Patent Application
20250007173
The present application claims priority from and the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 202310764634.3, filed Jun. 27, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in full.
The present invention relates to wireless communication systems, and more particularly, to base station antenna assembly and printed circuit board used in base station antennas.
Wireless base stations are well known in the art, and generally include baseband units, radio units, base station antennas and other components. Base station antennas are configured to provide bidirectional radio frequency (“RF”) communication with stationary and mobile subscribers (“users”) located throughout the cell. Generally, base station antennas are installed on towers or raised structures such as poles, roofs, water towers, etc., and separate baseband units and radio units are connected to the base station antennas.
Generally, a base station antenna includes one or a plurality of phased arrays of radiating elements, wherein the radiating elements are arranged in one or a plurality of columns when the antenna is installed for use. In order to transmit and receive RF signals to and from the defined coverage area, the antenna beam of the base station antenna 95 is usually inclined at a certain downward angle with respect to the horizontal plane (referred to as a “downtilt”). In some cases, the base station antenna 95 may be designed so that the “electronic downtilt” of the antenna base station antenna 95 can be adjusted from a remote location. With the base station antenna 95 including such an electronic tilt capability, the physical orientation of the base station antenna 95 is fixed, but the effective tilt of the antenna beam can still be adjusted electronically, for example, by controlling a phase shifter that adjusts the phase of signals provided to each radiating element of the base station antenna. The phase shifter and other related circuits are usually built in the base station antenna 95 and can be controlled from a remote location. Typically, an AISG control signal is used to control the phase shifter.
Many different types of phase shifters are known in the art, including rotary wiper arm phase shifters, trombone style phase shifters, sliding dielectric phase shifters, and sliding metal phase shifters. The phase shifter is usually constructed together with the power divider as a part of the feeding network (or feeder component) for feeding the phased array. The power divider divides the RF signal input to the feed network into a plurality of sub-components, and the phase shifter applies a changeable respective phase shift to each sub-component so that each sub-component is fed to one or a plurality of radiators.
One of the purposes of the present invention is to provide a base station antenna assembly and a printed circuit board used in the base station antenna.
According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a base station antenna assembly is provided, comprising: a reflector configured to provide a ground plane; a first radiator positioned forward of the reflector, the first radiator configured to send and receive electromagnetic radiation within the first frequency band; a second radiator positioned forward of the reflector, the second radiator configured to send and receive electromagnetic radiation within the first frequency band; a feeder panel positioned between the reflector and the first radiator and between the reflector and the second radiator, the feeder panel consisting of a dielectric substrate and a conductor plane formed on a rear surface of the dielectric substrate that is capacitively coupled to the ground plane; a first feed path configured to feed a first radio frequency signal to a first radiator, the first feed path comprising a first feed line extending from the rear of the feeder panel to the front of the feeder panel and a second feed line formed on the front surface of the dielectric substrate; a second feed path configured to feed a second radio frequency signal to a second radiator, the second feed path comprising a first feed line extending from the rear of the feeder panel to the front of the feeder panel and a second feed line formed on the front surface of the dielectric substrate; and a gap resonator positioned between a portion of the first feed line extending to the front of the feeder panel of the first feed path and a portion of the first feed line extending to the front of the feeder panel of the second feed path, and the split resonator configured to resonate at the first frequency, where the first frequency is located in the first frequency band.
According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a base station antenna assembly is provided, comprising: a grounded reflector; a grounded first housing positioned rearward of the reflector; a grounded second housing positioned rearward of the reflector; a first conductive wire comprising a first portion positioned inside the first housing and a second portion extending outside the first housing, the first portion of the first conductive wire configured to form a first stripline transmission wire with the first housing; a second conductive wire comprising a first portion positioned inside the second housing and a second portion extending outside the second housing, the first portion of the second conductive wire configured to form a second stripline transmission wire with the second housing; a feeder panel positioned forward of the reflector, the feeder panel comprising a dielectric substrate and a grounded conductor plane formed on a rear surface of the dielectric substrate, and positioned in front of the reflector, wherein the second portion of the first conductive wire passes through the reflector and the feeder panel and extends to the front of the feeder panel, and the second portion of the second conductive wire passes through the reflector and the feeder panel and extends to the front of the feeder panel, a gap formed on the conductor plane between the second portion of the first conductive wire and the second portion of the second conductive wire.
