JPWO2020028866A5

JPWO2020028866A5 -

Info

Publication number: JPWO2020028866A5
Application number: JP2021505811A
Authority: JP
Publication date: 2022-08-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-08-02

Description

包括的態様において、開示の実施形態は、比誘電率異方性における周波数に応じた差異を、チューナブル・フェーズド・アレイ・アンテナの応用において、用いる。このような実施形態は、２周波液晶（ＤＦＬＣ）材料を、層状又はサンドイッチ状の構造体を伴った移相器の要素の一部分として実施する。このようなチューナブル移相器において、複数の周波数の矩形波が、各種移相器のＬＣダイレクタを配向するために印加され、これが、所定の比誘電率をもたし、さらに重要なことは、２周波分子が、周波数が異なる２つの界に応答することにより、２つの反対の方向に回転することができ、この仕組みによって、分子に対して等しいｔ_ｒｉｓｅ及びｔ_ｆａｌｌを具えることができる。また比誘電率における変化によって、移相器を進行する信号の位相に変化を生じさせることができる。その結果、特に、ＬＣ分子が緩やかに緩和（状態）になる場合、典型的なより遅い減衰側（decay side）の応答時間が速くなる。したがって、組み合わされたスイッチタイム（Ｔ_ｒｉｓｅ＋Ｔ_{ｄｅｃａｙ／ｆａｌｌ}）が、通常のＬＣで構築された移相器よりもずっと早くなる。結果として、新たに発明されたパルス幅変調を用いたＤＦＬＣ移相器アンテナは、衛星通信アンテナに要求されるビーム・ステアリング速度を満たす。 In a general aspect, the disclosed embodiments employ frequency dependent differences in dielectric anisotropy in tunable phased array antenna applications. Such embodiments implement Dual Frequency Liquid Crystal (DFLC) material as part of a phase shifter element with a layered or sandwiched structure. In such tunable phase shifters, square waves of multiple frequencies are applied to orient the LC directors of the various phase shifters, which have predetermined dielectric constants and, more importantly, , a dual-frequency molecule can rotate in two opposite directions by responding to two fields of different frequencies, and by this mechanism can have equal _{tri rise} and t _fall for the molecule. be. A change in the dielectric constant can also cause a change in the phase of the signal traveling through the phase shifter. The result is a faster response time on the typical slower decay side, especially when the LC molecules relax slowly. Therefore, the combined switch time (T _rise +T _decay/fall ) is much faster than a phase shifter built with ordinary LC. As a result, the newly invented DFLC phase shifter antenna with pulse width modulation meets the beam steering speed required for satellite communication antennas.

すべてのＲＦアンテナがそうであるように、受送信は、本明細書に提示したアンテナ及びデバイスのクラスが分類され、パッシブアンテナにおいては対称的な相互関係にあり、その結果、一方の説明は、他方に等しく当てはまる。非線形デバイスを含むアクティブアンテナは相互関係にはない。本説明では、送信を説明することの方が容易な場合があるが、受信は、方向が反対というだけで、同じものとなる。また、開示の実施形態では、開示のアンテナは、プラットフォームに搭載され、主ビームは、本明細書でターゲットと呼ぶもう一方のアンテナに照準を合わされることを前提とする。ターゲットのアンテナもまた、プラットフォームに搭載され、いずれか一方又は両方のプラットフォームは、可動にし得る。例えば、アンテナは、航空機、船、自動車等の車両に装着可能であり、ターゲットは、例えば、衛星に搭載可能である。アンテナが衛星に搭載可能であり、その一方、ターゲットは車両に搭載可能なものなので、対称性というコンセプトは、本明細書でも同様に当てはまる。 As with all RF antennas, reception and transmission are symmetrically interrelated in passive antennas, which fall into the classes of antennas and devices presented herein, such that one explanation is apply equally to the other. Active antennas, including nonlinear devices, are not reciprocal. In this description, it may be easier to describe transmission, but reception would be the same, just in the opposite direction. Also, the disclosed embodiments assume that the disclosed antenna is mounted on a platform and the main beam is aimed at the other antenna, referred to herein as the target. The target's antennas are also mounted on the platforms, and either or both platforms may be mobile. For example, the antenna can be mounted on a vehicle such as an aircraft, ship, automobile, etc., and the target can be mounted on a satellite, for example. The concept of symmetry applies here as well, as antennas can be mounted on satellites, while targets can be mounted on vehicles.

