TWM537317U - Smart antenna system capable of switching polarization direction - Google Patents

Abstract

A smart antenna system includes an antenna module including a first antenna, a second antenna and a switch element. The first and second antennas are coupled to the switch element and having first and second polarization directions, respectively, wherein the first polarization direction is orthogonal to the second polarization direction. The switch element is used for switching connections between a wireless communication module and the first and second antennas according to a control signal, thereby one of the first and second antennas receives a receiving signal. The wireless communication module generates the control signal according to at least one of a signal intensity and a packet error rate of the receiving signal.

Description

Smart antenna system capable of switching polarization directions

This creation refers to a smart antenna system, especially a smart antenna system that can switch polarization directions.

With the rapid development of wireless communication technology, more and more electronic products are equipped with Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) communication technology, which replaces the traditional cable transmission method. However, wireless communication technology needs to generate electromagnetic waves in the air through the antenna. The data is transmitted, so the role played by the antenna is particularly important. At the same time, as Wi-Fi usage demands increase, more and more Wi-Fi routers have been built indoors and outdoors. However, indoor setting environment often causes Wi-Fi signals to be affected and attenuated due to interference between compartments, decoration, etc., and the location of user terminals. In order to improve these problems, many research units have invested in smart antenna systems. .

Therefore, the main purpose of this creation is to provide a smart antenna system.

The present invention discloses a smart antenna system comprising a wireless communication module and an antenna module. The wireless communication module is configured to generate a transmission signal and generate a control signal to the antenna module according to a received signal. The antenna module is coupled to the wireless communication module and includes a first antenna, a second antenna, and a switch. The first antenna is coupled to the switch and has a first polarization direction. The second antenna is coupled to the switch and has a second polarization direction, wherein the first polarization direction is perpendicular to the second polarization direction. The switch is coupled to the wireless communication module, the first antenna and the second antenna, and is configured to switch between the first antenna and the second antenna and a wireless communication module according to the control signal The connection is such that one of the first antenna and the second antenna receives the received signal. The wireless communication module generates the control signal according to at least one of a signal strength of the received signal and a packet error rate.

The intelligent antenna system of the present invention comprises a two orthogonal polarization antenna, and further determines whether the connection of the antenna needs to be switched according to the signal quality parameters such as the signal strength of the received signal and the packet error rate. Therefore, the intelligent antenna system of the present invention can adaptively switch the connection of the antenna, eliminate the polarization direction and the radiation field shape with poor communication quality, and change the wireless direction with another polarization direction to ensure communication quality.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the smart antenna system 10 of the first embodiment of the present invention. The smart antenna system 10 can be used for electronic products having wireless communication functions, such as smart phones, notebook computers, access points, and data machines. The smart antenna system 10 includes a wireless communication module 11 and an antenna module 20. The antenna module 20 includes a switch 12 and antennas ANT1 and ANT2. The antenna ANT1 has a first polarization direction (e.g., a horizontal polarization direction), and the antenna ANT2 has a second polarization direction (e.g., a vertical polarization direction), wherein the first polarization direction is perpendicular to the second polarization direction. The switch 12 is coupled to the wireless communication module 11 and the antennas ANT1 and ANT2 for switching the connection between the antennas ANT1 and ANT2 and the wireless communication module 11 according to a control signal CTRL. When the switch 12 is connected to the wireless communication module 11 and the antenna ANT1 and separates the antenna ANT2, the transmitter ANT1 can transmit a transmit signal TX and receive a receive signal RX. On the other hand, when the switch 12 is connected to the wireless communication module 11 and When the antenna ANT2 is separated from the antenna ANT1, the transmitting signal TX and the receiving and receiving signal RX are transmitted by the antenna ANT2. The wireless communication module 11 is configured to generate a transmit signal TX and generate a control signal CTRL according to the received signal RX.