According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a base station antenna assembly is provided, comprising: a reflector configured to provide a ground plane; a first radiator positioned forward of the reflector, the first radiator configured to send and receive electromagnetic radiation within a first frequency band; a second radiator positioned forward of the reflector, the second radiator configured to send and receive electromagnetic radiation within the second frequency band, and the first frequency band and the second frequency band overlapping within a third frequency band; a first housing grounded rearward of the reflector; a second housing grounded rearward of the reflector; a first conductive wire for feeding to the first radiator, comprising the first portion positioned inside the second housing and the second portion passing through the reflector and extending to the front of the reflector, wherein the first portion of the second conductive wire is configured to form a second stripline transmission line together with the second housing; and a decoupling unit positioned forward of the reflector and between the second portion of the first conductive wire and the second portion of the second conductive wire, and the decoupling unit configured to decouple at least in the third frequency band between the second portion of the first conductive wire and the second portion of the second conductive wire.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a printed circuit board used in a base station antenna is provided, the printed circuit board positioned forward of a reflector of the base station antenna and positioned rearward of a bipolar radiation element of the base station antenna, the printed circuit board comprising: a media substrate; a first conductive trace and a second conductive trace formed on a front surface of the media substrate, the first conductive trace being used to feed a first polarized radiator of the bipolar radiation element and the second conductive trace being used to feed a second polarized radiator of the bipolar radiation element; a conductor plane formed on a rear surface of the media substrate, wherein a gap is formed in the conductor plane, the gap extending between the first and second conductive traces.
Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be made clear by the following detailed description of exemplary examples of the present disclosure with reference to the attached drawings.
The attached drawings, which form a part of the Specification, describe examples of the present disclosure and, together with the Specification, are used to explain the principles of the present disclosure.
Note, in the embodiments described below, the same reference signs are sometimes jointly used between different attached drawings to denote the same parts or parts with the same functions, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted. In some cases, similar labels and letters are used to indicate similar items. Therefore, once an item is defined in one attached drawing, it does not need to be further discussed in subsequent attached drawings.
For ease of understanding, the position, dimension, and range of each structure shown in the attached drawings and the like may not indicate the actual position, dimension, and range. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the position, size, range, etc. disclosed in the attached drawings.
The present disclosure will be described below with reference to the attached drawings, which show several examples of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be presented in many different ways and is not limited to the examples described below. In fact, the examples described below are intended to make the present disclosure more complete and to fully explain the protection scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should also be understood that the examples disclosed in the present disclosure may be combined in various ways so as to provide more additional examples.
It should be understood that the terms used herein are only used to describe specific examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. All terms used herein (including technical terms and scientific terms) have meanings normally understood by those skilled in the art unless otherwise defined. For brevity and/or clarity, well-known functions or structures may not be further described in detail.
As used herein, when an element is said to be “on” another element, “attached” to another element, “connected” to another element, “coupled” to another element, or “in contact with” another element, etc., the element may be directly on another element, attached to another element, connected to another element, coupled to another element, or in contact with another element, or an intermediate element may be present. In contrast, if an element is described as “directly” “on” another element, “directly attached” to another element, “directly connected” to another element, “directly coupled” to another element or “directly in contact with” another element, there will be no intermediate elements. As used herein, when one feature is arranged “adjacent” to another feature, it may mean that one feature has a part overlapping with the adjacent feature or a part located above or below the adjacent feature.
In this specification, elements, nodes or features that are “coupled” together may be mentioned. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, “coupled” means that one element/node/feature can be mechanically, electrically, logically or otherwise connected to another element/node/feature in a direct or indirect manner to allow interaction, even though the two features may not be directly connected. That is, “coupled” is intended to comprise direct and indirect connection of components or other features, including connection using one or a plurality of intermediate components.
As used herein, spatial relationship terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “back”, “high” and “low” can explain the relationship between one feature and another in the drawings. It should be understood that, in addition to the orientations shown in the attached drawings, the terms expressing spatial relations also comprise different orientations of a device in use or operation. For example, when a device in the attached drawings rotates reversely, the features originally described as being “below” other features now can be described as being “above” the other features. The device may also be oriented by other means (rotated by 90 degrees or at other positions), and at this time, a relative spatial relation will be explained accordingly.
