JP5792669B2 - Array antenna device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an array antenna apparatus.

  In the array antenna apparatus, a plurality of module slices configured to include a predetermined number of arranged element antennas and a transmission / reception module corresponding to each of these element antennas, and further including a power feeding circuit, a control circuit, a power source, etc. A plurality of module units are arranged with a module unit formed by juxtaposing the two as a single structural unit, and an opening surface as an antenna device is formed.

  In this array antenna apparatus, the side lobe level at the opening surface at the time of transmission is suppressed to a required level by controlling the amplitude of power supplied from each transmitting / receiving module to the corresponding element antenna.

  Regarding this sidelobe suppression, in the conventional array antenna apparatus, a variable attenuator is provided at the input stage of the transmission power amplifier in the transmission / reception module, and the output amplitude is controlled during transmission by controlling the attenuation amount of the variable attenuator. ing.

"Multi Function and High Power Amplifier Chip for X-Band Phased Array Frontends" (IEEE Proc. Of the 1st European Migratebetween Integrated Criteria)

  In the conventional array antenna apparatus, as described above, a variable attenuator is provided at the input stage of the transmission power amplifier in the transmission / reception module for controlling the output amplitude at the time of transmission. Therefore, it is necessary to use a high gain amplifier that can compensate for the loss, and it is also necessary to add a control circuit. This increases the size and cost of the transmission / reception module, which increases the cost of the array antenna device. Yes.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to obtain an array antenna device capable of reducing the cost.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides an array antenna apparatus for transmission provided in a transmission / reception module used in a one-to-one correspondence with each of a plurality of element antennas arranged on an antenna opening surface. Power supply voltage control means for variably controlling the voltage of the operating power supply of the power amplifier so that the amplitude of the high-frequency power output to the corresponding element antenna becomes a predetermined value according to the arrangement position on the antenna opening surface. It is characterized by.

  According to the present invention, the transmission power control of the transmission / reception module is realized by variably controlling the voltage of the operation power supply of the transmission power amplifier without using the variable attenuator, so that the cost of the array antenna device can be reduced. There is an effect.

FIG. 1 is an external view showing a configuration example of a module frame of an array antenna apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external configuration example of the cube structure module shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining an external configuration example of the module slice shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of the module slice shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing another configuration example of the transmission / reception module as the second embodiment of the present invention.

  Embodiments of an array antenna apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
With reference to FIGS. 1-4, the array antenna apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1 is an external view showing a configuration example of a module frame of the array antenna device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external configuration example of the cube structure module shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a perspective view for explaining an external configuration example of the module slice shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of the module slice shown in FIG.

First, a general configuration of an array antenna apparatus will be briefly described with reference to FIGS.
In FIG. 1, a module frame 1 is a frame that defines the size of the opening surface of the array antenna device. The module frame 1 incorporates a plurality of rectangular unit units (referred to as “cube structure modules” in this specification) 2 (four are shown in FIG. 1).

  As shown in FIG. 2, each of the four cube structure modules 2 shown in FIG. 1 has a predetermined number of module slices 3 (eight are shown in FIG. 2), a mother board 4 and a reflector 5 arranged in parallel to each other. It is the structure juxtaposed between.

  2 and 3, each of the eight module slices 3 includes a power supply unit 8 on which a rectangular power supply control unit 7 is placed on one surface of a rectangular parallelepiped cooling unit 6, and a power supply unit. Six transmission / reception modules 9 having one end connected to one end of the long side of the control unit 7 at a certain interval, and six element antennas 10 connected to the other ends of the six transmission / reception modules 9 It is configured. The power supply unit 8 and the power supply control unit 7 are electrically connected to the mother board 4, and the radiation ends of the six element antennas 10 are arranged so as to protrude outward from the reflection plate 5.

  The array antenna device configured as described above can freely change the aperture diameter of the array antenna by rearranging the module slices 3 equipped with the six element antennas 10. Further, even when the transmission / reception module 9 fails, it can be easily replaced in units of three module slices, so that the economy is high.

