This application relates to the field of antenna technologies, and in particular, to an antenna and a communication device.
With development of wireless communication technologies, a base station can support increasingly more communication frequency bands. Therefore, a structure of a base station antenna is increasingly complex, and antenna integration on a platform on which an antenna is located is increasingly high. To improve integration of an antenna, a requirement for miniaturization and weight reduction of the antenna is increasingly urgent.
The antenna may usually include a reflection plate, a radiating element, and a phase shifter. The radiating element and the phase shifter are fastened on the reflection plate. The phase shifter may be configured to control amplitude and phase distribution of a radiating element array, to implement a specific antenna radiation characteristic. The phase shifter may usually include a cavity and a circuit board or a sheet metal strip disposed in the cavity. The phase shifter cavity is usually fastened on the reflection plate through a screw connection. The screw connection requires that the phase shifter cavity has specific material redundancy, to ensure that the phase shifter cavity has sufficient installation space for a screw. Consequently, there is an increase in a design difficulty in miniaturization and weight reduction of the antenna. In addition, the screw connection also causes passive intermodulation deterioration, affecting communication quality of the antenna.
This application provides an antenna and a communication device, to reduce a weight and a size of the antenna and improve communication quality of the antenna.
According to a first aspect, this application provides an antenna. The antenna includes a plurality of phase shifters, the phase shifter may include a phase shifter cavity, the plurality of phase shifter cavities are disposed in parallel, two adjacent phase shifter cavities are connected through welding, and the plurality of phase shifter cavities form a reflection plate of the antenna. Alternatively, the phase shifter cavities of the phase shifters may be sequentially welded to form the reflection plate of the antenna.
In the antenna in this application, a complete reflection plate is formed by using a welded fused structure of a plurality of phase shifter cavities, so that there is no need to additionally dispose a separate reflection plate for the antenna, and a connection screw between the phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate can be omitted. This not only may reduce a volume and a weight of the antenna, but also may optimize a passive intermodulation indicator of the antenna, thereby improving communication quality of the antenna.
In some possible implementation solutions, each phase shifter cavity may include a first side wall, and the first side walls of the phase shifter cavities are disposed on a same side and are connected through welding. In this case, a fused structure obtained by welding the first side walls of the plurality of phase shifter cavities may form the reflection plate of the antenna.
It should be noted that, the phase shifter cavity may further include a second side wall, a third side wall, and a fourth side wall. The first side wall is disposed opposite to the second side wall, the third side wall is disposed opposite to the fourth side wall, and the third side wall and the fourth side wall are separately connected between the first side wall and the second side wall. The plurality of phase shifter cavities may be disposed in an array, and in two adjacent phase shifter cavities, the third side wall of one phase shifter cavity may be disposed opposite to the fourth side wall of the other phase shifter cavity.
In some possible implementation solutions, each phase shifter cavity may include a first side wall, and a flange disposed around the first side wall may be further disposed on the phase shifter cavity. Flanges of adjacent phase shifter cavities are connected through welding. For the antenna as a whole, a fused structure of flanges of the plurality of phase shifter cavities and the first side wall may form the reflection plate of the antenna.
During specific implementation, the flange and the phase shifter cavity may be of an integrally formed structure, or may be formed through machine processing. This is not limited in this application.
In addition, the flange may be an annular flange continuously disposed around an outer periphery of the first side wall, or may be of a segmented structure disposed around the outer periphery of the first side wall. When the flange is of a segmented structure, there may be a plurality of flanges, and the plurality of flanges are disposed at an interval on the outer periphery of the first side wall.
In some possible implementation solutions, flanges of two adjacent phase shifter cavities may be welded through butting, or may be welded through lapping.
In some possible implementation solutions, a weld formed between adjacent phase shifter cavities may be a continuous weld. During welding, a continuous weld may be formed in a continuous welding manner, or a plurality of segmented welds may be formed in a segmented welding manner, and an overlapping region exists between adjacent segmented welds. In this way, a continuous weld may also be formed at a location of connection between adjacent phase shifter cavities.
