WO2024083003A1 - 天线模组及通讯设备 - Google Patents

天线模组及通讯设备 Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2024083003A1
WO2024083003A1 PCT/CN2023/123858 CN2023123858W WO2024083003A1 WO 2024083003 A1 WO2024083003 A1 WO 2024083003A1 CN 2023123858 W CN2023123858 W CN 2023123858W WO 2024083003 A1 WO2024083003 A1 WO 2024083003A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
antenna array
antenna
groups
beamforming
group
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/CN2023/123858
Other languages
English (en)
French (fr)
Inventor
杨永辉
王琳
王大成
王珊
段亚娟
Original Assignee
中兴通讯股份有限公司
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.)
Filing date
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Application filed by 中兴通讯股份有限公司 filed Critical 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Publication of WO2024083003A1 publication Critical patent/WO2024083003A1/zh

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
    • H01Q21/06—Arrays of individually energised antenna units similarly polarised and spaced apart
    • H01Q21/061—Two dimensional planar arrays
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
    • H01Q1/02—Arrangements for de-icing; Arrangements for drying-out ; Arrangements for cooling; Arrangements for preventing corrosion
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
    • H01Q1/12—Supports; Mounting means
    • H01Q1/22—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles
    • H01Q1/24—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles with receiving set
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
    • H01Q1/12—Supports; Mounting means
    • H01Q1/22—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles
    • H01Q1/24—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles with receiving set
    • H01Q1/241—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles with receiving set used in mobile communications, e.g. GSM
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
    • H01Q21/06—Arrays of individually energised antenna units similarly polarised and spaced apart
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q23/00—Antennas with active circuits or circuit elements integrated within them or attached to them

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to an antenna module and communication equipment.
  • the fifth generation mobile communication technology is a new generation of broadband mobile communication technology with the characteristics of high speed, low latency and large connection.
  • 5G communication facilities are the network infrastructure for realizing the interconnection between people, machines and things.
  • 5G mobile communication technology can provide users with high-quality experiences such as higher-speed network access, lower latency response speed, and ultra-large capacity wireless device connections.
  • the millimeter wave band has rich spectrum resources and can meet application scenarios such as large-bandwidth hot spots.
  • the low latency characteristics of millimeter wave communication are conducive to building a complete industrial interconnection in the industrial field, greatly improving the production and management efficiency of the manufacturing industry and the reliability of product manufacturing.
  • an embodiment of the present disclosure provides an antenna module.
  • the antenna module includes: an antenna array, the antenna array includes a plurality of antenna elements, the plurality of antenna elements are divided into M antenna element groups; N beamforming chips, each beamforming chip is connected to a plurality of antenna elements in an antenna element group; M>N, M and N are both positive integers.
  • M antenna array groups are arranged in an array; among the M antenna array groups, the antenna array group connected to the beamforming chip is the first antenna array group, and the antenna array groups other than the first antenna array group are the second antenna array groups; any two second antenna array groups are not adjacent in the row direction or the column direction.
  • M antenna array groups are arranged in an array; among the M antenna array groups, the antenna array group connected to the beamforming chip is the first antenna array group, and the antenna array groups other than the first antenna array group are the second antenna array group; the number of antenna array groups adjacent to at least one second antenna array group in the row direction and column direction is greater than or equal to the number of antenna array groups adjacent to any first antenna array group in the row direction and column direction, and the row direction and column direction are the row direction and column direction of the arrangement of the M antenna array groups.
  • first antenna array sub-group along the row direction or the column direction, there is at least one first antenna array sub-group between any two second antenna array sub-groups.
  • the quantitative relationship between N and M satisfies that: the difference between the ideal equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array and the actual equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array is less than or equal to a set value.
  • the ideal equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array is the equivalent isotropic radiated power obtained by the antenna array under the control of M beamforming chips
  • the actual equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array is the equivalent isotropic radiated power obtained by the antenna array under the control of N beamforming chips.
  • the above setting value is 2dB to 3dB.
  • the quantitative relationship between N and M is: (3/5)M ⁇ N ⁇ (7/8)M.
  • each antenna array group unit includes four adjacent antenna array groups; among the four antenna array groups in each antenna array group unit, three antenna array groups are the first antenna array group, and one antenna array group is the second antenna array group.
  • each second antenna array subgroup has at least three adjacent antenna array subgroups in both the row direction and the column direction.
  • the antenna array is configured as a dual-polarized antenna array; the beamforming chip is configured as a dual-polarized beamforming chip; the antenna module also includes a power division network, which is electrically connected to N beamforming chips respectively; the power division network is configured as a dual-polarized power division network.
  • an embodiment of the present disclosure provides a communication device, which includes: the antenna module provided in the first aspect.
  • FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a currently commonly used antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a sparse array of currently commonly used antenna modules according to some embodiments.
  • FIG3A is a schematic diagram of an antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of another antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • FIG4 is a structural diagram of an antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • FIG5A is a schematic diagram of an antenna module architecture according to some embodiments.
  • FIG5B is a schematic diagram of a multi-level high density interconnect according to some embodiments.
  • FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a spherical coordinate system according to some embodiments.
  • FIG7 is a beamforming adjacent antenna feed phase principle diagram according to some embodiments.
  • FIG8 is a diagram of a beamforming co-phasing principle according to some embodiments.
  • FIG9 is a schematic diagram of a beamforming wavelength principle according to some embodiments.
  • FIG10 is a schematic diagram of a gain curve before and after beamforming phase conversion according to some embodiments.
  • 11A and 11B are schematic diagrams of a microstrip slot antenna architecture according to some embodiments.
  • FIG12 is a circuit diagram of a Wilkins one-to-two power divider according to some embodiments.
  • FIG13 is a schematic diagram of a Wilkins power divider network according to some embodiments.
  • FIG14 is a schematic diagram of an 8*8 full array according to some embodiments.
  • FIG15 is a schematic diagram showing that the excitation amplitude of an antenna element on an 8*8 corner is 10 dB smaller than the ideal one according to some embodiments;
  • FIG16 is a schematic diagram showing that the excitation amplitude of a certain array at the center of an 8*8 array is 10 dB smaller than the ideal amplitude according to some embodiments;
  • FIG17 is a schematic diagram showing that the excitation amplitudes of the four corners of an 8*8 antenna array are 10 dB smaller than the ideal according to some embodiments;
  • FIG18 is a schematic diagram of an 8*8 antenna array in which the excitation amplitudes of the four central antennas are all 10 dB smaller than the ideal according to some embodiments;
  • FIG19 is a schematic diagram showing that the excitation amplitudes of the 16 antennas at the center of an 8*8 antenna array are all 10 dB smaller than the ideal according to some embodiments;
  • FIG20 is a schematic diagram of another antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • FIG21 is a schematic diagram of another antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • FIG22 is a schematic diagram of another antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • FIG23 is a schematic diagram of another antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • FIG. 24 is a schematic diagram of a communication device according to some embodiments.
  • connection should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection.
  • connection should be understood in specific circumstances.
  • connection when describing the pipeline, the "connected” and “connection” used in the present application have the meaning of conduction. The specific meaning needs to be understood in conjunction with the context.
  • words such as “exemplarily” or “for example” are used to represent examples, illustrations or explanations.
  • the highly integrated antenna module consists of a beamforming chip, an antenna array, and a power division network. Due to the limitation of power density and the increase in the number of beamforming chip channels, the difficulty of heat dissipation also increases. In addition, the cost of the antenna module is also one of the considerations in module design.
  • some embodiments of the present disclosure provide an antenna module and a communication device, which improves the antenna module to facilitate heat dissipation and reduce costs.
  • the antenna module and the communication device are introduced below.
  • FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a currently commonly used antenna module according to some embodiments.
  • the current antenna module 100 includes: a substrate 11, an antenna array 12, and a plurality of beamforming chips 13.
  • the antenna array 12 and the beamforming chip 13 are respectively arranged on two opposite sides of the substrate 11;
  • the antenna array 12 includes a plurality of antenna elements 121, the antenna element 121 is a separate element in the antenna array 12, and the plurality of antenna elements 121 are divided into a plurality of antenna element groups 14, for example, each antenna element group 14 includes 4 antenna elements 121;
  • each of the plurality of beamforming chips 13 is connected to a plurality of antenna elements 121 in an antenna element group 14.
