WO2006110026A1 - Systeme d'antennes et procede de modification de la polarisation resultante d'un faisceau d'antennes - Google Patents

Systeme d'antennes et procede de modification de la polarisation resultante d'un faisceau d'antennes Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2006110026A1
WO2006110026A1 PCT/NL2005/000281 NL2005000281W WO2006110026A1 WO 2006110026 A1 WO2006110026 A1 WO 2006110026A1 NL 2005000281 W NL2005000281 W NL 2005000281W WO 2006110026 A1 WO2006110026 A1 WO 2006110026A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
antenna
phase
time
polarisation
sub
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/NL2005/000281
Other languages
English (en)
Inventor
Tomas Carl Wilhelmsson
Original Assignee
Stichting Astron
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
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Publication date
Application filed by Stichting Astron filed Critical Stichting Astron
Priority to PCT/NL2005/000281 priority Critical patent/WO2006110026A1/fr
Publication of WO2006110026A1 publication Critical patent/WO2006110026A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q3/00—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system
    • H01Q3/26—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture
    • H01Q3/30—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array
    • H01Q3/34—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array by electrical means
    • H01Q3/36—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array by electrical means with variable phase-shifters
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
    • H01Q21/24—Combinations of antenna units polarised in different directions for transmitting or receiving circularly and elliptically polarised waves or waves linearly polarised in any direction
    • H01Q21/245—Combinations of antenna units polarised in different directions for transmitting or receiving circularly and elliptically polarised waves or waves linearly polarised in any direction provided with means for varying the polarisation 
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q3/00—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system
    • H01Q3/26—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture
    • H01Q3/30—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array
    • H01Q3/34—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array by electrical means
    • H01Q3/36—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array by electrical means with variable phase-shifters
    • H01Q3/38—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array by electrical means with variable phase-shifters the phase-shifters being digital

Definitions

  • the invention relates to an antenna system of the phased array type.
  • the invention further relates to a method for changing a resulting polarisation of an antenna beam.
  • Antenna systems are known and used for receiving and emitting electro-magnetic radiation.
  • Antenna systems may, for example, be employed in radar and other direction finding systems, astronomical observatories and satellite receiving equipment.
  • an antenna system has to receive or emit electro-magnetic radiation with differing spatial properties, for example elecitro-magnetic radiation from different directions and/or having different polarisations and/or electro-magnetic radiation stemming from different sources (and, accordingly, emitted from different positions).
  • differing directions of polarisation are used to differentiate between different signals, e.g. different TV channels emitted by the same satellite.
  • the direction of polarisation of a signal depends on the orientation of the antenna with respect to the signal source. Control of the direction of the polarisation to which the antenna system is sensitive, is therefore desirable.
  • a phased array antenna system is known in which the direction of polarisation is controlled.
  • This prior art document discloses an antenna system which includes a rotating phased array antenna.
  • the rotating phased array antenna uses dual linearly polarised transmitters/receivers to create horizontally and vertically polarised sub- beams.
  • the linearly polarised sub-beams form in combination a linearly, elliptically or circularly polarised antenna beam.
  • the known antenna system uses (MEMS) phase shifters and (MEMS) switches and/or phase shifters for beam steering and polarisation control, respectively.
  • the antenna system known from US 2002/0167449 has the disadvantage that it comprises many switches and/or phase shifters for beam steering and polarisation control and is, therefore, relatively expensive.
  • the known phased array system is mechanically rotated and therefore susceptible to wear.
  • An object of the invention is to provide an antenna system of the phased array type which can be manufactured at reduced costs. Accordingly, according to the invention, an antenna system according to claim 1 is provided
  • Such an antenna system can be manufactured at reduced costs, because the control unit is arranged to control both the direction of the third beam and the orientation of the third polarisation via the first and/or second time or phase shifting circuit.
  • the antenna system thus uses the same time or phase shifting circuits for performing two functions. Therefore, separate, relatively expensive, phase shifting devices for controlling the orientation of the third polarisation can be omitted, and the number of time or phase shifting circuits in the antenna system can be reduced, thereby reducing the cost of the antenna system.
