KR101830133B1 - Electromagnetically coupled microstrip dipole array antenna for vehicle radar - Google Patents

Abstract

An electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for a vehicle radar is disclosed. Wherein the electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna is formed of an array of a plurality of radiators and includes a radiation surface for radiating RF energy fed to the plurality of radiators as an antenna radiation pattern, An upper feed surface formed by an array of feeder lines and feeding RF energy of different phases fed to the plurality of upper feeder lines to the plurality of radiators using electromagnetic coupling, and a plurality of lower transmission lines A lower feed surface feeding one of the plurality of lower feeder lines to the plurality of upper feeder lines by using electromagnetic coupling, and a lower feeder surface feeding the plurality of upper feeder lines and the plurality of lower feeder lines, Includes a ground plane to eliminate losses.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD [0001] The present invention relates to an electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for a vehicle radar,

The present invention relates to a microstrip antenna technique, and more particularly to a microstrip antenna technology in which any one of a plurality of lower transmission lines connected to a plurality of upper feed lines is selected to supply electromagnetic energy to a plurality of upper feed lines, The present invention relates to an electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for a vehicle radar capable of generating a plurality of radiation patterns to be steered in different directions and precisely detecting all the rear lateral regions of the vehicle with only one antenna.

Recently, there has been a demand for a microstrip which can be miniaturized and lightweight, is inexpensive and can be easily integrated with an active circuit owing to the rapid increase in demand for radios and radar, and the development of MIC (Metal Insulator Semiconductor) and MMIC (Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit) Interest in microstrip dipole antennas is increasing day by day. As a feeding structure of such a microstrip dipole antenna, a direct connected feeding method using a microstrip line has been used in the related art. However, in the direct connection power supply system, a separate power supply structure such as a microstrip type power distributor is required in an array antenna structure in which a plurality of radiation elements are connected, and loss occurs in the separate power supply structure. In addition, since the connection with each element affects the impedance of the entire feed structure, there is a difficulty in designing to take into consideration the impedance of all the elements.

To solve this problem, a new type of electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna was proposed by Pozar in 1985, in which a feed line and a dipole antenna are electromagnetically coupled (EMC) in a microstrip dipole array antenna.

On the other hand, the vehicle rear side radar includes blind spot detection (BSD), lane change assistance (LCA), rear pre crash warning (RPCW) and rear cross traffic alert , RCTA) function. Therefore, it is necessary to be able to precisely detect the target of the functional areas. However, since the conventional electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole antenna forms a single radiation pattern in a vertical direction (bore-sight) by using one feeder line, even if it has a considerably wide beam width, (BSD, LCA, RPCW, RCTA). Such a conventional electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole antenna is described in detail in Japanese Patent No. 10-0675383 and Japanese Patent No. 10-0286005.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for supplying power to a plurality of upper feed lines by selecting any one of a plurality of lower transmission lines connected to a plurality of upper feed lines, And to provide an electromagnetic coupled microstrip dipole array antenna for a vehicle radar capable of precisely detecting all functional areas (BSD, LCA, RPCW, RCTA) of a rear side vehicle radar with only one antenna.

An electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for a vehicle radar according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a radiation surface formed by an array of a plurality of radiation elements and radiating energy fed to the plurality of radiation elements in a radiation pattern of the antenna, And an RF power supply unit for supplying RF energy of different phases to the plurality of upper feed lines and feeding the RF energy to the plurality of radiators using electromagnetic coupling, A lower feed surface including a plurality of lower transmission lines and feeding any one of the plurality of lower transmission lines to the plurality of upper feed lines using electromagnetic coupling, And a ground plane for eliminating parasitic radiation and loss of the lower transmission lines of the antenna.

According to an embodiment, the radiation plane is formed in an array of NXM (N and M is a natural number) array of the radiation elements, each of the radiation elements is orthogonal to the plurality of upper feed lines, Another positional offset may be set to adjust the sidelobe level (SLL) of the antenna radiation pattern.

The electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for the vehicle radar may be configured such that the phase distances of the plurality of upper feed lines are set differently in a first region of the first transmission line among the plurality of lower transmission lines, 1 < / RTI >

In addition, the phase distances of the plurality of upper feed lines may be set differently in a second region of the plurality of lower transmission lines, from which power is supplied from the second transmission line, so that the first radiation pattern and the peak- ) Direction of the first radiation pattern can be formed.

According to the embodiment, the electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for the vehicle radar selects any one transmission line among the plurality of lower transmission lines included in the lower class surface to feed the plurality of upper feed lines And may further include a switch circuit.

According to an embodiment, the first radiation pattern may be used as a radiation pattern to cover a rectangular area detection (BSD), a lane change assistant (LCA), a rearward collision warning (RPCW) area, It can be used as a beam pattern to cover the approach vehicle detection (RCTA) area. Therefore, all the functional areas BSD, LCA, RPCW, and RCTA of the backward vehicle radar can be precisely detected with only one antenna.

The microstrip dipole array antenna according to the embodiment of the present invention can generate a plurality of radiation patterns steered in different directions by selecting any one of lower transmission lines connected to a plurality of upper feed lines, It is effective.

Therefore, it is possible to precisely detect all the rear side functional areas (BSD, LCA, RPCW, RCTA) of the vehicle with only one antenna by generating radiation patterns steered in the different directions as the antenna of the back side vehicle radar It is effective.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to fully understand the drawings recited in the detailed description of the present invention, a detailed description of each drawing is provided.
1 is a view showing an electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for a vehicle radar according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a view showing layers constituting the microstrip dipole array antenna shown in FIG. 1. FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the configuration of the copying surface shown in FIG. 2 in detail.
FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the configuration of the upper class surface shown in FIG. 2 in detail.
5 is a view for explaining the construction of the lower class front face shown in FIG. 2 in detail.
6 is a view illustrating an example in which a first radiation pattern is formed when power is supplied through a first transmission line of a lower class front surface shown in FIG.
7 is a view illustrating an example in which a second radiation pattern is formed when power is supplied through a second transmission line of a lower class front surface shown in FIG.

It is to be understood that the specific structural or functional descriptions of embodiments of the present invention disclosed herein are only for the purpose of illustrating embodiments of the inventive concept, But may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

Embodiments in accordance with the concepts of the present invention are capable of various modifications and may take various forms, so that the embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail herein. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the embodiments according to the concepts of the present invention to the particular forms disclosed, but includes all modifications, equivalents, or alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

The terms first, second, etc. may be used to describe various elements, but the elements should not be limited by the terms. The terms are intended to distinguish one element from another, for example, without departing from the scope of the invention in accordance with the concepts of the present invention, the first element may be termed the second element, The second component may also be referred to as a first component.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, . On the other hand, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another element, it should be understood that there are no other elements in between. Other expressions that describe the relationship between components, such as "between" and "between" or "neighboring to" and "directly adjacent to" should be interpreted as well.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, the terms "comprises" or "having", etc. are intended to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, parts or combinations thereof, , Steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof, as a matter of principle.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the meaning of the context in the relevant art and, unless explicitly defined herein, are to be interpreted as ideal or overly formal Do not.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a view showing an electromagnetically coupled microstrip dipole array antenna (hereinafter referred to as 'dipole array antenna') for a vehicle radar according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view showing layers constituting a dipole array antenna.

1 and 2, each layer 100, 200, 300, and 400 included in the dipole array antenna 10 includes a radiation surface 100, an upper feed surface 200, a lower feed surface 300, And a ground plane (400).

At this time, all the layers 100, 200, 300, and 400 included in the dipole array antenna 10 are formed by dielectric substrates separated from each other, and the radiation surface 100, the upper grade surface 200, (300) are each powered by electromagnetically coupled (EMC) RF energy from one layer to another.

Accordingly, the dipole array antenna 10 can select the dielectric substrate best suited to the characteristics of the feed line and the radiation element included in each of the layers 100, 200, and 300, thereby optimizing the design of the feed line and the radiation element, respectively And the ground plane 400 serves to prevent parasitic radiation of the transmission line which deteriorates the radiation characteristic.