As used herein, the term “A or B” comprises “A and B” and “A or B”, not exclusively “A” or “B”, unless otherwise specified.
As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance or explanation”, not as a “model” to be accurately copied. Any realization method described exemplarily herein may not be necessarily interpreted as being preferable or advantageous over other realization methods. Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited by any expressed or implied theory given in the above technical field, background art, summary of the invention or specific embodiments.
As used herein, the word “basically” means including any minor changes caused by design or manufacturing defects, device or component tolerances, environmental influences, and/or other factors. The word “basically” also allows for the divergence from the perfect or ideal situation due to parasitic effects, noise, and other practical considerations that may be present in the actual realization.
In addition, for reference purposes only, “first”, “second” and similar terms may also be used herein, and thus are not intended to be limitative. For example, unless the context clearly indicates, the words “first”, “second” and other such numerical words involving structures or elements do not imply a sequence or order.
It should also be understood that when the term “comprise/include” is used herein, it indicates the presence of the specified feature, entirety, step, operation, unit and/or component, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or a plurality of other features, steps, operations, units and/or components and/or combinations thereof.
With reference to
The radiators of each of the radiation elements 221, 222, and 223 are positioned at a particular location in front of the reflector 211 through the support of the respective radiation element. In the illustrated example, the radiation element includes a radiation element 221 that operates within a lower frequency band (e.g., sending and receiving electromagnetic radiation), a radiation element 223 that operates within a higher frequency band, and a radiation element 222 that operates within an intermediate frequency band that is at least partially above the lower frequency band and at least partially below the higher frequency band. Since
The base station antenna assembly 200 also includes a plurality of feeder panels 51, each of the radiant elements 221, 222, and 223 being mounted to the reflector 211 by being mounted on the feeder panel 51. The feeder panel 51 is positioned between the reflector 211 and a respective radiator of the feeder panel 51, such as fixed on a front surface of the reflector 211. The feeder panel 51 couples the RF signal to a radiator (via a support/feed of a respective radiation element) of the various radiation elements 221, 222, and 223 and to a radiant RF signal from the respective radiation elements 221, 222, and 223. Each feeder panel 51 may be used for one radiation element, or for a plurality of adjacent (e.g., 2 or 3) radiation elements in a column of radiation elements. The feeder panel 51 may be implemented as a printed circuit board (PCB), including a media substrate, a grounded conductor plane formed on a rear surface of the media substrate (e.g., by capacitive coupling to the reflector 211), and conductive traces formed on a front surface of the media substrate.
The feed path for feeding the RF signal to each of the radiation elements 221, 222, and 223 includes a first feed line extending from the rear of the reflector 211 to the front of the reflector 211 and a second feed line formed on the front surface of the media substrate of the feeder panel 51 (e.g., the aforementioned conductive traces) such that the first feed line feeds to the respective radiation feeder via the second feed line. The first feed line may be implemented, for example, as the conductive line 310 to be described below. The first feed line includes a first portion positioned rearward of the reflector 211 and a second portion positioned forward of the reflector 211. The housing element 212 is positioned rearward of the reflector 211, e.g., fixed on a rear surface of the reflector 211, and provides a chamber inside the reflector for receiving the first portion of the first feed line. The housing element 212 is configured to be grounded, such as capacitively coupled with a ground plane provided by the reflector 211, such that the housing element 212 and the first portion of the first feed line housed therein form a stripline transmission line to transmit RF signals. A second feed line formed on the front surface of the feeder panel 51 forms a microstrip transmission line with a grounded conductor plane formed on the rear surface of the feeder panel 51 to transmit the RF signal. A second portion of the first feed line extends outside of the housing element 212, through an opening on the reflector 211 to a front of the reflector 211, and through an opening on the feeder panel 51 to a front of the feeder panel 51. A second portion of the first feed line is coupled on the front surface of the feeder panel 51 with a second feed line current to form a feed path that feeds RF signals to each of the radiators of each of the radiation elements 221, 222, and 223.