  • a further advantage that can be obtained with such an antenna system is that it may contain less mechanically moving parts and is, therefore, less susceptible to wear.
  • the first and the second polarisation may be orthogonal with respect to each other. This offers the advantage that the third polarisation can be controlled in an effective manner.
  • the first polarisation may be circular polarisation and the second polarisation may be circular polarisation.
  • This offers the advantage that the third linear polarisation can be obtained as a combination of the first and the second polarisation without a need for amplitude control of the first and/or second sub-beam. It is, therefore, possible to provide the antenna system without amplitude control devices for controlling the orientation of the third linear polarisation, thus reducing costs of the antenna system even further.
  • the control unit may be arranged to control a phase offset of the individual antenna units, and the resolution of the first and/or second beam phase may be finer than a resolution of the phase offset of the individual antenna units.
  • the orientation of the third polarisation can be controlled in a precise manner, by controlling the phase offset of the individual antenna units such that the beam phase of the sub-beams is controlled with a fine resolution that is finer than the resolution of the phase offset of the individual antenna units. This offers the advantage that the orientation of the third polarisation can be controlled in a precise manner without phase shifter devices with the fine resolution, but with phase shifter devices with a coarser resolution.
  • the phase shifter devices with the coarser resolution are usually less expensive than the phase shifter devices with the fine resolution, thereby reducing costs of the antenna system.
  • Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of an example of an embodiment of an antenna system according to the invention
  • Fig. 2 shows a schematic view of a control circuit suitable for use in the example of Fig. 1,
  • Fig. 3 shows a schematic view of an other example of a control circuit
  • Fig. 4 shows a schematic view of an example of a first embodiment of an antenna group of the antenna system according to the invention
  • Fig. 5 shows a schematic view of an example of a second embodiment of the antenna group of the antenna system according to the invention
  • Fig. 6 shows a schematic view of an example of a third embodiment of the antenna group of the antenna system according to the invention
  • Fig. 7 shows a schematic view of an example of another embodiment of the antenna system according to the invention.
  • the shown antenna system 1 is a phased array antenna and includes a first antenna group 2 and a second antenna group 4.
  • the second antenna group 4 is provided with a plurality, in this example three, of second antenna units 8.
  • the first antenna group 2 is connected to a first time or phase shifting circuit 9.
  • each first antenna unit 6.i in the first antenna group 2 is connected to a separate first phase shifter device 10 in the first time or phase shifting circuit 9.
  • the second antenna group 4 is connected to a second time or phase shifting circuit 11.
  • each second antenna unit 8 in the second antenna group 4 is connected to a separate second phase shifter device 12 in the second time or phase shifting circuit 11.
  • the first phase shifter devices 10 are connected to a first combining circuit 13.
  • the second phase shifter devices 12 are connected to a second combining circuit 15.
  • the first and second combining circuit 13, 15 are combined into a single combining circuit 14.
  • signals received by the first and second antenna group are combined into a received antenna signal. Techniques for combining those signals are generally known in the art of phased array antennas and for the sake of brevity the combiner circuit is not described in full detail.
  • the first and second phase shifter devices 10, 12 are further connected to a control unit 16.
  • the antenna system 1 shown in Fig. 1 works as follows.
  • the first antenna group 2 and the second antenna group 4 both form a phased antenna array.
  • the first antenna group 2 is set to be sensitive to electromagnetic radiation received from a predetermined direction, indicated in Fig. 1 with arrow R, by steering an antenna beam in the direction of the arrow R.
  • antenna beam steering techniques are generally known in the art of phased antenna arrays, and any suitable beam steering technique may be used.
  • the first phase shifter devices 10 are set by the control unit 16 to generate a phase difference between the first antenna units 6.i.
  • the phase difference between the central first antenna unit 6.2 and the rightmost first antenna unit 6.3 is indicated by ⁇ , i.e. a central antenna-unit-beam 5.2 and a rightmost antenna-unit-beam 5.3 have a phase difference ⁇ with respect to each other.