  • the plurality of beamforming chips 13 and the plurality of antenna element groups 14 correspond to each other one by one and are electrically connected, that is, the number of the beamforming chips 13 and the number of the antenna element groups 14 are equal.
  • the antenna module 100 further includes a power division network 15 , which is electrically connected to the plurality of beamforming chips 13 , and the power division network 15 includes a plurality of power dividers 151 and a plurality of connecting cables 152 .
  • multiple beamforming chips 13 and multiple antenna array groups 14 are in a one-to-one correspondence.
  • the difficulty of heat dissipation also increases.
  • a sparse array solution is proposed, as shown in FIG2.
  • the antenna module 100 some antenna arrays 121 are removed so that the antenna array 12 presents a sparse layout.
  • the blank box represents the removed antenna array 121, and the scale of the active circuit does not change, that is, the number of beamforming chips 13 remains unchanged.
  • the active circuit includes the beamforming chip 13 and the feed connection line between the beamforming chip 13 and the antenna array 121.
  • the reduction of the antenna array 121 solves the layout and routing problem in terms of density, can solve the heat dissipation problem to a certain extent, and also increases the aperture of the antenna.
  • part of the circuit in the active circuit is in a suspended state, so that the advantage of the high integration of the beamforming chip 13 is partially lost, and it is not conducive to cost reduction.
  • part of the beamforming chip 13 is removed to reduce the cost and power consumption of the 5G millimeter wave antenna module and solve the heat dissipation problem.
  • FIG3A and FIG3B are architecture diagrams of an antenna module.
  • the antenna module 1000 includes a substrate 11, an antenna array 12, N beamforming chips 13, and a power division network 15.
  • the antenna array 12 includes a plurality of antenna elements 121, and the plurality of antenna elements 121 are divided into M antenna element groups 14; each of the N beamforming chips 13 is connected to a plurality of antenna elements 121 in one antenna element group 14. M>N.
  • 141 ⁇ 14 appearing in the drawings of the present disclosure means that the component referred to is 141 and belongs to 14, that is, the component is both 141 and 14. Similar labels appearing in other positions in the drawings of the embodiments of the present disclosure also refer to the above description.
  • the antenna array 12 is not a full array, and M antenna element groups 14 are arranged in an array, and the number of antenna elements 121 included in each antenna element group 14 is different.
  • the number of antenna elements 121 included in the antenna element group 14 may be 6, 7, or 8.
  • the antenna array 12 is a full array, the multiple antenna elements 121 are arranged in an array, and each antenna element group 14 includes the same number of antenna elements 121 , for example, each antenna element group 14 includes eight adjacent antenna elements 121 .
  • the antenna module 1000 includes thirty-two antenna element groups 14 and twenty-one beamforming chips 13; as shown in FIG3B , the antenna module 1000 includes thirty-two antenna element groups 14 and twenty-four beamforming chips 13, that is, the number of antenna element groups 14 is greater than the number of beamforming chips 13, which is equivalent to removing some beamforming chips 13, thereby solving the heat dissipation problem from the perspective of active circuits.
  • the above embodiment may be referred to as a sparse source solution.
  • EIRP equivalent isotropically radiated power
  • the principle used to achieve the target solution in the above embodiment is: the basic principle of "antenna shaping is independent of the active feed network" in 5G millimeter wave beamforming. That is to say, in the design of the antenna module, the same order of magnitude of equivalent omnidirectional radiated power can be achieved by reducing the number of antenna elements 121, and the same order of magnitude of equivalent omnidirectional radiated power can also be achieved by reducing the number of beamforming chips 13. By reducing the number of beamforming chips 13, not only can the heat dissipation problem be solved, but the cost of the product can also be reduced to a certain extent.
  • EIRP Equivalent isotropically radiated power or effective isotropically radiated power
  • the equivalent isotropic radiated power is related to the number of antenna elements 121 and the number of beamforming chips 13 .
  • the quantitative relationship between N and M satisfies that: the difference between the ideal equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array 12 and the actual equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array 12 is less than or equal to a set value.
  • the ideal equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array 12 is the equivalent isotropic radiated power obtained by the antenna array 12 under the control of the M beamforming chips 13
  • the actual equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array 12 is the equivalent isotropic radiated power obtained by the antenna array 12 under the control of the N beamforming chips 13.
  • the number of beamforming chips 13 is less than the number of antenna element groups 14, so some antenna element groups 14 are not regulated by the beamforming chip 13, so that the actual equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array 12 will have a certain loss.
  • the difference between the ideal equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array 12 and the actual equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array 12 is limited to be less than or equal to the set value, that is, the reduction value of the actual equivalent isotropic radiated power relative to the ideal equivalent isotropic radiated power is limited to an acceptable range, so that the equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna module can still be guaranteed under the sparse source solution, thereby ensuring the normal operation of the antenna array 12.
  • the set value is 2dB to 3dB.
  • the above setting values are obtained according to the provisions of the TS 38.104 protocol in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) specification series and in combination with the simulation test of the embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the setting value is 2dB to 3dB, the equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna module 1000 can still be guaranteed and the normal operation of the antenna array 12 can be guaranteed.
  • the number of beamforming chips 13 is reduced by removing some of the beamforming chips 13, thereby solving the problem of heat dissipation difficulty in high-density layout; in addition, since the beamforming chips 13 are saved, the cost of the entire antenna module 100 can be reduced to a certain extent; and the actual equivalent isotropic radiated power of the antenna array 12 can reach a considerable level, so that the normal operation of the antenna array 12 can be guaranteed.
  • the structure of the antenna module 1000 is shown in FIG3B to FIG5B .
  • the antenna module 1000 includes: a beamforming chip 13 , an antenna element 121 and a power division network 15 .
  • the power division network 15 is electrically connected to the beamforming chip 13 and is configured to transmit signals to the beamforming chip 13.
  • Each beamforming chip 13 is electrically connected to multiple antenna elements 121.
  • Each beamforming chip 13 has multiple transceiver channels connected to multiple antenna elements 121.
  • the multiple transceiver channels are electrically connected to the multiple antenna elements 121 one by one through multiple feeder lines.
  • the beamforming chip 13 is composed of several functions such as a partial power division network, a transceiver switch, an amplifier, and a phase shifter.
  • the beamforming chip 13 is configured to realize the functions of amplitude modulation and phase modulation for the antenna element 121.
  • the beamforming chip 13 can independently control the amplitude and phase of each channel, so as to flexibly adjust the direction, gain, sidelobe level and EIRP of the antenna array 12 beam.
  • Beamforming is also called beamforming. Beamforming technology adjusts the parameters of the basic unit of the phase array so that signals at certain angles obtain constructive interference, while signals at other angles obtain constructive interference. The signals can be destructively interfered. Beamforming can be used for both signal transmitting and signal receiving.
  • FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a specific antenna direction in a spherical coordinate system 200, where ⁇ is defined as the angle between the antenna direction and the z-axis, and ⁇ is defined as the angle between the antenna direction and the x-axis.
  • the antenna array 12 multiple antenna arrays 121 are arranged in an array, and the distance between each two adjacent antenna arrays 121 is d.
  • the phase difference of each adjacent antenna feed in order to achieve beamforming, the phase difference of each adjacent antenna feed must be guaranteed to be a fixed value dcos ⁇ .
  • phase modulation can be used to achieve phase superposition in a certain direction of the antenna, thereby achieving gain improvement in the direction in which the antenna points.
  • the distance between two adjacent antennas is d.
  • d is selected as ⁇ /2. The main reason is to ensure that the sidelobe level is low enough. Once d is greater than ⁇ /2, the sidelobe will be raised. Once d is less than ⁇ /2, the coupling between the antenna arrays 121 will be strengthened; as shown in FIG10, the gain effect achieved by the beam at 0° and 30° is the largest.
  • multiple antenna elements 121 and beamforming chips 13 are respectively located on both sides of a substrate 11.
  • the substrate 11 is a printed circuit board (PCB), which is a multi-layer board.
  • PCB printed circuit board
  • Multiple feed lines connecting the antenna elements 121 and the beamforming chip 13 usually need to be replaced through a high-density interconnect (HDI) process.