The housing 23-1 and the housing 23-2 may be configured as an integral piece, i.e., the housing element 212. The entire housing element 212 may be integrally formed using a pultrusion process, e.g., of a metallic material (e.g., aluminum). In the illustrated example, the housing 23-1 and the housing 23-2 in the housing element 212 are configured to be separated from one another. In other examples, the housing 23-1 and the housing 23-2 in the housing element 212 may be configured as being adjacent, such as the sidewall of the housing 23-1 proximate the housing 23-2 and the sidewall of the housing 23-2 proximate the housing 23-1 being shared, as shown in
It can be seen from the combination of
With continued reference to
In some examples, the conductive wire 310 may be a conductive trace printed on a dielectric substrate. In these examples, to reduce the wear caused by the dielectric substrate (e.g., when the dielectric substrate is thicker), the conductive wire 310 may include a pair of lines printed on opposing surfaces of the dielectric substrate, respectively. The projection of the first line in this pair of lines on the dielectric substrate coincides fully with the projection of the second line in this pair on the dielectric substrate, i.e. the first line and the second line are symmetrical with respect to the plane in which the dielectric substrate is located. For example, a first line printed on a first surface of the dielectric substrate or a second line printed on a second surface of the dielectric substrate may be visible in
In other examples, the housing 23-1 and the housing 23-2 in the housing element 212 may be configured as adjacent and having a common sidewall, as shown in
An opening 22 is provided in the coupling 21 at the front of the housing element 212 so that the second portion 312 of the conductive wire 310 protrudes from the opening 22 for extension to an exterior (front) of the housing element 212, as shown in
As shown in
A first radio frequency signal is fed to the first radiator through the first feed path for transmission in the first polarization direction of the bipolar radiation element and a second radio frequency signal is fed to the second radiator through the second feed path for transmission in the second polarization direction of the bipolar radiation element. The first feed path includes a first feed line extending from behind the feeder panel 51 to forward of the feeder panel 51 and a second feed line formed on a front surface of a dielectric substrate of the feeder panel 51. A first feed line of the first feed path is implemented as a first conductive wire, e.g., may be a conductive wire 310-1 in the above examples. A second feed line of the first feed path may be implemented as a conductive trace 511-1 formed on the front surface of the feeder panel 51. A first feed line of the first feed path is in electrical connection with a second feed line of the first feed path, such as on the front surface of the dielectric substrate, such that the first conductive line feeds to the first radiator via conductive traces 511-1. The second feed path includes a first section feed line extending from behind the feeder panel 51 to forward of the feeder panel 51 and a second feed line formed on the front surface of the dielectric substrate of the feeder panel 51. A first feed line of the second feed path is implemented as a second conductive wire, e.g., may be a conductive wire 310-2 in the above examples. A second feed line of the first feed path may be implemented as conductive traces 511-2 formed on the front surface of the feeder panel 51. A first feed line of the second feed path and a second feed line of the second feed path are electrically connected, e.g., on the front surface of the dielectric substrate such that the second conductive line is fed to the second radiator via conductive traces 511-2.
A first feed line of the first feed path (hereinafter “first conductive wire”) includes a first portion positioned (or housed) inside the grounded first housing 23-1 such that the first housing 23-1 and the first portion of the first conductive wire form a first stripline transmission line. The first conductive wire also includes an opening 22 extending outside of the first housing 23-1 and across the housing element 212 (opening 22 through the coupling 21 of a chamber formed by a cover housing located on the front of the housing element 212), an opening 24 on the reflector 211 (opening 24 extends through the reflector 211 at the housing's second portion 312) and an opening 513 on the feeder panel 51 (opening 513 extends through the feeder panel 51 at the housing 23 forward of the feeder panel). The second portion 312-1 may be soldered (e.g., via conductive solder 514) at a front surface of the feeder panel 51 to a first end of the conductive trace 511-1 adjacent the opening 513 in order to feed the first radiator through the conductive trace 511-1. A first feed line of the second feed path (hereinafter also referred to as a “second conductive wire”) includes a first portion positioned (or housed) inside the grounded second housing 23-2 such that the first portion of the second housing 23-2 and the second conductive wire forms a second stripline transmission line. The second conductive wire also includes a second portion 312-2 extending outside of the second housing 23-2 and through the opening 22 on the housing element 212, the opening 24 on the reflector 211, and the opening 513 on the feeder panel to the front of the feeder panel 51. The second portion 312-2 may be soldered to a first end of the adjacent opening 513 of the conductive traces 511-2 at a front surface of the feeder panel 51 in order to feed a second radiator via the conductive traces 511-2.