  • the phase difference between the leftmost first antenna unit 6.1 and the rightmost first antenna unit 6.3 is indicated by 2 ⁇ , which is substantially equal to twice the phase difference ⁇ between the central and the rightmost first antenna unit, i.e.
  • the second antenna group 4 is also set to receive electromagnetic radiation from the predetermined direction R.
  • the antenna units 6.i are arranged to receive a non-linearly polarised, in this example Left Hand Circularly Polarised (LHCP), electromagnetic radiation.
  • the second antenna units 8 are arranged to receive a non-linearly polarised, in this example Right Hand Circularly Polarised (RHCP), electromagnetic radiation.
  • the first and second antenna group both have a non-linearly polarised sub-beam, in this example polarised LHCP and RHCP respectively.
  • the sub-beam of the first and second antenna group can be combined into a single, e.g. (more) linearly polarised, antenna beam for receiving electromagnetic radiation from direction R.
  • the direction in which the antenna beam is steered can thus be controlled by suitable control of the sub-beams via the phase difference between the phase shifter devices within an antenna group.
  • the antenna system 1 can receive the LHCP component with the first antenna units 6.i and receive the RHCP component with the second antenna units 8.
  • the first, LHCP, signal received by the first antenna group 2 can then be fed to the combiner 14.
  • the second, RHCP, signal received by the second antenna group 4 can also be fed to the combiner 14.
  • the first and the second signal are combined by the combiner 14, resulting in the linearly polarised signal.
  • the orientation of the polarisation of the antenna beam can be controlled. Accordingly, the system is particularly suited for applications in which such a control is desired, e.g. in satellite TV reception where the orientation of the linearly polarised signal to be received may depend upon e.g. the orientation or the location of the antenna system on earth.
  • control unit 16 for control of the orientation of the antenna beam, is connected to a control input of the first phase shifter devices. 10
  • the control unit 16 can provide a control signal to the control input, which control signal controls the phase setting of the respective first phase shifter devices 10.
  • the control unit 16 can change the phase setting of all of the first phase shifter devices 10 by an equal amount.
  • An identical phase offset is, therefore, added to the phase shifter devices 10.
  • the first antenna group 2 still has a LHCP sub-beam, and is sensitive to LHCP electromagnetic radiation from direction R.
  • the phase of the received LHCP signal is shifted with respect to the RHCP signal received by the second antenna group 4.
  • the combiner 14 the combination of the, phase shifted, LHCP signal and the RHCP signal again results in a third signal with a linear polarisation.
  • the orientation of the linear polarisation is changed with respect to the linearly polarised signal resulting from a LHCP and RHCP signal having the same phase. It is, therefore, possible to control the orientation of the linear polarisation of the received third signal, and the orientation of polarisation of the antenna beam, by changing the phase of the received first signal with respect to the received second signal.
  • the orientation of the polarisation of the antenna beam is controlled using the same phase shifter devices that also control the direction of the antenna beam. This allows for a reduction of phase shifter devices, thus allowing a reduced complexity of the antenna system, and accordingly, a reduction of antenna system costs.
  • Fig. 2 shows a control circuit suitable for use in an antenna system 1.
  • the phase shifter devices 10, 12 shown in Fig. 2 are electrically controllable phase shifter devices, in this example four-bit digital phase shifter devices.
  • the control inputs of the first and second phase shifter devices 10, 12 are connected to the control unit 16 through control lines 18-26.
  • the control lines are used to set a respective bit of the phase shifter device in a manner known per se, and the control unit 16 transmits a four-bit control signal via the control lines 18-26 to each of the respective phase shifter devices 10,12.
  • i controls the phase shift of the phase shifter device by a different amount.
  • a most significant bit of the four-bit control signal is fed to the highest control input 17.4, and changes the phase offset of the phase shifter device by the largest amount.
