WO2022198883A1

WO2022198883A1 - Base station antenna and phase shifter therefor

Info

Publication number: WO2022198883A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/112061
Authority: WO
Inventors: 吴庚飞; 苏国生; 黄明达; 李明超; 陈礼涛; 高彬
Original assignee: 京信通信技术(广州)有限公司; 京信射频技术(广州)有限公司
Priority date: 2021-03-23
Filing date: 2021-08-11
Publication date: 2022-09-29
Also published as: CN112909453A

Abstract

The present invention provides a base station antenna and a phase shifter therefor. The phase shifter comprises a substrate, a phase shifting plate, and a first shielding cavity; a grounding layer is covered on one surface of the substrate, and the other surface is provided with a fixed circuit; the phase shifting plate is provided on the surface of the substrate that is provided with the fixed circuit; a sliding circuit is provided on the phase shifting plate; the sliding circuit and the fixed circuit are coupled and together constitute a phase shifting circuit; the phase shifting plate can drive the sliding circuit to movably adjust the length of the phase shifting circuit relative to the fixed circuit; the first shielding cavity covers the phase shifting circuit and is electrically connected to the grounding circuit. In the phase shifter provided by the present invention, the first shielding cavity covers the substrate and is grounded, and the first shielding cavity, the substrate, and the phase shifting circuit together constitute an asymmetric strip-shaped line structure, thereby reducing radiation loss. Next, the equivalent dielectric constant of the phase shifter can further be reduced by means of air in the first shielding cavity, thereby reducing dielectric loss.

Description

Base station antenna and its phase shifter

technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of mobile communication, and in particular, to a phase shifter and a base station antenna using the phase shifter.

Background technique

With the rapid development of mobile communication technology and the advent of the fifth-generation mobile communication era, higher requirements have been placed on the power consumption of base station antennas. Since the loss of the base station antenna is largely determined by the link loss of the feeder network, the phase shifter used to adjust the signal phase and the downtilt angle of the antenna beam is a key component of the base station antenna. It is extremely important to improve the antenna gain.

However, both the dielectric sliding phase shifter and the metal sliding phase shifter currently used in the base station antenna have high dielectric loss and radiation loss, which is not conducive to reducing the power consumption cost of the communication system.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a phase shifter with lower loss.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a base station antenna using the above-mentioned phase shifter.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solutions:

As a first aspect, the present invention relates to a phase shifter, comprising a substrate, a phase shifting plate and a first shielding cavity, one side of the substrate is covered with a ground layer, and the other side is provided with a fixed circuit, the phase shifting plate It is arranged on the side of the base plate with the fixed circuit, the phase-shifting plate is provided with a sliding circuit, the sliding circuit and the fixed circuit are coupled and connected to form a phase-shifting circuit together, and the phase-shifting plate can drive the The sliding circuit movably adjusts the length of the phase-shifting circuit relative to the fixed circuit, and the first shielding cavity is covered on the phase-shifting circuit and is electrically connected to the ground layer.

Preferably, the phase shifter further comprises a circuit cavity covered on the surface of the base plate and connected to the fixed circuit, the circuit cavity and the base plate together form a guide hole, and the phase shift plate passes through the circuit cavity. It is arranged in the guide hole and can slide along the guide hole.

More preferably, the fixed circuit includes an input section and an output section arranged side by side, the circuit cavity is provided with two, and the two circuit cavities are respectively covered on the input section and the output section. The phase-shifting board includes a driving board and two limiting boards connected side by side with the driving board. Two ends of the phase-shifting circuit are respectively arranged on the two limiting boards and are respectively connected with the input section and the output section. Coupling and connection, the two limiting plates pass through the guide holes formed by the two circuit cavities in a one-to-one correspondence.

Preferably, the height of the first shielding cavity corresponding to the fixed circuit portion is greater than that of other portions.

Further, the side of the substrate provided with the fixed circuit is further provided with a ground circuit connected to the ground layer, and the first shielding cavity is connected to the ground circuit.

Preferably, the phase shifter further includes a second shielding cavity, the second shielding cavity is covered and disposed on the side of the substrate provided with the ground layer and disposed corresponding to the position of the phase-shifting circuit.

Preferably, a limiting groove is defined on the inner wall of the first shielding cavity, and the phase shifter further includes an elastic block embedded in the limiting groove, and the elastic block is away from the first shielding cavity. One end abuts the phase shifting plate.

Preferably, the inner wall of the first shielding cavity is provided with a chute, and the edge of the phase shifting plate is embedded in the chute and can slide along the chute.

Preferably, the phase shifter further includes a limiting member, the phase shifting plate includes a driving board exposed to the first shielding cavity, and the limiting member is arranged on the base plate and is common with the base plate A limit hole for the driving board to pass through is enclosed.

