an insulating substrate; amplifying a signal supplied to the antenna; and amplifying a signal received by the antenna. And a microstrip line electromagnetically coupled to the conductive surface of the antenna, and a coplanar line connected to the microstrip line.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The transmission / reception module 10 includes a housing 11 made of a material such as alumina, and includes a bottom plate 11a, side walls 11b surrounding four sides, an upper lid 13, and the like. Line conductors (not shown) such as a conductive surface 14, a ground plane 15, and a microstrip line on a bottom plate 11a in the housing 11.
Are formed. A high-frequency circuit 16 for amplifying transmission / reception signals is arranged on the ground plane 15, and the ground plane 15 is
a through a through hole 18 and the like.

A dielectric substrate 21 is bonded to the outside of the bottom plate 11a on which the grounding conductive layer 12 is formed, and a transmission line 30 is provided on a surface of the dielectric substrate 21 opposite to the bonding surface. Between the conductive surface 14 on the bottom plate 11a of the housing 11 and the transmission line 30, the bottom plate 11a and the dielectric substrate 21
Are electrically connected through a through-hole 19 penetrating through. The through hole 19 is configured so as not to contact the ground conductive layer 12. By the way, through hole 18, 1
9 may be metallized on the inside with a conductor, or may be filled with a conductive material and electrically connected.

The antenna 40 includes a dielectric substrate 41 and an antenna element 42 (for example, a conductive surface) formed on the dielectric substrate 41. The antenna element 42 is formed in a square shape, for example, and constitutes a microstrip antenna. The antenna 40 is mounted on the dielectric substrate 21 and is configured to be detachable.

Here, the structure of the transmission line 30 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The transmission line on the dielectric substrate 21 is
In region A, the length is approximately 1 / 4λ (λ is the wavelength of the transmission signal)
A microstrip line alone is constituted by the line conductor 31 of this embodiment, and in the area B, a coplanar line is constituted by the line conductor 31 and the ground conductors 32 managed on both sides thereof. The line conductor 31 is connected to the through hole 19 at a connection point 31a at the end on the microstrip line side, and is connected to the ground conductor 32.
Is connected to the grounding conductor layer 12 by a through hole (not shown) at a connection point 32a at the end opposite to the connection point 31a on the microstrip line 31 side.

The structure of the antenna 40 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the position of the transmission line 30 is indicated by a dotted line to show the relationship between the antenna 40 and the transmission line 30. The antenna element 42 is disposed so as to overlap with the microstrip line portion constituting the transmission line 30, and a connection point 31 a between the line conductor 31 and the through hole 19 is formed so as to substantially coincide with the center of the antenna element 42. .

In the above configuration, the transmission signal amplified by the high frequency circuit 16 is supplied to the microstrip line portion of the transmission line 30 via the wire 17, the conductive surface 14, and the through hole 19. The line conductor 31 is electromagnetically coupled to the antenna element 42, and a transmission signal is emitted from the antenna element 42 to space. On the other hand, the reception signal received by the antenna 40 includes the line conductor 31 and the through hole 1.
The signal is supplied to the high-frequency circuit 17 through the wire 9 and the wire 17 and amplified.

As described above, the present invention electromagnetically couples the transmission line 30 and the antenna 40 and does not use a coaxial connector. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to high frequencies in the millimeter wave band or more where the antenna element interval is small. it can.

In the case of the configuration of the present invention, the antenna 40
Is removed from the transmission / reception module 10, the transmission line 30 in which the microstrip line and the coplanar line are connected has a structure to be exposed. When the characteristic of the transmission signal supplied from the high-frequency circuit 16 is measured, The measurement can be easily performed by connecting the signal terminal of the high frequency prober to the coplanar line portion (region B).

If the through hole 19 is connected to the line conductor 31 on the coplanar line side and a high frequency prober for measuring electric characteristics is connected to the coplanar line 32, the microstrip line portion (area A) is opened. Since the line to which the stub is connected is measured, an accurate measurement result of the transmission signal cannot be obtained. However, according to the present invention, since the transmission signal sent from the high-frequency circuit 16 is connected at the connection point 31a of the line conductor 31 through the through hole 19, an accurate measurement result can be obtained without the above-described problem. be able to.

The antenna 40 has a configuration in which the center of the antenna element 42 is formed at a connection point 31a where the through hole 19 and the line conductor 31 are connected.
Since the position of the antenna element 42 can be easily determined, the degree of freedom in designing the antenna 40 is large. Furthermore, since the electromagnetic coupling portion of the antenna 40 with the antenna element 42 is formed only by the microstrip line portion (region A), the ground conductor 32 is grounded more than the entire transmission line 40 is formed by the coplanar line. Therefore, the number of through holes can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention,
An antenna integrated transmission / reception module that can support a wide range of frequencies from a microwave band to a millimeter wave band, can be applied to an array antenna with a small antenna element interval, and can easily measure signal characteristics can be realized.

[0022]

According to the present invention, an antenna-integrated transmitting / receiving module applicable to high frequencies can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view for explaining a transmission line used in the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view for explaining an antenna used in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a structural view for explaining a conventional example, and a part is shown in a cross section.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Transmission / reception module 11 ... Case 11a ... Case bottom plate 11b ... Case side wall 13 ... Case top cover 14 ... Conductive surface 15 ... Grounding surface 16 ... High frequency circuit 17 ... Wire 18 ... Through hole 19 ... Through hole 21 ... dielectric substrate 30 ... transmission line 31 ... line conductor 40 ... antenna 41 ... dielectric substrate 42 ... antenna element

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H01Q 3/26 H01Q 3/26 Z 23/00 23/00

Claims (4)

[Claims] An antenna having a conductive surface formed on an insulating substrate; a transmitting / receiving module for amplifying a signal supplied to the antenna and amplifying a signal received by the antenna; And a coplanar line connected to the microstrip line. 2. The transmitting / receiving module with integrated antenna according to claim 1, wherein the microstrip line and the coplanar line are formed on the same plane. 3. A transmission / reception module is electrically connected to a microstrip line, and a feeding point of a signal transmitted from the transmission / reception module to the microstrip line substantially corresponds to a center position of a conductive surface forming an antenna. The transmitting / receiving module integrated with an antenna according to claim 1. 4. An end portion in which a transmitting / receiving module and a microstrip line are electrically connected, and a feeding point of a signal transmitted from the transmitting / receiving module to the microstrip line is opposite to a side connected to the coplanar line. The transmitting / receiving module integrated with an antenna according to claim 1.