  • the least significant bit is fed to the lowest control input 17.1, and changes the phase offset of the phase shifter device 10, 12 by the smallest amount.
  • the control unit 16 can change the phase of all first antenna units 6 with respect to all second antenna units 8.
  • the change of phase changes the phase of the first sub-beam with respect to the phase of the second sub-beam.
  • the phase shift of the first sub-beam relative to the second sub-beam controls the orientation of the linear polarisation of the received signal, as described with respect to Fig. 1.
  • the phase of all first and/or second antenna units 6, 8 is changed by the same amount, the direction from which the electromagnetic radiation is received is not changed.
  • a part of the control lines 18-26 is connected to only the antenna units of one of the first or second antenna groups 2, 4, while another part of the control lines is connected to all antenna units 6, 8. More specific, in this example, the least significant bit of the first phase shifter devices 10 is controlled through the control line 24, and the least significant bit of the second phase shifter devices 12 is controlled through the control line 26.
  • the control lines 18-22 for the three highest bits control the first and second phase shifter devices 10, 12 for simultaneous and substantially identical steering of the direction from which the first and second antenna group 2, 4 receive the electromagnetic radiation.
  • the control unit 16 is connected with a first connection to a first part of the time or phase shifting circuits 10 , 12, for adding a smaller first and/or second time or phase offset, respectively, and the control unit 16 is connected with a second connection to a second part of the time or phase shifting circuits 10, 12, for adding a larger first and/or second time or phase offset, larger than the smaller first and/or second time or phase offset respectively.
  • An average first and/or second phase offset of the smaller first and/or second time or phase offsets substantially corresponds to the first and/or second beam phase, respectively.
  • the larger first and/or second time or phase offsets substantially corresponds to the first and/or second beam direction, respectively
  • Fig. 3 shows an alternative embodiment of the control circuit.
  • the phase shifter devices 10, 12 shown in Fig. 3 are also electrically controllable phase shifter devices, in this example four-bit digital phase shifter devices.
  • the first and second phase shifter devices 10, 12 are connected to the control unit 16 through a plurality of control lines 18-22, 28-38.
  • the control unit 16 can steer the first and second sub-beam as explained with respect to Fig. 2.
  • the control lines 18-22 for the three highest bits are connected to the antenna units 6, 8, to control the first and second phase shifter devices 10, 12. This allows for simultaneous and substantially identical steering of the direction from which the first and second antenna group 2, 4 receive the electromagnetic radiation.
  • the control lines 28-38 for the least significant bits are each connected to only one of the first and second phase shifter devices 10, 12, to provide a separate control of the phase shift of each phase shifter device.
  • phase shifter devices 10, 12 are capable of coarse phase shifting, but incapable of fine phase shifting. These coarse phase shifts are usually acceptable for steering the antenna beam.
  • the phase shifter devices shown in Fig. 3 may for instance have a coarse phase resolution of more than 5°, possibly more than 10°, or even more than 20° per bit. Accordingly, the manufacturing costs are reduced, since electrically controllable phase shifter devices are relatively expensive, but usually are less expensive when the phase resolution is coarser.
  • the coarse phase shifters 10, 12 are connected such that a fine phase shift control, and therefore polarisation control, is obtained. Accordingly, the orientation of the linear polarisation, as is explained with respect to Fig. 1, can be controlled in a precise manner.
  • the first phase shifter devices 10 and second phase shifter devices 12 each have a separate control line 28-38. It is, therefore, possible to set the least significant bit of the first (and/or second) phase shifter devices within the first (and/or second) phase shifting circuit to different values.
  • the average value of the phase offset of the least significant bit of the first antenna units 6 relative to the average phase offset of the least significant bit of the second antenna units 8 determines the average phase offset for polarisation control.
  • the average phase offset which controls the polarisation control, can be smaller than the individual coarse phase shifts.
  • the phase difference between the individual first antenna units 6 within the first antenna group 2 can also be changed by the amount represented by the least significant bit. This results in that a sub- beam of an antenna group may be widened
  • the control lines 28-38 for the least significant bits are each connected to only one of the first and second phase shifter devices 10, 12, to provide a separate control of the phase shift of each phase shifter device.
