JPH0666581B2 - Array antenna - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an antenna device, and more particularly to a phased array antenna structure.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, the element antenna of this type of phased array antenna and the antenna module are connected by directly soldering the feed line of the element antenna to the transmission line of the antenna module or by connecting the element antenna of the waveguide structure to the waveguide structure. Methods such as screwing to the antenna module, connecting with a coaxial connector, or integrally printing the element antenna on the same printed circuit board as the transmission path of the antenna module have been adopted.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The conventional connection method described above has the following drawbacks. First, the method to integrate the element antenna feed line to the antenna module transmission line directly by soldering, or the waveguide structure element antenna to the waveguide structure antenna module by screwing is the active device. Considering that it is necessary to replace the antenna module having the element when it fails, it is difficult to arrange a large number of element antennas side by side and integrally manufacture them. The number of element antennas and the number of antenna modules that can be integrated is two or three at most, and there is a problem that the structure of the connecting portion is complicated and the manufacturing cost becomes high. Furthermore, when incorporated in an array arrangement, it is necessary to ensure the positional accuracy of many element antennas. This is because the positional accuracy is an excitation distribution error of the antenna aperture surface, which causes deterioration of radiation pattern performance. However, there is a problem that if the element antenna is divided into a large number, it becomes difficult to obtain the positional accuracy.

In addition, the method of connecting with a coaxial connector can reduce the cost and improve the position accuracy by integrally manufacturing a plurality of element antennas, but the structure of the element antenna and the connector part of the antenna module is complicated. In addition, there is a problem in that the manufacturing cost and the weight increase due to the need for precision in aligning the axes of the element antenna and the coaxial connector of the antenna module.

In addition, the method of integrally printing the element antenna on the same printed circuit board as the transmission path of the antenna module is
Although it is possible to reduce the cost, there is a problem that considering the replacement of the antenna module as in the former case, it is difficult to integrally manufacture a plurality of element antennas, and it becomes difficult to obtain the positional accuracy of the element antennas.

[Means for solving problems]

In the array antenna of the present invention, a microstrip transmission line forming a feed line of the element antenna and a microstrip transmission line forming a connector of the antenna module are mechanically superposed on a connecting portion between the element antenna and the antenna module. Has a structure that forms a microstrip slot connection.

〔Example〕

 Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the basic structure of an embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, n element antennas 1a, 1b, ... 1n are formed in an array on the same printed circuit board 2 and have feed lines 3a, 3b ,.

Further, n of the antenna modules 4a, 4b, ... 4n have microstrip transmission lines 6a, 6b ,. Element antennas 1a, 1b, ... 1n are microstrip transmission lines of antenna modules 4a, 4b, ... 4n, respectively.
Slots formed on the ground conductor 9 either on the boards 8a, 8b, ... 8n constituting the 6a, 6b, ... 6n or by both the printed boards 8a, 8b, ... 8n and the printed board 2. 7a, 7b, ...
... 7n and is connected in high frequency to antenna modules 4a, 4b, ... 4n by microstrip slot coupling. This high-frequency connection is made by connecting and disconnecting the antenna modules 4a, 4b, ...
By connecting and mounting to the antenna module, the surfaces of the printed circuit boards 8a, 8b, ... 8n of the antenna module and the surface of the printed circuit board 2 of the previously mounted element antenna are mechanically brought into contact with each other, and the feeding lines 3a, 3b, .. 3n are arranged at right angles to the slots 7a, 7b, .. 7n to form a microstrip slot coupling.

A distributor 5 is connected to the antenna modules 4a, 4b, ... 4n to distribute signals.

2, 3 and 4 are perspective views when the antenna module 4i is separated from the i-th element antenna 1i.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment in which the slot 7i is formed on the ground conductor 9i of the microstrip transmission line 6i of the antenna module 4i.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment in which a slot 7i is formed on the antenna module 4i side and a similar slot 11i is also formed on the ground conductor 10 on the printed circuit board 2 on the element antenna side. In this case, slots 7i and 11i overlap each other,
The ground conductor 9i and the ground conductor 10 are assembled so as to be in mechanical contact with each other, thereby preventing an impedance layer from being deteriorated due to an air layer between the printed boards.