  • HDI high-density interconnect
  • the antenna array 121 is configured as a microstrip antenna.
  • a microstrip antenna In 5G millimeter wave, a microstrip antenna generally uses a slot antenna.
  • the microstrip antenna (Patch Antenna) is composed of a patch, a slot, and a microstrip feeder.
  • the surface layer is a patch
  • the second layer is a slot
  • the third layer is a feeder.
  • FIG. 11B is a perspective view, which shows a patch layer 301, a slot layer 302, and a feeder layer 303 from top to bottom, and the slot is in an I-shape.
  • the feeder layer 303 is derived from the beamforming chip 13 , and the beamforming chip 13 is electrically connected to the antenna element 121 through a feeder line.
  • the power division network 15 includes a plurality of power dividers 151 and connecting cables 152 (see FIG. 1 ).
  • the power division network 15 may be a T-junction power division network or a conventional Wilkinson power divider network (as shown in FIG. 13 ).
  • the power divider 151 is called a power divider, which is a device that divides one input signal energy into two or more outputs with equal or unequal energy. It can also combine multiple signal energies into one output, which can also be called a combiner. A certain degree of isolation should be ensured between the output ports of a power divider. Power dividers are usually divided into one-to-two (one input and two outputs), one-to-three (one input and three outputs), etc. according to the output. In the embodiments shown in Figures 3A and 3B, the power divider in the power division network 15 is a one-to-two power divider.
  • FIG12 is a circuit diagram of a one-to-two power divider, wherein the power divider 151 includes an input line 1511, two 1/4 wavelength impedance transformation lines 1512, two output lines 1513, and an isolation resistor 1514.
  • the impedance of the input line 1511 is configured as Z0; the impedance of the two 1/4 wavelength impedance transformation lines 1512 is configured as The impedance of the two output lines 1513 is configured as Z0; the isolation resistor 1514 is configured as 2 ⁇ Z0.
  • the power division network includes an input port and multiple output ports.
  • the output port is electrically connected to the beamforming chip, and an example of the impedance of some structures in the power division network is: the impedance Z0 of the input line 1511 and the output line 1513 is 50 ⁇ ; the isolation resistor 1514 is 100 ⁇ ; the impedance of the 1/4 wavelength impedance transformation line 1512 is 70.7 ⁇ .
  • the antenna element 121 is configured as a dual-polarized antenna element
  • the beamforming chip 13 is configured as a dual-polarized beamforming chip
  • the power division network 15 is electrically connected to the N beamforming chips 13.
  • each output port of the power division network 15 is electrically connected to a beamforming chip 13;
  • the power division network 15 is configured as a dual-polarized power division network,
  • the solid line network represents one power division network, and
  • the dotted line network represents another power division network 15.
  • the two power division networks 15 are a group of power division networks 15, which are two polarized power division networks.
  • the two power division networks each include a plurality of output ports, and the positions of the output ports of one power division network correspond to the positions of the output ports of the other power division network.
  • Each beamforming chip 13 is electrically connected to the corresponding output ports of the two polarized power division networks 15 respectively.
  • the above content introduces the basic structure of the antenna element 121, the beamforming chip 13 and the power division network 15 included in the antenna module 1000. Next, the implementation principle of "reducing the number of beamforming chips 13 to achieve the same order of equivalent omnidirectional radiated power" will be introduced.
  • antenna element 121 represents the antenna element normally controlled by the beamforming chip 13
  • antenna element 17 represents the antenna element not controlled by the beamforming chip 13.
  • the antenna element 17 not controlled by the beamforming chip 13 is represented by a -10dB error in the excitation amplitude in the simulation.
  • the error vector (including the vector of amplitude and phase) is the vector difference between the ideal error-free reference signal and the actual transmitted signal at a given moment, which can comprehensively measure the amplitude error and phase error of the modulated signal;
  • the error vector magnitude (EVM) is defined as the ratio of the root mean square value of the average power of the error vector signal to the root mean square value of the average power of the ideal signal, and is expressed as a percentage. The smaller the EVM, the better the signal quality.
  • Adjacent channel power ratio refers to the ratio of the average power of the adjacent frequency channel to the average power of the currently used channel; the adjacent channel power ratio is a common indicator for measuring the linearity of the transmission system. It can be used to describe the out-of-band spectrum distortion characteristics of the signal caused by the nonlinear distortion of the power amplifier, that is, the degree of leakage of the main power to the adjacent frequency channel. In actual use, the measurement is often simplified by measuring the third order intermodulation (IMD3) of the current output signal.
  • IMD3 third order intermodulation
  • the linear output power Pave of the channel is calculated as 11.6dBm;
  • the number of beamforming chips in a full array is calculated as 64;
  • the full array of antenna elements is defined as 64;
  • the antenna array gain Gain ANT is calculated as 7dB.
  • the calculated EIRP of the antenna array is 54.72dBm.
  • the calculated EIRP of the antenna array is 53.47dBm.
  • the EIRP difference between the two is 1.25 dB.
  • the sparse source solution mentioned in the above embodiment can reduce the number of beamforming chips 13 while ensuring that the size of the antenna array 12 remains unchanged, thereby reducing the cost and solving the heat dissipation problem.
  • the following introduces some embodiments of the arrangement of the beamforming chips 13 and the antenna array group 14 in the antenna module 1000.
  • the antenna array group 14 connected to the beamforming chip 13 is the first antenna array group 141
  • the antenna array groups 14 other than the first antenna array group 141 are the second antenna array group 142, that is, the multiple antenna arrays 121 in the second antenna array group 142 are not controlled by the beamforming chip 13, and the second antenna array group 142 has no corresponding beamforming chip 13 connected.
  • the plurality of antenna elements 121 in the second antenna element group 142 can be influenced by the first antenna element adjacent thereto.
  • the mutual coupling of the antenna elements 121 in the element group 141 generates a certain gain.
  • the number of antenna array groups 14 adjacent to at least one second antenna array group 142 in the row direction X and the column direction Y is greater than or equal to the number of antenna array groups 14 adjacent to any first antenna array group 141 in the row direction X and the column direction Y, where the row direction X and the column direction Y are the row direction and the column direction in which the multiple antenna arrays 121 are arranged.
  • the number of antenna array groups 14 adjacent to an antenna array group 14 in the row direction X and the column direction Y refers to the sum of the number of antenna array groups 14 adjacent to the antenna array group 14 in the row direction X and the number of antenna array groups 14 adjacent to the antenna array group 14 in the column direction Y.
  • the number D1 of antenna element groups 14 adjacent to the second antenna element group 142 in the row direction X and the column direction Y is 4, taking the first antenna element group 141 located in the middle of the antenna array 12 as an example, the number D2 of antenna element groups 14 adjacent to the first antenna element group 141 in the row direction X and the column direction Y is 4, and D1 and D2 are equal.
  • the number D3 of antenna element groups 14 adjacent to the first antenna element group 141 in the row direction X and the column direction Y is 2, and D1 is greater than D3.
  • At least one second antenna array subgroup 142 is located in the middle of the antenna array 12 , and the second antenna array subgroup 142 has at least three adjacent antenna array subgroups 14 in both the row direction X and the column direction Y.
  • the principle of setting the position of the beamforming chip 13 in the antenna array 12 is that the beamforming chip 13 is not set in the area with high heat density, that is, the beamforming chip 13 is not set in the area where the chips are densely packed.
  • the middle position of the antenna array 12 is an area with high heat density.
  • at least one second antenna array subgroup 142 is located in the middle position of the antenna array 12, which can achieve a greater heat dissipation effect, thereby achieving a win-win situation of reducing costs and heat dissipation requirements.
  • the multiple antenna arrays 121 in the second antenna array subgroup 142 can be mutually coupled with the antenna arrays 121 in the adjacent first antenna array subgroup 141 to generate a certain gain, and the second antenna array subgroup 142 is located in the middle position, even if the beamforming chip 13 corresponding to the second antenna array subgroup 142 is removed, the second antenna array subgroup 142 can still generate gain under the action of the surrounding first antenna array subgroup 141, thereby enabling the overall EIRP of the antenna array 12 to reach a level equivalent to that of a full array without any deletion of the beamforming chip 13.