Hereinafter, the layers 100, 200, 300, and 400 constituting the dipole array antenna 10 will be described in detail.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the configuration of the copying surface shown in FIG. 2 in detail.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 3, the radiation plane 100 is formed on the dielectric substrate in an array of a plurality of radiation elements 111 each made of this conductor.

1 and 2, the plurality of radiators 111 arranged on the radiating surface 100 are shown as an array of 9x9, but the present invention is not limited thereto. 111 may be implemented in various arrangements such as an arrangement of N X M (N and M are natural numbers). Generally, the larger the N and M, the more the beam radiated through the radiation surface 100 becomes sharp.

On the other hand, the plurality of radiators 111 on the radiation surface 100 may be arranged at the same position with respect to the central portion of the upper feed lines 211 to 219 of FIG. 4, which will be described later, 111 are arranged at a predetermined distance from the center of each of the upper feed lines 211 to 219, thereby adjusting the size of the side lobes of the radiation pattern radiated from the radiation surface 100.

Referring again to FIG. 1, it can be seen that each of the radiation elements 111 has a predetermined spaced-apart position with respect to the central portion of the upper feed lines 211 to 219.

FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the detailed construction of the upper level front face shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the lower level front face shown in FIG. 2 in detail.

4 and 5, the upper feed surface 200 is formed in an array of a plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 on a dielectric substrate.

Although the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 are shown as nine microstrip lines in FIG. 4, the present invention is not limited thereto and may be implemented by a number of feed lines corresponding to M as in FIG. Of course.

In this case, the phase distances d11 to d19 of the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 in the first region R1 may be variously implemented according to the design, The phase distances d21 to d29 of the upper feed lines 211 to 219 may be variously implemented according to the design.

When the phase distance is assumed to be a virtual central portion (dotted line) in the Y axis direction with respect to each of the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219, the imaginary center portion and the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 And the phase of the energy fed according to the interval can be changed.

For example, in the first region R1, the phase distance of the upper first feeder line 211 is d11 (in this case, the upper first feeder line 211 and the imaginary center portion (dotted line) coincide with each other in the first region R1 the phase distance d12 of the upper second feeder line 212 and the phase distance of the upper third feeder line 213 may be set to be d13 or the like and in the second region R2, A phase distance d22 of the upper second feeder line 212, a phase distance d23 of the upper third feeder line 213, and the like.

The first region R1 is a region to receive a power supply from the first transmission line 330 of the lower class surface 300 to be described later through electromagnetic coupling, Refers to an area to receive the feed energy from the second transmission line 350 of the front surface 300 through the electromagnetic coupling scheme.

That is, the upper grade surface 200 is designed by adjusting the phase distances d11 to d19 of the upper feed lines 211 to 219 in the first region R1, The phases of the signals fed from the transmission line 330 to the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 of the upper feed surface 200 can be adjusted to feed the copy surface 100. [

As a result, it is possible to change the respective phases supplied to the radiation elements 111 arranged on the radiation face 100 according to how the phase distances d11 to d19 of the upper feeder lines 211 to 219 are set, So that the direction of the first radiation pattern maximum beam radiated by the radiation surface 100 can be formed at a desired angle.

Likewise, by adjusting the phase distances d21 to d29 of the upper feed lines 211 to 219 in the second region R2, the distance from the second transmission line 350 of the lower feed surface 300 to the upper feed surface The phases of the signals fed to the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 of the antenna 200 can be adjusted to feed the radiation plane 100. [

Therefore, it is possible to change each of the other phases supplied to the radiation element 111 arranged on the radiation surface 100 in accordance with the phase distances d21 to d29 of the respective upper feeder lines 211 to 219, Can be formed in a direction different from the direction of the first radiation pattern.

Adjusting the phase distances d11 to d19, d21 to d29 of the upper feed lines 211 to 219 in the first region R1 or the second region R2 as described above means that the phase distances d11 to d19, Means to change the phase value of a signal supplied to each of the plurality of radiators 111 arranged on the radiation surface 100, do.

