TWM589908U - Array type antenna structure - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an array antenna structure. The array antenna structure includes a substrate, a plurality of chip antennas disposed on the substrate, and a plurality of phase shifters electrically coupled to the plurality of chip antennas . The substrate is divided into a plurality of unit regions. A plurality of the chip antennas are equally distributed in the plurality of unit regions, so that each unit region is provided with an even number of the chip antennas defined as one antenna unit, and each of the antenna units The even-numbered chip antennas in the figure are electrically coupled to each other. The number of the plurality of phase shifters is equal to the number of the plurality of antenna units, and is electrically coupled to the plurality of antenna units respectively, so that each of the phase shifters can be used to adjust the corresponding position An even number of phases of the chip antenna in the antenna unit.

Description

Array antenna structure

This creation relates to an antenna structure, in particular to an array antenna structure.

The conventional antenna structure includes a substrate, a plurality of antennas on the substrate, and a plurality of phase shifters on the substrate, wherein the plurality of phase shifters are one-to-one It is electrically connected to a plurality of the antennas, and each antenna is fed through each corresponding phase shifter to change the phase to achieve the direction switching of the field beam. However, the number of the plurality of phase shifters required to be installed in the existing antenna structure is the same as the number of the plurality of antennas, but the unit price of each phase shifter is expensive, resulting in an overall expensive antenna structure.

Therefore, the author believes that the above-mentioned defects can be improved. Naite devotes himself to research and cooperates with the application of scientific principles, and finally proposes a original design with reasonable design and effective improvement of the above-mentioned defects.

The technical problem to be solved in this creation is to provide an array antenna structure in response to the deficiencies of the existing technology, which can effectively improve the defects that may be generated by the existing antenna structure.

This creative embodiment discloses an array antenna structure, which includes: a substrate defining a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to each other, the substrate is divided into a plurality of unit regions, and the plurality of unit regions are arranged into M rows parallel to the first direction and N columns parallel to the second direction, M and N are each positive integers greater than 1; a plurality of chip antennas are equally distributed in the plurality of unit areas, So that each unit area is provided with an even number of the chip antennas defined as one antenna unit, and the even number of the chip antennas in each antenna unit is electrically coupled to each other; wherein, in each row In the unit area, any one of the antenna units is separated by an internal longitudinal distance between two of the patch antennas adjacent to each other in the first direction, and belongs to any two adjacent antenna units but each other There is an outer longitudinal spacing between the two adjacent patch antennas, and the inner longitudinal spacing is at least five times the outer longitudinal spacing; the number of phase shifters is equal to that of multiple The number of the antenna elements is respectively electrically coupled to the plurality of antenna elements, so that each of the phase shifters can be used to adjust the phase of the even number of chip antennas corresponding to the antenna elements .

To sum up, the array antenna structure disclosed in this creative embodiment, by coupling even number of the chip antennas to each other to form the above antenna unit, a plurality of the phase shifters are respectively one-to-one electrically Coupling a plurality of the antenna units, thereby greatly reducing the number of phase shifters required by the array antenna structure, thereby reducing the overall cost of the array antenna structure.

In order to further understand the characteristics and technical content of this creation, please refer to the following detailed description and drawings of this creation. However, the drawings provided are for reference and explanation only, and are not intended to limit this creation.

The following is a description of the implementation of the “array antenna structure” disclosed in this creation by specific specific examples. Those skilled in the art can understand the advantages and effects of this creation from the content disclosed in this specification. This creation can be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments. The details in this specification can also be based on different views and applications, and various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the concept of this creation. In addition, the drawings in this creation are only a schematic illustration, not based on actual size, and are declared in advance. The following embodiments will further describe the relevant technical content of the creation, but the disclosed content is not intended to limit the protection scope of the creation.

It should be understood that although terms such as “first”, “second”, and “third” may be used herein to describe various elements or signals, these elements or signals should not be limited by these terms. These terms are mainly used to distinguish one component from another component, or one signal from another signal. In addition, the term "or" as used herein may include any combination of any one or more of the associated listed items, depending on the actual situation.

