Patent Application
20110212697
The present invention relates to an antenna which can adjust a directivity thereof.
An MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) technology is getting attention as a fast-speed transmission technology. According to MIMO, plural antennas secure respective space propagation channels different from one another, thereby expanding a communication channel capacity. Accordingly, it is requisite for the individual antennas to have a directivity in a different direction.
An example of an antenna device including plural antennas each having a different directivity for MIMO is disclosed in patent literature 1. Like this example, in general, the antenna device for MIMO includes a plurality of antennas each of which is individually configured and which are arranged side by side.
When plural antennas are arranged side by side, if the antennas are arranged too close to one another, an interference occurs and negative effects inherent thereto cannot be eliminated, so that a desired characteristic cannot be acquired. Accordingly, in the conventional antenna device for an MIMO system, plural antennas are arranged with a relatively large clearance, and thus the antenna device has a large size. Hence, the whole MIMO system including the antenna device is also large.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an antenna which can control any interference caused as plural antenna conductors are arranged close to one another.
Moreover, it is another object of the present invention to provide a miniature antenna for MIMO.
Furthermore, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a miniature antenna which can control a radiation pattern.
To achieve the foregoing objects, an antenna according to the present invention comprises an antenna conductor; an electromagnetic-band-gap conductor which blocks off and reflects a radio wave emitted by the antenna conductor; a variable reactance element which connects the electromagnetic-band-gap conductor and a reference potential part together; and an adjust circuit which adjusts a reactance of the variable reactance element.
For example, the electromagnetic-band-gap conductor may be arranged in a main propagation direction of a radio wave of the antenna conductor.
For example, the antenna conductor has a rectangular tabular shape.
For example, the antenna conductor arranged may be a plurality of antenna conductors, and the electromagnetic-band-gap electromagnetic-band-gap conductor may be arranged between the two adjoining antenna conductors.
For example, the antenna may further comprise a first dielectric plate, and the antenna conductor and the electromagnetic-band-gap conductor may be formed on the first dielectric plate.
For example, the antenna may further comprise a second dielectric plate, and the adjust circuit may be formed on one-side plane of the second dielectric plate.
For example, the antenna may further comprise a high-frequency circuit which superimposes an input analog signal on a high-frequency voltage, applies the high-frequency voltage to the antenna conductor and detects an analog signal from a radio wave received by the antenna conductor, and the high-frequency circuit may be formed on the one-side plane of the second dielectric plate.
For example, the high-frequency circuit is connected to the antenna conductor by slot coupling or by inductive coupling.
For example, the antenna may further comprise a conversion circuit which converts an analog signal input from the high-frequency circuit into a digital signal, outputs the converted digital signal and converts an input digital signal into an analog signal, and the conversion circuit may be formed on the one-side plane of the second dielectric plate.
For example, another-side plane of the first dielectric plate and the one-side plane of the second dielectric plate may be connected together through an insulating layer comprising an insulator, and the antenna may further comprise an external terminal which is connected to the conversion circuit by a wiring conductor passing all the way through the insulating layer and which is arranged on one-side plane of the first dielectric plate.
For example, the first dielectric plate may have a protective layer comprising an insulator arranged on the one-side plane of the first dielectric plate, and the external terminal may pass all the way through the protective layer, may have one end connected to the conversion circuit, and may have another end connected to a terminal for surface mounting.
For example, no conductive material may be arranged in a planar direction of the antenna conductor.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a small microwave antenna which can change a directivity using a plurality of antenna conductors arranged close to one another.
An explanation will be given of a miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in
The antenna conductor 100a and the antenna conductor 100b are each formed of a rectangular conductor plate. The antenna conductor 100a and the antenna conductor 100b are arranged on the same plane (i.e., a main plane of the substrate 170) with respective lengthwise directions being parallel to each other.
Note that the antenna conductors 100a, 100b have a size and a shape configured so that a gain becomes a peak at, in particular, 5 GHz.
