TW202243322A - Antenna unit pair and antenna array - Google Patents

Abstract

An antenna unit pair and an antenna array are provided. The antenna array includes antenna unit pairs and a feeding signal line. The feeding signal line includes phase delay structures arranged corresponding to the antenna unit pairs respectively.

Description

Antenna unit group and antenna array

The invention relates to an antenna unit group and an antenna array.

Products using wireless communication technology can be seen everywhere in modern life. For example, current smart phones are usually supplemented with a wide area wireless network system (Wireless Wide Area Network, WWAN), digital television broadcasting system (Digital Television Broadcasting) System, DTV), satellite positioning and navigation system (Global Positioning System, GPS), wireless communication area network system (Wireless Local Area Network, WLAN), near field communication transmission system (Near Field Communication, NFC), long-range evolution system (Long Term Evolution, LTE) and wireless personal network system (Wireless Personal Network, WLPN) and other systems using wireless communication technology. In addition, in many important cities or public spaces, the wireless local area network environment is already one of the necessary elements. Even, many people will set up a wireless local area network in their own home.

The wireless communication equipment transmits or receives wireless signals through the antenna device located therein. In order to enable the antenna device to generate sufficient radiation intensity, there is currently a technology of integrating multiple antenna units into an antenna array. The size and directionality of the radiation field are changed by the superposition of electromagnetic waves generated by multiple antenna units.

The invention provides an antenna unit group and an antenna array.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, an antenna unit set is provided, which includes a first substrate, a second substrate, a first antenna unit, a second antenna unit, and a feed-in signal line. The first antenna unit includes a first adjustable dielectric element and a first electrode element. The second antenna unit includes a second adjustable dielectric element and a second electrode element. The first electrode element and the second electrode element are on the second substrate. The first tunable dielectric element and the second tunable dielectric element are controlled independently of each other and are between the first plate surface of the first substrate and the second substrate. The feed-in signal line is on the second board surface of the first substrate. The feed-in signal lines are configured as series or parallel.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, an antenna array is provided, which includes several antenna unit groups and feed-in signal lines. The feed signal line includes several phase delay structures respectively corresponding to the antenna unit groups.

In order to have a better understanding of the above-mentioned and other aspects of the present invention, the following specific examples are given in detail with the accompanying drawings as follows:

The present invention will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.

It should be understood that although the terms "first", "second", "third" and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, and/or or parts thereof shall not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another element, component, region, layer or section. Thus, "a first element," "component," "region," "layer" or "section" discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings herein.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms including "at least one" unless the content clearly dictates otherwise. "or" means "and/or". As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. It should also be understood that when used in this specification, the terms "comprising" and/or "comprising" designate the stated features, regions, integers, steps, operations, the presence of elements and/or components, but do not exclude one or more Existence or addition of other features, regions as a whole, steps, operations, elements, parts and/or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted to have meanings consistent with their meanings in the context of the relevant art and the present invention, and will not be interpreted as idealized or excessive formal meaning, unless expressly so defined herein.

Exemplary embodiments are described herein with reference to cross section illustrations that are schematic illustrations of idealized embodiments. Accordingly, variations from the shapes of the illustrations as a result, for example, of manufacturing techniques and/or tolerances are to be expected. Thus, embodiments described herein should not be construed as limited to the particular shapes of regions as illustrated herein but are to include deviations in shapes that result, for example, from manufacturing. For example, a region shown or described as flat, may, typically, have rough and/or non-linear features. Additionally, acute corners shown may be rounded. Thus, the regions shown in the figures are schematic in nature and their shapes are not intended to illustrate the precise shape of a region and are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an antenna unit set 100A in an embodiment.