This creation discloses an array antenna structure. Figures 1 to 9 are based on various embodiments of the spirit of the creation. First, the creative spirit of this creation is explained below. The array antenna structure 100 includes a substrate 1, a plurality of chip antennas 2 disposed on the substrate 1, and a plurality of phase shifters 3 (phase shifter) electrically coupled to the plurality of chip antennas 2 ).

The substrate 1 defines a first direction D1 and a second direction D2 that are perpendicular to each other, the substrate 1 is divided into a plurality of unit regions 11, and the plurality of unit regions 11 are arranged parallel to the first direction D1 M rows and N columns parallel to the second direction D2, M and N are positive integers greater than one.

A plurality of the chip antennas 2 are equally distributed in the plurality of unit regions 11, so that each unit region 11 is provided with an even number of the chip antennas 2 defined as one antenna unit 20, and each An even number of the sheet antennas 2 in the antenna units 20 are electrically coupled to each other.

5 and FIG. 9 together, wherein, in each row of the unit area 11, any one of the antenna units 20 is between two chip antennas 2 adjacent to each other in the first direction D1 There is an internal longitudinal distance W1 separated by any two adjacent antenna elements 20 but adjacent to each other. The two chip antennas 2 are separated by an external longitudinal distance W2, and the internal longitudinal distance W1 is at least five Double the outer longitudinal spacing W2.

The number of the plurality of phase shifters 3 is equal to the number of the plurality of antenna units 20 and is electrically coupled to the plurality of antenna units 20 respectively, so that each of the phase shifters 3 can be used to adjust the corresponding An even number of phases of the chip antenna 2 in the antenna unit 20. According to this, the antenna units 20 are formed by coupling the even number of the chip antennas 2 to each other, so that each of the phase shifters 3 is electrically coupled to each of the antenna units 20 one-to-one. This greatly reduces the number of phase shifters 3 required for the array antenna structure 100, thereby reducing the overall cost of the array antenna structure 100.

Based on the above-mentioned creative spirit, this creation can have many embodiments, for example: the number of even-numbered chip antennas 2 located in each unit area 11 can be 2, 4, 6 or 8, and the even-numbered The chip antennas 2 are arranged parallel to the first direction D1 and parallel to the second direction D2, so that an even number of the chip antennas 2 in each antenna unit 20 form a matrix, for example: 3 by 2 , 4 by 4, etc., the following provides an explanation for two possible embodiments.

[First embodiment]

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 5, the first embodiment of the present invention provides an array antenna structure 100, in which each of the even number of chip antennas 2 in the antenna unit 20 is two, so that each The even-numbered chip antennas 2 in the antenna unit 20 form a 1 by 2 matrix pattern (that is, a distributed pattern of 1 row and 2 columns). The array antenna structure 100 includes the substrate 1, an even number of the chip antennas 2 disposed on the substrate 1, and a plurality of phase shifters 3 electrically coupled to the plurality of antenna units 20, In addition, in this embodiment, the number of the plurality of phase shifters 3 is 50% of the number of the plurality of chip antennas 2.

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the substrate 1 has a rectangular multilayer structure in this embodiment, and the substrate 1 has an antenna setting layer 13 and a feed located on the opposite side of the antenna setting layer 13 In layer 14 and a line 15 disposed on the feeding layer 14, wherein the antenna setting layer 13 is preferably a copper foil substrate (FR-4), and the feeding layer 14 is a laminated board (Example: Rogers 4350). In addition, a plurality of the above-mentioned unit regions 11 are defined on the antenna setting layer 13, and the plurality of the unit regions 11 are all rectangular in this embodiment, and are arranged in a checkerboard pattern to form an M by N matrix ( That is, as shown in Figure 3, there are M rows from top to bottom, and N columns from left to right).

Referring to FIG. 5, in this embodiment, to facilitate the description of the above-mentioned line 15, the range of the feed layer 14 corresponding to the four immediately adjacent antenna units is defined as a line area A. Next, the line 15 is explained through the line area A. It should be noted that the substrate 1 includes a plurality of the circuit regions A, and the circuits 15 in each circuit region A are electrically coupled to each other to form a complete circuit (that is, as shown in FIG. 4 All the lines on the feed layer 14), but the coupling method of the line 15 is not limited to that described in this embodiment.

In the circuit area A, the circuit 15 includes four first segments 151, two second segments 152 electrically coupled to the four first segments 151 two-to-one, and two A third segment 153 electrically coupled to the second segment 152 and a fourth segment 154 electrically coupled to the third segment 153.