The connection pad 110a and the connection pad 110b are formed on a plane of the substrate 170 in a connectable manner to an external circuit. Respective one ends of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b operate as feeding points 105a, 105b. The feeding point 105a of the antenna conductor 100a is connected to the connection pad 110a through a feeder wire. Moreover, the feeding point 105b of the antenna 100b is connected to the connection pad 110b through a feeder wire. The antenna conductors 100a, 100b each emits a transmitting signal supplied to each feeding point 105a, 105b through each connection pad 110a, 110b and each feeder wire into a space as a radio wave, and converts a received radio wave into an electric signal and transmits such an electric signal from each feeding point 105a, 105b to each connection pad 110a, 110b through each feeder wire.
The EBG conductor 120 is arranged on a plane of the substrate 170 between the antenna conductors 100a, 100b in such a way that the axis of the EBG conductor 120 is located on the same plane as the plane where the antenna conductors 100a, 100b are located. Moreover, the respective lengthwise directions of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b and that of the EBG conductor 120 are set to be parallel to one another.
The EBG conductor 120 is a conductor plate having a thin part and a thick part being repeated periodically. The EBG conductor 120 can be expressed as an equivalent circuit having filters each including an inductance and a capacitance being connected in series. An electromagnetic wave transmitted/received by each of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b induces a current to the EBG conductor 120. As an electromagnetic wave emitted by the induced current of the EBG conductor 120 and the electromagnetic wave transmitted/received by each of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b interfere with each other and are mutually increased or weakened depending on the direction of propagation, the directivity of each of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b changes.
Note that as being arranged in a line-symmetric manner with respect to the EBG conductor 120, the directivities of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b become mirror-reversed patterns. Consequently, an interference pattern between the antenna conductor 100a and the EBG conductor 120 intensively emits a radio wave to an antenna-conductor-100a side (left side in
Moreover, with respect to the radio wave emitted by the antenna conductor 100a, the EBG conductor 120 suppresses any emission to the antenna-conductor-100b side. Accordingly, any interference with the antenna conductor 100a or with the antenna conductor 100b is restrained, so that the antenna conductors 100a, 100b can be arranged close to each other across the EBG conductor 120.
The variable reactance element 130 is an element having its own reactance changing under the control of the adjusting part 150. The variable reactance element 130 has one end connected to one end of the EBG conductor 120, and has the other end grounded to the grounded part 160. The variable reactance element 130 comprises a reactance circuit including, for example, a varactor diode and an operational amplifier circuit.
As the reactance of the variable reactance element 130 changes, the reactance of a series circuit including the EBG conductor 120 and the variable reactance element 130, i.e., the apparent reactance of the EBG conductor 120 changes.
For example, in accordance with an operation given by a user, the adjusting part 150 adjusts the reactance of the variable reactance element 130 by controlling a control voltage applied to the variable reactance element 130.
The grounded part 160 includes a conductor plate and is grounded.
The substrate 170 includes an insulating substrate including a dielectric plate.
Next, an explanation will be given of an operation of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 with the above-explained configuration.
When the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 is used as an antenna for transmission, different transmission-target signals are respectively superimposed on carrier waves each having a desired frequency and supplied to the feeding points 105a, 105b of the respective antenna conductors 100a, 100b through the connection pads 110a, 110b. Accordingly, the different transmission-target signals each at a desired frequency band are emitted from both antenna conductors 100a, 100b, respectively, in directions having directivities different from each other. Each of the signals transmitted in such a way passes through a different propagation channel, so that a correlation thereof becomes small.