The first substrate 200 has a first board surface 201 and a second board surface 202 opposite to each other. The second substrate 300 has a third board surface 301 and a fourth board surface 302 opposite to each other. The ring electrode 400 is disposed on the first board surface 201 of the first substrate 200 . The ring electrode 400 may include a ring electrode 401 (eg, a first ring electrode) and a ring electrode 402 (eg, a second ring electrode). The feeding signal line 500A is disposed on the second board surface 202 of the first substrate 200 . The auxiliary electrode 600 is disposed on the third board surface 301 of the second substrate 300 . The auxiliary electrode 600 may include an auxiliary electrode 601 (eg, a first auxiliary electrode) and an auxiliary electrode 602 (eg, a second auxiliary electrode). The electrode element 700 is disposed on the third plate surface 301 of the second substrate 300 . The dielectric layer 800 is sandwiched between the first board surface 201 of the first substrate 200 and the third board surface 301 of the second substrate 300 .

FIG. 2 shows a schematic top view of the ring electrode 400 , the feed signal line 500A, the auxiliary electrode 600 , the electrode element 700 and the dielectric layer 800 of the antenna unit set 100A in FIG. 1 . Figure 1 can correspond to the structural part of the section line AA in Figure 2.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the electrode element 700 and the auxiliary electrode 600 are electrically isolated from each other by the accommodating space 67 . The accommodating space 67 overlaps the ring-shaped electrode 400 in the vertical direction Z (for example, the Z-axis direction). The dielectric layer 800 or other dielectric material layers can fill the accommodating space 67 . The ring electrode 400 is not limited to the elliptical ring shape shown in FIG. 1 , and may be other suitable shapes such as a rectangular ring shape.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show two antenna units 900, that is, an antenna unit 901 (eg, the first antenna unit) and an antenna unit 902 (eg, the second antenna unit). The antenna unit 901 and the antenna unit 902 each include an electrode element 700 (including an electrode element 701 (such as a first electrode element) of the antenna unit 901, an electrode element 702 (such as a second electrode element) of the antenna unit 902), a ring electrode 400 ( For example, the first ring-shaped electrode 401 of the antenna unit 901, the second ring-shaped electrode 402 of the antenna unit 902, etc.), the auxiliary electrode 600 (such as the first auxiliary electrode 601 of the antenna unit 901, the second auxiliary electrode 602 of the antenna unit 902, etc. ).

In an embodiment, the antenna unit set 100A is a planar wireless radio frequency antenna unit set with an intensity modulation function. The dielectric layer 800 includes liquid crystals. The orientation of the liquid crystal guide axis of the liquid crystal can be changed by applying a bias voltage between the ring electrode 400 and the auxiliary electrode 600 , thereby changing the dielectric constant of the liquid crystal. Therefore, the part of the dielectric layer 800 between the annular electrode 400 and the auxiliary electrode 600 can be used as the adjustable dielectric element 450 of the antenna unit 900 (including the adjustable dielectric element 451 of the antenna unit 901 (such as the first adjustable modulating dielectric element), the tunable dielectric element 452 of the antenna unit 902 (eg, the second tunable dielectric element)). The adjustable dielectric element 451 of the antenna unit 901 and the adjustable dielectric element 452 of the antenna unit 902 can be controlled independently of each other. In this way, the antenna unit 901 and the antenna unit 902 can be turned on (ON) or turned off (OFF) independently at the same time. In some embodiments, through the superposition or cancellation of the magnetic dipoles of the antenna unit 900, and the opening and closing of the adjustable dielectric element 450, the antenna unit group 100A can achieve a good electromagnetic wave intensity switching effect, providing an antenna The device has a high gain and clear radiation signal.

In one embodiment, the respective electrode elements 700 of the antenna units 900 are common electrode elements, for example, the electrode element 701 and the electrode element 702 are a common ground electrode layer. The electrode element 700 and the auxiliary electrode 600 may be the same conductive layer.

