KR102104483B1 - Pattern configurable dielectric resonator antenna - Google Patents

Abstract

A dielectric resonator antenna capable of pattern configuration control includes a dielectric resonator, a plurality of excitation elements that excite a resonance mode to the dielectric resonator, a power supply device that supplies power, and a feed path from the power supply device to the excitation element to control the plurality of It includes a switch for controlling to supply power to at least one of the excitation elements.

Description

Dielectric resonator antenna capable of pattern configuration control {PATTERN CONFIGURABLE DIELECTRIC RESONATOR ANTENNA}

The technique described below relates to a dielectric resonator antenna.

Multiple-Input and Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology, a core technology of next-generation mobile communication, is a technology that transmits large amounts of data at high speed using a phased array antenna or simultaneously transmits information through multiple channels. According to the array antenna theory, the radiation pattern of the array antenna is expressed as the product of the radiation pattern of the antenna element and the array factor. In order to have a wide scanning range, the patterns of individual antennas must have a wide elevation angle. There is a limitation in designing a wide pattern of the antenna element itself. When the antenna element is electrically steered to reconstruct the pattern, a wide scanning range can be secured by overcoming this.

A dielectric resonator antenna is an easy structure for pattern reconstruction. The dielectric resonator antenna is a device that emits electromagnetic waves by generating a resonance mode in a dielectric through various feeding methods. Since it uses a dielectric material having a high dielectric constant, it has strengths in miniaturization, and it can be easily implemented due to its simple feeding structure.

Korean Registered Patent No. 10-0710726

Conventional array antennas are limited in designing to have a wide elevation angle. The dielectric resonator antenna is relatively easy to reconstruct the pattern in the azimuth angle direction, but it is also difficult to control the beam in the elevation angle direction. The technique described below is intended to provide a dielectric resonator antenna capable of designing or providing various beam patterns.

A dielectric resonator antenna capable of pattern configuration control includes a dielectric resonator, a plurality of excitation elements that excite a resonance mode to the dielectric resonator, a power supply device that supplies power, and a feed path from the power supply device to the excitation element to control the plurality of It includes a switch for controlling to supply power to at least one of the excitation elements.

In another aspect, the dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling the pattern configuration may supply a power to at least one of a dielectric resonator, a plurality of excitation elements that excite a resonance mode to the dielectric resonator, and reach the plurality of excitation elements. And a feeding device capable of controlling a feeding path and a controlling device controlling the feeding device to supply power to any one of the plurality of excitation elements, some of the plurality of elements, or all of the elements.

The technique described below can be configured or designed in a beam pattern not only in an azimuth angle but also in an elevation angle direction. The technique described below can be designed in a variety of beam patterns using a relatively simple structure called a dielectric resonator antenna.

1 is an example of an environment using wireless communication.
2 is an example of a dielectric resonator antenna.
3 is an example of a resonance mode of a dielectric resonator antenna.
4 is an example of a block diagram for a pattern dielectric resonator antenna capable of pattern configuration control.
5 is an example of a switch operation.
6 is another example of a block diagram of a pattern dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling a pattern configuration.
7 is an example of a reflection coefficient and a radiation pattern in an antenna with resonance mode control.

The technique described below may be applied to various changes and may have various embodiments, and specific embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail. However, this is not intended to limit the technology described below to specific embodiments, and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, or substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the technology described below.

Terms such as first, second, A, B, etc. may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the above terms, and only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from other components Used only. For example, the first component may be referred to as a second component, and similarly, the second component may be referred to as a first component without departing from the scope of the technology described below. The term and / or includes a combination of a plurality of related described items or any one of a plurality of related described items.

In the terminology used herein, a singular expression should be understood to include a plurality of expressions, unless clearly interpreted differently in context, and terms such as “comprises” describe features, counts, steps, operations, and components described. It is to be understood that it means that a part or combination thereof is present, and does not exclude the presence or addition possibility of one or more other features or numbers, step operation components, parts or combinations thereof.

Prior to the detailed description of the drawings, it is intended to clarify that the division of components in this specification is only divided by the main functions of each component. That is, two or more components to be described below may be combined into one component, or one component may be divided into two or more for each subdivided function. In addition, each of the components to be described below may additionally perform some or all of the functions of other components in addition to the main functions in charge of the components, and some of the main functions of each of the components are different. Needless to say, it may also be carried out in a dedicated manner.