For example, a length of a segmented weld may range from 0.2 mm to 1000 mm, and a length of an overlapping region between adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. The length of the overlapping region may ensure consistency of a continuous weld.
In some other possible implementation solutions, when the segmented welding manner is used, adjacent segmented welds may also be disposed at an interval. During specific implementation, a gap between any two adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. Through this design, a welding process difficulty may be reduced while reliability of connection between the phase shifter cavities is ensured, thereby improving antenna production efficiency.
According to a second aspect, this application additionally provides an antenna. The antenna may include a reflection plate and a phase shifter, the phase shifter may include a phase shifter cavity, the phase shifter cavity may be fastened to the reflection plate through welding, and the phase shifter cavity may form a part of the reflection plate.
In this application, the phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate are welded instead of being connected through a screw in the conventional technology, and the phase shifter cavity forms a part of the reflection plate. This not only may reduce a volume and a weight of the antenna, but also may optimize a passive intermodulation indicator of the antenna, thereby improving communication quality of the antenna.
During specific implementation, there may be one or more phase shifters. This is not limited in this application. When there are a plurality of phase shifters, the plurality of phase shifters may be disposed on a same side of the reflection plate.
In some possible implementation solutions, the reflection plate may be provided with a groove corresponding to the phase shifter cavity, and a projection of the phase shifter cavity on a surface of the reflection plate may cover the corresponding groove. The reflection plate may be provided with the groove to reduce a weight of the reflection plate, thereby helping reduce an overall weight of the antenna.
In some possible implementation solutions, the phase shifter cavity may include a first side wall. During specific implementation, the first side wall may be disposed in the corresponding groove, and the first side wall is welded to an inner wall of the groove; or the first side wall may be welded on the surface of the reflection plate. In this case, the first side wall may form a part of the reflection plate.
In some possible implementation solutions, the phase shifter cavity may include a first side wall, and a flange disposed around the first side wall may be further disposed on the phase shifter cavity. During specific implementation, the flange and the first side wall located on an inner side of the flange may be disposed in the corresponding groove, and the flange is welded to an inner wall of the groove; or the flange may be welded on the surface of the reflection plate. In this case, the first side wall and the flange may form a part of the reflection plate.
In some possible implementation solutions, when the flange is disposed in the groove, the antenna may further include a connecting piece; and in a length direction of the phase shifter cavity, the flange at at least one end of the first side wall may be fixedly connected to the reflection plate through the connecting piece. For example, one end of the connecting piece may be in contact with the reflection plate, and the other end may be in contact with the flange, and the connecting piece may be connected to both the reflection plate and the flange through a screw. This design helps improve reliability of connection between the phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate. In addition, because a quantity of used screws is small, compared with the conventional technology, a passive intermodulation indicator can still be optimized.
In some possible implementation solutions, the phase shifter cavity may include a first side wall, a plurality of bosses may be disposed on the first side wall, and the plurality of bosses may be arranged in a length direction of the phase shifter cavity. The reflection plate may be provided with a plurality of holes respectively corresponding to the plurality of bosses, the first side wall of the phase shifter cavity may be disposed on a surface of the reflection plate, the boss may cover the corresponding hole, and the boss is welded to the reflection plate. In this case, the boss may form a part of the reflection plate. The reflection plate may be provided with the hole to reduce a weight of the reflection plate, thereby helping reduce an overall weight of the antenna.
During specific implementation, the boss may be disposed in the corresponding hole, and the boss is welded to an inner wall of the hole; or the boss may be welded on the surface of the reflection plate.
In some possible implementation solutions, the phase shifter cavity may include a first side wall, a flange may be disposed on a peripheral side of the first side wall, a plurality of groups of bosses may be disposed on the flange, the plurality of groups of bosses may be arranged in a length direction of the phase shifter cavity, each group of bosses may include two bosses, and the two bosses in each group of bosses may be arranged in a width direction of the phase shifter cavity. The reflection plate may be provided with a plurality of groups of holes respectively corresponding to the plurality of groups of bosses, the first side wall of the phase shifter cavity may be disposed on a surface of the reflection plate, the first side wall and the flange may cover the plurality of holes, and the boss is welded to the reflection plate. In this case, the first side wall, the flange, and the boss may form a part of the reflection plate. Similarly, the reflection plate may be provided with the hole to reduce a weight of the reflection plate, thereby helping reduce an overall weight of the antenna.