  • each of the control lines 28-38 is connected to a sub-group including a plurality of antenna units, thus removing the need for a separate control line for the least significant bit of each phase shifter device 10, 12.
  • the amount of control lines can be reduced, while maintaining the possibility to set the average phase offset which controls the polarisation control, by suitably setting the coarse phase shifts of the sub-groups, which average phase offset can be smaller than the individual coarse phase shifts.
  • any number of control lines can be used, depending on the required resolution of the average phase offset.
  • the first and second antenna group 2, 4 are circularly polarised to yield the linearly polarised third polarisation.
  • every antenna device has a polarisation which deviates from an ideal circular polarisation. This causes the polarisation of the antenna beam, which results from the polarisations of the first and second antenna group 2, 4, to deviate from the desired shape.
  • the first and second sub-beam have an elliptical polarisation (e.g. left hand elliptically and right hand elliptically)
  • the resulting third polarisation of the antenna beam will also be elliptical, and not linear.
  • the antenna units of the antenna group can be oriented relative to each other, such that deviations of individual antenna units at least reduce the deviation from the ideal circular polarisation of the sub-beam, as e.g. known from US 5,006,859.
  • Fig. 4 shows an example of an antenna group 40 which has a reduced error in the circularity of the first and second polarisation.
  • the antenna group 40 includes a plurality of, in this example four, antenna units 42.
  • the antenna units 42 are provided with two transmitters/receivers 44, 46, i.e. a first transmitter/receiver 44 and a second transmitter/receiver 46.
  • the transmitters/receivers 44, 46 of each antenna unit 42 are positioned perpendicular with respect to each other.
  • a signal line 50 feeds an electrical signal to the antenna group 40.
  • Each antenna unit 42 is provided with a delay element 52.
  • the delay element 52 causes the second transmitter/receiver 46 to lag substantially 90° in phase behind the first transmitter/receiver 44.
  • Each antenna unit 42 will therefore radiate an elliptically or (nearly) circularly polarised radiation signal.
  • the elliptically polarised signals of the antenna units 42 are indicated with dashed elli
  • the antenna units 42 are positioned at an angle, in this example substantially 90°, with respect to each other. As the antenna units 42 are positioned at an angle, the directions of the major axes of the elliptically polarised signals are also rotated over the same angle, i.e. 90°, with respect to each other.
  • the antenna units 42 transmit the elliptically polarised signal in phase.
  • phase shifters 56 are included to allow the transmitted signals to be in phase, by compensating for the phase shift introduced by the rotation of the antenna units.
  • the elliptically polarised signals of the antenna units 42 are summed. As the major axes of the elliptically polarised signals are distributed substantially uniformly over 360 degrees in total, the elliptically polarised signals add to a substantially circularly polarised signal, with the ellipticity at least being reduced.
  • Fig. 5 shows an alternative embodiment of an antenna group 60 according to the invention.
  • the antenna group 60 includes three antenna units 42.
  • Each antenna unit 42 is provided with a first transmitter/receiver 44, a second transmitter/receiver 46 and a third transmitter/receiver 48.
  • the transmitters/receivers 44, 46, 48 of each antenna unit 42 are positioned at substantially 120° with respect to each other.
  • the transmitters/receivers are sequentially rotated over 120° with respect to each other, i.e. incrementally rotated over 120° with respect to each other.
  • the transmitters/receivers 44,46,48 are similar, so that the antenna units 42 substantially demonstrate symmetry about boresight, i.e.
  • a virtual axis substantially perpendicular to the plane in which the transmitters/receivers extend, through the centre of the antenna unit 42.
  • the geometrical arrangement of three transmitters/receivers positioned at substantially 120° with respect to each other, shown in Fig. 5 is known per se, and described in more detail in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, Vol. 50, No. 3, March 2002, pp. 398-399.