In addition, in performing the method or the operation method, each of the processes constituting the method may occur differently from the specified order, unless a specific order is explicitly described in context. That is, each process may occur in the same order as specified, may be performed substantially simultaneously, or may be performed in the reverse order.

The technique described below relates to a dielectric resonator antenna. The technique described below is a technique for easily designing a beam pattern in various directions including an elevation angle in a dielectric resonator antenna. Dielectric resonators can be used as useful antennas. The dielectric resonator antenna is small in size and simple in structure. The dielectric resonator antenna has high radiation efficiency and is easy to feed in almost all transmission lines. Furthermore, the dielectric resonator antenna can control the radiation pattern using different resonance modes. The dielectric resonator may have various shapes such as a sphere, a cylinder, and a cube. The technique described below corresponds to a technique of generating various beam patterns by controlling a feeding path or a feeding portion for a dielectric resonator.

1 is an example of an environment using wireless communication. 1 is an example of a Full Dimensional Multiple Input Multiple Output (FD-MIMO) communication environment. As is well known, FD-MIMO is one of the key technologies for 5G communication. The base station 10 communicates with a plurality of terminals 21, 22, 23 and 24 located in coverage. 1 is an example in which the base station 10 communicates with each of a plurality of terminals 21, 22, 23, and 24 using individual beams.

The terminal 21 and the terminal 22 are located in the vertical direction in the same building. The base station 10 provides a communication channel to the terminal 21 and the terminal 22 by performing beamforming (Beam 1 and Beam 2) in the elevation direction. Meanwhile, the terminal 23 and the terminal 24 are located in a horizontal direction. The base station 10 provides a communication channel to the terminal 23 and the terminal 24 by performing azimuth beamforming (Beam 3 and Beam 4).

As described above, in a MIMO or FD-MIMO communication environment, an antenna used by a communication device can transmit and receive information through a beam having a certain directionality. The antenna needs to be beam-formed not only in the azimuth direction but also in the elevation angle direction. In particular, in the FD-MIMO environment, a wide range of elevation angle control may be required.

Furthermore, in addition to MIMO communication, an antenna communicating in a dynamic environment such as vehicle communication (V2X) may also require a wide range of elevation angles.

As described above, the dielectric resonator antenna can be implemented with a small size and a simple structure. If a dielectric resonator antenna having a wide elevation angle range as well as an azimuth angle is designed, it can be usefully used in devices such as portable terminals.

2 is an example of a dielectric resonator antenna 100. The dielectric resonator antenna 100 includes a substrate 110, excitation elements 121 and 122 and a dielectric resonator 130. 2 does not show the feeding device. The substrate 110 may be a PCB substrate. The excitation elements 121 and 122 excite the dielectric resonator 130 by receiving power from a feeding device. In FIG. 2, the dielectric resonator 130 contacts two excitation elements 121 and 122. The dielectric resonator 130 may be supplied with power from at least one of the excitation elements 121 and 122. That is, the excitation elements 121 and 122 may operate one by one (121 or 122), or the two 121 and 122 may operate simultaneously to feed the dielectric resonator 130.

Although two excitation elements are illustrated in FIG. 2 as an example, the dielectric resonator antenna may include a plurality of excitation elements. The plurality of excitation elements can feed the dielectric resonator. The plurality of excitation elements contact the surface of the dielectric resonator, and may be disposed at different positions. The excitation device may be disposed on the substrate as shown in FIG. 2. In addition, the excitation element may be in contact with the surface of the dielectric resonator that does not contact the substrate, unlike FIG. In this case, the excitation device may be connected to the substrate by a conducting wire. The excitation element supplies power from the feeding device to feed the dielectric resonator. The excitation element may be a part of the power feeding device. The excitation device can be composed of various materials for feeding. Furthermore, the excitation device may be implemented in various forms or shapes.

In FIG. 2, the dielectric resonator 130 has a sphere shape. However, the spherical dielectric resonator is an example, and the dielectric resonator 130 may have various other shapes.