During specific implementation, each group of bosses may be disposed in the corresponding hole, and the two bosses in each group of bosses are separately welded to an inner wall of the hole; or the two bosses in each group of bosses may be welded on the surface of the reflection plate.
In some possible implementation solutions, a surface that is of each boss and that is away from the other boss in a same group may be disposed coplanar with a side wall on a corresponding side of the flange.
In some other possible implementation solutions, to reduce a welding difficulty, a surface that is of each boss and that is away from the other boss in a same group may alternatively be disposed beyond an edge of the flange.
In some possible implementation solutions, a weld formed at a location of connection between the phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate may be a continuous weld. During welding, a continuous weld may be formed in a continuous welding manner, or a plurality of segmented welds may be formed in a segmented welding manner, and an overlapping region exists between adjacent segmented welds. In this way, a continuous weld may also be formed at the location of connection between the phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate.
For example, a length of a segmented weld may range from 0.2 mm to 1000 mm, and a length of an overlapping region between adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. The overlapping length may ensure consistency of a continuous weld.
In some other possible implementation solutions, when the segmented welding manner is used, adjacent segmented welds may also be disposed at an interval. During specific implementation, a gap between any two adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. Through this design, a welding process difficulty may be reduced while reliability of connection between each phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate is ensured, thereby improving antenna production efficiency.
In some possible implementation solutions, the antenna may further include a radiating element, and the radiating element may be disposed on a side that is of the reflection plate and that is opposite to a side on which the phase shifter is located. The phase shifter is electrically connected to the radiating element, and the phase shifter may be configured to change amplitude and phase distribution of different radiating elements, to implement specific antenna radiation performance.
According to a third aspect, this application further provides a communication device. The communication device may include the antenna in any one of the foregoing possible implementation solutions. Because a weight and a size of the antenna are small, a weight and a size of the communication device are also reduced.
To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of this application clearer, the following further describes this application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
In addition, the base station may further include a radio frequency processing unit 5 and a signal processing unit 6. The radio frequency processing unit 5 may be configured to perform frequency selection, amplification, and frequency conversion processing on a signal received by the antenna 1, convert the signal into an intermediate frequency signal or a baseband signal, and send the intermediate frequency signal or the baseband signal to the signal processing unit 6. Alternatively, the radio frequency processing unit 5 is configured to perform up-conversion and amplification processing on an intermediate frequency signal of the signal processing unit 6, convert a processed signal into an electromagnetic wave by using the antenna 1 for sending. The signal processing unit 6 may be connected to a feeding structure of the antenna 1 by using the radio frequency processing unit 5, and is configured to process an intermediate frequency signal or a baseband signal sent by the radio frequency processing unit 5.
In some embodiments, the radio frequency processing unit 5 may be integrally disposed with the antenna 1, and the signal processing unit 6 is located at a remote end of the antenna 1. In some other embodiments, the radio frequency processing unit 5 and the signal processing unit 6 may alternatively be simultaneously located at the remote end of the antenna 1. The radio frequency processing unit 5 and the signal processing unit 6 may be connected by using a cable 7.