FIG. 4 shows that a convex portion 19i is added to a part of the printed circuit board 2 on the element antenna side, and the feeding line 3i of the element antenna is formed on the convex portion 19i.
And, the substrate 8i on the side of the antenna module 4i is provided with a concave portion 20i in part, and the antenna module 4i is incorporated into the element antenna 1i so that the convex portion 19i and the concave portion 20i overlap with each other to form a microstrip slot coupling. It is an embodiment having a structure configured to be connected in high frequency.

In FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, the broken line portion indicates that it is formed on the back side of the printed circuit board.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views of an embodiment in which a held dipole 12a, 12b, ... 12n is used as an element antenna and a transmitting / receiving device is incorporated in an antenna module to form an active phased array antenna. It is the systematic diagram.

The operating principle is as follows.

At the time of transmission, the high frequency signal supplied from the distributor 5 is included in the antenna modules 4a, 4b, ... 4n, and the phase shifter 14a,
Phase control is performed by 14b, ... 14n, and the duplexer 15a, 15b, ... 1
Element antennas 1a, 1b, ... 1 via 5n, amplified by power amplifiers 17a, 17b, ... 17n, and transmitted / received by switching devices 16a, 16b, ... 16n
It is sent to n and emitted. In the phase shifters 14a, 14b, ... 14n, the phases of the radio waves radiated from the element antennas 1a, 1b, ... 1n are controlled so that the radio waves are radiated in arbitrary directions.

At the time of reception, the radio waves received by the element antennas 1a, 1b, ... 1n pass through the duplexer 16a, 16b ,.
It is amplified by a, 18b, ... 18n, and the duplexer 15a, 15b, ... 15n
, The phase is controlled by the phase shifters 14a, 14b, ... 14n, and they are combined by the distributor 5.

Further, in this example, the antenna modules 4a, 4b, ... 4n and the distributor 5 are connected by the connectors 13a, 13b, ... 13n, and when any antenna module fails, the direction of the arrow, that is, the opposite side to the radiation surface. It has a structure that can be removed in any direction.

In this embodiment, a linear array is shown, but it is needless to say that it can be applied to a planar array or a conformal array.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, the present invention realizes a high-frequency connection between the element antenna and the antenna module by mechanically superposing the printed circuit boards, eliminating the connection by soldering, screwing or a coaxial connector, and only an arbitrary antenna module is provided. By making it easy to connect and disconnect, it is possible to realize an array antenna with low cost, light weight, and good radiation pattern performance.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the basic structure of an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 5 are perspective views of the respective embodiments, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of FIG. It is a systematic diagram of an Example. 1a, 1b, 1i, 1n …… Element antenna, 2 …… Printed circuit board, 3
a, 3b, 3i, 3n …… Feed line, 4a, 4b, 4i, 4n …… Antenna module, 5 …… Distributor, 6a, 6b, 6i, 6n …… Microstrip transmission line, 7a, 7b, 7i, 7n ... slots, 8a, 8b, 8i,
8n …… Printed circuit board, 9,10,9i, 10i …… Ground conductor, 11i ……
Slots, 12a, 12b, 12n …… Holded dipole, 1
3a, 13b, 13n …… Connector, 14a, 14b, 14n …… Phase shifter, 15
a, 15b, 15n, 16a, 16b, 16n ... Switcher, 17a, 17b, 17n ... Power amplifier, 18a, 18b, 18n ... Low noise amplifier, 19i ... Convex portion, 20i ... Concave portion.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A phased array antenna including a plurality of element antennas, a plurality of antenna modules connected to the plurality of element antennas, and a distributor that distributes a signal to each of the antenna modules, wherein the element antenna is On the other hand, the first microstrip transmission in which the antenna module can be inserted and removed in module units, and the plurality of element antennas and a feed line for feeding the element antennas are arranged at right angles to the slots formed in the antenna module. A first substrate composed of a channel and a second microstrip transmission connected to the antenna module for each antenna module, the slot for feeding power to the element antenna, and the second microstrip transmission arranged at a right angle to the slot. And a second substrate composed of The plurality of second substrates of the antenna module connected by the distributor are mechanically brought into contact with the first substrate, and the first and second microstrip transmission lines are slot-coupled to each other. The characteristic array antenna.