In operation, when the switch 12 is connected to the wireless communication module 11 and the antenna ANT1 and separates the antenna ANT2, the antenna ANT1 can receive the signal RX from the air, and transmit the received signal RX to the wireless communication module 11 via the switch 12 to enable wireless The communication module 11 determines whether it is necessary to switch the connection of the antenna according to at least one of the signal strength of the received signal RX and the signal quality parameter such as the packet error rate to generate the control signal CTRL. In the case where the signal quality of the received signal RX is acceptable (for example, if the signal strength is greater than a threshold or the packet error rate is lower than another threshold), the antenna ANT1 is used for wireless communication to achieve wireless in the first polarization direction. communication. On the other hand, if the signal quality of the received signal RX is unacceptable (for example, if the signal strength is lower than a threshold or the packet error rate is higher than another threshold), the wireless communication module 11 can generate the control signal CTRL to The switch 12 connects the switch 12 to the wireless communication module 11 and the antenna ANT2 and separates the antenna ANT1, and uses the antenna ANT2 to perform wireless communication to realize wireless communication in the second polarization direction. Then, the wireless communication module 11 determines whether the antenna connection needs to be switched according to the signal quality parameter such as the signal strength of the received signal RX and the packet error rate. By repeating the above operation, the intelligent antenna system 10 of the present invention can adaptively switch the connection of the antenna, eliminate the polarization direction with poor communication quality, and perform wireless communication with another polarization direction to ensure communication quality.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the antenna module 20 of the present embodiment. The antenna module 20 further includes a grounding portion 21 and a substrate 22. The antennas ANT1 and ANT2 and the grounding portion 21 are formed on one surface of the substrate 22, and the switch 12 can be disposed on the surface or the other surface of the substrate 22. The substrate 22 presents a square shape, and the antenna patterns of the antennas ANT1 and ANT2 and the shape of the ground portion 21 are symmetric with respect to the diagonal of the substrate 22. The antenna ANT1 includes a feeding end F1 and two arms A11 and A12, wherein the feeding end F1 is electrically connected to the arm A11, the arm A12 is electrically connected to the grounding portion 21, and the arms A11 and A12 are horizontally oriented ( For example, the X direction) extends to have a horizontal polarization direction. The antenna ANT2 includes a feeding end F2 and the arms A21 and A22, wherein the feeding end F2 is electrically connected to the arm A21, the arm A21 is electrically connected to the grounding portion 21, and the arms A21 and A22 are vertically oriented (for example) The Y direction) extends to have a vertical polarization direction. The arm A12 is adjacent to A21, and the arms A11 and A22 are not adjacent. The length of the single arm of the antennas ANT1 and ANT2 is a quarter wavelength of the transmitting signal TX and the receiving signal RX. Under this architecture, the antennas ANT1 and ANT2 are respectively half-wavelength dipole antennas, and the polarization directions of the two are vertical. . Therefore, equivalently, the antenna module 20 can be regarded as a dual-polarized half-wavelength dipole antenna.

Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are radiation pattern diagrams of the antennas ANT1 and ANT2, respectively. In Fig. 3, the radiation pattern of the antenna ANT1 having a high radiation efficiency value is distributed in the horizontal upper semicircular portion. In Fig. 4, the radiation pattern of the antenna ANT2 having a high radiation efficiency value is distributed in the vertical left semicircular portion. Therefore, by switching the connections of the antennas ANT1 and ANT2, the radiation pattern of the antenna module can be switched.

In short, the antenna module of the present invention can be regarded as a dual-polarized half-wavelength dipole antenna, and the signal quality of the received signal is detected through the wireless communication module, and it is instantly determined whether the current polarization direction needs to be switched to adaptively exclude. The polarization direction with poor communication quality is changed to another polarization direction for wireless communication to ensure communication quality. Or, from another perspective, the intelligent antenna system of the present invention switches the radiation pattern by switching the antennas to achieve communication quality optimization. Variations may be modified by those of ordinary skill in the art, and are not limited to the above embodiments.

In an embodiment, in the antenna configuration of the antenna module 20, although the two have orthogonal polarization directions, since the two are adjacent configurations and the isolation is low, if the antennas ANT1 and ANT2 are simultaneously used for wireless communication. This will cause the overall signal strength of the antenna module 20 to be reduced by about 3 dB (about 50%). In this case, the switch can be a single pole double throw RF switch, so that the antenna module 20 uses a single polarization direction for wireless communication. In practice, the switch can be printed on the substrate through a Surface Mount Technology (SMT) process, which is relatively easy to manufacture, high in precision, and low in production cost, and is suitable for industrial applications.

In an embodiment, the smart antenna system 10 can be applied in the 2.4 to 2.5 GHz band or the 5.15 to 5.85 GHz band defined by the Wireless Local Area Network (WALN) and WiFi, wherein the arm of the antenna is adjusted. Length, you can adjust its operating frequency.