Preferably, the phase shifter further comprises a guide post arranged on the base plate, the phase shift plate is provided with a guide long hole along the moving direction thereof, and the guide post is penetrated in the guide long hole.

Preferably, the fixed circuit includes a main circuit and an adjustment branch connected to the main circuit and used to adjust the matching of the main circuit.

Preferably, the phase shifter further includes an adjustment circuit for adjusting the bandwidth of the phase shift circuit, the adjustment circuit includes a first adjustment circuit provided on the substrate at a distance from the fixed circuit, and The sliding circuit has a second adjusting circuit which is arranged on the phase-shifting plate at intervals and is coupled and connected to the first adjusting circuit.

As a second aspect, the present invention also relates to a base station antenna, comprising the above-mentioned phase shifter.

Compared with the prior art, the scheme of the present invention has the following advantages:

1. The phase shifter provided by the present invention covers the first shielding cavity on the substrate and is grounded, and forms an asymmetric stripline structure together with the phase shifting circuit, which can constrain the radiation field of the phase shifting circuit to two. between ground planes to reduce radiation losses. Secondly, the air in the first shielding cavity can also reduce the equivalent dielectric constant of the phase shifter, thereby reducing the dielectric loss.

2. The phase shifter provided by the present invention is provided with a circuit cavity that is connected to a fixed circuit and wraps the phase-shifting plate, through which the moving direction of the phase-shifting plate can be limited, and the coupling of the fixed circuit can also be increased. quantity, so that the circuit index is more stable.

Additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be set forth in part in the following description, which will be apparent from the following description, or may be learned by practice of the present invention.

Description of drawings

The above and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily understood from the following description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

1 is a perspective view of a phase shifter provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the phase shifter shown in Fig. 1;

3 is an exploded view of a phase shifter provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

4 is an exploded view of a phase shifter provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a structural diagram of the connection between the circuit cavity and the substrate in the phase shifter shown in FIG. 4;

6 is an exploded view of a phase shifter provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a perspective view of a phase shifter provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

8 is an end-face structural diagram of a phase shifter provided by another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a first shielding cavity in a phase shifter according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

The following describes in detail the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein the same or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions throughout. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present invention, but not to be construed as a limitation of the present invention.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, unless expressly stated otherwise, the word "comprising" used in the description of the present invention means the presence of the stated features, integers, steps, operations, parts/components and/or components, but does not exclude the presence or Add one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, parts/components, assemblies, and/or groups thereof. It should be understood that when we say a part/component is "connected" to another part/component, it may be directly connected to the other part/component, or there may also be intermediate parts/components. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes all or any element and all combination of one or more of the associated listed items.

FIG. 1 to FIG. 9 together show the phase shifter provided by the embodiments of the present invention, which is used for setting in the base station antenna to realize the phase adjustment of the antenna signal. Effectively reduce antenna loss, thereby reducing the use cost of the base station network.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 , the phase shifter 1 includes a substrate 11 , a phase shifting plate 12 , a first shielding cavity 13 and a phase shifting circuit 14 , and the phase shifting circuit 14 includes a The fixed circuit 141 and the sliding circuit 142 provided on the phase shifting plate 12 . One side of the substrate 11 is covered with a ground layer (not shown, the same below), the other side is provided with the fixed circuit 141 , and the phase-shifting plate 12 is provided on the substrate 11 with the fixed circuit 141, and make the projection of the sliding circuit 142 on the substrate 11 at least partially overlap the fixed circuit 141, so that the sliding circuit 142 and the fixed circuit 141 are coupled and connected, by pulling the phase shifter The board 12 can drive the sliding circuit 142 to move relative to the fixed circuit 141, thereby adjusting the overlapping area of the sliding circuit 142 and the fixed circuit 141, which is equivalent to adjusting the length of the phase shifting circuit 14, thereby realizing phase adjustment .

Further, the substrate 11 is a PCB dielectric board, and the fixed circuit 141 is formed by a transmission line printed on the PCB dielectric board.

Further, the surface of the sliding circuit 142 is covered with an insulating layer (not shown, the same below), and the sliding circuit 142 is separated from the fixed circuit 141 by the insulating layer, so that the phase shifting plate 12 It can be attached to the substrate 11 for fixing, and the sliding circuit 142 and the fixing circuit 141 are not directly connected, that is, the state of coupling and connection is maintained.

Preferably, the first shielding cavity 13 is disposed on the side of the substrate 11 where the fixed circuit 141 is disposed, the first shielding cavity 13 is covered on the phase-shifting circuit 14 and is connected to the grounding The first shielding cavity 13, the substrate 11 and the phase-shifting circuit 14 together form an asymmetric stripline structure, which can confine the radiation field of the phase-shifting circuit 14 to the first shielding cavity. Between the body 13 and the two ground planes of the substrate 11, radiation loss is reduced. Secondly, the air in the first shielding cavity 13 can also reduce the equivalent dielectric constant of the phase shifter 1 so as to reduce the dielectric loss.

