Patent Grant
11108169
The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 to Chinese Patent Application No. 201910546126.1 filed Jun. 24, 2019, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to radio communications. More specifically, the present invention relates to base station antennas for cellular communication systems.
Base station antennas for wireless communication systems are used to transmit Radio Frequency (“RF”) signals to, and receive RF signals from, fixed and mobile users of a cellular communications service. Base station antennas often include a linear array or a two-dimensional array of radiating elements, such as crossed dipole or patch radiating elements. In order to increase system capacity, beam-forming base station antennas are now being deployed that include multiple closely-spaced linear arrays of radiating elements that are configured for beam-forming. A typical objective with such beam-forming antennas is to generate a narrow antenna beam in the azimuth plane. This increases the power of the signal transmitted in the direction of a desired user and reduces interference.
If the linear arrays of radiating elements in a beam-forming antenna are closely spaced together, it may be possible to scan the antenna beam to very wide angles in the azimuth plane (e.g., azimuth scanning angles of 60°) without generating significant grating lobes. However, as the linear arrays are spaced more closely together, mutual coupling increases between the radiating elements in adjacent linear arrays, which degrades other performance parameters of the base station antenna such as the co-polarization performance. To maintain a close spacing between adjacent linear arrays of a beam-forming antenna while increasing the separation between radiating elements in adjacent linear arrays, it may be desirable to vertically stagger adjacent linear arrays, which increases the physical separation between “adjacent” radiating elements in neighboring linear arrays. This staggered configuration reduces mutual coupling between neighboring elements, leading to increased port-to-port isolation.
However, the staggered arrangement of the linear arrays of radiating elements may cause the equivalent phase centers of adjacent linear arrays of radiating elements to be offset from each other, thereby creating a spatial phase difference between each pair of adjacent linear arrays of radiating elements. The spatial phase difference may distort the radiation pattern (“antenna beam”) of the base station antenna. Moreover, it may also be desirable to electronically adjust the elevation angle of the antenna beams generated by the beam-forming antenna to adjust the coverage area of the antenna in the elevation plane. This can be accomplished for each linear array separately using electro-mechanical phase shifters. Unfortunately, however, the amount of distortion to the antenna beam caused by the offset in the equivalent phase centers of adjacent linear arrays may increase as the applied electrical downtilt angle is increased. In order to compensate for this distortion, different amplitude and/or phase weights may be applied to the different linear arrays of radiation elements. The inclusion of such a compensation system, however, may increase the design difficulty and/or cost of the antenna system.
Thus, an object of the present invention is to provide a base station antenna capable of overcoming at least one drawback in the prior art.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a base station antenna is provided. The base station antenna comprises a plurality of linear arrays of radiating elements and a plurality of phase shifters, each phase shifter configured to pass radio frequency (RF) signals to a corresponding one of the linear arrays, characterized in that, each linear array of radiating elements comprises one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements, each first sub-array including n adjacent radiating elements, and each second sub-array including m adjacent radiating elements, where n is greater than m, wherein each first sub-array of radiating elements in each linear array is electrically connected to a respective one of a first subset of outputs of the respective phase shifter that corresponds to the linear array, and each second sub-array of radiating elements is electrically connected to a respective one of a second subset of outputs of the respective phase shifter that corresponds to the linear array, wherein the plurality of linear arrays of radiating elements are arranged spaced apart from each other in a first direction, and the radiating elements in each of the linear arrays of radiating elements are arranged in a second direction that is substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and two adjacent linear arrays of radiating elements are staggered with respect to one another in the second direction, wherein the first sub-arrays of radiating elements and the second sub-arrays of radiating elements in a first of the linear arrays of radiating elements are arranged in a first order and the first sub-arrays of radiating elements and the second sub-arrays of radiating elements in a second of the linear arrays of radiating elements that is adjacent the first of the linear arrays of radiating elements are arranged in a second order that is different from the first order, and the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in the first of the linear arrays of radiating elements are located, in the first direction, on the direct left or right side of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements corresponding to the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in the second of the linear arrays of the radiating elements.