In this embodiment, the feed signal line 500A used to form the feed guide wave is arranged in series. That is to say, when the feeding signal line 500A, the adjustable dielectric element 451 and the adjustable dielectric element 452 are projected onto a base plane in a vertical direction Z, the signal line projection from the feeding signal line 500A is In the transmission direction of electric signals (such as alternating current), the projections passing through the adjustable dielectric element 451 and the adjustable dielectric element 452 in sequence, or sequentially passing through the first projection used to define the adjustable dielectric element 450 The projections of the ring electrode 401 and the second ring electrode 402 , or the projections passing through the first auxiliary electrode 601 and the second auxiliary electrode 602 to define the tunable dielectric element 450 in sequence. For example, when the first board surface 201 of the first substrate 200 is used as the base plane, the signal line projection of the feed-in signal line 500A onto the first board surface 201 of the first substrate 200 is in accordance with the electrical signal transmission direction. The sequence passes through the adjustable dielectric element 451 and the adjustable dielectric element 452 . Other interpretations of the configuration of the series feed signal line 500A can be deduced by analogy. The electrical signal fed into the signal line 500A is, for example, a current signal or a voltage signal. In this embodiment, the feed-in signal line 500A is arranged in series with straight line segments 520 . There is an element spacing 912A between the antenna element 901 and the antenna element 902 (FIG. 1). When the electrode spacing between the first ring-shaped electrode 401 and the second ring-shaped electrode 402 is larger, so that the degree of coupling between them is lower, the control of the adjustable dielectric element 451 and the adjustable dielectric element 451 will be better. Element 452 is the switch. The cell pitch 912A is the period of the input signal wavelength. For example, the cell pitch 912A ranges from 0.4 times to 0.4+m times the wavelength of the input signal, where m=1, 2, 3 and other positive integers. However, a larger electrode pitch will occupy a larger layout area, which hinders the miniaturization of the device. In the embodiment, on the premise of balancing the coupling effect and the layout area, when the feeding signal line 500A is arranged in series, the cell pitch 912A is preferably 0.4 to 1.5 times the wavelength of the feeding signal. The air wavelength can be about 2 times the wavelength of the feed signal.

The antenna unit 900 is a Microstrip-fed antenna. The electromagnetic signal is formed through the electric field and magnetic field mainly distributed between the feed signal line 500A and the electrode element 700, and transmits the signal to the antenna unit 900, and emits electromagnetic waves through electromagnetic induction.

Please refer to FIG. 3 , which shows a schematic top view of the ring electrode 400 , the feed signal line 500B, the auxiliary electrode 600 , the electrode element 700 and the dielectric layer 800 of another embodiment of the antenna unit set 100B. Figure 1 can correspond to the structural part of the section line AA in Figure 3. The differences between the antenna unit set 100B in FIG. 3 and the antenna unit set 100A in FIG. 1 are explained as follows. In this embodiment, the feed-in signal lines 500B are configured in parallel. That is to say, when the feeding signal line 500B, the adjustable dielectric element 451 and the adjustable dielectric element 452 are projected onto a base plane in the vertical direction Z, the signal line projection from the feeding signal line 500B is in From the node 510 to the opposite direction of electrical signal transmission respectively through the projections of the adjustable dielectric element 451 and the adjustable dielectric element 452, or from the node 510 to the opposite direction of electrical signal transmission through the first ring-shaped electrode The projections of 401 and the second ring-shaped electrode 402 , or the projections passing through the first auxiliary electrode 601 and the second auxiliary electrode 602 respectively from the node 510 to the opposite electric signal transmission direction. For example, when the first board surface 201 (FIG. 1) of the first substrate 200 is used as the base plane, the projection of the signal line fed into the signal line 500B onto the first board surface 201 of the first substrate 200 is from the node 510 respectively passes through the adjustable dielectric element 451 and the adjustable dielectric element 452 in the opposite direction of electric signal transmission. Other possible interpretations of the parallel feed-in signal line 500B can be deduced by analogy. In this embodiment, the feed-in signal line 500B is arranged in parallel with the straight line segment 520 and the straight line segment 530 arranged in a T shape. The node 510 is located at the intersection of the straight line segment 520 and the straight line segment 530 . Node 510 may be between tunable dielectric element 451 and tunable dielectric element 452 .