  • the antenna array 12 is divided into a plurality of antenna array groups 14 arranged in 4 rows and 8 columns.
  • the first row of antenna array groups 141 there are two first antenna array groups 141 between two second antenna array groups 142 along the row direction X; in the second column of antenna array groups 142, there is one first antenna array group 141 between two second antenna array groups 142 along the column direction Y.
  • any two second antenna array groups 142 are not adjacent, and such an arrangement enables as many second antenna array groups 142 as possible to be subjected to the mutual coupling effect of the surrounding first antenna array groups 141, thereby generating considerable gain.
  • the quantitative relationship between N and M can be: (3/5)M ⁇ N ⁇ (7/8)M.
  • the antenna array 12 includes a plurality of antenna array group units 16, each antenna array group unit 16 includes four adjacent antenna array groups 14; the four antenna array groups of each antenna array group unit 16 are In FIG. 14 , three antenna array groups 14 are first antenna array groups 141 , and one antenna array group 14 is second antenna array group 142 .
  • the white squares represent the removed beamforming chips 13.
  • every four adjacent antenna array groups 14 are divided into an antenna array group unit 16.
  • the antenna array 12 includes eight antenna array group units 16.
  • three antenna array groups 14 are the first antenna array group 141, and one antenna array group 14 is the second antenna array group 142. That is, in each antenna array group unit 16, the beamforming chip 13 corresponding to one antenna array group 14 is removed.
  • the position of the removed beamforming chip 13 There is no limitation on the position of the removed beamforming chip 13. In some examples, the above-mentioned principle of setting the position of the beamforming chip 13 in the antenna array 12 is satisfied.
  • FIG20 and FIG21 only provide two exemplary combinations of the arrangement positions of the N beamforming chips 13. There are many other schemes for the arrangement positions of the N beamforming chips 13, all of which fall within the scope of this embodiment.
  • the antenna array 12 includes multiple antenna array group units 16, each antenna array group unit 16 includes eight adjacent antenna array groups 14; among the eight antenna array groups 14 in each antenna array group unit 16, seven antenna array groups 14 are first antenna array groups 141, and one antenna array group 14 is a second antenna array group 142.
  • the white squares represent the removed beamforming chips 13.
  • every eight adjacent antenna array groups 14 are divided into an antenna array group unit 16.
  • the antenna array 12 includes four antenna array group units 16. In one antenna array group unit 16, seven antenna array groups 14 are the first antenna array group 141, and one antenna array group 14 is the second antenna array group 142. That is, in each antenna array group unit 16, the beamforming chip 13 corresponding to one antenna array group 14 is removed. There is no limitation on the position of the removed beamforming chip 13. In some examples, the above-mentioned principle of position setting of the beamforming chip 13 in the antenna array 12 is satisfied.
  • FIG22 and FIG23 only provide two exemplary combinations of the arrangement positions of the N beamforming chips 13. There are many other schemes for the arrangement positions of the N beamforming chips 13, all of which fall within the scope of this embodiment.
  • the EIRP level of the antenna array 12 is relatively high.
  • the number of antenna elements 121 in the antenna array 12 remains unchanged. In this case, some active devices are removed, so that the number of beamforming chips 13 is reduced. Under the premise of ensuring the same EIRP level, the problem of heat dissipation difficulty in high-density layout is solved, and the cost of the whole machine can be reduced to a certain extent.