  • a signal line 50 feeds an electrical signal to the antenna array.
  • the transmitters/receivers are fed in a sequentially rotated phasing arrangement, i.e. in this example each antenna unit 42 is provided with a first delay element 62 and a second delay element 64, wherein the first delay element 62 causes the second transmitter/receiver 46 to lag substantially 120° in phase behind the first transmitter/receiver 44 and the second delay element 64 causes the third transmitter/receiver 48 to lag substantially 240° in phase behind the first transmitter/receiver 44 and thus 120° behind the second transmitter/receiver 46.
  • Each antenna unit 42 will therefore radiate a substantially (nearly) circularly polarised radiation signal.
  • each antenna unit 42 In practice, mechanical and electrical deviations will cause the polarisation of each antenna unit 42 to be slightly elliptical.
  • the elliptically polarised signals of the antenna units 42 are indicated with dashed ellipses 54 in Fig. 5.
  • the antenna units 42 are positioned at substantially 120° with respect to each other. In this example the antenna units are sequentially rotated over 120° with respect to each other, i.e. incrementally rotated over 120° with respect to each other. This causes directions of the major axes of the ellipses 54 also to be sequentially rotated over 120° with respect to each other.
  • the three antenna units 42 are made to transmit the elliptically polarised signal in phase.
  • phase shifters 66, 68 are included to allow the transmitted signals to be in phase, by compensating for the phase shift introduced by the rotation of the antenna units.
  • the three elliptically polarised signals of the antenna units are summed. As the major axes of the three elliptically polarised signals are sequentially rotated over 120°, the three elliptically polarised signals add to a substantially circularly polarised signal, with the ellipticity at least being reduced.
  • the signal lines connecting the antenna units 42 and the transmitters/receivers 44, 46, 48 to the signal feed line 50 are assumed to introduce no additional phase shifts. In practical applications, however, these signal lines may introduce additional phase shifts, which may cause additional non-circularity of the signal received or transmitted by the antenna group. These additional phase shifts can be compensated for, e.g. in the phase shifters 52, 56, 62, 64, 66, 68. It is also possible to counteract the non-circularity arising from these phase differences by positioning the antenna units rotationally distributed with respect to each other as explained with respect to Figg. 4 and 5.
  • the three antenna units 42 shown in Fig. 5 form an antenna unit cluster 70 providing a substantially circular polarisation.
  • the first or second antenna group 2,4 may include a single antenna unit cluster 70 .
  • the first or second antenna group 2,4 may include more than one, i.e. at least two antenna unit clusters 70.
  • a plurality of antenna unit clusters 70 can be arranged such, that the ellipticity of the separate antenna unit clusters, if any, is oriented such that the deviation from circular polarisation is reduced in the combined polarisation of the antenna unit clusters.
  • an antenna group 2' is shown with three antenna unit clusters 70 positioned sequentially rotated over 120° with respect to each other.
  • the three elliptically (or substantially circularly) polarised signals of the antenna unit clusters are summed.
  • the major axes of the three elliptically polarised signals are sequentially rotated over 120°, the three elliptically polarised signals add to a substantially circularly polarised signal, with the ellipticity at least being reduced.
  • the antenna group can be constructed such that the resulting actual polarisation approaches a perfectly circular polarisation as close as possible.
  • Fig. 7 shows an array antenna 80 according to the invention provided with two antenna groups, the first antenna group 82 having a LHC polarisation and the second antenna group 84 having a RHC polarisation.
  • the first antenna group 82 is provided with first antenna units 86 which each contain three substantially triangular transmitters/receivers, Ll, L2, L3, which are positioned and fed in a 120° phasing relation with respect to each other, e.g. as shown in Fig. 5.
  • the substantially triangular transmitters/receivers Ll, L2, L3 have an asymmetrically arranged lip 90 at the outer perimeter of the antenna unit, and an asymmetrically arranged hole 92 in the face of the element (shown schematically and not to scale).