More specifically, refer to
In the antenna 1 of the base station, the radiating element array 12 is connected to a feeding network 14. The feeding network 14 usually includes a controlled impedance transmission line. The feeding network 14 may feed a signal to the radiating element array 12 based on a specific amplitude and phase, or send a received signal to the signal processing unit 6 of the base station based on a specific amplitude and phase. Specifically, in some implementations, the feeding network 14 may implement different radiation beam directions by using a transmission component 141, or may be connected to a calibration network 142 to obtain a calibration signal required by the system. The feeding network 14 may include a phase shifter 143 to change amplitude and phase distribution of different radiating element arrays, to implement specific antenna radiation performance. Some modules used for performance extension may be further disposed in the feeding network 14. For example, a combiner 144 is disposed, which may be configured to combine signals of different frequencies into one signal and transmit the signal by using the antenna 1; or during reverse use, the combiner 144 may be configured to divide, based on different frequencies, a signal received by the antenna 1 into a plurality of signals and transmit the signals to the signal processing unit 6 for processing. For another example, a filter 145 is disposed, which is configured to filter out an interference signal.
As a core part of the feeding network, the phase shifter 143 is usually disposed on the back surface of the reflection plate 13, that is, a surface that is of the reflection plate 13 and that is opposite to a surface on which the radiating element array 12 is located. The phase shifter 143 may include a phase shifter cavity and a phase shift circuit. The phase shift circuit may be specifically a circuit board or a sheet metal strip, and is mainly configured to implement the foregoing function of adjusting and controlling a phase of the radiating element array. The phase shifter cavity may be configured to accommodate and protect the phase shift circuit. The phase shifter cavity may be made of a metal material. For example, a material of the phase shifter cavity may be the same as a material of the reflection plate 13. The phase shifter cavity is usually fastened on the reflection plate 13 through a mechanical connection, for example, a screw connection. The mechanical connection requires specific material redundancy to ensure sufficient connection space. Consequently, there is an increase in a design difficulty in miniaturization of the antenna. In addition, as the antenna has increasingly more working frequency bands, a quantity of phase shifters integrated on the reflection plate also increases gradually, which further increases a size and a weight of the antenna.
In addition, in a process in which the antenna is in service, in one aspect, the screw connection is in a risk of becoming loose and faulty; and in another aspect, a passive intermodulation indicator may deteriorate. Passive intermodulation (PIM) is also referred to as passive intermodulation, intermodulation distortion, or the like. Passive intermodulation means that two or more signals of different frequencies are mixed together in a non-linear device to generate a spurious signal. When the spurious signal falls within a receiving frequency band of the radiating element array 12, interference is caused to signal receiving, and system communication quality is reduced. Factors that cause passive intermodulation are complex. For example, passive intermodulation may occur at a connection point or an interface of any two different metals. Therefore, when the phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate are connected through the screw connection in the antenna, passive intermodulation is inevitably caused, affecting communication quality of the antenna.
In view of this, embodiments of this application provide an antenna that can reduce a weight and a size and can optimize a passive intermodulation indicator. The following further describes this application in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.
A phase shifter cavity 1431 may be approximately in a shape of a hexahedron, and includes a first side wall 14311, a second side wall 14312, a third side wall 14313, and a fourth side wall 14314. The first side wall 14311 and the second side wall 14312 may be disposed opposite to each other in a height direction (a z direction) of the phase shifter cavity 1431, and the third side wall 14313 and the fourth side wall 14314 may be disposed opposite to each other in a width direction (a y direction) of the phase shifter cavity 1431. In addition, the third side wall 14313 and the fourth side wall 14314 are separately connected between the first side wall 14311 and the second side wall 14312. For example, when the antenna in this embodiment is a dual-polarized antenna, a spacer 14317 may be further disposed inside the phase shifter cavity. The spacer 14317 may be disposed in parallel with the third side wall 14313 and the fourth side wall 14314, and two ends of the spacer 14317 are respectively connected to the first side wall 14311 and the second side wall 14312, to divide the inside of the phase shifter cavity 1431 into two sub-cavities. A phase shift circuit may be disposed in each of the two sub-cavities, and the two phase shift circuits may be respectively configured to adjust and control phases of radiating element arrays in two different polarization directions.