  • the substrate 11 in the antenna module is a printed circuit board, which frees up more space for routing in the beamforming architecture by reducing the number of active devices, so that the interconnection process of the printed circuit board routing is no longer restricted, reducing the cost of printed circuit board development, thereby improving the competitiveness of the product.
  • the communication device 500 mainly relates to a base station active antenna unit (AAU) product in the field of communication.
  • the communication device 500 includes: an antenna module 1000, a radio frequency unit 2000, and a housing 3000.
  • the antenna module 1000 and the radio frequency unit 2000 are arranged in the housing 3000, and the radio frequency unit 2000 is connected to the antenna module 1000.
  • the radio frequency unit 2000 sends a signal through the input port 153 of the power division network 15 (as shown in FIG20 to FIG23), and is transmitted to the antenna module 1000, thereby completing the communication function with the outside world.

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Abstract

本公开提供一种天线模组及通讯设备。天线模组包括：基板、天线阵列、N个波束赋形芯片；天线阵列被配置为基板上，且包括多个天线阵子，多个天线阵子划分为M个天线阵子组；每个波束赋形芯片连接一个天线阵子组中的多个天线阵子；M>N，M和N均为正整数。

Description

天线模组及通讯设备
本公开要求于2022年10月18日提交的、申请号为202211275795.8的中国专利申请的优先权，其全部内容通过引用结合在本申请中。
技术领域
本公开涉及一种通信技术领域，尤其涉及一种天线模组及通讯设备。
背景技术
第五代移动通信技术(5th Generation Mobile Communication Technology，5G)是具有高速率、低时延和大连接特点的新一代宽带移动通信技术，5G通讯设施是实现人机物互联的网络基础设施。
5G移动通信技术可以为用户提供更高速率的网络接入、更低延迟的响应速度、超大容量的无线设备连接数等高质量体验。相比已经商用的Sub-6GHz频段，毫米波频段频谱资源丰富，可以满足大带宽的热点区域等应用场景。此外，毫米波通信低时延的特性利于在工业领域构建完整的工业互联，大幅提高制造业的生产及管理效率和产品制造可靠性。
发明内容
第一方面，本公开实施例提供一种天线模组。该天线模组包括：天线阵列，天线阵列包括多个天线阵子，多个天线阵子划分为M个天线阵子组；N个波束赋形芯片，每个波束赋形芯片连接一个天线阵子组中的多个天线阵子；M>N，M和N均为正整数。
在一些实施例中，M个天线阵子组阵列排布；在M个天线阵子组中，连接波束赋形芯片的天线阵子组为第一天线阵子组，除第一天线阵子组之外的天线阵子组为第二天线阵子组；任意两个第二天线阵子组在行方向上或者列方向上不相邻。
在一些实施例中，M个天线阵子组阵列排布；在M个天线阵子组中，连接波束赋形芯片的天线阵子组为第一天线阵子组，除第一天线阵子组之外的天线阵子组为第二天线阵子组；至少一个第二天线阵子组在行方向和列方向上相邻的天线阵子组的数量，大于或等于任意一个第一天线阵子组在行方向和列方向上相邻的天线阵子组的数量，行方向和列方向为M个天线阵子组排布的行方向和列方向。
在一些实施例中，沿行方向或列方向，任意两个第二天线阵子组之间存在至少一个第一天线阵子组。
在一些实施例中，N和M的数量关系满足：天线阵列的理想等效全向辐射功率与天线阵列的实际等效全向辐射功率的差值小于或等于设定值。天线阵列的理想等效全向辐射功率为天线阵列在M个波束赋形芯片的控制下得到的等效全向辐射功率，天线阵列的实际等效全向辐射功率为天线阵列在N个波束赋形芯片的控制下得到的等效全向辐射功率。
在一些实施例中，上述设定值为2dB至3dB。
在一些实施例中，N和M的数量关系为：(3/5)M≤N≤(7/8)M。
在一些实施例中，当N＝(3/4)M，天线阵列包括多个天线阵子组单元，每个天线阵子组单元包括相邻的四个天线阵子组；每个天线阵子组单元中的四个天线阵子组中，三个天线阵子组为第一天线阵子组，一个天线阵子组为第二天线阵子组。
在一些实施例中，当N＝(7/8)M，天线阵列包括多个天线阵子组单元，每个天线阵子组 单元包括相邻的八个天线阵子组；每个天线阵子组单元中的八个天线阵子组中，七个天线阵子组为第一天线阵子组，一个天线阵子组为第二天线阵子组。
在一些实施例中，每个第二天线阵子组在行方向和列方向上均有至少3个相邻的天线阵子组。
在一些实施例中，天线阵子被配置为双极化天线阵子；波束赋形芯片被配置为双极化的波束赋形芯片；天线模组还包括功分网络，功分网络与N个波束赋形芯片分别电连接；功分网络被配置为双极化功分网络。
第二方面，本公开实施例提供一种通讯设备。该通讯设备包括：上述第一方面提供的天线模组。
附图说明
附图用来提供对本发明技术方案的进一步理解，并且构成说明书的一部分，与本申请的实施例一起用于解释本发明的技术方案，并不构成对本发明技术方案的限制。
图1为根据一些实施例的一种目前常用的天线模组示意图；
图2为根据一些实施例的一种目前常用的天线模组的稀疏阵示意图；
图3A为根据一些实施例的一种天线模组的架构图；
图3B为根据一些实施例的另一种天线模组的架构图
图4为根据一些实施例的一种天线模组的结构图；
图5A为根据一些实施例的一种天线模组架构示意图；
图5B为根据一些实施例的一种多阶高密度互连示意图；
图6为根据一些实施例的一种球形坐标系示意图；
图7为根据一些实施例的一种波束赋形相邻天线馈源相位原理图；
图8为根据一些实施例的一种波束赋形同相原理图；
图9为根据一些实施例的一种波束赋形波长原理图；
图10为根据一些实施例的一种波束赋形相位转换前后增益曲线示意图；
图11A和图11B为根据一些实施例的一种微带缝隙天线架构示意图；
图12为根据一些实施例的一种威尔金斯等分一分二功分器电路结构图；
图13为根据一些实施例的一种威尔金斯功分器网络示意图；
图14为根据一些实施例的一种8*8满阵示意图；
图15为根据一些实施例的一种8*8角落上天线阵子激励幅度比理想小10dB的示意图；
图16为根据一些实施例的一种8*8阵列中心某个阵子激励幅度比理想小10dB的示意图；
图17为根据一些实施例的一种8*8天线阵列四个角的阵子激励幅度均比理想小10dB的示意图；
图18为根据一些实施例的一种8*8天线阵列中心四个天线激励幅度均比理想小10dB的示意图；
图19为根据一些实施例的一种8*8天线阵列中心16个天线激励幅度均比理想小10dB的示意图；
图20为根据一些实施例的又一种天线模组的架构图；
图21为根据一些实施例的又一种天线模组的架构图；
图22为根据一些实施例的又一种天线模组的架构图；
图23为根据一些实施例的又一种天线模组的架构图；
图24为根据一些实施例的一种通讯设备示意图。
具体实施方式
为使本领域的技术人员更好地理解本公开实施例的技术方案，下面将结合本公开实施例中的附图，对本公开实施例中的技术方案进行清楚、完整地描述，显然，所描述的实施例仅仅是本公开一部分实施例，而不是全部的实施例。基于本公开中的实施例，本领域普通技术人员在没有做出创造性劳动前提下所获得的所有其他实施例，都属于本公开保护的范围。
需要说明，本发明实施例中所有方向性指示(诸如上、下、左、右、前、后……)仅用于解释在某一特定姿态(如附图所示)下各部件之间的相对位置关系、运动情况等，如果该特定姿态发生改变时，则该方向性指示也相应地随之改变。
在本公开的描述中，除非另有说明，“/”表示“或”的意思，例如，A/B可以表示A或B。本文中的“和/或”仅仅是一种描述关联对象的关联关系，表示可以存在三种关系，例如，A和/或B，可以表示：仅A，仅B，以及A和B。术语“第一”、“第二”仅用于描述目的，而不能理解为指示或暗示相对重要性或者隐含指明所指示的技术特征的数量。由此，限定有“第一”、“第二”的特征可以明示或者隐含地包括一个或者更多个该特征。在本公开的描述中，除非另有说明，“多个”的含义是两个或两个以上。