Wherein, the four first segments 151 respectively pass through the feed layer 14 at both ends thereof, and are connected to the two chip antennas 2 of each antenna unit 20 of the antenna setting layer 13 Electrically coupled (as shown in FIG. 2), and each of the second segments 152 is electrically coupled to two adjacent first segments 151 in the same column, so that two adjacent segments in the same column The two first segments 151 and the second segment 152 of the antenna unit 20 are H-shaped. The third section 153 is electrically coupled to the two second sections 152 respectively, so that the lines 15 in the line area A form a parallel feed configuration. The line of the fourth section 154 is electrically coupled to the third section 153, so that the third section 153 of the other line area A is electrically coupled by the fourth section 154. Of course, the circuit 15 can be expanded by analogy, so as to increase the number of electrically coupled antenna units.

An even number of the chip antennas 2 have a rectangular chip structure in this embodiment, and are arranged on the antenna setting layer 13 of the substrate 1 at intervals to form a plurality of antenna units 20, and each The number of the even-numbered chip antennas 2 in the antenna unit 20 is two and is arranged along the first direction D1, and the even-numbered chip antennas 2 are arranged parallel to the first direction D1 M rows and 2N columns parallel to the second direction D2 to form a matrix pattern of 1 by 2 (as shown in FIG. 3), each of the chip antennas 2 and through the position of the feed layer 14 The lines 15 are electrically coupled to each other in parallel. Of course, each of the chip antennas 2 may have a shape other than a rectangle, for example, a circle, a polygon, etc., and is not limited to the embodiment.

In this embodiment, a plurality of the phase shifters 3 are disposed on the line 15, and are electrically coupled to the plurality of antenna units 20 through the line 15, so that each of the phase shifters 3 3 can be used to adjust the phase of the even-numbered chip antennas 2 in the antenna unit 20. In more detail, each second segment 152 of the line 15 is divided into two setting parts 1521 by the corresponding electrical coupling point of the third segment 153, and the plurality of phase shifters 3 are It is electrically coupled to each of the setting portions 1521 of each of the second segments 152 respectively.

Of course, the arrangement of the plurality of phase shifters 3 can be electrically coupled not only through the line 15 located on the feed layer 14, but also without directly passing through the line, but directly on each phase A parallel circuit is pre-configured on the shifter 3, so that each of the phase shifters 3 is electrically coupled to the plurality of antenna units 20 from the feed layer 14 or directly covered on an even number of The chip antenna 2 is electrically coupled to a plurality of corresponding antenna units 20, but it is not limited to the embodiment.

With reference to FIG. 3, in the antenna unit 20 of each unit area 11, the shortest separation distance in the first direction D1 between the chip antenna 2 located above and the chip antenna 2 located below It is defined as the inner longitudinal distance W1, and the two antenna elements 20 adjacent to each other (that is, the two antenna elements 20 adjacent to each other above and below), but the two patch antennas arranged adjacent to each other The shortest distance in the first direction D1 between 2 is defined as an outer longitudinal distance W2, and the inner longitudinal distance W1 is at least five times the outer longitudinal distance W2.

In addition, in each column of the element regions 11, two adjacent antenna elements 20 (that is, two antenna elements 20 adjacent to the left and right) but two chip antennas 2 arranged adjacent to each other The shortest distance in the second direction D2 between them is defined as an external lateral distance W3, wherein the external lateral distance W3 is at least five times the external longitudinal distance W2, and the external lateral distance W3 is equal to the internal longitudinal distance W1.

Further, in each row of the unit regions 11 (that is, a plurality of the unit regions 11 in the up-down direction), the center points of any two adjacent antenna units 20 are along the first direction D1 A longitudinal center distance C1 is defined; in each column of the unit area 11, the center point of any two adjacent antenna units 20 defines a lateral center distance C2 along the second direction D2; the longitudinal center distance C1 is greater than the lateral center distance C2.

Preferably, the array antenna structure 100 is suitable for a transmission frequency band, and the longitudinal center distance C1 and the lateral center distance C2 are each 0.5 to 0.9 times the wavelength corresponding to a center frequency of the transmission frequency band .