  Now, the electrical configuration of the module slice according to the first embodiment is as shown in FIG. 4, for example. In FIG. 4, the power supply control unit 7 includes a power supply voltage control circuit 14 in addition to the power distribution synthesizer 11, the phase shifter 12, and the transmission / reception changeover switch 13 as a basic configuration.

  One RF (high frequency) signal input / output terminal of the power distribution synthesizer 11 is connected to a signal processing circuit (not shown). One input / output terminal of a plurality of phase shifters 12 (six in the example shown in FIGS. 2 and 3) is connected to the other RF signal input / output terminal of the power distribution combiner 11 in parallel. A switching base end of the transmission / reception selector switch 13 is connected to the other input / output end of each of the six phase shifters 12. The transmission / reception module 9 is connected to the switching ends 13 a and 13 b of the transmission / reception selector switch 13.

  The power supply voltage control circuit 14 is configured so that the amplitude of the output power of the transmission power amplifier 15 of each of the six transmission / reception modules 9 becomes an appropriate value according to the arrangement position of the corresponding element antenna 10. A function of individually changing and controlling the voltage of the operating power supply applied to the transmission power amplifier 15 of each of the transmission / reception modules 9 is provided.

  The transmission / reception module 9 includes a transmission power amplifier 15, a circulator 16, a high power resistance transmission / reception changeover switch 17, a low reflection circuit 18, a reception low noise amplifier 19, and a variable attenuator 20. The element antenna 10 is connected to the circulator 16.

  One switching end 13 a of the transmission / reception selector switch 13 is connected to the input end of the transmission power amplifier 15. In the transmission power amplifier 15, the operating power of a necessary voltage is applied from the power supply voltage control circuit 14 through the power cable 21, so that the amplitude of the output power to the corresponding element antenna 10 is at the position on the antenna opening surface. It is controlled so as to be a predetermined value.

  The circulator 16 passes the output (transmission RF signal) of the transmission power amplifier 15 to the element antenna 10 side, and passes the reception RF signal from the element antenna 10 to the switching base end side of the high power resistant transmission / reception changeover switch 17. Let

  One switching terminal 17 a of the high power resistance transmission / reception switch 17 is connected to the input terminal of the low noise amplifier 19 through the low reflection circuit 18, and the output terminal of the low noise amplifier 19 is connected to the transmission / reception switch 13 through the variable attenuator 20. Connected to the other switching end 13b. The other switching end 17 b of the high power resistance transmission / reception change-over switch 17 is grounded via the termination resistor 22.

  The low reflection circuit 18 has a quarter wavelength line 23 having one end connected to one switching end 17a of the high power withstand transmission / reception selector switch 17 and the other end connected to the input end of the reception low noise amplifier 19. A switch 24 having one end connected to the other end of the / 4 wavelength line 23 and a 50Ω resistor 25 disposed between the other end of the switch 24 and the ground are provided.

  Next, the operation of the module slice 3 will be described. At the time of transmission, control is performed so that each of the six transmission / reception change-over switches 13 in the power supply control unit 7 connects one switching end 13a to the switching base end, and each of the high power-resistant transmission / reception change-over switches in the six transmission / reception modules 9 17 performs control to connect the other switching end 17b to the switching base end. Further, the power supply voltage control circuit 14 in the power supply control unit 7 applies an operating power supply of a predetermined voltage to each transmission power amplifier 15 in the six transmission / reception modules 9.

  In this state, in the power feeding control unit 7, the transmission RF signal input from the signal processing circuit is equally distributed to the six phase shifters 12 by the power distribution synthesizer 11, and the six phase shifters 12 Each passing phase is controlled and input to the corresponding transmitting / receiving module 9 from one switching end 13a of the corresponding transmission / reception selector switch 13.

  In the transmission / reception module 9, the input transmission RF signal is amplified to output power having a desired amplitude by the transmission power amplifier 15 in which the operation power supply is set to a predetermined voltage, and is supplied to the corresponding element antenna 10 through the circulator 16. .

  At this time, the reflected wave of the transmission RF signal at the element antenna 10 is input to the switching base end of the high power resistance transmission / reception switch 17 through the circulator 16. Since it is connected to the switching end 17 b, the reflected wave of the transmission RF signal at the element antenna 10 is absorbed by the termination resistor 22. Thus, the reception low noise amplifier 19 is protected from the antenna reflected wave of the transmission RF signal.

