WO2015018312A1

WO2015018312A1 - Antenna

Info

Publication number: WO2015018312A1
Application number: PCT/CN2014/083694
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yihong Qi; Wei Yu
Original assignee: Jiangsu Enice Network Information Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2013-08-05
Filing date: 2014-08-05
Publication date: 2015-02-12

Abstract

An antenna (10), includes a first feeder (600) having an upper star-shaped element (610), a lower star-shaped element (620) coupled with the first star-shaped element (610), and a first coaxial cable (630) connected with the upper and lower star-shaped elements respectively, a first radiating element (700) connected with each of the upper and lower star-shaped elements, a base plate (100), a second radiating element (200) disposed adjacent to the lower star-shaped element (620), a second feeder (300) connected with the second radiating element (200), and a connecting element (400) directly connected with the second radiating element (200) and coupled with the base plate (100).

Description

ANTENNA

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority and benefits of Chinese Patent Applications No. 201310338088.3 and No. 201320475583.4, filed with State Intellectual Property Office on August 5, 2013, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to an antenna.

BACKGROUND ART

Mental components of a conventional antenna are connected one another directly, however, in a manufacturing practice of the antenna, it is difficult to ensure the contact surfaces between the mental components in an ideal condition, in other words, the contact surface of each mental component cannot be guaranteed to be absolutely flat, resulting in the contact surfaces between the mental components connected to each other cannot be contacted completely. Thus, the conventional antenna always generates a passive intermodulation due to the incomplete contact between the mental components.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of the present invention seek to solve at least one of the problems existing in the related art to at least some extent.

Embodiments of the present invention provide an antenna, includes a first feeder having an upper star- shaped element, a lower star- shaped element coupled with the first star- shaped element, and a first coaxial cable connected with the upper and lower star-shaped elements respectively; a first radiating element connected with each of the upper and lower star- shaped elements; a base plate; a second radiating element disposed adjacent to the lower star-shaped element; a second feeder connected with the second radiating element; and a connecting element directly connected with the second radiating element and coupled with the base plate.

In some embodiments, the antenna further includes a dielectric plate disposed between the upper star-shaped element and the lower star-shaped element.

In some embodiments, the dielectric plate is made of glass-epoxy or polytetrafluoroethylene. In some embodiments, the upper star-shaped element includes: an upper center part; and a plurality of upper radiating parts, each of the plurality of upper radiating parts defining a first upper end connected with the upper center part, and a second upper end extended away from the upper center part and connected with the first radiating element;

The lower star-shaped element includes: a lower center part; and a plurality of lower radiating parts, each of the plurality of lower radiating parts defining a first lower end connected with the lower center part, and a second lower end extended away from the lower center part and connected with the first radiating element.

In some embodiments, the first radiating element includes a plurality of dipoles, each dipole comprises an upper arm connected with a corresponding one of the second upper ends of the upper radiating parts, and a lower arm connected with a corresponding one of the second lower ends of the lower radiating parts.

In some embodiments, the antenna further includes a plurality of coupling branches, each of the plurality of coupling branches being connected with the lower center part and extended away from the lower center part, and each of the plurality of coupling branches being located between adjacent lower radiating parts.

In some embodiments, the first coaxial cable comprises a first outer conductor connected with the lower center part, and a first inner conductor disposed within the first outer conductor and connected with upper center part.

In some embodiments, antenna further includes an insulating element disposed between the connecting element and the base plate.

In some embodiments, the insulating element is connected with both the connecting element and the upper center part.

In some embodiments, the second radiating element includes a center portion and a plurality of radiating portions, each of the plurality of the radiating portions defines a first end connected with the center portion and a second end extended away from the center portion. With forming the coupling connections between the connecting element 400 and the base plate 100, and between the upper star-shaped element 610 and the lower star-shaped element 620, the antenna can have a good electrical performance and meet a broadband requirement of the antenna, and a possibility of passive intermodulation generated by the antenna is also reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following descriptions made with reference the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view partially showing an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partially enlarged view showing Circle B in Fig. 1 ;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention in one direction;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention in another direction;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a first feeder and a first radiating element of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a top view showing a first feeder and a first radiating element of an antenna according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to make the problem to be solved, the technical proposal and the beneficial effects of the present invention move transparent, detailed descriptions of the present invention will be made combined with attached drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that specific embodiments described herein are just used to illustrate the present invention, and not to limit the present invention.