3 is an example of a resonance mode of a dielectric resonator antenna. 3 is an example of the TE301 mode occurring in the dielectric resonator. 3 is a TE301 mode generated by a dielectric resonator by each excitation element. TE301 mode has a symmetrical structure as shown in FIG. Due to the symmetry of the resonance mode, when a plurality of excitation elements are placed on the surface of the dielectric resonator, the beam pattern can be reconstructed in a desired direction. This is not limited to a spherical dielectric resonator, and is applicable to all types of dielectrics in which a resonance mode having a symmetrical structure occurs. Accordingly, various types of dielectric resonators capable of generating a resonance mode having a symmetrical structure may be used as the dielectric resonators used in the dielectric resonator antenna.

4 is an example of a block diagram of the pattern dielectric resonator antenna 300 capable of controlling the pattern configuration. The dielectric resonator antenna 300 includes a dielectric resonator 310, an excitation element 320, a switch 330, and a power feeding device 340.

The dielectric resonator 310 is configured to generate resonance. The dielectric resonator 310 is a dielectric resonator capable of generating a resonance mode having a symmetrical structure as described above. The excitation element 320 is configured to excite the resonance mode to the dielectric resonator 310. There are a plurality of excitation elements 320 (320-1, 320-2, ..., 320-N). The excitation element 320 is disposed in contact with the dielectric resonator 310. The plurality of excitation elements 320-1, 320-2, ..., 320-N are disposed in the representation of the dielectric resonator 310, but may be disposed at different locations.

The power feeding device 340 is a device that supplies power to the excitation element 320. The power feeding device 340 may be implemented in various forms.

The switch 330 is a device that controls a feeding path from the feeding device 340 to a plurality of excitation elements 320-1, 320-2, ..., 320-N. The switch 330 may control the feeding path to supply power to any one of a plurality of excitation elements, an excitation element belonging to a specific group, or all excitation elements.

5 is an example of a switch operation. For convenience of description, description will be made based on the switch 330 of FIG. 4. The switch 330 supporting multi-feeding is basically composed of an N: 1 structure. The switch 330 may feed the excitation elements 320 one by one or the plurality of excitation elements 320 simultaneously. The switch 330 may switch the N excitation elements 320 to switch a plurality of beams or to combine these beams. 5A is an example in which the switch 330 feeds N excitation elements 320 one by one. 5 (B) is an example in which the switch 330 feeds two of the N excitation elements 320. 5C is an example in which the switch 330 feeds three excitation elements 320 out of N. FIG. 5D is an example in which the switch 330 feeds the entire N excitation elements 320.

The switch 330 can control all cases in which power can be supplied to the N excitation elements 320. For example, suppose there are four (N = 4) excitation elements. The four excitation elements are represented by E1, E2, E3 and E4. The switch 330 may provide all forms capable of feeding the plurality of excitation elements E1, E2, E3, and E4. For example, all possible forms in which a plurality of excitation elements E1, E2, E3 and E4 are fed are as follows. ((E1), (E2), (E3), (E4), (E1, E2), (E1, E3), (E1, E4), (E2, E3), (E2, E4), (E1, E2, E3), (E1, E2, E4), (E2, E3, E4), (E1, E2, E4, E4)}. Here, the brackets {} denote sets for all possible cases, and the parentheses () denote excitation elements to be fed. The specific form in which the plurality of excitation elements E1, E2, E3, and E4 are fed is referred to as a feeding pattern. Here, the feeding pattern may vary depending on the number of devices. The switch 330 may generate (here) a feeding pattern in all possible cases. Through this, the dielectric resonator antenna can form various beam patterns.

Meanwhile, a dielectric resonator antenna having a structure different from that of FIG. 4 is also possible. For example, a plurality of excitation elements 320-1, 320-2, ..., 320-N are individually connected to a feeding structure, and a switch is controlled to transmit power to the connected excitation element by transmitting a signal to the feeding structure. can do. In this case, unlike FIG. 4, the power feeding device 340 is connected to the excitation device, and the switch 330 is configured to transmit an external control command to the power feeding device 340.

6 is another example of a block diagram of the pattern dielectric resonator antenna 410 capable of controlling the pattern configuration. The dielectric resonator antenna 400 includes a dielectric resonator 410, an excitation element 420, a power feeding device 430, and a control device 440.