  • the second antenna group 84 is provided with second antenna units 88 which each contain three substantially triangular transmitters/receivers, Rl, R2, R3, which are also positioned and fed in a 120° phasing relation with respect to each other.
  • each transmitter/receiver Rl, R2, R3 of the second antenna unit 88 substantially occupying an interstitial space between transmitters/receivers Ll, L2, L3 of the first antenna unit 86, which gives the benefit of a large active antenna area per available surface area.
  • each first antenna unit 86 is positioned rotated over 120° with respect to neighbouring first antenna units 86 and each second antenna unit 88 is positioned rotated over 120° with respect to neighbouring second antenna units 88.
  • Each of the antenna units 86 of the first antenna group 82 can be provided with a phase shifter. By varying a phase offset per antenna unit 86 within the first antenna group 82, the beam of the first antenna group can be steered in two dimensions in a manner known per se.
  • Each of the antenna units 88 of the second antenna group 84 can also be provided with a phase shifter. By varying a phase offset per antenna unit 88 within the second antenna group 84 the beam of the second antenna group can also be steered in two dimensions in a manner known per se.
  • the LHCP and RHCP beams of the first and second antenna groups 82, 84 are steered in the same direction. This results in a single linearly polarised antenna beam.
  • the phase of the LHCP beam can be changed relative to the RHCP beam, thus changing the orientation of the resulting linear polarisation of the antenna beam as described with respect to Figs. 1-3.
  • the phase shifters may be e.g. each connected to one antenna unit. It is also possible that each phase shifter is connected to a cluster (with an arbitrary number) of antenna units.
  • the antenna units are positioned rotated over 120° with respect to each other. It is, of course, also possible to position the antenna units rotated over different angles with respect to each other, e.g. 90°, 60°, 45°, 30° or otherwise or random angles.
  • the number of antenna units in the antenna group determines a preferred angle between the respective antenna units.
  • two antenna units are preferably positioned at 90° or 180° with respect to each other, three antenna units are preferably positioned at 60° or 120° with respect to each other and four antenna units are preferably positioned at 45° or 90° with respect to each other.
  • the angle between the antenna units is preferably 180° divided by the number, n, of antenna units (180°/n) or 360° divided by the number of antenna units (360°/n).
  • 180°/n effectively reduces elliptical non-circularity of the individual antenna units
  • 360°/n effectively reduces any non-circularity of the individual antenna units.
  • Using an other angle between the transmitters/receivers or a varying angle between the transmitters/receivers may still result in substantial reduction of non- circularity.
  • twenty-four antenna units are used per antenna group, so that the optimum angle between the antenna units is 15°.
  • the angle between the antenna units in Fig. 7 is, however, 120°, which allows for simpler antenna layout, while still providing a reduction of the non-circularity of the polarisation of the antenna groups.
  • the antenna units within the antenna group are oriented such that the deviation from circular polarisation cancels out.
  • the antenna units within an antenna group can be arranged such that any deviations from perfect circular polarisation are reduced, the ellipticity of each separate antenna unit may be less important.
  • the separate antenna units can be allowed to be considerably elliptical, depending on the number of antenna units within the antenna group, if this reduces costs of the antenna units or benefits other design criteria of the antenna array.
  • antenna beam refers to both the pattern of transmitted radiation of a transmitting antenna as well as the pattern of radiation which can be received with a receiving antenna.

Landscapes

  • Variable-Direction Aerials And Aerial Arrays (AREA)

Abstract

La présente invention concerne un système d'antennes (1) et un procédé de modification de la polarisation résultante d'un faisceau d'antennes généré par un système d'antennes (1) du type à groupement à déphasage, incluant un premier groupe d'antennes (2) constitué d'au moins deux premières unités d'antenne (6.1 à 6.3), relié à un premier circuit de décalage de temps ou de phase (9) afin de créer un premier sous-faisceau présentant une première polarisation, un second groupe d'antennes (4) constitué d'au moins deux secondes unités d'antenne (8), relié à un second circuit de décalage de temps ou de phase (11) afin de créer un second sous-faisceau présentant une seconde polarisation, la seconde polarisation étant différente de la première polarisation, les première et seconde polarisations étant non linéaires et les premier et second sous-faisceaux se combinant en un troisième faisceau présentant une troisième polarisation, l'orientation de la troisième polarisation étant au moins partiellement dépendante de la phase du premier sous-faisceau par rapport à celle du second sous-faisceau, ainsi qu'une unité de commande (16) qui, afin de commander à la fois la direction du premier et/ou du second sous-faisceau et l'orientation de la troisième polarisation, est reliée aux premier et second circuits de décalage de temps ou de phase (9, 11).