  Further, at the time of reception, each of the six transmission / reception change-over switches 13 in the power supply control unit 7 is controlled to connect the other switching end 13b to the switching base end, and each of the six transmission / reception modules 9 has a high power resistance transmission / reception. Control is performed so that the changeover switch 17 connects the one changeover end 17a to the changeover base end.

  In this state, the received RF signal received by the element antenna 10 is input to the low reflection circuit 18 through the circulator 16 and the high power resistance transmission / reception selector switch 17. The low reflection circuit 18 operates as an attenuation circuit for protecting the reception low noise amplifier 19 when the reception power increases, together with the high power withstand transmission / reception selector switch 17.

  That is, the received RF signal adjusted to an appropriate level by the high power resistance transmission / reception selector switch 17 and the low reflection circuit 18 is amplified by the low noise amplifier 19 for reception, and is supplied to the power supply controller 7 via the variable attenuator 20. Entered.

  In the power supply control unit 7, the received RF signal input from the transmission / reception module 9 is input to the power distribution combiner 11 through the transmission / reception selector switch 13 and the phase shifter 12, where the power is combined and sent to the signal processing circuit at the subsequent stage. Is done.

  As described above, in the module slice 3, the amplitude and phase of the transmission power of each of the six transmission / reception modules 9 can be controlled, so that the beam shape of the array antenna can be freely determined. Moreover, since the power distribution on the antenna opening surface can be a Taylor distribution or a Chebyshev distribution, a low side lobe can be realized.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the transmission power control of the transmission / reception module is realized by variably controlling the voltage of the operation power supply of the transmission power amplifier without using the variable attenuator. The cost of the apparatus can be reduced.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing another configuration example of the transmission / reception module as the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the same or equivalent components as those shown in FIG. 4 (Embodiment 1) are denoted by the same reference numerals. Here, the description will be focused on the portion related to the second embodiment.

  5, in the transmission / reception module 30 according to the second embodiment, in the configuration shown in FIG. 4 (first embodiment), the output terminal of the transmission power amplifier 15 is the first port of the circulator 32 with the sign changed. 32a. The second port 32 b of the circulator 32 is connected to one switching end 34 a of the high power resistance transmission / reception changeover switch 34 whose sign is changed, and the third port 32 c of the circulator 32 is grounded through the termination resistor 33. .

  The element antenna 10 is connected to the switching base end of the high power resistant transmission / reception changeover switch 34, and the other switching end 34 b connected to the switching base end during reception and the other of the transmission / reception changeover switch 13 in the power supply control unit 7. A receiving low noise amplifier 35, a variable attenuator 36, and a receiving low noise amplifier 37 are arranged in this order between the switching end 13b.

  In the above configuration, at the time of transmission, the switching base end of the high power resistant transmission / reception changeover switch 34 is connected to one switching end 34a. In this state, the transmission RF signal subjected to phase control in accordance with the arrangement position on the antenna opening surface in the power feeding control unit 7 is input to the transmission power amplifier 15 from one switching end 13a of the transmission / reception selector switch 13. .

  As described in the first embodiment, the transmission power amplifier 15 is configured such that the operating power supply voltage is adjusted so that the amplitude of the output power is on the antenna opening surface by the power supply cable 21 connected to the output end of the power supply voltage control circuit 14. The transmission RF signal input from one switching end 13a of the transmission / reception change-over switch 13 is amplified in a state controlled to be a predetermined value corresponding to the arrangement position in FIG.

  The transmission RF signal amplified by the transmission power amplifier 15 is fed to the element antenna 10 through the circulator 32 and the high power resistance transmission / reception changeover switch 34. The transmission RF signal reflected by the element antenna 10 is input to the second port 32b of the circulator 32 from one switching end 34a of the high power resistance transmission / reception changeover switch 34, and from the third port 32c to an external termination resistor. It is output to 33 and absorbed.