[Second Embodiment]

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, this is the second embodiment of the creation. This embodiment is similar to the above-mentioned first embodiment. The similarities between the two embodiments will not be repeated, and this embodiment is compared to The difference between the first embodiment above mainly lies in:

Each of the unit regions 11 has a square shape, and the number of the even-numbered chip antennas 2 in each antenna unit 20 is four, and are distributed at four corners corresponding to the unit regions 11. The even-numbered chip antennas 2 are arranged in 2M rows parallel to the first direction D1 and 2N columns parallel to the second direction D2, that is, in this embodiment The even-numbered chip antennas 2 are in a form of 2 by 2 matrix (as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7).

As shown in FIG. 9, in the circuit area A, the circuit 15 includes eight first segments 151 and four second segments electrically coupled to the eight first segments 151 two-to-one 152, two third segments 153 electrically coupled to the four second segments 152 two-to-one, a fourth segment 154 electrically coupled to the two third segments 153, and all A fifth segment 155 electrically coupled to the fourth segment 154 is described.

In the line area A, the eight first sections 151 respectively pass through the feed layer 14 at both ends thereof, and are connected to each of the antenna units 20 of the antenna setting layer 13 The four chip antennas 2 are electrically coupled two to one. In each of the antenna units 20, each of the second segments 152 is electrically coupled to the two first segments 151 at both ends thereof, so that the two first segments 151 and the second segment Segment 152 is inverted H-shaped. Each third segment 153 is electrically coupled to two adjacent second segments 152 located in the same column. The fourth section 154 is electrically coupled to the two third sections 153 respectively, so that the lines 15 in the line area A form a parallel feed configuration. The fifth segment 155 is electrically coupled to the fourth segment 154, so that the fourth segment 154 of the other circuit area A is electrically coupled through the fifth segment 154. Of course, the circuit 15 can be expanded by analogy, so as to increase the number of electrically coupled antenna units 20, but the parallel connection of the circuit 15 is not limited to that described in this embodiment.

In this embodiment, a plurality of the phase shifters 3 are disposed on the line 15 located on the feed layer 14, and are electrically coupled to the plurality of antenna units 20 through the line 15 respectively, so that Each of the phase shifters 3 can be used to adjust the phase of the even number of chip antennas 2 in the antenna unit 20. In more detail, in the line area A, the two third sections 153 of the line 15 are divided into two installation portions 1541 by the electrical coupling point of the fourth section 154, a plurality of the The phase shifter 3 is electrically coupled to each of the installation parts 1541 respectively. In other words, the number of the plurality of phase shifters 3 is 25% of the number of the plurality of chip antennas 2 in this embodiment.

[Technical effect of this creative example]

In summary, the array antenna structure 100 disclosed in the present embodiment of the invention, by coupling the even number of the sheet antennas 2 to each other to form the above-mentioned antenna unit 20, so that each of the phase shifters 3 is electrically Each antenna unit 20 is coupled, thereby greatly reducing the number of phase shifters 3 required for the array antenna structure 100, thereby reducing the overall cost of the array antenna structure 100.

Further, the array antenna structure 100 disclosed in this creative embodiment not only reduces the number of phase shifters 3 required, but also adjusts and presents the phase and pattern of the array antenna structure 100. Meet the needs of practical applications.

The content disclosed above is only a preferred and feasible embodiment of this creation, and does not limit the scope of the patent application for this creation, so any equivalent technical changes made by using this creation specification and graphic content are included in this creation application Within the scope of the patent.

100‧‧‧Array antenna structure 1‧‧‧ substrate 11‧‧‧ Unit area 13‧‧‧ Antenna setting layer 14‧‧‧Feed-in layer 15‧‧‧ Line 151‧‧‧ First paragraph 152‧‧‧Second paragraph 1521‧‧‧Setting Department 153‧‧‧ Third paragraph 1531‧‧‧Setting Department 154‧‧‧ Paragraph 4 155‧‧‧ 20‧‧‧ Antenna unit 2‧‧‧Chip antenna 3‧‧‧phase shifter C1‧‧‧ Longitudinal center distance C2‧‧‧Horizontal center distance D1‧‧‧First direction D2‧‧‧Second direction W1‧‧‧Internal longitudinal spacing W2‧‧‧External longitudinal spacing W3‧‧‧External horizontal spacing A‧‧‧ Line area

FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view of a first embodiment of creation.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of FIG. 1.