Reference will be made in detail to embodiments of the present disclosure. The same or similar elements and the elements having same or similar functions are denoted by like reference numerals throughout the descriptions. The embodiments described herein with reference to drawings are explanatory, illustrative, and used to generally understand the present disclosure. The embodiments shall not be construed to limit the present disclosure.

In the specification, unless specified or limited otherwise, relative terms such as "central", "longitudinal", "lateral", "front", "rear", "right", "left", "inner", "outer", "lower", "upper", "horizontal", "vertical", "above", "below", "up", "top", "bottom" ,"inner", "outer", "clockwise", "anticlockwise" as well as derivative thereof (e.g., "horizontally", "downwardly", "upwardly", etc.) should be construed to refer to the orientation as then described or as shown in the drawings under discussion. These relative terms are for convenience of description and do not require that the present disclosure be constructed or operated in a particular orientation. In addition, terms such as "first" and "second" are used herein for purposes of description and are not intended to indicate or imply relative importance or significance.

In the description of the present disclosure, unless specified or limited otherwise, it should be noted that, terms "mounted," "connected" "coupled" and "fastened" may be understood broadly, such as permanent connection or detachable connection, electronic connection or mechanical connection, direct connection or indirect connection via intermediary, inner communication or interreaction between two elements. These having ordinary skills in the art should understand the specific meanings in the present disclosure according to specific situations.

After deeply studding and researching, inventors found out the reason of passive intermodulation generated by the antenna. Mental components of a conventional antenna are connected with one another directly, however, in a manufacturing practice of the antenna, it is difficult to ensure the contact surfaces between the mental components in an ideal condition, in other words, the contact surface of each mental component cannot be guaranteed to be absolutely flat, resulting in the contact surfaces between the mental components connected to each other cannot be contacted completely. Thus, the conventional antenna inevitably generates a passive intermodulation due to the incomplete contact between the mental components.

An antenna according to embodiments of the present invention will be described reference to Figs 1-6.

As shown in Figs 1-6, an antenna according to embodiments of the present invention includes a first feeder 600, a first radiating element 700, a base plate 100, a second radiating element 200, a second feeder 300 and a connecting element 400.

The first feeder 600 includes an upper star-shaped element 610, a lower star-shaped element 620 coupled with the first star-shaped element, and a first coaxial cable 630 connected with the upper and lower star-shaped elements 610 and 620 respectively. The first radiating element 700 is connected with each of the upper and lower star- shaped elements 610 and 620. The second radiating element 200 is disposed adjacent to the lower star-shaped element and connected with the second feeder 300. The connecting element 400 is directly connected with the second radiating element 200 and coupled with the base plate 100. An up-down direction is indicted as

Arrow A shown in Figs 1-4.

With coupling connections between the connecting element 400 and the base plate 100, and between the upper star-shaped element 610 and the lower star-shaped element 620, the antenna can have a good electrical performance and meet a broadband requirement of the antenna (i.e. a working broadband at least from 796MHz to 960MHz and from 1710MHz to 2700MHz), and a possibility of passive intermodulation of the antenna is also reduced.

Specifically, the first and feeder 600 and the first radiating element 700 may be configured as a horizontally polarized omni-directional antenna, and the base plate 100, the second radiating element 200, the second feeder 300 and the connecting element 400 may be configured as a vertically polarized omni-directional antenna. Thus, the antenna 10 according to embodiments of the present invention is a daul polarized omni-directional antenna which meets design needs of different antennas, such as an indoor antenna and a base station antenna.

The connecting element 400 may be capacitively coupled to base plate 100, and the upper star-shaped element 610 may be capacitively coupled to the lower star-shaped element 620 as well. The first feeder 600 and the first radiating element 700 may be disposed above the second radiating element 200 which may be located above the base plate 100.