在本申请的描述中，需要说明的是，除非另有明确的规定和限定，术语“相连”、“连接”应做广义理解，例如，可以是固定连接，也可以是可拆卸连接，或一体地连接。对于本领域的普通技术人员而言，可以具体情况理解上述术语在本申请中的具体含义。另外，在对管线进行描述时，本申请中所用“相连”、“连接”则具有进行导通的意义。具体意义需结合上下文进行理解。在本公开实施例中，“示例性地”或者“例如”等词用于表示例子、例证或说明。本公开实施例中被描述为“示例性地”或者“例如”的任何实施例或设计方案不应被解释为比其它实施例或设计方案更优选或更具优势。确切而言，使用“示例性地”或者“例如”等词旨在以详细方式呈现相关概念。
在一些技术中，5G毫米波系统中的大规模阵列天线的设计以及封装天线与芯片一体化集成的设计是两大关键技术。高集成的天线模组由波束赋形芯片、天线阵列以及功分网络组成。由于功耗密度的限制以及随着波束赋形芯片通道数的增加，散热的难度也随之增大。并且天线模组的成本是也模组设计的考虑因素之一。
基于此，本公开一些实施例提供一种天线模组及通讯设备，通过对天线模组改进，从而实现易于散热且可以降低成本。以下对天线模组及通讯设备做介绍。
图1为根据一些实施例的一种目前常用的天线模组的示意图。如图1所示，目前的天线模组100包括：基板11、天线阵列12以及多个波束赋形芯片13。天线阵列12和波束赋形芯片13分别设置在基板11相对的两面；天线阵列12包括多个天线阵子121，天线阵子121为天线阵列12中的一个单独的元件，多个天线阵子121划分为多个天线阵子组14，例如每个天线阵子组14包括4个天线阵子121；多个波束赋形芯片13中的每个波束赋形芯片13连接一个天线阵子组14中的多个天线阵子121。在一些实施例中，多个波束赋形芯片13和多个天线阵子组14一一对应并电连接，即波束赋形芯片13和天线阵子组14的数量相等。
在一些实施例中，如图1所示，天线模组100还包括功分网络15，功分网络15和多个波束赋形芯片13电连接，功分网络15包括多个功分器151和多个连接电缆152。
上述方案中，多个波束赋形芯片13和多个天线阵子组14呈一一对应的关系，目前的天线模组100随着波束赋形芯片13通道数的增加，散热的难度也随之增大。为了解决这一问题，在一些实施例中，提出了一种稀疏阵的方案，如图2所示。在天线模组100中，去除部分天线阵子121，使得天线阵列12呈现稀疏布局，空白方框表示被去除的天线阵子121，而有源电路的规模不发生变化，即波束赋形芯片13的数量不变。有源电路包括波束赋形芯片13以及波束赋形芯片13与天线阵子121的馈电连接线路。天线阵子121的减少从密度上解决了布局走线的问题，能够一定程度上解决散热问题，同时也增大了天线的口径面，然而有源电路中部分电路处于悬空状态，这样对波束赋形芯片13的高度集成的优势部分损失了，且不利于成本的降低。
在另一些实施例中，在天线模组中，在不改变天线阵列12大小的情况下，通过去掉部分波束赋形芯片13从而降低5G毫米波天线模组的成本和功耗，并解决散热问题。
图3A和图3B为一种天线模组的架构图。如图3A和图3B所示，天线模组1000包括基板11、天线阵列12、N个波束赋形芯片13、功分网络15。天线阵列12包括多个天线阵子121，多个天线阵子121划分为M个天线阵子组14；N个波束赋形芯片13中的每个波束赋形芯片13连接一个天线阵子组14中的多个天线阵子121。M>N。
需要说明的是，本公开附图中出现的“141～14”是指，所指代的部件是141，且属于14，即该部件既是141，也是14，本公开实施例的附图中其他位置出现类似标号也参照上述说明。
示例性地，如图3A所示，天线阵列12并非满阵阵列，M个天线阵子组14阵列排布，各天线阵子组14所包括的天线阵子121的数量不等。例如，天线阵子组14所包括的天线阵子121的数量可以为6个、或者7个或者8个。
示例性地，如图3B所示，天线阵列12为满阵阵列，所述多个天线阵子121阵列排布，每个天线阵子组14包括相同数量的天线阵子121，例如每个天线阵子组14包括八个相邻的天线阵子121。
如图3A所示，天线模组1000包括三十二个天线阵子组14和二十一个波束赋形芯片13；如图3B所示，天线模组1000中包括三十二个天线阵子组14和二十四个波束赋形芯片13，即天线阵子组14的数量大于波束赋形芯片13的数量，相当于去除了部分波束赋形芯片13，从有源电路的角度解决散热问题，在一些实施例中，上述实施例可以称为稀疏源方案。
需要说明的是，无论是稀疏阵的方案或是稀疏源的方案，都需要保证天线模组的等效全向辐射功率(Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power，EIRP)达到一定的水平，即，不能影响天线模组的正常运作和以及正常实现功能。
上述实施例中实现目标方案所利用的原理为：5G毫米波波束赋形中“天线赋型与有源馈电网络独立不相关”的基本原理。也就是说，在天线模组的设计中既可以通过减少天线阵子121的数量来实现相同量级的等效全向辐射功率，同样也可以通过减少波束赋形芯片13的数量达到相同量级的等效全向辐射功率。通过减少波束赋形芯片13的数量，不仅能够解决散热问题，同时也可以一定程度上降低产品的成本。
等效全向辐射功率或叫有效全向辐射功率(Effective Isotropically Radiated Power，EIRP)， 指的是卫星或地面站在某个指定方向上的辐射功率。在理想状态下，大规模阵列下的EIRP计算公式如下所示。
EIRP(dBm)＝Pave+10*log(波束赋形芯片数量)+10*log(天线阵子数量)+GainANT
可见，等效全向辐射功率与天线阵子121的数量以及波束赋形芯片13的数量有关。
在一些实施例中，N和M的数量关系满足：天线阵列12的理想等效全向辐射功率与天线阵列12的实际等效全向辐射功率的差值小于或等于设定值。所述天线阵列12的理想等效全向辐射功率为，所述天线阵列12在M个波束赋形芯片13的控制下得到的等效全向辐射功率，所述天线阵列12的实际等效全向辐射功率为所述天线阵列12在所述N个波束赋形芯片13的控制下得到的等效全向辐射功率。
由于M>N，波束赋形芯片13的数量小于天线阵子组14的数量，因此部分天线阵子组14不受波束赋形芯片13的调控，从而天线阵列12的实际等效全向辐射功率会有一定损耗，相比M＝N的情况，即在波束赋形芯片13与天线阵子组14一一对应电连接的情况下，天线阵列12中的每个天线阵子组14都受到相应的波束赋形芯片13的调控，所得到的理想等效全向辐射功率会高于实际等效全向辐射功率。将天线阵列12的理想等效全向辐射功率与天线阵列12的实际等效全向辐射功率的差值限定为小于或等于设定值，即限定了实际等效全向辐射功率相对理想等效全向辐射功率的降低值在可接受的范围内，可以使得在采用稀疏源的方案下，天线模组的等效全向辐射功率仍能够得以保证，从而保证天线阵列12的正常工作。
在一些示例中，设定值为2dB至3dB。
在一些示例中，上述设定值根据第三代合作伙伴计划(3rd Generation Partnership Project，3GPP)规格系列中的TS 38.104协议中的规定以及结合本公开实施例的仿真测试得到，在设定值为2dB至3dB的情况下，天线模组1000的等效全向辐射功率仍能够得以保证，并保证天线阵列12的正常工作。
上述实施例中，在天线阵列12的规模大小不变的情况下，通过去除部分波束赋形芯片13，使得波束赋形芯片13的数量减少，解决高密度布局散热难的问题；此外，由于节省了波束赋形芯片13，因此可以在一定程度上降低整个天线模组100的成本；并且，天线阵列12的实际等效全向辐射功率能达到相当水平，天线阵列12的正常工作得以保证。
为清楚介绍本方案，以下介绍天线模组1000中的各部件结构及功能，以及实现原理。
上述天线模组1000的结构，如图3B至图5B所示。该天线模组1000包括：波束赋形芯片13、天线阵子121和功分网络15。
功分网络15与波束赋形芯片13电连接，被配置为向波束赋形芯片13传输信号。每个波束赋形芯片13与多个天线阵子121电连接，每个波束赋形芯片13具有连接至多个天线阵子121的多个收发通道，多个收发通道通过多条馈电线一一对应地与多个天线阵子121电连接。波束赋形芯片13由部分功分网路、收发开关、放大器、移相器几种功能组成。波束赋形芯片13被配置为对天线阵子121实现调幅调相的功能，例如波束赋形芯片13可以对每个通道的幅度和相位进行独立控制，从而灵活地调控天线阵列12波束的指向、增益、旁瓣电平及EIRP等指标。
波束赋形的原理如图6至图10所示，波束赋形(Beamforming)又叫波束成型。波束赋形技术通过调整相位阵列的基本单元的参数，使得某些角度的信号获得相长干涉，而另一些角度 的信号获得相消干涉。波束赋形既可以用于信号发射端，又可以用于信号接收端。
图6为某一特定天线方向在球形坐标系200中的示意图，定义θ为天线方向与z轴的夹角，定义Φ为天线方向与x轴的夹角。在天线阵列12中，多个天线阵子121阵列式排布，设每相邻两个天线阵子121之间的距离为d。如图7所示，为了实现波束赋形必须保证每个相邻天线馈源的相位相差固定值dcosθ。如图8所示，通过调相可以达到天线某个方向的相位叠加，实现天线指向方向的增益提升。如图9所示，相邻两个天线之间的距离为d，通常情况下d选择λ/2，主要原因是为了保证副瓣电平足够低，d一旦大于λ/2，副瓣会抬高，d一旦小于λ/2，会导致天线阵子121间的耦合加强；如图10所示，波束在0°和30°时所达到的增益效果最大。