吹き出しの中に示すように、上部誘電体スペーサ３０５は、一般的に、誘電体（絶縁）プレート又は誘電体シートの形態であり、例えばガラス、ＰＥＴ等から作製することができる。放射パッチ３１０は、例えば、導電膜の接着、スパッタリング、印刷等によってスペーサ上に形成される。それぞれのパッチ位置において、誘電体スペーサ３０５内にビアを形成し、このビアを導電性材料、例えば、銅を充填して、接点３２５を形成し、当該接点が、放射パッチ３１０に物理的かつ電気的に接続する。遅延線３１５は、誘電体スペーサ３０５の底面（又は上部バインダー３４２の上面）に形成され、接点３２５に物理的及び電気的に接続されている。遅延線３１５は、もっとも大きい影響を与える／ＲＦ位相変化を提供する可変比誘電率材料３４０中に埋まっており、任意の追加の層が遅延線を可変比誘電率材料から分離することは、デバイスの同調性を低下させることになる。すなわち、本例では、遅延線３１５から、接点３２５を通って、放射パッチ３１０へ、連続したＤＣ電気的接続が存在する。図１に示すように、遅延線１１５は、蛇行する導電線であり、所望の遅延を生成するのに十分な長さを具えるように任意の形状をとることができ、これにより、ＲＦ信号に所望の位相シフトが引き起こされ、ＶＤＣ３４０を活性化するための電極が、遅延線及びグランドの一部分となることができかつ／又は別個の層に設計することができる。 As shown in the blowout, the top dielectric spacer 305 is typically in the form of a dielectric (insulating) plate or sheet and can be made from glass, PET, or the like, for example. A radiation patch 310 is formed on the spacer by, for example, gluing a conductive film, sputtering, printing, or the like. At each patch location, a via is formed in the dielectric spacer 305 and filled with a conductive material, such as copper, to form a contact 325 that physically and electrically connects to the radiating patch 310. connect to each other. Delay line 315 is formed on the bottom surface of dielectric spacer 305 (or the top surface of top binder 342 ) and is physically and electrically connected to contact 325 . The delay line 315 is embedded in the variable dielectric constant material 340 that provides the most influential/RF phase change, and any additional layer separating the delay line from the variable dielectric constant material makes the device will reduce the synchrony of Thus, in this example, there is a continuous DC electrical connection from delay line 315 through contact 325 to radiating patch 310 . As shown in FIG. 1, the delay line 115 is a serpentine conductive line and can take any shape with sufficient length to produce the desired delay, thereby allowing the RF signal is induced with the desired phase shift, and the electrodes for activating VDC 340 can be part of the delay line and ground and/or can be designed in separate layers.

送信モードにおいて、ＲＦ信号が、コネクタ３６５（例えば同軸ケーブルコネクタ）を通って給電パッチ３６０に印加される。吹き出しの中に示したように、電気的なＤＣ接続は、給電パッチ３６０と遅延線３１５との間に存在しない。これは、種々の移相器を別のものから隔離するためであって、その結果、個々の移相器における１つの制御線が、他方の移相器に対して短絡することがなく、よって、それぞれの移相器の個別の制御は不可能となる。一部の実施形態において、移相器グループの制御が望まれる場合かつ／又は給電ネットワークにおいて独立した非ガルバニックカプラー（ｎｏｎ－ｇａｌｖａｎｉｃｃｏｕｐｌｅｒ）を組み込む場合、そのスロットは、接続線又はビアと置き換え可能である。しかしながら、開示の実施形態において、層は、ＲＦ短絡がフィードパッチ３６０と遅延線３１５との間において変化可能となるように提供されるように設計している。この特徴は、本発明に密接な関係があるわけではないが、一例として示す。 In transmit mode, an RF signal is applied to feed patch 360 through connector 365 (eg, a coaxial cable connector). As indicated in the callout, no electrical DC connection exists between the feed patch 360 and the delay line 315 . This is to isolate the various phase shifters from one another so that one control line in each individual phase shifter cannot be shorted to the other phase shifter, thus , individual control of each phase shifter becomes impossible. In some embodiments, the slots can be replaced with connecting lines or vias if control of the phase shifter group is desired and/or if independent non-galvanic couplers are incorporated in the feed network. be. However, in the disclosed embodiment, the layers are designed such that a variable RF short is provided between feed patch 360 and delay line 315 . This feature is not pertinent to the present invention, but is provided as an example.

Claims

An antenna array system using square wave steering control,
a radiator array including a plurality of radiating patches;
a plurality of delay lines each providing RF coupling to a corresponding one of the plurality of radiating patches;
a plurality of variable dielectric constant (VDC) zones each configured to vary transmission speed in a corresponding one of said delay lines;
a plurality of control lines each configured to provide a control signal to one of said VDC zones;
a constant voltage power supply;
A square wave modulator that receives a constant voltage signal from the power supply and generates a plurality of square wave signals, each square wave signal coupled to one of the control lines and having a discrete pulse width or frequency. and so that each of said square wave signals has a different duty cycle or different frequency.

2. The antenna array system of claim 1, wherein said VDC zone includes a liquid crystal zone, and said square wave modulators output individual duty cycles for each square wave signal in real time.

2. The antenna array system of claim 1, wherein said VDC zone comprises a dual frequency liquid crystal zone, and wherein said square wave modulator outputs separate frequencies for each square wave signal in real time.

2. The antenna array system of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of transistors each coupled to one of said control lines, a respective square wave signal being applied to a gate of one of said plurality of transistors.

the constant voltage power supply is a dual voltage power supply that provides a first constant voltage and a second constant voltage;
each VDC zone having two control lines, one coupled to a first constant voltage and the other coupled to the output of a corresponding transistor of the plurality of transistors;
5. The antenna array system of claim 4, wherein a source of each transistor of said plurality of transistors is coupled to said second constant voltage.