The base plate 100 is a metal base plate, i.e. the base plate 100 is made of metal. As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, the base plate 100 may be configured as a sheet structure. An upper surface of the base plate 100 may be configured as a plane, and the connecting element 400 may be coupled to the upper surface of the base plate 100. The base plate 100 may be in shape of circular, regular polygon or irregular polygon.

Moreover, the base plate 100 may be configured as a substantially cylindrical structure and define an accommodating cavity having an open lower end, so that a part of the second feeder 300 may be received into the accommodating cavity. As shown in Fig. 2, in some embodiments, the antenna 10 may includes an insulating element 500 disposed between the connecting element 400 and the base plate 100, in other words, with disposing the insulating element 500, the coupling connection between the connecting element 400 and the base plate 100 can be achieved. Thus, the antenna 10 has a simple and suitable structure and generates less passive intermodulation.

An area of coupling connection between the connecting element 400 and the base plate 100 is adjustable and determined according to a performance of the antenna 10, such that the antenna 10 can have a sufficient capacitance under a desired frequency.

As shown in Fig. 2, in some embodiments, the insulating element 500 may be connected with both the connecting element 400 and the base plate 100, in other words, the insulating element 500 may be contacted with each one of the connecting element 400 and the base plate 100. Thus reducing the manufacturing difficulty of the antenna 10 and ensuring the structure of the antenna 10 more stable.

The insulating element 500 is configured as a non-metal gasket, an insulating varnish layer or a plastic film.

The second radiating element 200 is a metal radiating element, i.e. is made of metal, and the connecting element 400 is a metal connecting element, i.e. is made of metal.

As shown in Fig. 1, in some embodiments, the second radiating element 200 may includes a center portion 210 and a plurality of radiating portions 220, each of the plurality of the radiating portions 220 defines a first end connected with the center portion 210 and a second end extended away from the center portion 210. The plurality of the radiating portions 220 can form an omni-directional radiating.

The vertically polarized ceiling omni-directional antenna in the art is configured as a discone antenna, i.e. the radiating element of the vertically polarized ceiling omni-directional antenna in the art has a shape of cone. Therefore, this kind of the radiating element is required to be processed by a stamping process of metal stretch forming which has some disadvantages, such like a complex mould and an expensive manufacturing cost.

With the center portion 210 and the plurality of radiating portions 220, a structure designing of the second radiating element 200 can be simplified and a processing technology of the second radiating element 200 is improved, thus reducing the processing difficulty and manufacturing cost of the second radiating element 200.

Advantageously, as shown in Fig. 1, each of the radiating portions 220 may be configured as a sheet structure, thus further reducing the processing difficulty and manufacturing cost of the second radiating element 200.

A main surface of each radiating portion 220, i. e. the surface of each radiating portion 220 with the largest area, may be flat or curved. Each radiating portion 220 may be in shape of regular polygon (such like rectangle) or irregular polygon. Each radiating portion 220 may be perpendicular to the base plate 100, more particularly, the main surface of the each radiating portion 220 may be perpendicular to the upper surface of the base plate 100.

The shape, structure and size of each radiating portion 220 may be identical or different.

As shown in Fig. 1, angles formed between adjacent radiating portions 220 may be equal, in other words, the angles formed between adjacent radiating portions 220 is a predetermined angle, and the radiating portions 220 can be arranged at regular intervals along a circumference direction of the center portion 210, such that the radiations in different directions can be equal. Thus meeting a need of the radiation out-of-roundness of the omni-directional antenna and improving the radiating performance of the omni-directional antenna.

For example, three radiating portions 220 may be arranged and the angle between the adjacent radiating portions 220 is 120° , as shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in Fig. 1, a plurality of the connecting elements 400 may be directly connected with the radiating portions 220 in manner of one to one, in other words, a number of the connecting elements 400 is equal to that of the radiating portions 220, and one connecting element 400 is connected with one corresponding radiating portion 220. Thus, the stability of the antenna 10 can be increased.

The second feeder 300 may be configured as a second coaxial cable, and the second coaxial cable includes a second outer conductor and a second inner conductor disposed within the second outer conductor. The second outer conductor is connected with the base plate 100, and the second inner conductor is connected with the center portion 210 by passing through the base plate 100. More particularly, the second inner conductor may pass through a center of the base plate 100.

As shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, in some embodiments, the connecting element 400 includes an inclined portion 410, a vertical portion 420 and a horizon portion 430. An upper end of the inclined portion 410 is directly connected with the second radiating element 200, an upper end of the vertical portion 420 is connected with a lower end of the inclined portion 410, the horizon portion 430 is connected with a lower end of the vertical portion 420 and coupled with the base plate 100. That is, the vertical portion 420 is extended in a vertical direction (the up-down direction), and the horizon portion 430 is extended in a horizon direction. Thus, the connecting element 400 has a simple and suitable structure.

Each of the inclined portion 410, vertical portion 420 and the horizon portion 430 may be configured as a sheet structure, i.e. may be in shape of sheet.

A main surface of each inclined portion 410, i.e. the surface of each inclined portion 410 with the largest area, may be flat or curved. A main surface of each vertical portion 420, i.e. the surface of each vertical portion 420 with the largest area, may be flat or curved. A main surface of each horizon portion 430, i.e. the surface of each horizon portion 430 with the largest area, may be flat or curved.

The connecting element 400 may be a metal element, i.e. the connecting element 400 may be made of metal. Advantageously, the inclined portion 410, vertical portion 420 and the horizon portion 430 may be formed integrally.

As shown in Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, in some embodiments, the antenna 10 may include a dielectric plate 640 disposed between the upper star-shaped element 610 and the lower star-shaped element 620, in other words, the upper star-shaped element 610 and the lower star-shaped element 620 is spaced in the up-down direction. With arrangement of the dielectric plate 640 between the upper star-shaped element 610 and the lower star-shaped element 620, the processing difficulty and manufacturing cost of the antenna 10 can be reduced.

The antenna in the art has a metal guide ring. However, the guide ring has disadvantages of unstable performance, high manufacturing cost, difficultly processing and necessarily being electroplated. Comparing with the guide ring, dielectric plate 640 has a stable performance, a low manufacturing cost and a simple structure, and it is not necessary for the dielectric plate 640 to be electroplated. Moreover, the dielectric plate 640 implements the coupling connection between the upper star- shaped element 610 and the lower star- shaped element 620.

The dielectric plate 640 may be a glass-epoxy plate or a polytetrafluoroethylene plate, i. e. the dielectric plate 640 may be made of glass-epoxy or polytetrafluoroethylene.

The dielectric plate 640 may be configured in a shape of plate, round, regular polygon or irregular polygon. Advantageously, both of an outline of the upper star-shaped element 610 and an outline of the lower star-shaped element 620 are fallen within the outline of the dielectric plate 640, in other words, the edges of the upper star-shaped element 610 and an outline of the lower star-shaped element 620 cannot go beyond the scope of the edge of the dielectric plate 64.

As shown in Fig. 3-Fig. 6, in some embodiments, the upper star-shaped element 610 includes an upper center part 611 and a plurality of upper radiating parts 612, each of the plurality of upper radiating parts 612 has a first upper end connected with the upper center part 611 and a second upper end, the second upper end of the upper radiating parts 612 is extended away from the upper center part 6 Hand connected with the first radiating element 700.

The lower star- shaped element 620 includes a lower center part 621 and a plurality of lower radiating parts 622, each of the plurality of lower radiating parts 622 has a first lower end connected with the lower center part 621 and a second lower end, the second lower end of the lower radiating parts 622 is extended away from the lower center part 621 and connected with the first radiating element 700. Thus, the upper star-shaped element 610 and lower star-shaped element 620 has simple and suitable structures.

Advantageously, the upper star-shaped element 610 may have at least three radiating parts 612, correspondingly, the lower star- shaped element 620 may have at least three lower radiating parts 622.

As shown in Fig. 3, Fig. 5 and Fig. 6, in some embodiments, the first radiating element 700 may include a plurality of dipoles, each dipole includes an upper arm 710 connected with a corresponding one of the second upper ends of the upper radiating parts 612 and a lower arm 720 connected with a corresponding one of the second lower ends of the lower radiating parts 622. That is, numbers of the dipoles, the upper radiating parts 612 and the lower radiating parts 622 are equal, and the upper arm 710 of the dipole is connected with the second upper end of the upper radiating part 612, the lower arm 720 of the dipole is connected with the second lower end of the lower radiating part 622.