In one embodiment, the substrate 22 can be fabricated from FR4 fiberglass sheets, wherein the FR4 fiberglass sheet has a dielectric constant of 4.4 and a tangent loss of 0.0245. This material is relatively inexpensive and can be used in antenna designs below 6 GHz, so it is applicable. In the 2.4 ~ 2.5GHz frequency band and 5.15 ~ 5.85GHz frequency band.

In an embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the substrate 22 can be further provided with an RF connector 23 coupled between the switch 12 and the wireless communication module 11 for use as the antenna module 20 and the wireless communication module. The connection interface of group 11 transmits the transmission signal TX and the reception signal RX.

In summary, the intelligent antenna system of the present invention switches the polarization direction and the radiation pattern by switching the antennas to achieve communication quality optimization.

10‧‧‧Smart Antenna System
11‧‧‧Wireless communication module
12‧‧‧Switcher
20‧‧‧Antenna Module
ANT1, ANT2‧‧‧ antenna
CTRL‧‧‧ control signal
TX‧‧‧ transmit signal
RX‧‧‧ receiving signal
X, Y, Z‧‧ Direction
21‧‧‧ Grounding Department
22‧‧‧Substrate
23‧‧‧RF connector
A11, A12, A21, A22‧‧ arm
F1, F2‧‧‧ feed end

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram of a smart antenna system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a schematic view showing the antenna module of Fig. 1 of the present embodiment. Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 are radiation pattern diagrams of the antenna of Fig. 2, respectively.

10‧‧‧Smart Antenna System

11‧‧‧Wireless communication module

12‧‧‧Switcher

20‧‧‧Antenna Module

ANT1, ANT2‧‧‧ antenna

CTRL‧‧‧ control signal

TX‧‧‧ transmit signal

RX‧‧‧ receiving signal

Claims (9)

A smart antenna system includes: a wireless communication module for generating a transmission signal and generating a control signal according to a received signal; and an antenna module coupled to the wireless communication module, comprising: a first antenna having a first polarization direction; a second antenna having a second polarization direction, wherein the first polarization direction is perpendicular to the second polarization direction; and a switch, coupling The wireless communication module, the first antenna, and the second antenna are configured to switch a connection between the first antenna or the second antenna and the wireless communication module according to the control signal, so that The first antenna transmits the transmitting signal and receives the receiving signal, or the second antenna transmits the transmitting signal and receives the receiving signal; wherein the wireless communication module is based on a signal strength of the received signal and a packet error At least one of the rates produces the control signal. The smart antenna system of claim 1, wherein when the signal strength of the received signal is lower than a threshold and the packet error rate is higher than another threshold, and the wireless communication module is connected to the first antenna The wireless communication module generates the control signal to the switch, so that the switch connects the wireless communication module and the second antenna and separates the first antenna. The smart antenna system of claim 1, wherein when the signal strength of the received signal is lower than a threshold and the packet error rate is higher than another threshold, and the wireless communication module is connected to the second antenna The wireless communication module generates the control signal to the switch, so that the switch connects the wireless communication module and the first antenna and separates the second antenna. The smart antenna system of claim 1, wherein the antenna module comprises: a grounding portion; the first antenna comprises: a first feeding end; a first arm electrically connected to the first a feed end extending along the first polarization direction; and a second arm electrically connected to the ground portion extending along the first polarization direction; the second antenna comprising: a second feed a third arm electrically connected to the second feeding end and extending along the second polarization direction; and a fourth arm electrically connected to the ground portion along the second polarization And extending a direction; and a substrate, wherein the first antenna, the second antenna, and the ground portion are formed on a surface of the substrate. The smart antenna system of claim 4, wherein the second arm is adjacent to the third arm, the first arm and the fourth arm are not adjacent. The smart antenna system of claim 4, wherein the lengths of the first arm, the second arm, the third arm, and the fourth arm are the transmitted signal and the quarter of the received signal. One wavelength. The smart antenna system of claim 6, wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are respectively half-wavelength dipole antennas. The smart antenna system of claim 4, wherein the switch is disposed on the surface or the other surface of the substrate, and the switch is a single pole double throw RF switch. The smart antenna system of claim 4, wherein the antenna module includes a radio frequency connector coupled between the switch and the wireless communication module for transmitting the transmit signal and the received signal.