JPH07112128B2 - Antenna device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to reduction of power consumption of a transmission / reception module used for an electronically controlled antenna and reduction of weight of an antenna device.

[Conventional technology]

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional antenna device. In the figure, (11l) to (1 nm) are element antennas, (2) is an aperture layer composed of this element antenna (1), and (3 is a high-frequency wave). Input terminal, (4) intermediate frequency input terminal, (5) power source input terminal, (6) control signal input terminal, (7) refrigerant input terminal, (8) refrigerant output terminal, (9) above A bus layer connected to the power input end (5) and the control signal input end (6), (10) a cooling layer connected to the refrigerant input end (7) and the refrigerant output end (8), (36ll ) To (36 nm) are transmitting / receiving modules mounted on the cooling layer (10), (37) is a power feeding layer connected to the high frequency input end (3) and the intermediate frequency input end (4), (38ll) to (38 nm) is a reception signal output terminal connected to the transmission / reception modules (36ll) to (36 nm).

In addition, the block diagram of the transmission / reception module (36) is shown in
Shown in the figure.

In the figure, (16a) is the high frequency input / output terminal, (17a), (17
e) is a switch for switching between the transmission path and the reception path, (1
8) is a high output amplifier, (19) is a low noise amplifier, (20) is a phase shifter, (21) is a high frequency module input terminal, (22a),
(22b) is a mixer, (23a) and (23b) are intermediate frequency amplifiers connected to these mixers (22a) and (22b), respectively.
(24a) and (24b) are the intermediate frequency amplifiers (23
a), a filter connected to (23b), (25) an intermediate frequency module input terminal connected to the mixer (22b), (2
6) is an analog / digital converter connected to the filter (24b), and (27) is an electric signal output terminal connected to the analog / digital converter (26).

Next, the operation will be described. For convenience, the transmission / reception modules (36ll) to (36nl) will be described. The power input from the power input terminal (5) passes through the bus layer (9), the cooling layer (10), the transmission / reception module (36ll), to (36n).
l) to send / receive modules (36ll) to (36nl) to the operating state. Further, by inputting the control signal to the control signal input terminal (6) and through the bus layer (9) and the cooling layer (10) to the transmission / reception modules (36ll) to (36nl), the transmission / reception module (36ll) to (36nl) is in the transmitting state or the receiving state.

First, the transmission system will be described. The high frequency input from the high frequency input terminal (3) passes through the power feeding layer (37), the bus layer (9) and the cooling layer (10), and the transmitting / receiving module (36).
ll) to (36nl) of the high frequency module are supplied and distributed to the input terminal (21). Then, it is input to the phase shifter (20) via the switch (17e) on the transmitting side, converted to the phase set by the control signal, and then input to the high output amplifier (18) for amplification. To be done. Next, the amplified high frequency is output from the high frequency input / output terminal (16a) via the switch (17a) on the transmitting side. Next, the output high frequency is sent to the aperture layer (2) through the cooling layer (10), the bus layer (9) and the power feeding layer (37), and is radiated into the space as electromagnetic waves from the element antennas (1ll) to (1nl). To be done.

Next, the receiving system will be described. The incoming radio waves are received by the element antennas (1ll) to (1nl), pass through the aperture layer (2), and pass through the power feeding layer (37), the bus layer (9) and the cooling layer (10), and the transmitting / receiving module (36ll). ) To (36nl) high frequency input / output terminal (16a). In the transceiver module, the received high frequency input to the high frequency input / output terminal (16a) is input to the low noise amplifier (19) via the switch (17a) on the receiving side, and then amplified, and then the mixer (22a ) Sent to. On the other hand, a high frequency for converting the received high frequency input to the mixer (22a) into an intermediate frequency is input from the high frequency input end (3), passes through the power feeding layer (37), and passes through the bus layer (9).
And the transmission / reception module (36ll) through the cooling layer (10)
It is supplied to the high frequency module input terminal (21) of (36nl),
It is input to the mixer (22a) via the switch (17e) on the receiving side. In this mixer (22a), the received high frequency is mixed with the high frequency, converted into an intermediate frequency, and output as the received intermediate frequency. Then the intermediate frequency amplifier (23
After being input to a), it is input to the filter (24a), the unnecessary frequency components are removed, and then sent to the mixer (22b) again.

