KR20020065662A - Circulator using a non-radiative dielectric waveguide - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A circulator using a non-radiating dielectric waveguide is provided to ensure impedance matching between a dielectric resonator and a dielectric line, process with ease, and reduce manufacture cost. CONSTITUTION: A circulator using a non-radiating dielectric waveguide comprises a circuit(20) using a dielectric line between an upper conductor plate(10a) and a lower conductor plate(10b). Three pairs of guiding grooves(26a,26b,26c) are extended from the center of the bottom of the lower conductor(10a) to the edges of the lower conductor(10a) radially with 120° interval. The guide grooves pairs(26a,26b,26c) form guide rails(28a,28b,28c), respectively. A groove(38) is formed at the boundary of the lower conductor(10a) for breaking a leakage wave. The upper and the lower plates(10a,10b) are polygonal or circular. After mounting the circulator circuit(20), the upper and the lower plates(10a,10b) are coupled by many screws(40a-40f). The circulator circuit(20) includes a dielectric resonating unit(24) and three ports(P1,P2,P3).

Description

Circulator using a non-radiative dielectric waveguide

The present invention relates to a circuit device using a non-radiative dielectric waveguide (NRD guide), and more particularly, to a non-reversible device that can be used in the millimeter wave band, which is used to separate a transmission signal from a reception signal. It is about a circulator.

Various non-radiative dielectric waveguides for millimeter wave integrated circuits have been implemented for practical circuit devices such as filters and couplers. Circulators have also been developed using various types of transmission lines such as waveguides, microstrips, finlines and image guides due to their application importance as representative irreversible circuit elements. In addition, high performance circulators are indispensable for designing recently proposed non-radiative dielectric waveguide integrated circuits for millimeter wave applications.

The circulator is a circuit in which the input and output directions are cyclically determined between various terminals. The circulator is mainly applied to a transmission / reception common circuit, a splitter or a television receiver of a UHF. The non-radiative dielectric waveguide circulator serves to specify the output direction to the input to suppress the transmission of the radio signal in an undesired direction and to transmit the radio signal only in a desired direction.

7 and 8 show the structure of a conventional non-radiating dielectric waveguide circulator disclosed by US Pat. No. 5,781,086 entitled “NRD Guide Circuit, Radar Module and Radar Apparatus”. According to this, the circulator circuit extends radially from the center ring 11 where the input line portion 12, the output line portion 13 and the terminal line portion 14 act as resonators, and the recess portion 15 The mode suppressor substrate 21 is interposed between the dielectric block 22 and the dielectric block 22, and the two ferrite disks 23 are mounted on the upper and lower portions of the center ring 11.

However, the ferrite disk 23 is very small in diameter and thickness of about several mm and 1 mm, respectively, and in particular, because the thickness is very thin, a cutting machine having a high precision workability must be used. It is not easy to process the thin as this has a lot of difficulties in manufacturing.

In addition, the circulator circuit is disposed between the lower conductor plate 32 and the upper conductor plate (not shown) which are kept in parallel while facing each other, wherein the input line part 12 and the output line part ( 13) and the terminal line portion 14 should be correctly positioned at 120 ° intervals. However, the conventional circulator structure does not consider a convenient way to accurately arrange the three line parts at equal intervals of 120 °, it was not suitable for mass production due to manufacturing difficulties.

Furthermore, in the related art, the input impedance between each of the input line unit 12, the output line unit 13, and the terminal line unit 14 and the ferrite resonators 11 and 23 is not completely matched, so that the ferrite resonators 11 and 23 are not. In some cases, reflection of an input wave occurred and reflection loss occurred.

According to the present invention, three dielectric lines can be accurately positioned by 120 ° around the dielectric resonator, ensuring impedance matching between the dielectric resonator and the dielectric line, and made of another material having comparative advantages in terms of processability and cost compared to ferrite. It is an object of the present invention to provide a circulator employing a disc for dielectric resonators.

1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the assembled state of the non-radiating dielectric waveguide circulator according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the non-radiative dielectric waveguide circulator shown in FIG. 1.

3 is an exploded perspective view of the circulator circuit unit shown in FIG. 2.

4 is a diagram for explaining dimensional relationships of circulator circuit elements.

FIG. 5 is a partial cutaway view showing a state in which a dielectric line is mounted along a guiding groove formed in the lower conductor plate.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cross section of cut line A-A of FIG. 5.

7 and 8 are views showing the structure of a circulator according to the prior art.

** Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawings **

10a: lower conductor plate 10b: upper conductor plate

P1: first port P2: second port

P3: 3rd port 20: Circulator circuit

24: dielectric resonator 24a, 24b: disc-shaped rubber magnet

24c: dielectric resonator 26a, 26b, 26c: guide groove

28a, 28b, 28c: guide rail 30: circular groove

32, 32 ', 32 ": dielectric line

34, 34 ', 34 ": mode suppressor

36, 36 ', 36 ": dielectric line for impedance matching

According to the present invention, an upper conductor plate and a lower conductor plate are formed, and at the bottom of the lower conductor plate, three guide groove pairs extending radially from the center thereof are formed at intervals of 120 °, and each pair of guide grooves has a predetermined value. A flat housing comprising a pair of guide grooves extending in parallel with each other to form a guide rail having a width; And a circulator circuit portion embedded in the flat plate housing.

In particular, the circulator circuit unit may include a dielectric resonator unit positioned in a central portion of the lower conductor plate; And a first port, a second port, and a third port disposed on the guide rails along the three guide rails. In addition, each of the first port, the second port, and the third port may include a dielectric line; And a mode suppressor disposed between the dielectric resonator and the dielectric line.

Preferably, the circulator circuit part is 5? / 4 length impedance matching part inserted between each of the mode suppressor and the dielectric resonator part to match the impedance between each of the dielectric lines and the dielectric resonator part. It further comprises a dielectric line.

Preferably, the dielectric resonator includes a cylindrical resonator made of a dielectric and a disc shaped rubber magnet attached to upper and lower portions of the cylindrical resonator.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent with reference to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings that illustrate the features of various embodiments of the invention. Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The above objects, features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 shows an appearance of an assembled state of a non-radiating dielectric waveguide circulator according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows an exploded state of the non-radiating dielectric waveguide circulator.

The non-radiating dielectric waveguide circulator has a structure in which a circulator circuit portion 20 using a dielectric line is mounted between the lower conductor plate 10a and the upper conductor plate 10b providing a parallel conductor plate surface. At the bottom of the lower conductor plate 10a, three guide groove pairs 26a, 26b, 26c extending radially from the center portion to the edge of the lower conductor plate 10a are formed at exactly 120 ° intervals. Each guide groove pair 26a, 26b, 26c consists of a pair of guide grooves extending in parallel to each other to form guide rails 28a, 28b, 28c having a predetermined width. In addition, a groove 38 is formed in the boundary jaw of the lower conductor plate 10a to block leakage waves, and the lower conductor plate 10a and the upper conductor plate 10b are made into polygons or circles, and the circulator circuit part 20 is formed. Built-in and then screwed together a plurality of screws (40a, ..., 40f) to make.

The circulator circuit portion 20 is formed along the three guide rails 28a, 28b, and 28c formed on the bottom surface of the dielectric resonator 24 and the lower conductor plate 10a positioned at the center of the lower conductor plate 10a. It consists of three ports P1, P2, and P3 placed on top of each other.

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the circulator circuit unit 20 shown in FIG. 2 in more detail, and FIG. 4 is a view for explaining the dimensional relationship of the circulator circuit unit 20.

The dielectric resonator 24 is formed of a dielectric line, for example, a dielectric resonator 24c made of cylindrical shape using Teflon, and disk-shaped rubber magnets 24a and 24b attached to the upper and lower parts thereof (product number example: JH016R). It is composed. In order to magnetize the non-magnetized rubber magnets 24a and 24b, a groove 30 is formed in the center of the lower conductor plate 10a and the upper conductor plate 10b to insert a permanent magnet (not shown). As a result, the electromagnetic wave entering the input port (for example, P1 port) rotates in one direction only by the Faraday effect, and a signal is transmitted to another specific port (for example, P2 port). Conventionally, the ferrite was processed in the form of a disk and attached to the upper and lower portions of the cylindrical resonator. Since the thickness of the ferrite disk is very thin, it is not cheap to manufacture because a cutting machine having an ultra-precision workability must be used. Therefore, rubber magnets, which are easy to process and inexpensive in terms of cost, and whose signal transmission characteristics are almost similar to those of ferrite, are used as a substitute for conventional ferrite disks.

Since each of the three ports P1, P2, P3 is placed along the three guide rails 28a, 28b, 28c with the dielectric resonator 24 as the center axis, the spacing of each port is precisely 120 °. Guaranteed. In the case of the non-radiative dielectric waveguide circulator, the dielectric lines 32, 32 ', and 32 "must be arranged at equal intervals exactly 120 ° with respect to the dielectric resonator 24 so that a certain characteristic can be exhibited even when a signal is input from any port. If the balance of the dielectric lines is slightly misaligned, a problem arises in that the signal transmission characteristics vary depending on the ports to which the signals are input. Thus, according to the present invention, the dielectric lines 32, 32 ', and 32 " By forming guide grooves 26a, 26b, and 26c for guiding the dielectric lines in the lower conductor plate 10a, the guide rails 28a, 28b, and 28c are provided, thereby facilitating the arrangement of the dielectric lines during manufacturing. It is possible to arrange at intervals so that the balance of three ports can be uniformly obtained to obtain uniform signal transmission characteristics.