PCT/NL2005/000281 2005-04-14 2005-04-14 Systeme d'antennes et procede de modification de la polarisation resultante d'un faisceau d'antennes WO2006110026A1 (fr)

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WO2008067251A2 (fr) 2006-11-30 2008-06-05 The Boeing Company Réseau d'antennes faisant appel à un contrôleur de réseau déphaseur et à un algorithme afin de diriger le réseau
EP2237373A1 (fr) * 2009-04-02 2010-10-06 ViaSat, Inc. Contrôle de la polarisation de sous-réseau au moyen d'éléments de rayonnement polarisés doubles
EP2477271A1 (fr) * 2011-01-13 2012-07-18 The Boeing Company Sous-réseau d'antennes de réseau phasé triangulaire
CN110635248A (zh) * 2019-09-17 2019-12-31 上海交通大学 基于周期相位调制的相控阵测向天线及其使用方法
EP3787112A1 (fr) * 2019-09-02 2021-03-03 Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy Réseau d'antennes polarisées

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Cited By (16)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2008067251A2 (fr) 2006-11-30 2008-06-05 The Boeing Company Réseau d'antennes faisant appel à un contrôleur de réseau déphaseur et à un algorithme afin de diriger le réseau
WO2008067251A3 (fr) * 2006-11-30 2008-11-06 Boeing Co Réseau d'antennes faisant appel à un contrôleur de réseau déphaseur et à un algorithme afin de diriger le réseau
US7602337B2 (en) 2006-11-30 2009-10-13 The Boeing Company Antenna array including a phase shifter array controller and algorithm for steering the array
EP2237373A1 (fr) * 2009-04-02 2010-10-06 ViaSat, Inc. Contrôle de la polarisation de sous-réseau au moyen d'éléments de rayonnement polarisés doubles
US8085209B2 (en) 2009-04-02 2011-12-27 Viasat, Inc. Sub-array polarization control using rotated dual polarized radiating elements
US8665174B2 (en) 2011-01-13 2014-03-04 The Boeing Company Triangular phased array antenna subarray
CN102646860A (zh) * 2011-01-13 2012-08-22 波音公司 三角形相控阵天线子阵
JP2013243420A (ja) * 2011-01-13 2013-12-05 Boeing Co:The 三角形フェーズドアレイアンテナサブアレイ
EP2477271A1 (fr) * 2011-01-13 2012-07-18 The Boeing Company Sous-réseau d'antennes de réseau phasé triangulaire
CN102646860B (zh) * 2011-01-13 2015-11-18 波音公司 三角形相控阵天线子阵
RU2594670C2 (ru) * 2011-01-13 2016-08-20 Зе Боинг Компани Треугольная подрешетка фазированной антенной решетки
EP3787112A1 (fr) * 2019-09-02 2021-03-03 Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy Réseau d'antennes polarisées
CN112448173A (zh) * 2019-09-02 2021-03-05 诺基亚通信公司 极化天线阵列
US11233340B2 (en) 2019-09-02 2022-01-25 Nokia Solutions And Networks Oy Polarized antenna array
CN110635248A (zh) * 2019-09-17 2019-12-31 上海交通大学 基于周期相位调制的相控阵测向天线及其使用方法
CN110635248B (zh) * 2019-09-17 2021-08-10 上海交通大学 基于周期相位调制的相控阵测向天线及其使用方法

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