According to embodiments of the present invention, the advantages of staggered arrangement of the arrays of radiating elements are maintained while staggering of the phase centers is reduced or even eliminated as much as possible by optimized distribution of the arrays of radiating elements for the base station antenna, thereby improving the RF performance of the base station antenna.
In some embodiments, the extension range in the second direction of each second sub-array of radiating elements is within the extension range in the second direction of a corresponding one of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements.
In some embodiments, the n radiating elements in each first sub-array of radiating elements are electrically connected to the respective ones of the first subset of outputs of the respective phase shifter that corresponds to the linear array via a corresponding power divider and/or a signal transmission line, and the m radiating elements in each second sub-array of radiating elements in each linear array are electrically connected to the respective ones of the second subset of outputs of the respective phase shifter that corresponds to the linear array via a corresponding power divider and/or a signal transmission line.
In some embodiments, the RF signals received by the n radiating elements in a first sub-array of radiating elements of the first of the linear arrays from a first feed node of the base station antenna all have a same first phase value, and the RF signals received by the m radiating elements in a second sub-array of radiating elements of the first of the linear arrays from a second feed node all have a same second phase value that is different from the first phase value.
In some embodiments, each array of radiating elements at least partially comprises alternately arranged first sub-arrays of radiating elements and second sub-arrays of radiating elements.
In some embodiments, at least one of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in at least one of the arrays of radiating elements does not have a corresponding second sub-array of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements, and/or at least one of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements in at least one of the arrays of radiating elements does not have a corresponding first sub-array of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements.
In some embodiments, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating element in each of the arrays of radiating elements are offset from phase centers of the corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements by an amount less than the amount by which two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in the second direction.
In some embodiments, the upper limit of the ratio of the amount by which phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in each array of radiating elements are offset from phase centers of the corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements to the amount by which two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in the second direction is one of the following values: 0.9, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6, 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1 and 0.05.
In some embodiments, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating element in each of the arrays of radiating elements are substantially aligned with phase centers of the corresponding second sub-array of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements respectively.
In some embodiments, n=m+1.
In some embodiments, each of the arrays of radiating elements includes one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements each composed of two radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements each composed of one radiating element; each of the arrays of radiating elements includes one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements each composed of three radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements each composed of two radiating elements; each of the arrays of radiating elements includes one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements each composed of four radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements each composed of three radiating elements; or each of the arrays of radiating elements includes one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements each composed of five radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements each composed of four radiating elements.
In some embodiments, two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in the second direction such that the feed point of each radiating element in one array of radiating elements is within the spacing between the feed points of two adjacent radiating elements in the other array of radiating elements in the second direction.
In some embodiments, the amount by which two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in the second direction is in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the operating band of the radiating elements.
In some embodiments, the spacing between two adjacent arrays of radiating elements in the first direction is in the range of 0.4 to 0.8 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the operating band of the radiating elements.
In some embodiments, the spacing between two adjacent radiating elements in each array of radiating elements in the second direction is in the range of 0.5 to 0.8 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the operating band of the radiating elements.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a base station antenna is provided. The base station antenna comprises a plurality of linear arrays of radiating elements and phase shifters, characterized in that, each array of radiating elements comprises one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements composed of n adjacent radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements composed of m adjacent radiating elements, where n is greater than m, wherein the n radiating elements in each of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements are electrically connected to a same output end of a phase shifter, and the m radiating elements in each of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements are electrically connected to a same output end of a phase shifter, wherein the plurality of arrays of radiating elements are arranged spaced apart from each other in a first direction, and the radiating elements in each of the arrays of radiating elements are arranged in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered from one another in the second direction, wherein the first sub-arrays of radiating elements and the second sub-arrays of radiating elements in each array of radiating elements are configured such that phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in each array of radiating elements are staggered from phase centers of the corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements by an amount less than 50% of the amount by which two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in the second direction.
In some embodiments, the upper limit of the ratio of the amount by which phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in each array of radiating elements are staggered from phase centers of the corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements to the amount by which two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in the second direction is one of the following values: 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1 and 0.05.