During specific implementation, in two adjacent phase shifter cavities 1431, side walls that are respectively disposed toward each other are fixedly connected. For example, in the embodiment shown in
It should be noted that, when the phase shifter cavity 1431 is welded, each phase shifter cavity 1431 may be first positioned by using a fixture, to reduce a process difficulty in a welding process, and help improve overall structural precision of the antenna 1. For example, in an arrangement direction of the phase shifter cavities 1431, that is, in the x direction in
In some embodiments, the weld L between adjacent phase shifter cavities 1431 may be continuously disposed along side wall edges of the phase shifter cavities 1431, that is, a continuous weld is formed. During welding, a continuous weld may be formed in a continuous welding manner, or a plurality of segmented welds may be sequentially welded along a side wall edge of the phase shifter cavity 1431 in a segmented welding manner, and an overlapping region exists between adjacent segmented welds. In this way, a continuous weld may also be formed between adjacent phase shifter cavities 1431. During specific implementation, a length of a segmented weld may range from 0.2 mm to 1000 mm, and a length of an overlapping region between adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. The overlapping length may ensure consistency of a continuous weld. It should be understood that, the length of the overlapping region between the adjacent segmented welds is less than the length of the segmented weld. For example, the length of the segmented weld may be 0.2 mm, 100 mm, 1000 mm, 1500 mm, 2000 mm, or the like; and the length of the overlapping region may be 0.1 mm, 100 mm, 400 mm, 500 mm, or the like.
In some other embodiments, when a segmented welding manner is used between the phase shifter cavities 1431, adjacent segmented welds may alternatively be disposed at an interval, and a gap between any two adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. Through this design, a welding process difficulty may be reduced while reliability of connection between the phase shifter cavities 1431 is ensured, thereby improving antenna production efficiency. For example, a gap between two adjacent segmented welds may be 0.1 mm, 100 mm, 400 mm, 500 mm, or the like.
In this embodiment, flanges 14315 of adjacent phase shifter cavities 1431 may be connected through welding. For example, in the embodiment shown in
Similarly, when the phase shifter cavity 1431 is welded, each phase shifter cavity 1431 may be positioned by using a fixture. During specific implementation, in the x direction, the first fixture 8 may be used to limit an upper lower phase shifter cavity 1431 and a lower phase shifter cavity 1431 on two sides of flanges 14315 of the phase shifter cavities 1431; and in the z direction, the second fixture 9 may be used to limit each phase shifter cavity 1431.
In some embodiments, the weld L between adjacent phase shifter cavities 1431 may be continuously disposed along an extension direction of the flange 14315, that is, a continuous weld is formed. During welding, a continuous weld may be formed in a continuous welding manner, or a plurality of segmented welds may be sequentially formed through welding along the flange 14315 of the phase shifter cavity 1431, and an overlapping region exists between adjacent segmented welds. During specific implementation, a length of a segmented weld may range from 0.2 mm to 1000 mm, and a length of an overlapping region between adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. The overlapping length may ensure consistency of a continuous weld. For example, the length of the segmented weld may be 0.2 mm, 100 mm, 1000 mm, 1500 mm, 2000 mm, or the like; and the length of the overlapping region may be 0.1 mm, 100 mm, 400 mm, 500 mm, or the like.
In some other embodiments, when a segmented welding manner is used between the phase shifter cavities 1431, adjacent segmented welds may alternatively be disposed at an interval, and a gap between any two adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. For example, a gap between two adjacent segmented welds may be 0.1 mm, 100 mm, 400 mm, 500 mm, or the like.
In the antenna 1 in the foregoing embodiments, without changing other configurations, the first side wall of each phase shifter cavity and a fused structure of the flanges are used as the reflection plate, and a connection screw between the phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate is removed, so that a passive intermodulation indicator of the antenna can be improved, and a weight and a size of the antenna can be reduced. For example, the passive intermodulation indicator of the antenna may be reduced from −115 dB in the conventional technology to about −121 dB, the weight may be reduced from 78 kg to about 73 kg, and a width of the antenna may also be reduced from 499 mm to about 459 mm.