5. The VDC zone of claim 4, wherein each VDC zone has two control lines, one coupled to a common potential and the other coupled to the output of a corresponding transistor of said plurality of transistors. antenna array system.

each VDC zone having two control lines each coupled to an output of a corresponding transistor of the plurality of transistors;
5. The antenna array system of claim 4, wherein the source of each transistor of said plurality of transistors is coupled to said constant voltage power supply.

an accelerometer and a controller, the accelerometer providing an output signal indicative of relative motion of the antenna array with respect to the controller, the controller using the output signal to actuate the square wave modulator; 2. The antenna array system of claim 1, wherein the control signal to the is calculated.

9. The antenna array system of claim 8, further comprising a satellite lookup table describing the positions of various satellites in the air.

A method of controlling a main beam of an array antenna to track a target, comprising:
coupling to the array antenna a plurality of control lines each coupled to one phase shifter of the plurality of phase shifters of the array antenna;
obtaining the coordinates of the target;
obtaining a physical orientation of the array antenna;
calculating a steering direction for the main beam of the antenna from the coordinates and the physical orientation;
determining the phase shift required for each feed line of the antenna array from the steering direction;
generating a plurality of square waves each having a parameter dependent on the phase shift required for the corresponding feeder;
and C. applying said plurality of square waves to said plurality of control lines.

3. The step of generating a plurality of square waves comprises calculating the duty cycle of each square wave individually to produce a pulse width modulation for the required phase shift of the corresponding feedline. 10. The method according to 10.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein generating a plurality of square waves comprises individually calculating the frequency of each square wave to produce the required phase shift for the corresponding feeder.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising maintaining a constant 50% duty cycle of the square wave.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein generating a plurality of square waves comprises maintaining amplitudes of the square waves constant for all of the control lines.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein generating a plurality of square waves comprises applying drive signals to a plurality of individual transistors.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising coupling drains of two transistors to each of said phase shifters, and wherein generating a plurality of square waves comprises applying drive signals to said transistors.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising coupling all of said phase shifters to a common potential.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said common potential comprises ground potential.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said common potential comprises a constant voltage of a dual voltage power supply.

2. The antenna of claim 1, further comprising a controller that calculates an appropriate phase shift for each of said radiating patches according to a desired antenna pointing direction and generates a control signal for said square wave modulator. array system.

21. The antenna array system of claim 20, wherein said controller includes an internal clock.

21. The antenna array system of claim 20, wherein the controller establishes the desired antenna pointing direction as a function of target coordinates.

22. The antenna array system of claim 21, wherein said controller further determines said desired antenna pointing direction as a function of the physical orientation of said radiator array.

21. The antenna array system of claim 20, wherein the controller calculates a steering direction for the main beam of the radiator array as a function of target coordinates and the physical orientation of the radiator array.

25. The antenna array system of claim 24, wherein the controller alters the duty cycle or frequency of each of the plurality of square wave signals in real time depending on the steering direction.

21. The antenna array system of claim 20, wherein the controller includes an input for receiving satellite coordinates.

An antenna array system using square wave steering control,
an array antenna,
a radiator array;
a plurality of delay lines each providing RF coupling to a corresponding one of said radiators;
a plurality of variable dielectric constants, each comprising a dual frequency liquid crystal (DFLC) material having a frequency-switchable dielectric constant, each configured to vary transmission speed in a corresponding one of said delay lines; VDC) zone;
a plurality of control lines each configured to supply a control signal to one of said VDC zones;
Control of a director of a DFLC material, comprising:
a constant voltage power supply;
A square wave modulator that receives a constant voltage signal from the constant voltage power supply and generates a plurality of square wave signals, each square wave signal being coupled to one of the control lines and the other square wave. and a control comprising a signal and a square wave modulator having different frequencies and the same amplitude.

further comprising a controller that provides a control signal to the square wave modulator;
28. The antenna array system of claim 27, wherein the controller changes the frequency of each of the plurality of square wave signals in real time in response to steering direction of a main beam of the antenna array.

29. The antenna array system of claim 28, wherein the controller calculates the steering direction for the main beam as a function of target coordinates and the physical orientation of the array antenna.

28. The antenna array system of claim 27, further comprising a plurality of transistors each coupled to one of said control lines, wherein respective square wave signals are applied to gates of one of said plurality of transistors. .

31. The VDC zone of claim 30, wherein each VDC zone has two control lines, one coupled to a common voltage and the other coupled to the output of a corresponding transistor of said plurality of transistors. antenna array system.

the constant voltage power supply is a dual voltage power supply that provides a first constant voltage and a second constant voltage;
each VDC zone having two control lines, one coupled to a first constant voltage and the other coupled to the output of a corresponding transistor of the plurality of transistors;
31. The antenna array system of claim 30, wherein a source of each transistor of said plurality of transistors is coupled to said second constant voltage.