3 is a schematic plan view of the antenna setting layer of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view of the feed layer of the first embodiment of the present creation.

5 is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective schematic view of a second embodiment of creation.

7 is a schematic plan view of the antenna setting layer of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a schematic plan view of the feed layer of the second embodiment of the creation.

9 is a partially enlarged perspective view of FIG. 6.

100‧‧‧Array antenna structure

1‧‧‧ substrate

11‧‧‧ Unit area

13‧‧‧ Antenna setting layer

20‧‧‧ Antenna unit

2‧‧‧Chip antenna

C1‧‧‧ Longitudinal center distance

C2‧‧‧Horizontal center distance

D1‧‧‧First direction

D2‧‧‧Second direction

W1‧‧‧Internal longitudinal spacing

W2‧‧‧External longitudinal spacing

W3‧‧‧External lateral spacing

Claims (10)

An array antenna structure includes: A substrate is defined with a first direction and a second direction perpendicular to each other, the substrate is divided into a plurality of unit regions, and the plurality of unit regions are arranged in M rows parallel to the first direction and parallel to the N columns in the second direction, M and N are positive integers greater than 1; A plurality of chip antennas are equally distributed in the plurality of unit regions, so that each unit region is provided with an even number of the chip antennas defined as one antenna unit, and each of the antenna units An even number of the patch antennas are electrically coupled to each other; wherein, in each row of the unit area, any one of the antenna units is between two patch antennas adjacent to each other in the first direction There is an internal longitudinal distance between them, which belongs to any two adjacent antenna elements but is located adjacent to each other between the two patch antennas, and is separated by an external longitudinal distance, and the internal longitudinal distance is at least five times that of the external Longitudinal spacing A plurality of phase shifters, the number of which is equal to the number of the plurality of antenna units and is electrically coupled to the plurality of antenna units respectively, so that each of the phase shifters can be used to adjust the phase Corresponding to an even number of phases of the chip antenna in the antenna unit. The array antenna structure according to claim 1, wherein the number of the chip antennas in each antenna unit is two and are arranged along the first direction, and a plurality of the chip antennas are arranged There are M rows parallel to the first direction and 2N columns parallel to the second direction. The array antenna structure according to claim 2, wherein, in each unit area of the column, two chip antennas belonging to any two adjacent antenna units but arranged adjacent to each other are separated by one The outer lateral spacing, and the outer lateral spacing is at least five times the outer longitudinal spacing. The array antenna structure according to claim 3, wherein the outer lateral pitch is equal to the inner longitudinal pitch. The array antenna structure according to claim 1, wherein in each row of the unit area, the center point of any two adjacent antenna units defines a longitudinal center distance along the first direction; In the column of cell areas, the center points of any two adjacent antenna elements define a lateral center distance along the second direction; the longitudinal center distance is greater than the lateral center distance. The array antenna structure according to claim 5, wherein the array antenna structure is suitable for a transmission frequency band, and the longitudinal center distance and the lateral center distance each correspond to a center frequency of the transmission frequency band 0.5 to 0.9 times the wavelength. The array antenna structure according to claim 1, wherein each of the unit areas has a square shape, and the number of the sheet antennas in each antenna unit is four and are distributed in the corresponding unit areas At the four corners of the figure, a plurality of the patch antennas are arranged in 2M rows parallel to the first direction and 2N columns parallel to the second direction. The array antenna structure according to claim 7, wherein any one of the antenna elements is separated by an internal lateral distance between the two sheet antennas adjacent to each other in the second direction, and the internal lateral The spacing is at least five times the outer longitudinal spacing. The array antenna structure according to claim 7, wherein in each unit area of the column, two chip antennas which belong to any two adjacent antenna units but are arranged adjacent to each other are separated by one The outer lateral pitch, and the outer lateral pitch is equal to the outer longitudinal pitch. The array antenna structure according to claim 7, wherein in each row of the unit area, the center point of any two adjacent antenna units defines a longitudinal center distance along the first direction; In the unit area, the center points of any two adjacent antenna units define a lateral center distance along the second direction; the longitudinal center distance is equal to the lateral center distance.

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