On the other hand, an intermediate frequency for converting the received intermediate frequency sent to the mixer (22b) into a video signal is input to the intermediate frequency input terminal (4), passes through the power feeding layer (37), and passes through the bus layer (9) and the cooling layer. (10) via send and receive module (36ll) ~
It is input to the intermediate frequency module input end (25) of (36nl) and sent to the mixer (22b). In this mixer (22b), the received intermediate frequency is mixed with the intermediate frequency input from the intermediate frequency module input terminal (25) and output as a video signal. Next, the output video signal is input to the intermediate frequency amplifier (23b), amplified, and then sent to the filter (24b) to remove unnecessary frequency components. Then, it is input to the analog / digital converter (26), converted into a digital signal and output from the electric signal output end (27), and further as a reception signal, a reception signal output end (38ll)
It is output from ~ (38nl).

In addition, the transmission / reception modules (36ll) to (36nl) generate heat during operation, so the characteristics change depending on the temperature. Therefore, the refrigerant is input from the refrigerant input end (7), the transmission / reception modules (36ll) to (36nl) are indirectly cooled through the cooling layer (10), and the transmission / reception module (36ll) is always maintained at a constant temperature.
~ (36nl) makes stable operation. The refrigerant input to the cooling layer (10) is the refrigerant output end (8).
Will be output.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Since the conventional antenna device is configured as described above, the received signals can be digitally processed in both the n- and m-array directions (two-dimensional). Even when the digital processing is required only in the m-array direction (one-dimensional), the current consumption per module corresponding to one element is large, and the total current consumption of the entire antenna device becomes very large. In practical use, it is necessary to reduce the total current consumption of the entire antenna device.

Further, since all the functions are integrated for each module, the total weight of the antenna device becomes large, and it is a problem to reduce the weight of the antenna device when it is mounted on a moving body.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and when forming a reception beam, digital processing of the reception signal is required only in the m-array direction (one-dimensional), and the total current consumption of the antenna device is reduced. It is an object. The present invention also aims at reducing the weight of the antenna device.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

An antenna device according to the present invention includes a transmission / reception module, a sub-module having high-frequency amplification and phase conversion means,
The received signal is converted into an intermediate frequency signal and further separated into two main modules having means for converting into a digital signal, and the power n distribution / combining circuit layer associates one main module with n sub-modules. It has a different structure.

[Action]

In the antenna device according to the present invention, one main module for converting a reception signal into an intermediate frequency signal and a digital signal is associated with n sub-modules for amplifying a high frequency and converting a phase (n × m). The element array antenna can be composed of m sub-arrays of n elements. Moreover, in the receiving system, since the received signals from the n sub-modules are power-combined by the power n distribution / combining circuit layer and the composite signal is converted into a digital signal by one main module, the hardware of the receiving system is used. Can be reduced to about 1 / n of the conventional value.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First
FIG. 2 and FIG. 2 are a perspective view and a system diagram showing the antenna device, respectively. In the figure, (1) to (10) are exactly the same as the above conventional antenna device. (11ll) ~ (11n
m) and (13l) to (13m) are sub-modules and main modules respectively mounted on the cooling layer (10), and (12) is the sub-modules (11ll) to (11nm) and the main modules (13l) to (13l). 13m) connected to the power n distribution circuit layer,
(14) is a high-frequency input terminal (3), a high-frequency input terminal (4), and a main module feeding layer connected to the main modules (13l) to (13m), and (15l) to (15m) are bus layers (9). ) Is a reception signal input terminal connected to.

Next, the block diagrams of the sub-modules (11ll) to (11nm) and the main modules (13l) to (13m) are respectively shown in a third block diagram.
Shown in Figures and 4.