  At the time of reception, the switching base end of the high power resistance transmission / reception selector switch 34 is connected to the other switching end 34b. In this state, the received RF signal received by the element antenna 10 is input from the high power resistance transmission / reception changeover switch 34 to the reception low noise amplifier 35 and amplified, and is received via the variable attenuator 36 at the subsequent stage. After being amplified by the low noise amplifier 37, the signal is sent to the phase shifter 12 via the transmission / reception selector switch 13 in the power supply control unit 7.

  At this time, the reception system divides the reception low noise amplifier into two, the reception low noise amplifier 35 and the reception low noise amplifier 37, and the variable attenuator 36 is interposed between them. Even if the level fluctuates greatly, the reception RF signal transmitted to the power supply control unit 7 can be set to an appropriate level.

  The transmission system of the transmission / reception module 30 according to the second embodiment is the same as the transmission system of the transmission / reception module 9 according to the first embodiment, and the high power resistance transmission / reception changeover switch 34 is interposed between the transmission power amplifier 15 and the element antenna 10. Therefore, the loss in the transmission system is increased by the amount of the high power resistant transmission / reception changeover switch 34 as compared with the transmission system in the transmission / reception module 9.

  On the other hand, the loss in the reception system of the transmission / reception module 30 according to the second embodiment is reduced by the loss in the circulator 16 and the low reflection circuit 18 in the reception system of the transmission / reception module 9 according to the first embodiment.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, in addition to the same effects as the first embodiment for the transmission system of the transmission / reception module 30, the SN ratio in the reception system of the transmission / reception module 30 is the same as that of the first embodiment. Since it becomes higher than the transmission / reception module 9, the reception system of the transmission / reception module 30 can be improved in performance.

  The S / N ratio is related to the output during transmission and the noise figure during reception. If the output during transmission increases by 1 dB compared to the conventional transmission / reception module, the noise figure during reception deteriorates by 1 dB. The performance (detection distance) is the same as that of a conventional transmission / reception module. Conversely, even if the output at the time of transmission decreases by 1 dB, if the noise figure at the time of reception improves by 1 dB, the same performance as the conventional transmission / reception module is obtained.

  For example, the transmission loss of the circulators 16 and 32 of the transmission / reception module according to the first and second embodiments is 0.5 dB, and the transmission loss between the antenna 10 of the high power resistance transmission / reception switch 17 and 34 and the transmission power amplifier 15 is 0. .5 dB, the loss between the antenna 10 and the reception low noise amplifier is 1 dB, the transmission loss of the low reflection circuit 18 is 0.5 dB, the transmission output of the transmission power amplifier 15 is Po (dBm), and the reception low noise. Assuming that the noise figure of the amplifier 19 is NF (dB), the transmission output of the transmission / reception module of the first embodiment is “output of the transmission power amplifier 15 (Po)” − “passage loss of the circulator 16 (0.5 dB). ) ", Po-0.5 (dBm).

  Further, the noise figure at the time of reception is “the noise figure (NF) of the reception low noise amplifier 19” + “passage loss of the circulator 16 (0.5 dB)” + “the antenna 10 of the high power resistance transmission / reception selector switch 17 and the reception. Therefore, NF + 0.5 + 1 + 0.5 = NF + 2 (dB). Therefore, NF + 0.5 + 1 + 0.5 = NF + 2 (dB).

  On the other hand, the output at the time of transmission of the transceiver module of the second embodiment is “output of transmission power amplifier 15 (Po)” − “passage loss of high power resistance transmission / reception switch 17 (0.5 dB)”. Po-0.5-0.5 = Po-1 (dBm).

  The noise figure at the time of reception is “noise figure (NF) of reception low noise amplifier 19” + “loss (1 dB) between antenna 10 of high power-resistant transmission / reception selector switch 17 and reception low noise amplifier”. Therefore, NF + 1 (dB).

  Compared to the output “Po-0.5 (dBm)” of the transmission / reception module of the first embodiment, the output of the transmission / reception module of the second embodiment is Po-1 (dBm), which is 0.5 dB lower. To do.

  In contrast to the noise figure “NF + 2 (dB)” at the time of reception by the transmission / reception module of the first embodiment, the noise figure at the time of reception by the transmission / reception module of the second embodiment is “NF + 1 (dB)”, which is 1 dB better. Therefore, since the transmission / reception module according to the second embodiment has the same performance as the transmission / reception module according to the first embodiment in a state where the noise figure at the time of reception is 0.5 dB better, The performance is improved as compared with the transmission / reception module of the first mode.