In this embodiment, the phase shifter cavity 1431 may be fastened in the corresponding groove 1301, the phase shifter cavity 1431 may be in a structure form without a flange, and a cross-sectional area of the groove 1301 may be approximately equal to a cross-sectional area of the phase shifter cavity 1431. The side wall of the phase shifter cavity 1431 may be connected to an inner wall of the groove 1301 through welding. For example, in embodiments shown in
When the phase shifter cavity 1431 is welded to the reflection plate 13, in the x direction, the phase shifter cavity 1431 may be limited by the inner wall of the groove 1301, and in the z direction, each phase shifter cavity 1431 may still be limited by using the second fixture 9, to improve structural precision of the antenna 1.
In some embodiments, the weld L between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13 may be continuously disposed along the side wall edge of the phase shifter cavity 1431, that is, a continuous weld is formed. During welding, a continuous weld may be formed in a continuous welding manner, or a plurality of segmented welds may be sequentially formed through welding along the side wall edge of the phase shifter cavity 1431 in a segmented welding manner, and an overlapping region exists between adjacent segmented welds. In this way, a continuous weld may also be formed between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13. During specific implementation, a length of a segmented weld may range from 0.2 mm to 1000 mm, and a length of an overlapping region between adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. The overlapping length may ensure consistency of a continuous weld. For example, the length of the segmented weld may be 0.2 mm, 100 mm, 1000 mm, 1500 mm, 2000 mm, or the like; and the length of the overlapping region may be 0.1 mm, 100 mm, 400 mm, 500 mm, or the like.
In some other embodiments, when a segmented welding manner is used between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13, adjacent segmented welds may alternatively be disposed at an interval, and a gap between any two adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. For example, a gap between two adjacent segmented welds may be 0.1 mm, 100 mm, 400 mm, 500 mm, or the like.
When the phase shifter cavity 1431 is welded to the reflection plate 13, two opposite sides of the first side wall of the phase shifter cavity 1431 in the x direction may be separately welded to the inner wall of the groove 1301, to form, on each of two sides of the phase shifter cavity, a weld L extending in the y direction. During specific implementation, the formed weld may be a segmented weld disposed at an interval shown in
During specific implementation, the flange 14315 may be located in the groove 1301 of the reflection plate 13, and an outer peripheral side of the flange 14315 may be welded to the inner wall of the groove 1301 through butting. In this case, the first side wall 14311 and the flange 14315 may form a part of the reflection plate 13. A weld L between the flange 14315 and the reflection plate 13 may penetrate the thickness direction of the reflection plate 13, to ensure reliability of connection between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13. It should be noted that, when the phase shifter cavity 1431 is welded to the reflection plate 13, in the x direction, the phase shifter cavity 1431 may be limited by the inner wall of the groove 1301, and in the z direction, each phase shifter cavity 1431 may still be limited by using the second fixture 9, to improve structural precision of the antenna 1.
In some embodiments, the cross-sectional area of the groove 1301 may be approximately equal to a cross-sectional area of the outer peripheral side of the flange 14315. In this case, a periphery of the flange 14315 may be separately welded to inner walls on corresponding sides of the groove 1301, and the weld L may be disposed in an annular manner along a peripheral side of the flange 14315. The flange 14315 and the inner wall of the groove 1301 may form a continuous weld in a continuous welding manner, or may form a segmented weld in a segmented welding manner, and adjacent segmented welds may be disposed in an overlapping manner or disposed at an interval.
When the phase shifter cavity 1431 is welded to the reflection plate 13, flanges 14315 on two opposite sides of the phase shifter cavity 1431 in the x direction may be separately welded to the inner wall of the groove 1301, to form, on each of the two sides of the phase shifter cavity 1431, a weld extending in the y direction. On two opposite sides of the phase shifter cavity 1431 in the y direction, the flange 14315 may not be connected to the reflection plate 13, or flanges 14315 on the two sides may be separately connected to the reflection plate 13 by using a connecting piece. For a specific connection manner, refer to the foregoing embodiment. Details are not described herein again.