When the electrode spacing between the first ring-shaped electrode 401 and the second ring-shaped electrode 402 is larger, so that the degree of coupling between them is lower, the control of the adjustable dielectric element 451 and the adjustable dielectric element 451 will be better. Element 452 is the switch. The cell pitch 912B is the period of the input signal wavelength. For example, the cell pitch 912B ranges from 0.2 times to 0.2+m times the wavelength of the input signal, where m=1, 2, 3 and other positive integers. However, a larger electrode pitch will occupy a larger layout area, which hinders the miniaturization of the device. In the embodiment, on the premise of balancing the coupling effect and the layout area, when the feed signal line 500B is configured in parallel, the unit spacing 912B between the antenna unit 901 and the antenna unit 902 is preferably 0.1 of the feed signal wavelength times to 1.5 times. The air wavelength can be about 2 times the wavelength of the feed signal.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , which shows a schematic top view of an antenna array in an embodiment. The feed signal line 500A includes a straight line segment 520-1 to a straight line segment 520-8, corresponding to the antenna unit group 100A-1 (for example, the first antenna unit group), and the antenna unit group 100A-2 (for example, the second antenna unit group). unit group)... The antenna unit 901 and the antenna unit 902 of the antenna unit group 100A-8 are arranged in series. Alternatively, the antenna array has an arrangement of the antenna element group 100A described with reference to FIG. 2 . In the embodiment, the antenna array is not limited to 8 antenna element groups arranged in a 1x8 array as shown in the figure, but may have other numbers and/or antenna element groups arranged in other arrangements, such as 64 antenna element groups arranged in an 8x8 array Wait. The feeding signal line 500A may further include other possible or suitable conductive structures electrically connected between the straight line segment 520 (such as the straight line segment 520 - 1 to the straight line segment 520 - 8 ) and the signal input terminal 590 . In an embodiment, the antenna array is a planar radio frequency antenna array.

Please refer to FIG. 5 , which shows a schematic top view of an antenna array in another embodiment. The differences between the antenna array of FIG. 5 and the antenna array of FIG. 4 are explained below. In this embodiment, the feed signal line 500A further includes phase delay structures PD respectively corresponding to the antenna unit groups 100A. For example, the phase delay structure PD includes a phase delay structure PD-1 corresponding to the antenna unit group 100A-1 (for example, the first phase delay structure), and a phase delay structure PD-2 (for example, the second phase delay structure) corresponding to the antenna unit group 100A-2. phase delay structure), etc. The phase delay structure PD corresponding to different antenna unit groups 100A may have meandering line segments 540 of different lengths (microstrip line feed line lengths), so that the feed signal line 500A can connect the antenna unit group 100A-1 to the antenna unit Group 100A-8 provides feed-in signals (electrical signals) with phase differences. In an embodiment, the straight line segment 520 and the meander line segment 540 of the delay structure PD do not overlap each other in the vertical direction Z. The straight line segment 520 and the meander line segment 540 of the delay structure PD may be the same conductive layer. There are nodes 550 (such as signal feeding nodes) between adjacent phase delay structures PD. The meandering line segment 540 of the phase delay structure PD is electrically connected between the node 550 and the straight line segment 520 . The feeding signal line 500A may further include other possible or suitable conductive structures electrically connected between the node 550 and the signal input end 590 .

Please refer to FIG. 6 , which shows a schematic top view of an antenna array in yet another embodiment. The difference between the antenna array of FIG. 6 and the antenna array of FIG. 5 is that FIG. 6 shows 16 antenna element groups 100A arranged in a 4x4 array.