In each figure, (16) to (27) are exactly the same as the above conventional antenna device.

Next, the operation will be described. For convenience, the submodule (11
ll) to (11nl) and the main module (13l). The power input from the power input terminal (5) is supplied to the sub-modules (11ll) to (11nl) and the main module (13l) through the bus layer (9).
l) ~ (11nl) and the main module (13l) are activated. Further, input a control signal to the control signal input terminal (6),
Sub-module (11ll) ~ (11nl) through bus layer (9)
By inputting to the main module (13l), each module takes a transmitting state or a receiving state.

First, the transmission system will be described. The high frequency input from the high frequency input terminal (3) passes through the main module feed layer (14) to the high frequency module input terminal (2) of the main module (13l).
Supplied to 1). Then, after passing through the switches (17d) (17c) on the transmitting side, the high frequency input / output terminal (16
It is output from c) and input to the power n distribution / combination circuit layer (12) via the cooling layer (10) and the bus layer (9). Next, the high frequency waves are distributed by the power n distribution / combining circuit layer (12) to n, and each of the n high frequency waves is divided into a bus layer (9) and a cooling layer (10).
Is supplied to and distributed to the sub-modules (11ll) to (11nl). Supply in each sub-module (11ll) ~ (11nl)
The distributed high frequency is input to the phase shifter (20) through the high frequency input / output terminal (16b), converted to the phase set by the control signal, and then switched to the switch (17).
It is amplified by the high power amplifier (18) via b). Then, the amplified high frequency wave is output from the high frequency wave input / output terminal (16a) via the switch (17a) on the transmitting side. The high frequency wave output from the high frequency wave input / output terminal (16a) of each of the sub-modules (11ll) to (11nl) is opened through the cooling layer (10), the bus layer (9) and the power n distribution / combination circuit layer (12). It is input to each element antenna (1ll) to (1nl) of (2) and is radiated into space as an electromagnetic wave.

Next, the receiving system will be described. The incoming electromagnetic waves are received by the element antennas (1ll) to (1nl), and transmitted through the aperture layer (2) as a received high frequency power n distribution / combining circuit layer (12),
It is input to the high frequency input / output terminals (16a) of the sub-modules (11ll) to (1lnl) via the bus layer (9) and the cooling layer (10). Next, the received high-frequency wave that has been input passes through the switch (17a) that is placed on the receiving side, and the low-noise amplifier (19)
Is input to and amplified. Then, it passes through a switch (17b) on the receiving side, further passes through a phase shifter (20) whose phase is set in the n-arrangement direction by a control signal, and is output from a high frequency input / output terminal (16b). The n received high-frequency waves output from the high-frequency input / output terminals (16b) of the sub-modules (11ll) to (11nl) are distributed through the cooling layer (10) and the bus layer (9) to the power n distribution / combination circuit layer ( It is input to 12) and power is combined into one reception high frequency. Next, the synthesized received high frequency waves are again input to the high frequency input / output terminal (16c) of the main module (13l) via the bus layer (9) and the cooling layer (10). Next, the input received high frequency wave is input to the mixer (22a) via the switch (17c) on the receiving side. On the other hand, in order to convert the received high frequency into the intermediate frequency by the mixer (22a), the high frequency is input from the high frequency input terminal (3) and passes through the power feeding layer (14) for the main module, and further the bus layer (9) and the cooling layer. A switch (17) that is input from the high-frequency module input end (21) of the main module (13l) via (10) and is tilted to the receiving side.
It is input to the mixer (22a) via d). Next, this high frequency wave and the received high frequency wave are mixed by the mixer (22a) and input to the intermediate frequency amplifier (23a) as a received intermediate frequency and amplified. Then it is input to the filter (24a),
After the unnecessary frequency component is removed, it is sent to the mixer (22b) again. On the other hand, in order to convert the received intermediate frequency into a video signal by the mixer (22b), the intermediate frequency is input from the intermediate frequency input terminal (4), passes through the main module power feeding layer (14), and further the bus layer (9). ) And the cooling layer (10) through the intermediate module input end (25) of the main module (13l)
It is then input to the mixer (22b). Next, this intermediate frequency and the received intermediate frequency are mixed by a mixer (22b), and an intermediate frequency amplifier (23b) is produced as a video signal.
Is input to and amplified. Next, the signal is input to the filter (24b), the unnecessary frequency components are removed, and then input to the analog / digital converter (26), converted into a digital signal, and output from the electric signal output end (27) as a reception signal. . Then, it is input to the bus layer (9) through the cooling layer (10) and output from the reception signal output end (15l). Therefore, as an antenna device, there are m main modules (13l).
~ (13 m) output m received signals are output from the m received signal output terminals (15l) to (15 m) through the bus layer (9). Although not shown in the figure, a digital phase detector or Digital beam synthesis is performed in the signal processing unit at the latter stage of the computer.