Conversely, when the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 is used as an antenna for reception, the antenna conductor 100a receives a signal with two different signals being mixed and supplies such a signal to the connection pad 110a through the feeding point 105a, and the antenna conductor 100b receives a signal with two different signals being mixed in a differently than that received by the antenna conductor 100a and supplies such a signal to the connection pad 110b through the feeding point 105b. In general, difference in incident directions from each other corresponds to difference in the way of scattering in the halfway of respective propagation channels, and a radio wave with a different incident direction has a different propagation path and a different transfer coefficient. Because the two antennas have different directions in which a radio wave is received, thus different intensities, the way the two different signals are mixed may differ significantly. As the signals mixed in the different ways can be separated from each other, two different data signals may be reproduced without inference from the other signal upon separation. In this case, because it is also advantageous for the antenna conductor to select a direction in which an incident signal is intensive, in addition to the difference in the directions in which respective radio waves are received intensively, it becomes further effective for the antenna conductor if a direction can be finely adjusted to a direction in which a signal intensity is strong relative to directions of other antenna conductors.
Moreover, the variable reactance element 130 has a reactance adjusted by the adjusting part 150. At this time, respective characteristics themselves of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b do not change, but the characteristic of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1, in particular, the directivity thereof has a directivity corresponding to a combined reactance of the reactance of the EBG conductor 120 and the reactance of the variable reactance element 130. When the reactance of the variable reactance element 130 is changed by the adjusting part 150, the combined reactance changes, and the directivity of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 also changes.
Next, an explanation will be given of the directivity of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 with reference to
As shown in
Moreover, an array factor of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 on the X-Z plane of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 is shown in
Note that as shown in
As is clear from
The miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 with the above-explained configuration can be mounted and packaged together with, for example, a semiconductor chip.
An explanation will be given of a packaged miniature variable-beam microwave antenna according to the second embodiment.
As shown in
The first protective layer 11 comprises an insulating film like polyimide, has the antenna conductors 100a, 100b, the EGB conductor 120, and the post 200 arranged on the first protective layer 11, and is covered by the encapsulation resin layer 12. Note that the antenna conductors 100a, 100b have a size so adjusted that a gain is acquired at 5 GHz.
The first protective layer 11 electrically disconnects individual elements on the substrate 21 from the exterior, and the encapsulation resin layer 12 protects the elements by covering such elements.
The substrate 21 comprises a semiconductor substrate, has the digital circuit 300, the high-frequency circuit 400, and the varactor diode 131 that functions as a variable reactance element arranged on the substrate 21, and is protected by the second protective layer 22.
The second protective layer 22 comprises an insulating film like silicon nitride, electrically disconnects the elements from the exterior, and protects the elements from mechanical stress and entering of impure substances.
A part of the substrate 21 facing the antenna conductors 100a, 100b configures the antenna area 240. No element, no circuit, no wiring, etc., is arranged in the antenna area 240. As no element, no circuit, no wiring, etc., is arranged, it is possible to prevent radio waves transmitted/received by the antenna conductors 100a, 100b from being absorbed and being reflected by conductive materials configuring a circuit and a wiring.
The via 220 is formed so as to pass all the way through the first protective layer 11 and through the second protective layer 22, and a conductor having one end connected to the EBG conductor 120 and the other end connected to the varactor diode 131 is filled in the via 220.
The varactor diode 131 has one end connected to the via 220, and is electrically connected to the EBG conductor 120 through the via 220.
The posts 200 are arranged on the first protective layer 11, and are formed so as to pass all the way through the encapsulation resin layer 12. Each post 200 has one end connected to the BGA 210, and is connected to the digital circuit 300 through a non-illustrated drawing wiring connected to the other end of the post.
The post 200 supplies a signal input through the BGA 210 to the digital circuit 300 through the drawing wiring, and outputs a signal output by the digital circuit 300 to the exterior through the BGA 210.
The BGA 210 comprises a spherical solder ball or the like, and is connected to the post 200. The BGA 210 functions not only as a fixing member which fixes the modularized miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2 to a circuit substrate, but also as a terminal of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2, and a signal input/output to the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2 is input/output through the BGA 210.