Preferably, the fixed circuit 141 includes a main circuit 1411 and an adjustment branch 1412 connected to the main circuit 1411. The adjustment branch 1412 can be set as an open circuit or grounded. By configuring the adjustment branches 1412 with different widths and lengths, it is possible to The matching of the main circuit 1411 is adjusted to make the circuit index more stable.

Further, a ground circuit 111 is also provided on the side of the substrate 11 on which the fixed circuit 141 is provided, and the first shielding cavity 13 is provided on the ground circuit 111 . The ground circuit 111 is connected to the ground layer, specifically, through metallized vias opened on the surface of the substrate 11 or metal connection lines provided on the sidewall of the substrate 11, so that the first The shielding cavity 13 is grounded.

Specifically, the first shielding cavity 13 is provided with pins or pins (not shown in the figure, the same below), and the first shielding cavity 13 is welded with the grounding circuit 111 through the pins or pins, so as to Ensure circuit stability and connection strength.

Preferably, the inner wall of the first shielding cavity 13 is provided with a chute 131 , and the edge of the phase-shifting plate 12 is embedded in the chute 131 and can slide along the chute 131 . The grooves 131 limit and fix the phase shifting plate 12 .

More preferably, the inner wall of the first shielding cavity 13 further defines a limit slot (not shown in the figure, the same below), and the phase shifter 1 further includes an elastic block embedded in the limit slot (Fig. (not shown, the same below), the end of the elastic block away from the first shielding cavity 13 abuts the phase-shifting plate 12, that is, the phase-shifting plate 12 is pressed against the substrate by the elastic block 11, to ensure the stable connection between the sliding circuit 142 and the fixed circuit 141 to ensure the phase shift effect.

As shown in FIG. 3 , in another embodiment, the phase shifter 1 further includes an adjustment circuit 15 , and the adjustment circuit 15 includes a first adjustment circuit 151 and a second adjustment circuit 152 . The first adjustment circuit 151 The second adjusting circuit 152 and the sliding circuit 142 are disposed on the phase-shifting plate 12 at a distance from the fixed circuit 141 on the substrate 11 and are connected with the first adjusting circuit 151 coupling connection. By changing the length and width of the adjusting circuit 15, parameters such as matching, resonance point and bandwidth of the phase shifting circuit 14 can be adjusted.

Referring to FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , in another embodiment, the phase shifter 1 further includes a circuit cavity 16 , the circuit cavity 16 is covered on the surface of the substrate 11 and connected to the fixed circuit 141 . , the circuit cavity 16 and the substrate 11 together form a guide hole 161 , and the phase-shifting plate 12 passes through the guide hole 161 and can slide along the guide hole 161 . The moving direction of the phase-shifting plate 12 can be limited by the circuit cavity 16 , the movement accuracy and stability of the phase-shifting plate 12 can be improved, and the coupling amount of the fixed circuit 141 can also be increased, so that the Circuit indicators are more stable.

Further, the main circuit 1411 includes an input section 1411A and an output section 1411A arranged side by side and at intervals, the input section 1411A is used as the input port of the phase shifter 1, and the output section 1411A is used as the phase shifter output port of device 1.

Preferably, there are two circuit cavities 16 , and the two circuit cavities 16 are respectively covered on the input section 1411A and the output section 1411B. The phase-shifting board 12 includes a driving board 121 and a side-by-side ground The two limiting boards 122 connected to the driving board 121, the phase shifting circuit 142 is set as a U-shaped structure, the two ends of which are respectively arranged on the two limiting boards 122 and are respectively connected with the

input sections

1411A, 1411A, The output sections 1411B are coupled and connected, and the two limiting plates 122 are passed through the guide holes 161 formed by the two circuit cavities 16 in a one-to-one correspondence. The coupling amount of the input section 1411A and the output section 1411B is respectively increased through the two circuit cavities 16 , the circuit index is improved, and the phase shifting plate 12 can be better limited and fixed.

As shown in FIG. 6 , in another embodiment, the phase shifter 1 further includes a guide post 17 disposed on the base plate 11 , and the phase shift plate 12 is provided with a guide slot 123 along the moving direction thereof. The guide post 17 is inserted through the guide slot 123, and the phase shift plate 12 can be limited in the width direction by the guide post 17 when moving, so that the phase shift plate 12 can only move along the length of the guide post 17. The longitudinal movement thereof further improves the movement precision of the phase shifting plate 12 .

Preferably, at least two of the guide posts 17 are provided, and at least two of the guide posts 17 are arranged at intervals along the long guide holes 123 . The phase shifting plate 12 rotates relative to one of the guide posts 17 .