Please refer to FIG. 7 , which shows a schematic top view of an antenna array in another embodiment. The differences between the antenna array of FIG. 7 and the antenna array of FIG. 5 are explained below. The antenna array has the antenna element group 100B described with reference to FIG. 3, including the antenna element group 100B-1 (eg, the first antenna element group), the antenna element group 100B-2 (eg, the second antenna element group) ... to Unit group 100B-8. The feeding signal line 500B further includes a connecting line segment 560 . The connecting line segment 560 may include a straight line segment 530 and a straight line segment 570 arranged in an L shape. There is a node 510 between the straight line segment 520 and the straight line segment 530 connecting the line segment 560 . The straight line segment 570 connecting the line segment 560 is electrically connected between the straight line segment 530 and the meander line segment 540 . In an embodiment, the straight line segment 520 , the straight line segment 530 , the straight line segment 570 and the meander line segment 540 of the delay structure PD do not overlap each other in the vertical direction Z. The straight line segment 520 , the straight line segment 530 , the straight line segment 570 and the meander line segment 540 may be the same conductive layer.

Please refer to FIG. 8 , which shows a schematic top view of an antenna array in yet another embodiment. The difference between the antenna array of FIG. 8 and the antenna array of FIG. 7 is that FIG. 8 shows 16 antenna element groups 100B arranged in a 4x4 array.

，其中n為在天線介質中傳輸的饋入波的等效折射率，π是圓周率，λ是自由空間中的輻射電磁波長。實施例中，具有相延遲結構PD的天線陣列是具有高增益單一主瓣的波束引導(beam-steering)技術，如第10圖至第13圖所示。第10圖與第11圖為天線單元組1x8陣列排列的天線陣列的天線信號圖形。第12圖與第13圖為天線單元組8x8陣列排列的天線陣列的天線信號圖形。 Please refer to FIG. 9 , which shows the arrangement concept of the antenna array with the phase delay structure PD in the embodiment. The antenna array has an energy modulation function, wherein there is a gap between the feed signal (high frequency signal) provided by the feed signal line (such as the feed signal line 500A, the feed signal line 500B) with the phase delay structure PD and the antenna unit group 100. Phase difference Δ (phase difference Δ1 to phase difference Δ8 as shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 7), and form the feeding guide wave of the antenna plane. The phase difference Δ corresponding to two adjacent antenna unit groups 100 can be determined by the optical path difference T of the equivalently fed guided wave W and the incident direction θ of the equivalently fed guided wave W. That is, Δn-Δn-1=Δ. For example, there is a difference Δ between the phase difference Δ2 of the feed-in signal corresponding to the antenna unit group 100A- 2 and the phase difference Δ1 corresponding to the antenna unit group 100A- 1 in FIG. 5 . The relationship between the phase difference Δ1 to the phase difference Δ8 can be deduced by analogy. The antenna unit groups 100 have a structural spacing d in the first direction X (for example, the X-axis direction) (also indicated in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 ). The transmission direction of the equivalently fed guided wave W deviates from the second direction Y (such as the Y-axis direction) by an angle θ (such as an acute angle), and the range of the angle θ can be between 0° and 90°. The first direction X and the second direction Y are perpendicular to each other. In the embodiment, the optical path difference T=nd*sinθ, the phase difference Δ=

, where n is the equivalent refractive index of the feed wave propagating in the antenna medium, π is the circumference ratio, and λ is the radiated electromagnetic wavelength in free space. In an embodiment, the antenna array with the phase delay structure PD is a beam-steering technology with a high-gain single main lobe, as shown in FIG. 10 to FIG. 13 . FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are antenna signal diagrams of the antenna array in which the antenna unit groups are arranged in a 1×8 array. FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are antenna signal diagrams of the antenna array in which the antenna unit groups are arranged in an 8x8 array.

To sum up, although the present invention has been disclosed by the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Those skilled in the art of the present invention can make various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present invention should be defined by the scope of the appended patent application.