In addition, the submodules (11ll) to (11nl) and the main module (13l) generate heat during operation, so the characteristics change depending on the temperature. Therefore, the refrigerant is input from the refrigerant input end (7) and passes through the refrigerant layer (10) to the sub-modules (11ll) to
(11nl) and the main module (13l) are indirectly cooled to maintain a constant temperature, so the submodules (11ll) to (11nl)
l) and the main module (13l) are designed to operate stably.

The refrigerant input to the cooling layer (10) is output from the refrigerant output end (8).

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, each layer of the antenna device is divided into a three-dimensional aperture layer (28), a three-dimensional bus layer (29), and a three-dimensional cooling layer (3
0), the three-dimensional power n-distribution combining circuit layer (3l) and the three-dimensional power feeding layer (32) will be described.

In this case, the layer structure portion of the antenna device has a three-dimensional layer structure, and the three-dimensional aperture layer (28) of this antenna device is used.
Part is arbitrarily shaped according to the surface shape of the fuselage of the machine body, and further according to the shape of the three-dimensional opening layer (28), the three-dimensional power n distribution composite circuit layer (3l), three-dimensional power feeding By forming the layer (32), the three-dimensional bus layer (29) and the three-dimensional cooling layer (30), the effect that the antenna device can be arbitrarily configured along each surface of the airframe is obtained.

In addition, this antenna device can be configured not only on the surface of the body or the like but also in a shape and a portion according to the application, and moreover, a gain pattern when a beam is scanned can be made uniform over a wide angle range. You can also get the effect.

Next, the reception signal output end (15l) to (15m) of the antenna device
Alternatively, instead of (38ll) to (38nm), the receiving optical signal output terminals (33l) to (33m) are provided as shown in FIG. 6, and the main modules (13l) to (13m) are provided as shown in FIG. A case where the electric / optical converter (34) and the optical signal output end (35) are provided inside will be described.

In this case, the received signal is the main module (13l) ~ (1
3m) is converted into an optical signal by the electrical / optical converter (34), output as a received optical signal from the optical signal output end (35), and further output from the received optical signal output ends (33l) to (33m). As a result, there is an effect that electromagnetic interference such as an electric signal is not received, and problems such as rounding of the waveform of the output signal on the transmission line are eliminated.