In some embodiments, the antenna 10 may further include a plurality of coupling branches 800, a first end of each coupling branch 800 is connected with the lower center part 621 and a second end of each coupling branch 800 is extended away from the lower center part 621. Each of the plurality of coupling branches 800 is located between adjacent lower radiating parts 622, and each of the lower radiating parts 622 is located between adjacent coupling branches 800. With arrangement of the coupling branches 800, the isolation between adjacent antennae and antenna pattern of roundness can be adjustable.

Advantageously, the coupling branches 800 may be a metal coupling branch, i. e. the coupling branches 800 may be made of metal. The coupling branches 800 may be configured as a strip structure.

The first coaxial cable 630 may include a first outer conductor and a first inner conductor disposed within the first outer conductor, the first outer conductor is connected with the lower center part 621, and the first inner conductor is connected with upper center part 611.

The first coaxial cable 630 is extended downwards along the outline of one of the connecting elements 400 and passes through the base plate 100. The first inner conductor passes through the lower center part 621 and the dielectric plate 640 and is connected with the upper center part 611.

Reference throughout this specification to "an embodiment," "some embodiments," "one embodiment", "another example," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," means that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases such as "in some embodiments," "in one embodiment", "in an embodiment", "in another example," "in an example," "in a specific example," or "in some examples," in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment or example of the present invention. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

Although explanatory embodiments have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the above embodiments cannot be construed to limit the present invention, and changes, alternatives, and modifications can be made in the embodiments without departing from spirit, principles and scope of the present invention.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. An antenna, comprising:

a first feeder having an upper star-shaped element, a lower star-shaped element coupled with the first star- shaped element, and a first coaxial cable connected with the upper and lower star-shaped elements respectively;

a first radiating element connected with each of the upper and lower star-shaped elements; a base plate;

a second radiating element disposed adjacent to the lower star-shaped element;

a second feeder connected with the second radiating element; and

a connecting element directly connected with the second radiating element and coupled with the base plate.

2. The antenna of claim 1, further comprising a dielectric plate disposed between the upper star-shaped element and the lower star-shaped element.

3. The antenna of claim 2, wherein the dielectric plate is made of glass-epoxy or poly tetrafluoroethy lene .

4. The antenna of any one of claims 1-3,

wherein the upper star- shaped element comprises:

an upper center part; and

a plurality of upper radiating parts, each of the plurality of upper radiating parts defining a first upper end connected with the upper center part, and a second upper end extended away from the upper center part and connected with the first radiating element;

wherein the lower star-shaped element comprises:

a lower center part; and

a plurality of lower radiating parts, each of the plurality of lower radiating parts defining a first lower end connected with the lower center part, and a second lower end extended away from the lower center part and connected with the first radiating element.

5. The antenna of claim 4, wherein the first radiating element comprises a plurality of dipoles, each dipole comprises an upper arm connected with a corresponding one of the second upper ends of the upper radiating parts, and a lower arm connected with a corresponding one of the second lower ends of the lower radiating parts.

6. The antenna of claim 4 or 5, further comprising a plurality of coupling branches, each of the plurality of coupling branches being connected with the lower center part and extended away from the lower center part, and each of the plurality of coupling branches being located between adjacent lower radiating parts.

7. The antenna of any one of claims 4-6, wherein the first coaxial cable comprises a first outer conductor connected with the lower center part, and a first inner conductor disposed within the first outer conductor and connected with upper center part.

8. The antenna of any one of claims 1-9, further comprising an insulating element disposed between the connecting element and the base plate.

9. The antenna of claim 8, wherein the insulating element is connected with both the connecting element and the upper center part.

10. The antenna of any one of claims 1-9, wherein the second radiating element comprises a center portion and a plurality of radiating portions, each of the plurality of the radiating portions defines a first end connected with the center portion and a second end extended away from the center portion.