在一些实施例中，如图5A和图5B所示，多个天线阵子121和波束赋形芯片13分别位于基板11的两侧，示例性地，基板11为印刷电路板(Printed Circuit Board，PCB)，印刷电路板为多层板，连接天线阵子121和波束赋形芯片13的多条馈电线通常需要通过高密度互连(High Density Interconnector，HDI)工艺进行换层。
在一些实施例中，如图11A和图11B所示，上述天线阵子121被配置为微带天线，5G毫米波中微带天线通常使用缝隙天线，微带天线(Patch Antenna)由贴片、缝隙以及微带馈线组成。图11A中表层为贴片，第二层为缝隙，第三层为馈线。图11B则为透视图，从上至下依次为贴片层301、缝隙层302和馈线层303，缝隙呈现工字形。
上述馈线层303来源于波束赋形芯片13，波束赋形芯片13通过馈电线与天线阵子121电连接。
在一些实施例中，功分网络15包括多个功分器151和连接电缆152(可参考图1)，示例性地，上述功分网络15可以是T型结功分网络或是常规的威尔金斯(Wilkinson)功分器网络(如图13)。
功分器151全称为功率分配器(Power divider)，是一种将一路输入信号能量分成两路或多路输出相等或输出不相等能量的器件，也可反过来将多路信号能量合成一路输出，此时也可称为合路器。一个功分器的输出端口之间应保证一定的隔离度。功分器按输出通常分为一分二(一个输入两个输出)、一分三(一个输入三个输出)等。在图3A和图3B所示的实施例中，功分网络15中的功分器为一分二功分器。
图12为等分一分二功分器的电路结构图，该功分器151包括：输入线1511、两路1/4波长阻抗变换线1512、两路输出线1513、隔离电阻1514。输入线1511阻抗被配置为Z0；两路1/4波长阻抗变换线1512的阻抗被配置为两路输出线1513的阻抗被配置为Z0；隔离电阻1514被配置为2×Z0。
在一些实施例中，如图13所示，功分网络包括一个输入端口和多个输出端口。输出端口与波束赋形芯片电连接，功分网络中部分结构的阻抗的一种示例为:输入线1511和输出线1513的阻抗Z0均为50Ω；隔离电阻1514为100Ω；1/4波长阻抗变换线1512阻抗为70.7Ω。
作为一种示例，如图3B所示，在天线模组1000中，天线阵子121被配置为双极化天线阵子，波束赋形芯片13被配置为双极化波束赋形芯片，所述功分网络15与所述N个波束赋形芯片13分别电连接。示例性地，功分网络15的每个输出端口分别对应电连接一个波束赋形芯片13；所述功分网络15被配置为双极化功分网络，实线网络表示一个功分网络，虚线网络表示另一个功分网络15，该两个功分网络15作为一组功分网络15，为两个极化的功分网络， 该两个功分网络分别包括多个输出端口，且一个功分网络的输出端口和另一个功分网络的输出端口的位置一一对应。每个波束赋形芯片13分别与两个极化的功分网络15的相对应的输出端口电连接。
以上内容介绍了天线模组1000中包括的天线阵子121、波束赋形芯片13和功分网络15的基本结构，接下来介绍“通过减少波束赋形芯片13的数量从而达到相同量级的等效全向辐射功率”的实现原理。
通过仿真分析发现，在天线阵列12满阵布局的情况下，通过减少波束赋形芯片13的数量，同样可以实现相当水平的EIRP。以8*8的满阵列为例进行说明，如图14至图19所示，分为以下几种情况。
1)满阵；
2)角落上天线阵子激励幅度比理想小10dB；
3)阵列中心某个阵子激励幅度比理想小10dB；
4)天线阵列四个角的阵子激励幅度均比理想小10dB；
5)天线阵列中心四个天线激励幅度均比理想小10dB；
6)天线阵列中心十六个阵子激励幅度比理想小10dB。
在图14至图19中，天线阵子121表示正常受到波束赋形芯片13控制的天线阵子，天线阵子17表示不受波束赋形芯片13控制的天线阵子，不受波束赋形芯片13控制的天线阵子17在仿真中通过激励幅度存在-10dB误差来表示。
通过对上述情况的天线阵列进行仿真，得到表1所示的结果。
表1波束赋形幅度误差对系统性能影响的仿真结果
由表1可知，波束赋形中天线阵子激励幅度存在误差时，有如下结论。
1、对系统EVM(Error Vector Magnitude，误差向量幅度)及ACPR(Adjacent Channel Power Ratio，邻信道功率比)基本没有影响。
误差向量(包括幅度和相位的矢量)是在一个给定时刻理想无误差基准信号与实际发射信号的向量差，能全面衡量调制信号的幅度误差和相位误差；误差向量幅度(EVM)定义为误差矢量信号平均功率的均方根值与理想信号平均功率的均方根值之比，并以百分比的形式表示。EVM越小，信号质量越好。
邻信道功率比(ACPR)是指相邻频率信道的平均功率和当前所用信道的平均功率之比；邻信道功率比是衡量发射系统线性度的常用指标，可以用来描述功率放大器非线性失真引起的信号带外频谱失真特性，也就是主功率泄露到邻频信道的程度。在实际使用过程中，常常通过测量当前输出信号的三阶互调(Third Order Intermodulation，IMD3)来简化测量。
2、在天线阵列12中心的1/4的天线阵子失效的情况下EIRP损失为1.49(dB)，即满阵得到的主瓣功率和中心十六个阵子幅度误差-10dB时得到的主瓣功率相差为54.74-53.25＝1.49(dB)。
3、在不同情况下，波束指向会存在一定偏移，随着比理想激励幅度小的阵子数目的增多，主瓣的功率存在下降的趋势，但是影响不是非常明显。
以下通过计算来论证“通过减少波束赋形芯片13的数量达到相同量级的等效全向辐射功率”。
EIRP的计算公式可以表示为以下公式。
EIRP(dBm)＝Pave+10×log(波束赋形芯片数量)+10×log(天线阵子数量)+GainANT
在上述公式中，EIRP的最终单位为dBm，但是对数功率不能通过直接相加得到最终的结果，因此为了说明该问题，则将相应的值进行量化方能说清楚理论依据。
下面按照常见的波束赋形芯片的输出功率水平以及仿真图中的阵子规模进行细化。
1、通道的线性输出功率Pave按照11.6dBm进行计算；
2、满阵的波束赋形芯片的数量按照64进行计算；
3、满阵的天线阵子定义为64；
4、天线阵子的增益GainANT按照7dB进行计算。
将以上参数带入EIRP的计算公式可以计算得到：
在天线阵列满阵(8×8)中，且全部天线阵子均受到波束赋形芯片控制的情况下，计算得到的天线阵列的EIRP为54.72dBm。
在天线阵列满阵(8×8)中，且中心16个天线阵子的激励调整为-50dBm(模拟中心16个阵子无激励的情况)的情况下，即16个天线阵子不受到波束赋形芯片控制，计算得到的天线阵列的EIRP为53.47dBm。
可知，将天线阵列12的中心16个天线阵子不受波束赋形芯片控制的情况与天线阵列满阵均受波束赋形芯片控制的情况进行比较，二者的EIRP相差1.25dB。
通过以上仿真与计算结果可以得到，通过减少波束赋形芯片13的数量可以达到相同量级的等效全向辐射功率，也就是说，上述实施例提到的稀疏源的方案，在保证天线阵列12规模不变的情况下，通过减少波束赋形芯片13的数量，能够在保证达到相同量级的等效全向辐射功率的前提下，实现降低成本且解决散热问题。以下介绍天线模组1000中波束赋形芯片13和天线阵子组14的排布方式的一些实施例。
在一些实施例中，如图3B所示，上述多个天线阵子组14中，连接波束赋形芯片13的天线阵子组14为第一天线阵子组141，除所述第一天线阵子组141之外的天线阵子组14为第二天线阵子组142，也就是说，第二天线阵子组142中的多个天线阵子121不受波束赋形芯片13的控制，第二天线阵子组142没有对应的波束赋形芯片13连接。
需要说明的是，第二天线阵子组142中的多个天线阵子121可以受到与其相邻的第一天线 阵子组141中的天线阵子121的互耦作用，产生一定增益。
至少一个第二天线阵子组142在行方向X和列方向Y上相邻的天线阵子组14的数量，大于或等于任意一个第一天线阵子组141在行方向X和列方向Y上相邻的天线阵子组14的数量，行方向X和列方向Y为多个天线阵子121排布的行方向和列方向。一个天线阵子组14在行方向X和列方向Y上相邻的天线阵子组14的数量指的是，该天线阵子组14在行方向X上相邻的天线阵子组14的数量与在列方向Y上相邻的天线阵子组14的数量之和。
如图3B所示，以位于天线阵列12的中间位置的第二天线阵子组142为例，该第二天线阵子组142在行方向X上和列方向Y上相邻的天线阵子组14的数量D1为4，以位于天线阵列12的中间位置的第一天线阵子组141为例，该第一天线阵子组141在行方向X上和列方向Y上相邻的天线阵子组14的数量D2为4，D1和D2相等。以位于天线阵列12的右下角位置的第一天线阵子组141为例，该第一天线阵子组141在行方向X上和列方向Y上相邻的天线阵子组14的数量D3为2，D1大于D3。
即至少有一个第二天线阵子组142位于天线阵列12的中间位置，第二天线阵子组142在行方向X和列方向Y上均有至少3个相邻的天线阵子组14。