As shown in FIG. 7 , in another embodiment, the phase shifter 1 further includes a limiting member 18 , and the driving plate 121 of the phase shifting plate 12 is exposed to the first shielding cavity 13 . The positioning member 18 is arranged on the base plate 11 and together with the base plate 11 forms a limiting hole (not shown in the figure, the same below) for the driving board 121 to pass through. The driving board 121 is pressed on the base plate 11 to further limit and fix the phase-shifting board 12 to effectively prevent the phase-shifting board 12 from prying off the first shielding cavity 13 or the circuit when moving. the end of the cavity 16 .

As shown in FIG. 8 , in another embodiment, the phase shifter 1 further includes a second shielding cavity 19 , the second shielding cavity 19 is covered on the side of the substrate 11 where the ground layer is provided and Corresponding to the position setting of the phase shifting circuit 14 , the air in the second shielding cavity 19 can further reduce the equivalent dielectric constant of the phase shifter 1 and reduce the dielectric loss of the phase shifter 1 .

As shown in FIG. 9 , in another embodiment, the height of the portion of the first shielding cavity 13 corresponding to the fixed circuit 141 is greater than that of other parts, that is, the first shielding cavity 13 has a stepped structure, The matching of the fixed circuit 141 can be adjusted to further improve the circuit index.

As a second aspect, the present invention also relates to a base station antenna (not shown in the figure, the same below), the base station antenna includes the above-mentioned phase shifter 1000, because the phase shifter 1000 has a simple structure and can achieve low loss, high Gained signal transmission can effectively reduce the layout cost and use cost of the base station antenna, and improve product competitiveness.

The above are only some embodiments of the present invention. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, without departing from the principles of the present invention, several improvements and modifications can be made. It should be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

A phase shifter is characterized in that it comprises a substrate, a phase shifting plate and a first shielding cavity, one side of the substrate is covered with a ground layer, and the other side is provided with a fixed circuit, and the phase shifting plate is arranged on the One side of the base plate is provided with a fixed circuit, a sliding circuit is arranged on the phase-shifting plate, the sliding circuit and the fixed circuit are coupled and connected to form a phase-shifting circuit together, and the phase-shifting plate can drive the sliding circuit relative to the fixed circuit. The fixed circuit movably adjusts the length of the phase-shifting circuit, and the first shielding cavity is covered on the phase-shifting circuit and is electrically connected to the ground layer.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, further comprising a circuit cavity covered on the surface of the substrate and connected to the fixed circuit, the circuit cavity and the substrate are jointly enclosed into a guide hole , the phase shifting plate is penetrated in the guide hole and can slide along the guide hole.
The phase shifter according to claim 2, wherein the fixed circuit comprises an input section and an output section arranged side by side, the circuit cavity is provided with two, and the two circuit cavities are respectively covered in the On the input section and the output section, the phase-shifting board includes a driving board and two limit boards connected side by side with the driving board, and the two ends of the phase-shifting circuit are respectively arranged on the two limit boards. The two limiting plates pass through the guide holes formed by the two circuit cavities correspondingly one by one.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, wherein a height of the first shielding cavity corresponding to the fixed circuit portion is greater than that of other portions.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, wherein a ground circuit connected to the ground layer is further provided on the side of the substrate provided with the fixed circuit, and the first shielding cavity is connected to the ground circuit .
The phase shifter according to claim 1, further comprising a second shielding cavity, the second shielding cavity is covered on the side of the substrate provided with the ground layer and corresponds to the side of the phase-shifting circuit. Location settings.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, wherein a limit slot is defined on the inner wall of the first shielding cavity, and the phase shifter further comprises an elastic block embedded in the limit slot, so One end of the elastic block away from the first shielding cavity abuts the phase shifting plate.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, wherein a sliding groove is defined on the inner wall of the first shielding cavity, and the edge of the phase shifting plate is embedded in the sliding groove and can slide along the sliding groove. Slot sliding.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, further comprising a limiting member, the phase shifting plate comprises a driving board exposed to the first shielding cavity, and the limiting member is provided on the substrate and together with the base plate to form a limiting hole for the driving board to pass through.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, further comprising a guide column arranged on the base plate, the phase shift plate is provided with a long guide hole along the moving direction thereof, and the guide column is penetrated through the into the guide slot.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, wherein the fixed circuit comprises a main circuit and an adjustment branch connected to the main circuit and used for adjusting the matching of the main circuit.
The phase shifter according to claim 1, further comprising an adjusting circuit for adjusting the bandwidth of the phase-shifting circuit, the adjusting circuit comprising being provided on the substrate at a distance from the fixed circuit The first adjusting circuit and the second adjusting circuit are provided on the phase-shifting board with a distance from the sliding circuit and are coupled and connected to the first adjusting circuit.
A base station antenna, characterized by comprising the phase shifter according to any one of claims 1 to 12.