JPH0574008U - Phase shifter active module - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Purpose] The volume of active modules used for phased array antennas, etc., will be reduced overall. [Structure] By inserting a plurality of sets of cascade circuits of amplifiers 2a, 2b and phase shifters 3a, 3b in the same module, the connector 11, the power supply circuit 8 and the control circuit 10 are combined into one set, and a power supply line is provided. , Group the command signal lines into one set,
A phase shift circuit for a plurality of unit antennas is housed in one module.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to an active module of a phase shifter used for a microwave array antenna or the like.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In the microwave array antenna, the pointing direction of the array antenna is controlled by controlling the phase of the microwave supplied to each unit antenna (that is, each antenna element) of the antenna array. Conventionally, one active module was added to each unit antenna to control the phase of the unit antenna.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional active module. In the figure, 2 is an amplifier, 3 is a phase shifter, 5 and 6 are input / output terminals, 7 is an amplifier driver circuit, and 9 is a shifter. A phaser driver circuit, 11 is a connector, 14 is a power supply circuit, and 15 is a control circuit. These circuits are included in one module to form an active module 20 for phase shifting.

An external power source and a command signal of the amount of phase shift enter the module 20 via the connector 11. In the case of the active module for transmission, terminal 5 is the input terminal for microwave transmission power, and terminal 6 is the output terminal to the unit antenna. In the case of the active module for reception, terminal 6 is the microwave from the unit antenna. The input terminal of the received power, terminal 5 is connected to the receiver through the power combining circuit.

The phase shifter 3 is composed of a ferrite phase shifter or a pin (PIN) diode phase shifter, and the phase shifter driver circuit 9 controls the current flowing in the coil when the ferrite phase shifter is used. In the case of a diode, the amount of phase shift is controlled by controlling the on / off of the diode. The amplifier 2 is driven by an amplifier driver circuit 7, and the amplifier driver circuit 7 is supplied with power from a power supply circuit 14. The control circuit 15 gives a command signal given via the connector 11 to the phase shifter driver circuit 9 to give a command as to the amount of phase shift to be controlled.

[0006]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Since the conventional active module as described above is configured as described above, the number of active modules also increases as the number of antenna elements increases, and at the same time, the power supply line and phase shift amount command that enter into each module via the connector 11 There was a problem that the number of signal input lines increased and the antenna configuration became complicated and assembly became difficult. In addition, the higher the frequency used, the shorter the array interval of the unit antennas, and it is necessary to equip the active module within this short interval. The wave part can be reduced in proportion to the wave length, but it is difficult to downsize the power supply circuit 14, the control circuit 15, and the connector 11, and the active module can be mounted within the array interval of the unit antennas. There was a problem such as disappearance.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an active module of a phase shifter that can simplify the configuration and reduce the size thereof.

[0008]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In the active module of the phase shifter according to the present invention, a plurality of sets of cascade connection circuits of an amplifier and a phase shifter are put in the same module, so that a plurality of sets of a connector, a power supply circuit and a control circuit in a conventional active module are combined. We have decided to reduce the volume occupied by the entire active module by combining them into one set and combining multiple sets of power supply lines and command signal lines into one set.

[0009]

【Example】

 FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3 denote the same or corresponding parts, 1 is an active module of the present invention, 2a and 2b are amplifiers and 3a respectively. , 3b are phase shifters, 4 are power distribution (combining) circuits, 5 are common input / output terminals, 6a and 6b are series input / output terminals, 7a and 7b are amplifier driver circuits, and 8 is common. Power supply circuits, 9a and 9b are phase shifter driver circuits, and 10 is a common control circuit.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control circuit 10 shown in FIG. 1. Reference numeral 12 is a serial-parallel conversion circuit, and 13a and 13b are latches. From the host computer (not shown), via the connector 11, the phase shift amount command signals given to the phase shifter driver circuits 9a and 9b are input in the bit serial form, and this is input by the serial / parallel conversion circuit 12 to the bit parallel form. The signal that is converted into a signal and gives a command to the phase shifter driver circuit 9a is latched by the latch 13a, and the signal that gives a command to the phase shifter driver circuit 9b is latched by the latch 13b, and the respective phase shifter driver is Sent to the circuit. The power distribution (combining) circuit 4 operates as a distribution circuit for transmission and operates as a combination circuit for reception.

Since the operation of the active module 1 for each unit antenna is the same as the operation of the conventional active module 20 for phase shift, duplicate description will be omitted. Comparing FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, for the two unit antennas, the conventional one requires two connectors, two power supply circuits, and two control circuits, and the power supply line and the command signal line are respectively different. Whereas two sets are required, the circuit of the present invention requires only one set, so that the active module can be downsized overall. In the above embodiment, an example in which one active module is used for two unit antennas has been described, but it is easy to design to use one active module for a plurality of unit antennas by the same procedure. is there.

[0012]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, there is an effect such that the volume of the phase shift active array used for the array antenna or the like can be comprehensively reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control circuit shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional active module.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 active module 2a amplifier 2b amplifier 3a phase shifter 3b phase shifter 4 power distribution (combining) circuit 5 common input / output terminal 6a series input / output terminal 6b series input / output terminal 7a amplifier driver circuit 7b amplifier driver circuit 8 power supply circuit 9a Phase shifter driver circuit 9b Phase shifter driver circuit 10 Control circuit 11 Connector 12 Serial-parallel conversion circuit 13a Latch 13b Latch

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A power distribution (combining) circuit to which a plurality of cascaded circuits in which a microwave amplifier and a microwave phase shifter are cascaded, and an output of each microwave phase shifter of the plurality of cascaded circuits are connected. And a common input / output terminal to which the microwave power distributed (combined) by this power distribution (combining) circuit is connected, and each series to which the outputs of the microwave amplifiers of the plurality of sets of cascade circuits are respectively connected. An input / output terminal, each amplifier driver circuit that is attached to each microwave amplifier of the plurality of sets of cascade circuits and drives the microwave amplifier, and a common power supply circuit that supplies power to all the amplifier driver circuits, Each phase shifter driver circuit that is attached to each microwave phase shifter of the plurality of cascade circuits and controls the phase shift amount of the microwave phase shifter, and the The phase shift amount command signal sent in the form of serial serial is converted into a bit parallel signal for each phase shifter driver circuit and sent to each phase shifter driver circuit to control the phase shifter driver circuit. An active module of a phase shifter, characterized in that a common control circuit for instructing the amount of phase shift is configured to be included in one module.