在上述实施例中，为了解决散热的问题，波束赋形芯片13在天线阵列12中位置的设置原则为在热密度较高的区域不设置波束赋形芯片13，即在芯片比较密集的区域不设置波束赋形芯片13。而在天线阵列12的中间位置为热密度较高的区域，基于上述设置原则，至少有一个第二天线阵子组142位于天线阵列12的中间位置，能够更大程度地起到散热效果，从而达到降低成本和散热要求的双赢。
并且，由于第二天线阵子组142中的多个天线阵子121可以受到相邻的第一天线阵子组141中的天线阵子121的互耦作用，产生一定增益，且第二天线阵子组142位于中间位置，这样即便第二天线阵子组142对应的波束赋形芯片13被去除，第二天线阵子组142也可以在周围的第一天线阵子组141的作用下产生增益，从而能够使天线阵列12的整体的EIRP达到与满阵且波束赋形芯片13无删减的情况相当的水平。
在一些示例中，如图3B所示，沿行方向X和列方向Y，任意两个第二天线阵子组142之间存在至少一个第一天线阵子组141。
示例性地，天线阵列12所划分成的多个天线阵子组14排列成4行8列，第一行天线阵子组141中，沿行方向X两个第二天线阵子组142之间存在两个第一天线阵子组141；第二列天线阵子组142中，沿列方向Y两个第二天线阵子组142之间存在一个第一天线阵子组141。也就是说，任意两个第二天线阵子组142不相邻，这样设置能够使得尽可能多的第二天线阵子组142受到周围第一天线阵子组141的互耦作用，产生相当的增益。
在一些实施例中，N和M在满足所述天线阵列12的理想等效全向辐射功率与所述天线阵列12的实际等效全向辐射功率的差值小于或等于设定值的前提下，N和M的数量关系可以为：(3/5)M≤N≤(7/8)M。
为了便于理解上述N和M的数量关系，以下分别提供对应N＝(3/4)M或者N＝(7/8)M的几种示例。
在一些示例中，如图20和图21所示，天线阵列12包括多个天线阵子组单元16，每个天线阵子组单元16包括相邻的四个天线阵子组14；每个天线阵子组单元16的四个天线阵子组 14中，三个天线阵子组14为第一天线阵子组141，一个天线阵子组14为第二天线阵子组142。
在图20和图21中，白色方块表示被去除的波束赋形芯片13，在天线阵列12中，每四个相邻的天线阵子组14被划分作为一个天线阵子组单元16。示例性地，天线阵列12中包括八个天线阵子组单元16，在一个天线阵子组单元16中，三个天线阵子组14为第一天线阵子组141，一个天线阵子组14为第二天线阵子组142，即在每个天线阵子组单元16中，去除一个天线阵子组14对应的波束赋形芯片13，对于去除的波束赋形芯片13的位置不做限定，在一些示例中，满足上述提到的波束赋形芯片13在天线阵列12中位置设置原则。
上述方案为N＝(3/4)M对应的实施例。图20和图21仅是给出了N个波束赋形芯片13的设置位置的两种示例性的组合方式，N个波束赋形芯片13的设置位置还有其他多种方案，均属于本实施例所涵盖的范畴。
上述实施例中，在天线模组1000中去掉1/4的波束赋形芯片13，使得N＝(3/4)M，这样可以在EIRP下降约1.5dB的情况下，大幅解决天线板散热问题，适用于天线模组散热压力较大的情况。
在一些示例中，如图22和图23所示，天线阵列12包括多个天线阵子组单元16，每个天线阵子组单元16包括相邻的八个天线阵子组14；每个天线阵子组单元16中的八个天线阵子组14中，七个天线阵子组14为第一天线阵子组141，一个天线阵子组14为第二天线阵子组142。
在图22和图23中，白色方块表示被去除的波束赋形芯片13，在天线阵列12中，每八个相邻的天线阵子组14被划分作为一个天线阵子组单元16。示例性地，天线阵列12中包括四个天线阵子组单元16，在一个天线阵子组单元16中，七个天线阵子组14为第一天线阵子组141，一个天线阵子组14为第二天线阵子组142，即在每个天线阵子组单元16中，去除一个天线阵子组14对应的波束赋形芯片13，对于去除的波束赋形芯片13的位置不做限定，在一些示例中，满足上述提到的波束赋形芯片13在天线阵列12中位置设置原则。
上述方案为N＝(7/8)M对应的实施例。图22和图23仅是给出了N个波束赋形芯片13的设置位置的两种示例性的组合方式，N个波束赋形芯片13的设置位置还有其他多种方案，均属于本实施例所涵盖的范畴。
上述实施例中，在天线模组1000中去掉1/8的波束赋形芯片13，使得N＝(7/8)M，这样只需要去掉较少的波束赋形芯片13就可以很好的解决散热问题，该实施例中天线阵列12的EIRP的水平较高。
以上两种实施方式只是稀疏源方案的典型形式，只要波束赋形芯片13的数量少于天线阵子组14的数量的情况下均属于稀疏源的范畴，本发明不限于前述实施例。
波束赋形芯片13的减少数量需要根据系统EIRP的降低程度来确定。示例性地，除上述实施例介绍的在天线模组1000中去掉1/4的波束赋形芯片13以及去除1/8的波束赋形芯片13的情况之外，在上述阵列规模的情况下，如果EIRP允许降低到满阵列下的1.8dB，那么还可以在满阵的情况下去掉1/3的波束赋形芯片13的数量，此时N＝(2/3)M；如果允许在该规模阵列下EIRP下降2.2dB，那么可以去掉2/5的波束赋形芯片13的数量，此时N＝(3/5)M。1.8dB和2.2dB均小于设定值。
本公开一些实施例提供的天线模组1000，在天线阵列12中天线阵子121数量不变的情况 下，去掉了部分有源器件，使得波束赋形芯片13的数量减少，保证EIRP相同水平的前提下，解决高密度布局散热难的问题，同时可以在一定程度上降低整机的成本。
并且，天线模组中的基板11为印刷电路板，通过减少有源器件的数量对波束赋形架构中的走线腾出了更多的空间，使得印刷电路板走线互连过程中不再受限，降低了印刷电路板开发成本，从而提升了产品的竞争力。
本公开的一些实施例还提出了一种通讯设备500，如图24所示。该通讯设备500主要涉及通讯领域基站有源天线单元(Active Antenna Unit，AAU)产品，在一些示例中，该通讯设备500包括：天线模组1000、射频单元2000、壳体3000。上述天线模组1000和射频单元2000设置壳体3000内，且射频单元2000和天线模组1000连接。该通讯设备500工作时，射频单元2000发出信号经过功分网络15的输入端口153(如图20至图23)，传输到天线模组1000，进而完成同外界的通讯功能。
以上所述，仅为本公开的具体实施方式，但本公开的保护范围并不局限于此，任何在本公开揭露的技术范围内的变化或替换，都应涵盖在本公开的保护范围之内。因此，本公开的保护范围应该以权利要求的保护范围为准。

Claims (10)

  1. 一种天线模组，包括：
    天线阵列，所述天线阵列包括多个天线阵子，所述多个天线阵子划分为M个天线阵子组；
    N个波束赋形芯片，每个所述波束赋形芯片连接一个天线阵子组中的多个天线阵子；
    其中，M>N，M和N均为正整数。
  2. 根据权利要求1所述的天线模组，其中，
    所述M个天线阵子组阵列排布；
    在所述M个天线阵子组中，连接所述波束赋形芯片的天线阵子组为第一天线阵子组，除所述第一天线阵子组之外的天线阵子组为第二天线阵子组；
    至少一个所述第二天线阵子组在行方向和列方向上相邻的天线阵子组的数量，大于或等于任意一个所述第一天线阵子组在所述行方向和列方向上相邻的天线阵子组的数量，所述行方向和列方向为所述M个天线阵子组排布的行方向和列方向。
  3. 根据权利要求2所述的天线模组，其中，沿所述行方向或所述列方向，任意两个第二天线阵子组之间存在至少一个第一天线阵子组。
  4. 根据权利要求2或3所述的天线模组，其中，
    N和M的数量关系满足：
    所述天线阵列的理想等效全向辐射功率与所述天线阵列的实际等效全向辐射功率的差值小于或等于设定值；
    其中，所述天线阵列的理想等效全向辐射功率为所述天线阵列在M个波束赋形芯片的控制下得到的等效全向辐射功率，所述天线阵列的实际等效全向辐射功率为所述天线阵列在所述N个波束赋形芯片的控制下得到的等效全向辐射功率。
  5. 根据权利要求4所述的天线模组，其中，所述设定值为2dB至3dB。
  6. 根据权利要求5所述的天线模组，其中，
    N和M的数量关系为：(3/5)M≤N≤(7/8)M。
  7. 根据权利要求6所述的天线模组，其中，当N＝(3/4)M；
    所述天线阵列包括多个天线阵子组单元，每个所述天线阵子组单元包括相邻的四个天线阵子组；
    所述每个天线阵子组单元中的四个天线阵子组中，三个天线阵子组为所述第一天线阵子组，一个天线阵子组为所述第二天线阵子组。
  8. 根据权利要求6所述的天线模组，其中，当N＝(7/8)M；
    所述天线阵列包括多个天线阵子组单元，每个所述天线阵子组单元包括相邻的八个天线阵子组；
    所述每个天线阵子组单元中的八个天线阵子组中，七个天线阵子组为所述第一天线阵子组，一个天线阵子组为所述第二天线阵子组。
  9. 根据权利要求1至3中任一项所述的天线模组，其中，所述天线阵子被配置为双极化天线阵子；所述波束赋形芯片被配置为双极化的波束赋形芯片；
    所述天线模组还包括功分网络，所述功分网络与所述N个波束赋形芯片分别电连接；所述功分网络被配置为双极化功分网络。
  10. 一种通讯设备，包括如权利要求1至9中任一项所述的天线模组。
PCT/CN2023/123858 2022-10-18 2023-10-10 天线模组及通讯设备 WO2024083003A1 (zh)

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