The digital circuit 300 is arranged on the substrate 21, and is connected to the high-frequency circuit 400 through the connection part 350. The digital circuit 300 inputs/outputs signals via the posts 200 and the connection part 350. When receiving digital information though the posts 200, the digital circuit 300 executes a radio-wave transmission process to be discussed later. Moreover, when receiving analog information through the connection part 350, the digital circuit 300 executes a radio-wave reception process to be discussed later.
The miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2 transmits/receives information signals through the radio-wave transmission process and radio-wave reception process both of which are processed by the digital circuit 300.
The connection part 350 is a connector arranged on the substrate 21, and connects the digital circuit 300 and the high-frequency circuit 400 together.
The high-frequency circuit 400 is connected to the digital circuit 300 through the connection part 350, and is connected to respective connection conductors 101a, 101b of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b through respective connection conductors 410a, 410b. Moreover, the high-frequency circuit 400 is connected to the varactor diode 131. When a transmitting signal and specifying information on a radio wave that convey the transmitting signal are input from the digital circuit 300, the high-frequency circuit 400 applies a high-frequency voltage having the input transmitting signal and a carrier wave superimposed with each other for each of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b through each connection conductor 410a, 410b, respectively.
Furthermore, when the antenna conductors 100a, 100b receive a radio wave, and by means of the received radio wave a high-frequency voltage is input into the high-frequency circuit 400, the high-frequency circuit 400 detects a received signal and outputs the detected signal to the digital circuit 300.
The antenna conductors 100a, 100b and the high-frequency circuit 400 are electrically connected together by inductive coupling by the connection conductors 101a, 101b and by the connection conductors 410a, 410b. The connection conductors 101a, 101b are arranged on the first protective layer 11, and are connected to the antenna conductors 100a, 100b, respectively. The connection conductors 410a, 410b are arranged on the substrate 21, and are connected to respective input/output terminals of the high-frequency circuit 400. The connection conductor 101a and the connection conductor 410a are electrically connected by inductive coupling, and the connection conductor 101b and the connection conductor 410b are electrically connected by inductive coupling.
The transmission operation of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2 with the above-explained configuration and the reception operation thereof are basically the same as those of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 1 in the first embodiment.
As is clear from
Next, an explanation will be given of the radio-wave transmission process and the radio-wave reception process both executed by the digital circuit 300.
First, an explanation will be given of the radio-wave transmission process with reference to a flowchart of
As a digital signal is input from a transmitting device through the BGA 210 and the post 200 (step S101), the digital circuit 300 decodes the input signal (step S102).
The digital circuit 300 reads information on a transmission target, a carrier frequency, and an angle (a direction) in which a radio wave is transmitted from the decoded signal (step S103).
As shown in
When reading the carrier frequency and the transmission angle (direction), the digital circuit 300 refers to the internal memory and applies a voltage to the varactor diode 131 to adjust the directivity of a transmitting radio wave to an appropriate condition so as to have the directivity in an instructed main transmission direction by using the antenna conductors 100a, 100b (step S104).
Moreover, the digital circuit generates a baseband signal from the read transmission information (step S105), and transmits the generated baseband signal together with a command instructing the carrier frequency to the high-frequency circuit 400 (step S106).
The high-frequency circuit 400 modulates a carrier wave at the instructed frequency with the baseband signal, and supplies the modulated signal to the antenna conductor 100a or 100b to be used to emit the modulated signal.
In this fashion, the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2 can emit a desired transmission-target signal at a desired carrier frequency with a directivity in a desired direction.
Next, an explanation will be given of the radio-wave reception process with reference to a flowchart in
The antenna conductors 100a, 100b each has a directivity corresponding to a voltage applied to the varactor diode 131, and receives a radio wave at a desired frequency band. The antenna conductors 100a, 100b each supplies a received signal to the high-frequency circuit 400.
The high-frequency circuit 400 demodulates the signal received by each of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b, reproduces a baseband signal and inputs the reproduced baseband signal in the digital circuit 300.
When the baseband signal is input from the high-frequency circuit 400 (step S201: “YES”), the digital circuit 300 determines whether or not the input baseband signal is decodable (step S202).