The dielectric resonator 410 is configured to generate resonance. The dielectric resonator 410 is a dielectric resonator capable of generating a resonance mode having a symmetrical structure as described above. The excitation element 420 is configured to excite the resonance mode to the dielectric resonator 410. There are a plurality of excitation elements 420 (420-1, 420-2, ..., 420-N). The excitation element 420 is disposed in contact with the dielectric resonator 410. The plurality of excitation elements 420-1, 420-2, ..., 420-N are disposed in the representation of the dielectric resonator 410, but may be disposed at different locations.

The power feeding device 440 is a device that supplies power to the excitation element 420. The power feeding device 440 includes a switch 431 and a power supply 432. The power supply unit 432 supplies its own power or external power to the switch 431.

The switch 431 is a device that controls a feeding path from the power supply unit 432 to a plurality of excitation elements 420-1, 320-2, ..., 320-N. The switch 431 may control the feeding path to supply power to any one of a plurality of excitation elements, an excitation element belonging to a specific group, or all excitation elements. As described above, the switch 431 may control the feeding so that the feeding pattern is any one of all possible feeding patterns.

Furthermore, the power supply device 440 may include a power divider (eg, a semi-power divider) that divides the power transmitted from the power supply unit 432 evenly. The power divider can distribute the supplied power and transmit it to a plurality of output paths. In general, the power feeding device 440 may supply the same power to a plurality of excitation elements to which power is supplied. Meanwhile, the power supply device 440 may differently control the amount of power supplied according to a plurality of excitation elements to which power is supplied according to the arrangement structure of the power distributor and the switch. In this case, the power supply device 440 may generate more various beam patterns by controlling the excitation element to which power is supplied and the power supplied.

The control device 440 controls the power feeding device 430 so that the dielectric resonator antenna 400 forms various beam patterns. The control device 440 may include a computing device 441 and a memory 442. The control device 440 may be implemented in the form of a circuit or a chipset on the antenna substrate. The memory 442 stores information about the feeding pattern. The feeding pattern is determined by the excitation element to be fed. The feeding pattern may be defined as a location or an identifier of an exciting element to be fed. The memory 442 may store information about specific patterns defined by the location or identifier of the excitation device. Assuming that the device has four devices E1, E2, E3, and E4, the memory 442 may store table-like information as shown in Table 1 below.

Excitation device identifier Feeding pattern Beam pattern E1, E2, E3 000 B1 E2 001 B2 E1, E4 010 B3 .
.
. .
.
. .
.
. E2, E3, E4 111 BN

The control device 440 finds a list of corresponding excitation elements in the memory 442 based on information about the power supply pattern or beam pattern included in the external control command. The control device 440 transmits a power supply command to the power feeding device 430 so that the selected excitation element can be powered. The switch 431 operates according to the power supply command so that only a specific excitation element is supplied. As a result, the control device 440 causes the dielectric resonator 410 to emit a specific beam pattern.

7 is an example of a reflection coefficient and a radiation pattern in an antenna with resonance mode control. 7 is an example of a reflection coefficient and a radiation pattern that can be generated by controlling feeding of two excitation elements as shown in FIG. 2. 7 (A) and 7 (B) show a case in which two resonant mode excitation elements are fed one by one. 7 (A) is a case where the resonance mode excitation element 1 is fed, and FIG. 7 (B) is a case where the resonance mode excitation element 2 is fed. When two resonant mode excitation elements are fed one by one, the beam can be steered in two directions. 7 (C) is a case where two resonant mode excitation elements are simultaneously fed. It can be seen that when two resonant mode excitation elements are simultaneously fed, beams are combined to form a beam in the center direction. Therefore, if N resonant mode excitation elements are placed in one dielectric resonator and switched, a plurality of beams can be switched or patterns can be combined to reconstruct the pattern.

In addition, the process of controlling the beam pattern or the method of controlling the beam pattern as described above may be implemented as a program (or application) including an executable algorithm executable on a computer. The program may be stored and provided in a non-transitory computer readable medium.