The first port P1 includes an impedance matching dielectric line 36 for impedance matching, a mode suppressor 34 for suppressing unnecessary modes that may occur on the non-radiating dielectric waveguide, and an electromagnetic wave. The dielectric line 32 for the input and output of the structure is continuously arranged radially along the guide rail 28a from the outside of the dielectric resonator 24. The second port P2 and the third port P3 also have the same configuration as the first port P1.

The mode suppressor 34 is formed by inserting an LSE mode suppressor substrate 34c formed of a low pass filter pattern having a step impedance structure between two dielectric blocks 34a and 34b. The mode suppressor 34 is employed to suppress the LSE mode. The mode suppressor 34 is inserted into the central magnetic field of the electromagnetic wave transmitted through the dielectric line 32 to allow the LSM mode to pass through and to prevent the LSE mode from passing through the LSE mode. It can reduce the loss caused by the generation of.

To prevent the occurrence of insertion loss due to impedance mismatch between each of the dielectric lines 32, 32 'and 32 "and the dielectric resonator 24, each of the impedance matching dielectric lines 36, 36' and 36" is It is interposed between the suppressors 34, 34 ', 34 "and the dielectric resonator 24. An impedance matching dielectric line 36, 36' inserted to match the impedance between each dielectric line and the dielectric resonator. , 36 ") is commonly used in the λ / 4. In the present invention, an impedance matching dielectric line having a length of 5λ / 4 is used in consideration of manufacturability. In addition, the height h of the impedance matching dielectric lines 36, 36 ', 36 "is the same as the dielectric lines 32, 32', 32", and the impedance matching dielectric lines 36, 36 ', 36 ". The width W is adjusted to realize impedance matching (see FIG. 4).

5 is a partial cutaway view showing a state in which a dielectric line is mounted along a guide groove formed in the lower conductor plate, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the cutting line AA of FIG. The three-port balance can be maintained uniformly by forming a pair of guide grooves 26a on the left and right sides of the dielectric line 32 to guide the dielectric line at the position where the dielectric line 32 is to be precisely positioned by 120 °. The guide groove 26a is made of a choke structure having a size of λ / 4 to prevent leakage of radio waves, and the depth is shallow to approximately 0.2 mm or less so that the influence on the depth of the guide groove can be ignored.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to accurately and conveniently arrange the dielectric lines at equal intervals of 120 ° by making guide grooves at positions where the dielectric lines are to be placed at the bottom of one conductor plate of the non-radiating dielectric waveguide circulator. The precise balance of the ports ensures the same characteristics of the circulators and facilitates mass production.

According to the present invention, the reflection of the input wave can be reduced by inserting an impedance matching dielectric line to match the input impedance between the dielectric line and the dielectric resonator. In this case, the width of the impedance matching dielectric line can be appropriately matched to match the impedance, and the length of the impedance matching dielectric line in consideration of the fact that the impedance matching dielectric line having a length of λ / 4 is not easy to manufacture. Can be made 5λ / 4 to facilitate production.

Further, in consideration of the problem that conventional thin ferrite discs of the ferrite resonator are not easy to fabricate, it is possible to improve productivity and reduce production costs by using rubber magnets instead of the ferrite discs.

Although the above has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, those skilled in the art will be variously modified and changed within the scope of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention described in the claims below You can. Accordingly, all changes that come within the meaning or range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

Claims (3)

It consists of an upper conductor plate and a lower conductor plate, and at the bottom of the lower conductor plate, three guide groove pairs extending radially from the center thereof are formed at intervals of 120 °, and each guide groove pair has a guide rail having a predetermined width. A flat housing comprising a pair of guide grooves extending in parallel to each other to form a groove; And A circulator circuit part embedded in the flat plate housing; The circulator circuit unit includes a dielectric resonator unit positioned in the center of the lower conductor plate; And a first port, a second port, and a third port disposed on and along the three guide rails around the dielectric resonator. Each of the first port, the second port, and the third port; And a mode suppressor disposed between the dielectric resonator and the dielectric line. The impedance matching device of claim 1, wherein the circulator circuit part is inserted between each of the mode suppressors and the dielectric resonator part to match an impedance between each of the dielectric lines and the dielectric resonator part. A non-radiating dielectric waveguide circulator further comprising a dielectric line for the substrate. The non-radiative dielectric waveguide circulator according to claim 1, wherein the dielectric resonator comprises a cylindrical resonator made of a dielectric and a disc shaped rubber magnet attached to upper and lower portions of the cylindrical resonator.