In addition, since the received signal is output as light in this antenna device, the antenna device can be arranged regardless of the distance from the signal processor.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, (n × m) transmission / reception modules are converted into (n × m) sub-modules having high-frequency amplification and phase conversion means, and received signals are converted into intermediate frequency signals and digital signals. In the receiving system, n sub-modules are configured by connecting the main module to the n sub-modules by the power n-distribution combining circuit layer. Each received high frequency from the
The power consumption of the antenna device can be reduced to a digital signal by combining the received high frequency power with one main module, so that the total current consumption of the antenna device can be reduced and a lightweight antenna device can be obtained. is there.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are submodules and main parts of the embodiment of the present invention, respectively. A block diagram of the module, FIGS. 5 and 6 are perspective views showing an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a main module of the embodiment of the invention, and FIG. 8 is a conventional antenna device. FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a transmitting / receiving module of a conventional antenna device. (1) is an element antenna, (2) is an aperture layer, (3) is a high frequency input end, (4) is an intermediate frequency input end, (5) is a power supply input end, (6) is a control signal input end, (7) ) Is the refrigerant input end,
(8) is a refrigerant output end, (9) bath layer, (10) is a cooling layer,
(11) is a sub-module, (12) is a power n distribution / synthesis circuit layer, (13) is a main module, (14) is a power feeding layer for the main module, (15) is a reception signal output terminal, and (16) is a high frequency input. Output, (17) switch, (18) high power amplifier, (19)
Is a low noise amplifier, (20) is a phase shifter, (21) is a high frequency module input terminal, (22) is a mixer, (23) is an intermediate frequency amplifier, (24) is a filter, and (25) is an intermediate frequency module input. End, (26) analog / digital converter, (27) electric signal output end, (28) three-dimensional aperture layer, (29) three-dimensional bus layer, (30) three-dimensional cooling layer, (31 ) Is a three-dimensional power n distribution / combination circuit layer, (32) is a three-dimensional power feeding layer, (33) is a received optical signal output end, (34) is an electrical / optical converter, (35) is an optical signal output end, ( 36) is a transceiver module, (37) is a power supply layer, and (38) is a reception signal output terminal. In the drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A transmission / reception module comprising: (n × m, where n and m are integers of 2 or more) transmitting / receiving modules; an aperture layer formed by arraying (n × m) element antennas; An antenna device comprising a bus layer for supplying power and control signals, a cooling layer for cooling the transceiver module, and a power supply layer for supplying high frequency to the transceiver module, wherein (n × m) transceiver modules are provided. To
(N × m) sub-modules having high-frequency amplification and phase conversion means, and means for converting received signals from the (n × m) sub-modules to intermediate frequency signals and further to digital signals It consists of m main modules, and one main module for n sub modules.
An antenna device characterized in that an (n × m) element array is constituted by m sub-arrays made up of n elements by making them correspond to each other. 2. A transmission / reception module comprising: (n × m, where n and m are integers of 2 or more) transmission / reception modules, an aperture layer formed by arraying (n × m) element antennas. An antenna device comprising a bus layer for supplying power and control signals, a cooling layer for cooling the transceiver module, and a power supply layer for supplying high frequency to the transceiver module, wherein (n × m) transceiver modules are provided. To
(N × m) sub-modules having high-frequency amplification and phase conversion means, and means for converting received signals from the (n × m) sub-modules to intermediate frequency signals and further to digital signals The main module is composed of m main modules, and one main module is made to correspond to n sub-modules.
It is characterized in that it is composed of m sub-arrays composed of elements, and that each layer is composed of a three-dimensional aperture layer, a three-dimensional bus layer, a three-dimensional cooling layer, a three-dimensional power n-distribution combining circuit layer and a three-dimensional power feeding layer. Antenna device. 3. A transmission / reception module comprising: (n × m, where n and m are integers of 2 or more) transmission / reception modules; an aperture layer formed by arraying (n × m) element antennas; An antenna device comprising a bus layer for supplying power and control signals, a cooling layer for cooling the transceiver module, and a power supply layer for supplying high frequency to the transceiver module, wherein (n × m) transceiver modules are provided. To
(N × m) sub-modules having high-frequency amplification and phase conversion means, and received signals from the (n × m) sub-modules are converted into intermediate frequency signals and digital signals, and further converted into optical signals. The main module is composed of m main modules having means, and the main module is made to correspond to the n sub modules, thereby forming an (n × m) element array with m sub arrays of n elements. An antenna device characterized in that each layer further comprises a three-dimensional opening layer, a three-dimensional bus layer, a three-dimensional cooling layer, a three-dimensional power n-distribution combining circuit layer, and a three-dimensional feeding layer.