The non-transitory readable medium means a medium that stores data semi-permanently and that can be read by a device, rather than a medium that stores data for a short time, such as registers, caches, and memory. Specifically, the various applications or programs described above may be stored and provided in a non-transitory readable medium such as a CD, DVD, hard disk, Blu-ray disk, USB, memory card, ROM, and the like.

The drawings attached to the present embodiment and the present specification merely show a part of the technical idea included in the above-described technology, and are easily understood by those skilled in the art within the scope of the technical idea included in the above-described technical specification and drawings. It will be apparent that all examples and specific examples that can be inferred are included in the scope of the above-described technology.

100: dielectric resonator antenna
110: substrate
121, 122: excitation element
130: dielectric resonator
300: dielectric resonator antenna
310: dielectric resonator
320, 320-1, 320-2, 320-N: excitation device
330: switch
340: feeding device
400: dielectric resonator antenna
410: dielectric resonator
420, 320-1, 320-2, 320-N: excitation device
430: feeding device
431: switch
432: power supply
440: control device
441: computing device
442: memory

Claims (16)

Dielectric resonators;
A plurality of excitation elements disposed in the dielectric resonator to excite the resonance modes, respectively;
A power supply device that supplies power; And
A switch for controlling a feeding path from the feeding device to the excitation element to control the feeding of at least one excitation element among the plurality of excitation elements,
The dielectric resonator receives power and generates a resonance mode having a symmetrical structure in a three-dimensional space,
The dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling a pattern configuration in which the dielectric resonators emit beams of different patterns according to the number and placement of the at least one excitation element. According to claim 1,
The plurality of excitation elements are dielectric resonator antennas capable of controlling a pattern configuration in contact at different locations on the surface of the dielectric resonator. delete According to claim 1,
The switch is a dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling a pattern configuration to control power feeding to any one of the plurality of excitation elements, some of the plurality of elements, or all elements. According to claim 1,
Further comprising a control device for transmitting a command for controlling the feed path to the switch, a dielectric resonator antenna capable of pattern configuration control. delete According to claim 1,
The pattern is a dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling a pattern configuration in which at least one of a beam direction, a beam intensity, and a region covered by the beam is a different beam pattern. Dielectric resonators;
A plurality of excitation elements disposed in contact with the dielectric resonator to excite the resonance mode, respectively;
A power supply device that supplies power to at least one of the plurality of excitation elements, and is capable of controlling a feeding path to the plurality of excitation elements; And
A control device for controlling the power feeding device to supply power to any one of the plurality of excitation elements, some of the plurality of elements or all elements,
The dielectric resonator receives power and generates a resonance mode having a symmetrical structure in a three-dimensional space,
The dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling a pattern configuration in which the dielectric resonators emit beams of different pantons according to the number of the plurality of excitation elements to be fed and the position of arrangement. The method of claim 8,
The feeding device
And a switch configured to control a feeding path from a power supply unit to the excitation element so as to supply power to at least one of the plurality of excitation elements. delete The method of claim 8,
The control device
Further comprising a memory for storing information including the location or identifier of the excitation element, and selecting information matching the pattern information included in the control command among the information to control the feeding to a specific excitation element among the plurality of excitation elements Ha,
The pattern information includes information about a beam pattern or information about an excitation element to be fed, and a dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling a pattern configuration. The method of claim 8,
The control device determines a power supply target among the plurality of excitation elements according to a control command, so that the power supply device controls the pattern to be controlled so as to supply power to the power supply target excitation element. delete The method of claim 8,
The pattern is a dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling a pattern configuration in which at least one of a beam direction, a beam intensity, and a region covered by the beam is a different beam pattern. Dielectric resonators;
A plurality of excitation elements disposed in contact with the dielectric resonator to excite the resonance mode, respectively;
A plurality of power feeding devices respectively supplying power to the plurality of excitation elements; And
And a switch for controlling a signal transmitted to the plurality of power feeding devices so as to supply power to at least one of the plurality of excitation elements,
The dielectric resonator receives power and generates a resonance mode having a symmetrical structure in a three-dimensional space,
The dielectric resonator antenna capable of controlling a pattern configuration in which the dielectric resonators emit beams of different pantons according to the number of the plurality of excitation elements to be fed and the position of arrangement. delete

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