67:Accommodating space 100,100A,100A-1,100A-2,100A-3,100A-4,100A-5,100A-6,100A-7,100A-8,100B,100B-1,100B-2,100B-3,100B-4,100B-5,100B-6,100B-7,100 B-8: Antenna unit group 200: first substrate 201: First board surface 202: Second board surface 300: second substrate 301: The surface of the third plate 302: fourth plate surface 400, 401, 402: ring electrodes 450, 451, 452: adjustable dielectric components 500A, 500B: feed signal line 510,550: nodes 520,520-1,520-2,520-3,520-4,520-5,520-6,520-7,520-8,530: straight line segment 540: Serpentine line segment 590: signal input terminal 600, 601, 602: auxiliary electrodes 700, 701, 702: Electrode components 800: medium layer 900, 901, 902: antenna unit 912A, 912B: unit spacing d: Structure spacing PD, PD-1, PD-2: phase delay structure T: There is a difference between the phase differences W: Equivalently fed into the guided wave X: first direction Y: the second direction Z: vertical direction Δ1, Δ2, Δ3, Δ4, Δ5, Δ6, Δ7, Δ8: phase difference

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an antenna unit set in an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the antenna unit set in the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic top view of an antenna unit set in another embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of an antenna array in an embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of an antenna array in another embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic top view of an antenna array in yet another embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic top view of an antenna array in yet another embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic top view of an antenna array in yet another embodiment. FIG. 9 shows the arrangement concept of the antenna array with phase delay structure in the embodiment. FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 are antenna signal diagrams of the antenna array in which the antenna unit groups are arranged in a 1×8 array. FIG. 12 and FIG. 13 are antenna signal diagrams of the antenna array in which the antenna unit groups are arranged in an 8x8 array.

100B: Antenna unit group

400, 401, 402: ring electrodes

450, 451, 452: adjustable dielectric components

500B: Feed-in signal line

510: node

520,530: straight line segment

600: Auxiliary electrode

601,602: Auxiliary electrodes

700: electrode components

800: medium layer

900, 901, 902: antenna unit

912B: Unit spacing

Claims (5)

An antenna array comprising: a number of antenna element groups; and A feed signal line includes several phase delay structures respectively corresponding to the antenna unit groups. The antenna array as described in Claim 1, wherein the feed signal line is used to provide feed signals to these antenna unit groups, and form several equivalent feed guide waves, corresponding to the adjacent antenna unit groups The two antenna unit groups have a phase difference Δ, the equivalent feed-in guided waves have an optical path difference T, and the antenna unit groups have a structural spacing d in a first direction, and these equivalent The transmission direction of the fed guided wave deviates from a second direction at an angle θ, the first direction and the second direction are perpendicular to each other, n is the equivalent refractive index of the antenna medium, where T=nd*sinθ, Δ=

, π is the circumference ratio, and λ is the radiated electromagnetic wavelength in free space. The antenna array according to claim 1, wherein the antenna element groups include a first antenna element group and a second antenna element group, and the phase delay structures include a first phase delay structure and a second phase delay structure The delay structures respectively correspond to the first antenna unit group and the second antenna unit group, and there is a signal feeding node between the first phase delay structure and the second phase delay structure. The antenna array as described in claim 3, wherein the first antenna unit group includes a first antenna unit and a second antenna unit, and the feed signal line further includes a straight line segment, the straight line segment is for the The first antenna unit and the second antenna unit are configured in series, and the first phase delay structure has a meandering line segment electrically connected between the signal feeding node and the straight line segment. The antenna array according to claim 3, wherein the first phase delay structure has a meandering line segment, the first antenna unit group includes a first antenna unit and a second antenna unit, and the feed signal The line further includes a straight line segment and a connecting line segment. The straight line segment and the connecting line segment are arranged in parallel with the first antenna unit and the second antenna unit. There is a gap between the straight line segment and the connecting line segment. A node is located between the first antenna unit and the second antenna unit, and the connecting line segment is electrically connected between the straight line segment and the meandering line segment.

Images