The base station antenna assembly 100 also includes a decoupling unit positioned in front of the reflector 211 and positioned between the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire. The decoupling unit is configured such that decoupling occurs between the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire. Where the first and second radiators are two polarized radiators of a bipolar radiation element operating within the first frequency band, the first conductive wire transmits a first RF signal within the first frequency band for the first and the second conductive wires transmits a second RF signal within the first frequency band for the second. At this point, the decoupling unit is configured such that the decoupling is between the second portion 312-1 of the first and second portions 312-2 of the first conductive wire within the first frequency band. In the case of two separate emitters operating within the first and second frequency bands, respectively, the first and second emitters (where the second and first frequency bands overlap within the third frequency band), the first and second RF signals transmitted on the first and second conductive wires are within the first and second RF signals for the second radiator. At this point, the decoupling unit is configured such that the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire are decoupled at least within the third frequency band.
In the illustrated example, the decoupling unit is implemented as a gap resonator. The gap resonator includes a conductor plane and a gap formed in the conductor plane. In the illustrated example, the conductor plane of the gap resonator is a grounded conductor plane 515 formed on the rear surface of the feeder panel 51 and a gap 512 is formed in the conductor plane 515. The gap 512 in the conductor plane 515 of the feeder panel 51 to form a gap resonator as a decoupling unit may reuse the existing structure in the base station antenna to add a decoupling unit without adding additional elements. In this instance, the conductive trace 511 formed on the front surface of the feeder panel 51 as the feed path requires a gap 512 (in the front plan view of the base station antenna assembly 100).
The gap resonator is configured to resonate at a first frequency (e.g., a resonant frequency having a first frequency). Where the first and second emitters are two polarized emitters of a bipolar radiation element operating within the first frequency band, the gap resonator is configured to resonate within the first frequency band thereof. With the first and second radiation emitters operating within the first and second frequency bands, respectively, two separate emitters (where the second and first bands overlap within the third band), the gap resonator is configured to resonate within the third band. As shown, the gap resonator is positioned between the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire. Optionally, the decoupling unit is disposed closer to the reflector 211 in the thickness direction of the base station antenna (the direction of the x-axis) such as the distance between the rear surface of the decoupling unit and the front surface of the reflector 211 is less than the thickness of the reflector 211. In the illustrated example, the gap resonator is disposed on a rear surface of the feeder panel 51.
A gap resonator is positioned between the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire such that the gap resonator may be both an energy incentive radiated by the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and an energy incentive radiated by the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire. The length L of the gap 512 (as shown in
In this way, the gap resonator can be configured such that the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire are decoupled to improve isolation performance between the first and second radiators.
It should be understood that in other examples, the decoupling unit may also be implemented in forms other than a gap resonator. For example, the decoupling unit may include a radiator having a first resonant frequency that is both within an operating frequency band of the first radiator and within an operating frequency band of the second radiator. The radiator may be both stimulated by the energy radiated by the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and stimulated by the energy radiated by the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire. This may result in the electromagnetic radiation coupled to each other between the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire being counteracted or reduced by the configuration of the radiation, thereby being decoupled between the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire.
The gap resonator includes a gap 512 extending between the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire. In the illustrated example, the second portion 312-1 of the first conductive wire and the second portion 312-2 of the second conductive wire are opposite in a first direction (e.g., the D1 direction) and the gap 512 extends in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction (e.g., the D2 direction) in the conductor plane 515. With the gap resonator implemented to include the gap 512 formed in the conductor plane 515 on the rear surface of the feeder panel 51, a schematic plan view of the rear surface of the feeder panel 51 is shown in
Although some specific examples of the present disclosure have been described in detail by examples, those skilled in the art should understand that the above examples are only for illustration, not for limiting the scope of the present disclosure. The examples disclosed herein can be combined arbitrarily without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should also understand that various modifications can be made to the examples without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the Claims attached.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202310764634.3 | Jun 2023 | CN | national |