For example, the upper first feeder line 211 feeds a signal having a changed phase value to the radiators belonging to the first column among the radiators arranged at 9 X 9 on the radiation plane 100, and supplies the signal to the upper second feeder line 212 ) Feeds a signal having a changed phase value to the radiators belonging to the second column.

Similarly, the upper third feeder line 213 to the upper ninth feeder line 219 feed signals having phase values changed to the radiators belonging to the corresponding column among the 9x9 radiators.

Therefore, the first radiation pattern or the second radiation pattern of the dipole array antenna 10 can be respectively steered in a desired direction according to the changed phase value.

As one embodiment, the phase values of each of the radiators belonging to the first to ninth columns for steering the radiation pattern of the dipole array antenna in a desired direction (-60 degrees to +60 degrees) are shown in Table 1 below .

For example, in order to steer the radiation pattern of the dipole array antenna 10 by -40 degrees, each of the radiators belonging to the first to ninth columns is 0 degrees, 102.2 degrees, -155.6 degrees, -53.4 degrees, 48.9 degrees, 151.1 degrees, -106.7 degrees, -4.5 degrees and 97.7 degrees.

And the operating frequency is 10 GHz (the wavelength in the microstrip line is about 17.7 mm, which may vary depending on the structure of the dielectric substrate), in the dipole array antenna 10, Phase distances d11 to d19 or d21 to d29 of the plurality of feed lines 211 to 219 are 0 mm (0 degrees 占 17.7 mm / 360 degrees), 5.02 mm, -7.65 mm, -2.63 mm, 2.40 mm, 7.43 mm, -5.25 mm, -0.22 mm and 4.80 mm.

That is, in order to form a radiation pattern of a desired steering angle, the phase distances d11 to d21 of each of the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 are set such that each of the radiation elements belonging to the first to ninth columns has a corresponding phase value, d19 or d21 to d29.

5 includes a first transmission line 330 and a second transmission line 350. Each of the feed lines includes a first feed terminal PORT1 of the RF switch 370, (For example, the first transmission line 330 or the second transmission line 350) of the lower feeding surface 300 through the control of the RF switch, and is connected to the second feeding terminal PORT2, ). ≪ / RTI >

At this time, the first transmission line 330 of the lower class front surface 300 is supplied with a plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 of the first region R1 shown in FIG. 4 through an electromagnetic coupling method, 2 transmission line 350 feeds the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 of the second region R2 through an electromagnetic coupling method.

Therefore, when the dipole array antenna 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention feeds the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 through the first transmission line 330 of the lower feed surface 300, The second radiation pattern can be formed when forming a radiation pattern and supplying power to the plurality of upper feed lines 211 to 219 through the second transmission line 350 of the lower class surface 300. [

With the above selective connection, the dipole array antenna 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be used for a function of a rectangular area detection (BSD), a lane change assistance (LCA), a rearward collision warning (RPCW) A first radiation pattern and a second radiation pattern for performing a rear access vehicle detection (RCTA) function can be selectively formed.

The first transmission line 330 of the lower feed surface 300 is selected by the RF switch 370 while the vehicle is traveling so that the RF energy is transmitted to the upper feed line < RTI ID = 0.0 > The lane change assistance (LCA) and the rearward collision warning (RPCW) are supplied to the roads 211 to 219 by the radiator 111 of the copy plane 100, 1 Copy in the shape of a copy pattern.

The second transmission line 350 of the lower ground plane 300 is selected by the RF switch 370 when the vehicle is parked or parked behind the vehicle when the reverse gear of the vehicle is input, (RCTA) function for the backside vehicle detection (RCTA) function by the radiation 111 of the radiation surface 100, and is supplied to the upper feed lines 211 to 219 of the second region R2 in a combined manner, It is copied in the atmosphere in the form of a copy pattern.

As described above, the plurality of radiating elements 111 on the radiating surface 100 can adjust the size of the side lobes of the radiating pattern to be copied by setting a predetermined spacing.