For the antenna 1 in the foregoing embodiments, without changing other configurations, the groove 1301 is provided on the reflection plate 13, and a quantity of screws between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13 is reduced or the screws are completely removed, so that a passive intermodulation indicator of the antenna can be improved, and a weight and a size of the antenna can be reduced. For example, the passive intermodulation indicator of the antenna may be reduced from −115 dB in the conventional technology to about −121 dB, the weight may be reduced from 78 kg to about 75 kg, and a width of the antenna may also be reduced from 499 mm to about 459 mm.
In this embodiment, each boss 14316 may be fastened in each hole 1302 in the corresponding group of holes. In this case, the boss 14316 may form a part of the reflection plate 13. A cross-sectional area of the hole 1302 may be approximately equal to a cross-sectional area of the boss 14316, a side wall of the boss 14316 may be connected to an inner wall of the hole 1302 through welding, and a weld L may penetrate a thickness direction of the reflection plate 13. During welding, a continuous weld may be formed in a continuous welding manner, or a plurality of segmented welds may be sequentially formed through welding along an edge of the boss 14316 in a segmented welding manner, and an overlapping region exists between adjacent segmented welds. In this way, a continuous weld may also be formed between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13. During specific implementation, a length of a segmented weld may range from 0.2 mm to 1000 mm, and a length of an overlapping region between adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. The overlapping length may ensure consistency of a continuous weld. For example, the length of the segmented weld may be 0.2 mm, 100 mm, 1000 mm, 1500 mm, 2000 mm, or the like; and the length of the overlapping region may be 0.1 mm, 100 mm, 400 mm, 500 mm, or the like.
In some possible embodiments, when a segmented welding manner is used between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13, adjacent segmented welds may alternatively be disposed at an interval, and a gap between any two adjacent segmented welds may range from 0.1 mm to 500 mm. For example, a gap between two adjacent segmented welds may be 0.1 mm, 100 mm, 400 mm, 500 mm, or the like.
It should be noted that, to improve reliability of connection between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13, in addition to welding the boss 14316 and the hole 1302, an edge of the first side wall 14311 of the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the back surface of the reflection plate 13 may also be fastened through welding, and a weld may be disposed in an annular manner along four side edges of the first side wall 14311, or may be distributed only on one side, two sides, or three sides of the first side wall 14311, which may be specifically disposed based on an actual situation. This is not limited in this application.
During specific implementation, a plurality of groups of bosses may be disposed on the surface on the side that is of the flange 14315 and that is away from the inside of the phase shifter cavity 1431, the plurality of groups of bosses may be arranged in the y direction, and the groups of bosses may be disposed in one-to-one correspondence with holes 1302 in a group of holes, on the reflection plate 13, that corresponds to the phase shifter cavity 1431. In
Similarly, to improve reliability of connection between the phase shifter cavity 1431 and the reflection plate 13, in some embodiments, in addition to welding the boss 14316 and the hole 1302, the flange 14315 and the back surface of the reflection plate 13 may also be fastened through welding, and a weld may be disposed in an annular manner along an edge of the flange 14315, or may be distributed only on one side, two sides, or three sides of the flange 14315, which may be specifically disposed based on an actual situation. This is not limited in this application. In some other embodiments, two opposite sides of the flange 14315 in the y direction may also be fixedly connected to the reflection plate 13 through a screw.
For the antenna 1 in the foregoing embodiments, without changing other configurations, a plurality of groups of holes are provided on the reflection plate, and a quantity of screws between the phase shifter cavity and the reflection plate is reduced or the screws are completely removed, so that a passive intermodulation indicator of the antenna can be improved, and a weight and a size of the antenna can be reduced. For example, the passive intermodulation indicator of the antenna may be reduced from −115 dB in the conventional technology to about −121 dB, the weight may be reduced from 78 kg to about 75 kg, and a width of the antenna may also be reduced from 499 mm to about 459 mm.
The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of this application, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of this application. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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202111555384.X | Dec 2021 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of International Patent Application No. PCT/CN2022/138130, filed on Dec. 9, 2022, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202111555384.X, filed on Dec. 17, 2021. The disclosures of the aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | PCT/CN2022/138130 | Dec 2022 | WO |
Child | 18731335 | US |