  As described above, the array antenna apparatus according to the present invention is useful as an array antenna apparatus capable of reducing the cost.

1 Module frame 2 Module unit (Cube structure module)
3 Module Slice 4 Motherboard 5 Reflector 6 Cooling Unit 7 Power Supply Control Unit 8 Power Supply Unit 9, 30 Transmit / Receive Module 10 Element Antenna 11 Power Distribution Synthesizer 12 Phase Shifter 13 Transmission / Reception Switch 14 Power Supply Voltage Control Circuit 15 Transmission Power Amplifier 16 , 32 Circulator 17, 34 High power resistance transmission / reception switch 18 Low reflection circuit 19 Low noise amplifier for reception 20, 36 Variable attenuator 21 Power cable 22, 33 Termination resistor 23 1/4 wavelength line 24 Switch 25 50Ω resistor 35 37 Low noise amplifier for reception

Claims (3)

In the array antenna device,
Each of the plurality of element antennas arranged on the antenna opening surface includes a transmission / reception module that is used in a one-to-one correspondence, and a power supply voltage control means. A noise amplifier, a first protection circuit, and a second protection circuit;
The power supply voltage control means variably controls the voltage of the operating power supply of the transmission power amplifier so that the amplitude of the high-frequency power output to the corresponding element antenna becomes a predetermined value corresponding to the arrangement position on the antenna opening surface. Then, the transmission directivity is changed and the side lobe is suppressed or any one of them is performed , and the variable power control of the operation power supply of the transmission power amplifier is performed by variable attenuation control at the input stage of the transmission power amplifier. Implemented in a manner that eliminates the need for power loss compensation that may occur
The first protection circuit is configured such that when the transmission / reception module is switched to the transmitter side, the reflected wave of the RF signal transmitted from the transmission amplifier via the corresponding element antenna is grounded at one end. Protect the transmitter amplifier by leading to resistance and absorbing,
When the transmission / reception module is switched to the receiver side, the second protection circuit is at a level that can protect the reception low-noise amplifier in accordance with fluctuations in reception power from the corresponding element antenna. The array antenna apparatus, wherein the received power is adjusted as described above. Each of the transmission / reception modules further comprises a high power resistance transmission / reception switch for switching connection from the corresponding element antenna between the transmitter side and the receiver side,
The first protection circuit is a circulator that outputs the output of the transmission power amplifier input to a first port from a second port to the corresponding element antenna, and from the corresponding element antenna A third port that outputs a high-frequency signal input to the second port includes a circulator that is grounded via a terminating resistor;
The second protection circuit is interposed between a first reception low-noise amplifier and a second reception low-noise amplifier having the receiver-side switching end of the high power-resistant transmission / reception switch as an input, A variable attenuator for attenuating the output of the first reception low noise amplifier is configured so that the attenuation processing is at a level capable of protecting the reception low noise amplifier in accordance with fluctuations in reception power. Adjusting the received power,
When the high power resistance transmission / reception switch is switched to the transmitter side, the first protection circuit is connected to the corresponding element antenna, and the high power resistance transmission / reception switch is switched to the receiver side. The received power that is variably attenuated from the corresponding element antenna via the variable attenuator is amplified by the second low-noise amplifier for reception and sent to the subsequent stage,
The high power resistance transmission / reception selector switch includes a switching base end to which the corresponding element antenna is connected, and a transmitter side switching end connected to the switching base end at the time of transmission from the second port of the circulator. One switching end to which a high-frequency signal is input, and the other switching end that is a receiver-side switching end connected to the switching base end during reception and to which the high-frequency signal received by the element antenna is input Prepare
The array antenna apparatus according to claim 1. The high power resistance transmission / reception switch can compensate for a noise figure of a reception signal at a receiver side switching end of the high power resistance transmission / reception switch, and a transmission signal passing loss from the transmission power amplifier to the element antenna. Constructed to reduce the amount
The array antenna apparatus according to claim 2.

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