When the input baseband signal is decodable (step S202 “YES”), the digital circuit 300 performs A/D conversion on the received signal (step S203), processes the converted signal as needed, and outputs the processed digital signal to the exterior through the posts 200 (step S204).
Conversely, when the input baseband signal is not decodable (step S202: “NO”), the digital circuit 300 changes a voltage to be applied to the varactor diode 131 by what corresponds to, for example, ΔV to adjust the directivity of the antenna (step S205), and when a baseband signal is input (step S201: “YES”), the digital circuit determines again whether or not the input baseband signal is decodable (step S202). Thereafter, until no radio wave is received, and thus no baseband signal is input (step S201: “NO”) or until an input baseband signal becomes decodable (step S202: “YES”), a sequence of the operations is continued.
In this fashion, it becomes possible for the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna to appropriately receive a weak radio wave from an arbitrary direction and to reproduce an original signal by automatically adjusting the directivity of the antenna.
As explained above, the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2 of the second embodiment can automatically maintain an optimum directivity for transmission/reception of a radio wave.
For example, as shown in
The present invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiments, and various changes and applications can be made.
For example, in the above-explained illustrative configurations, the explanation was given of a case in which the antenna conductors 100a, 100b each has the size and the shape enabling acquisition of a large gain at a frequency band of 5 GHz. The present invention is not limited to this configuration.
It is possible to adjust a gain at an arbitrary frequency band by setting each of the antenna conductors 100a, 100b to have a size and a shape appropriate for a target frequency.
Moreover, for example, in the foregoing embodiments, although the two antenna conductors are arranged and the EBG is arranged therebetween, the number of the antenna conductors and the number of the EBG are not limited to those numbers. For example, as exemplified in
In this case, it is appropriate if respective capacitances of varactor diodes 131, 132 are so adjusted as to cause the directivity of the antenna conductor corresponding to a target frequency to be a target characteristic.
According to this configuration, the directivity can be more finely adjusted to carry out a communication.
Furthermore, for example, in the configuration of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2, although the BGA 210 is used for a connection with the exterior, it is not necessary that connection means is the BGA as long as information can be electrically exchanged with the exterior, and the configuration using an LGA (Land Grid Array) or the like may be employed.
Moreover, for example, in the configuration of the miniature variable-beam microwave antenna 2, although a single substrate is used, the number of substrates is not limited to one as long as the antenna conductors 100a, 100b and the EBG conductor 120 are on the same plane.
For example, the elements may be arranged on respective substrates different from each other.
Moreover, although the explanation was given of a case in which the connection conductors 101a, 101b and the connection conductors 410a, 410b are electrically connected together by inductive coupling, it is not necessary that those conductors are connected together by inductive coupling as long as a signal can be electrically transmitted/received therethrough.
For example, those conductors may be connected together through a via filled with a conductive material, or may be connected together by slot coupling.
However, the employment of a technique of electrically connecting those conductors by using magnetism, e.g., the slot coupling or the inductive coupling, enables reduction in production and material costs.
Moreover, the shape of the antenna conductor is not limited to any particular one, and a positional relationship between the antenna conductor and the EBG conductor is not limited to any particular one as long as the radio wave of the antenna conductor can be blocked off and reflected. For example, a plurality of rhomboid, triangular, or sector antenna conductors may be arranged around the EBG conductor so as to surround it.
However, like the foregoing embodiments, controllability of a directivity becomes better by employing a configuration with an antenna conductor having a rectangular tabular shape and with an EBG conductor being arranged between two antenna conductors arranged parallel to each other side by side.
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-203147 filed on Sep. 2, 2009. The specification, claims, and drawings of this Japanese Patent Application No. 2009-203147 are entirely incorporated herein by reference in this specification.
An antenna of the present invention can be utilized in the field of industrial technologies of wireless communication.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009-203147 | Sep 2009 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2010/053564 | 3/4/2010 | WO | 00 | 5/5/2011 |