This spacing is determined by the distance of the position of the radiator 111 away from the center line of the upper feed lines 211 to 219.

For example, as the distance from the center line of the upper feeder lines 211 to 219 increases, the spacing becomes larger, and the RF energy supplied from the upper feeder lines 211 to 219 to the radiator 111 in an electromagnetic coupling manner also becomes larger do.

Therefore, by adjusting the spacing of the respective radiating elements 111, it is possible to adjust the magnitude of the RF energy supplied to each radiating element 111, and the size ratio of each radiating element 111 can be adjusted by Taylor distribution ).

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating an example in which a first radiation pattern is formed when power is supplied through a first transmission line of a lower class surface shown in FIG. 5, and FIG. 7 is a cross- FIG. 5 is a view showing an example in which a second radiation pattern is formed when power is supplied through a path.

Referring to FIG. 6, the first radiation pattern includes a radiation pattern (hereinafter referred to as a radiation pattern) that can cover all functional areas of a rear area vehicle radar (BSD), a lane change assistant (LCA), and a rearward collision warning .

Referring to FIG. 7, it can be seen that the second radiation pattern is a radiation pattern that can cover the functional area of the rear access vehicle detection (RCTA) of the rear side vehicle radar when parking the vehicle.

Therefore, the dipole array antenna 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention can select any one of the lower transmission lines 330 and 350 by the RF switch 370 to form the first region R1 or the second region The radar pattern can be generated by supplying power to the upper feed lines 211 to 219 of the rear side vehicle radar 211. Therefore, even if only one dipole array antenna 10 is used, , LCA, RPCW, RCTA) can be precisely detected.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Accordingly, the true scope of the present invention should be determined by the technical idea of the appended claims.

10: Electromagnetically Coupled Microstrip Dipole Array Antenna (Dipole Array Antenna)
100: Copy side
111: Copier
200: Upper grade front
211 to 219: Upper feed line
300: Lower class front
330: first transmission line
350: second transmission line
370: RF switch
400: ground plane

Claims (5)

A copying surface formed of an array of a plurality of radiators and copying the RF energy supplied to the plurality of radiators as a radiation pattern of the antenna;
An upper feed surface formed by an array of a plurality of upper feed lines orthogonal to the plurality of radiators and feeding RF energy supplied to the plurality of upper feed lines to the plurality of radiators using electromagnetic coupling;
A lower feed surface that includes a plurality of lower transmission lines and in which one of the plurality of lower transmission lines feeds RF energy to the plurality of upper feed lines using electromagnetic coupling; And
And a ground plane for removing parasitic radiation and loss of the plurality of upper feed lines and the plurality of lower transmission lines,
An electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for a vehicle radar includes:
Forming a first beam radiation pattern by setting phase distances of the plurality of upper feed lines differently in a first region where RF energy is supplied from the first transmission line among the plurality of lower transmission lines,
Wherein a phase distance of the plurality of upper feed lines is set differently in a second region in which RF energy is supplied from the second transmission line among the plurality of lower transmission lines so that a steering angle of an angle different from the steering angle of the first beam radiation pattern Wherein the second beam radiation pattern has a second beam radiation pattern. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1,
Wherein the radiators are arranged in a NXM (N and M is a natural number) array of the radiators, and each of the radiators is arranged at a predetermined distance from a center line of the plurality of upper feeder lines, An Electromagnetic Coupled Microstrip Dipole Array Antenna. delete The antenna according to claim 1, wherein the electromagnetic coupling microstrip dipole array antenna for the vehicle radar comprises:
Further comprising an RF switch for selecting one of the plurality of lower transmission lines included in the lower class surface and feeding the selected transmission line to the plurality of upper feed lines. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first beam radiation pattern is a radiation pattern for a rectangular area detection (BSD), a lane change assistant (LCA), a rearward collision warning (RPCW) An Electromagnetically Coupled Microstrip Dipole Array Antenna for Car Radar as Radiation Pattern for RCTA.

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