In some embodiments, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating element in each of the arrays of radiating elements are substantially aligned with phase centers of the corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements respectively.
In some embodiments, each array of radiating elements at least partially comprises alternately arranged first sub-arrays of radiating elements and second sub-arrays of radiating elements.
In some embodiments, the n radiating elements in the respective first sub-arrays of radiating elements are electrically connected to a same output end of a phase shifter via a corresponding power divider and/or signal transmission line, and the m radiating elements in the respective second sub-arrays of radiating elements are electrically connected to a same output end of a phase shifter via a corresponding power divider and/or signal transmission line.
In some embodiments, the electrical signals received by the n radiating elements in the respective first sub-arrays of radiating elements from a feed node of the base station antenna are capable of being changed by the same amount of phase via the phase shifter assigned thereto, and the electrical signals received by the m radiating elements in the respective second sub-arrays of radiating elements from a feed node of the base station antenna are capable of being changed by the same amount of phase via the phase shifter assigned thereto.
In some embodiments, the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in each of the arrays of radiating elements are on the direct left or right side of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements corresponding to the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in the first direction.
In some embodiments, at least one of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in at least one of the arrays of radiating elements does not have a corresponding second sub-array of radiating elements in the adjacent array of radiating elements.
In some embodiments, two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in the second direction such that the feed point of each radiating element in one array of radiating elements is within the spacing between the feed points of two adjacent radiating elements in the other array of radiating elements in the second direction.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, a base station antenna is provided. The base station antenna comprising a first column and second column of radiating elements adjacent in the horizontal direction and a plurality of phase shifters, wherein each column of radiating elements includes a plurality of radiating elements arranged in the vertical direction, and the first and second columns of radiating elements are staggered from each other in the vertical direction, characterized in that, each column of radiating elements comprises one or more first subset composed of n adjacent radiating elements, and one or more second subset composed of m adjacent radiating elements, wherein n is greater than m, wherein the first and second subsets of the first column of radiating elements are alternately arranged in the vertical direction in a first pattern, and the first and second subsets of the second column of radiating elements are alternately arranged in the vertical direction in a second pattern, wherein the first pattern is different from the second pattern, so that in the horizontal direction, each first subset in the first column of radiating elements is located on the direct left or right side of the second subset of the second column of radiating elements corresponding to the first subset in the first column of radiating elements, wherein, each subset is electrically connected to a same output end of a phase shifter.
In some embodiments, the extension range of the second subset that corresponds to the first subset in the vertical direction is within the extension range of the first subset in the vertical direction.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a base station antenna is provided. The base station antenna comprises: a plurality of first radiating elements that are arranged as a first vertically-extending array; a plurality of second radiating elements that are arranged as a second vertically-extending array, where the second radiating elements are staggered in the vertical direction with respect to the first radiating elements; wherein phase centers in an azimuth plane for first sub-arrays of the first radiating elements are substantially the same as phase centers in the azimuth plane for respective third sub-arrays of the second radiating elements, and wherein the first sub-arrays each have a first number of first radiating elements and the third sub-arrays each have a second number of second radiating elements, the first number being different than the second number.
In some embodiments, phase centers in an azimuth plane for second sub-arrays of the first radiating elements are substantially the same as phase centers in the azimuth plane for respective fourth sub-arrays of the second radiating elements.
In some embodiments, each first sub-array has a respective extension range in the vertical direction, and each third sub-array is positioned within the extension range of a corresponding first sub-array in the vertical direction.
In some embodiments, the base station antenna further comprises a first phase shifter that is coupled to the first vertically-extending array and a second phase shifter that is coupled to the second vertically-extending array, the base station antenna further characterized in that: the radiating elements in each respective first sub-array of radiating elements are electrically connected to respective ones of a first subset of outputs of the first phase shifter, and the radiating elements in each respective third sub-array of radiating elements are electrically connected to respective ones of a second subset of outputs of the second phase shifter.
In some embodiments, the radiating elements in each respective second sub-array of radiating elements are electrically connected to respective ones of a second subset of outputs of the first phase shifter, and the radiating elements in each respective fourth sub-array of radiating elements are electrically connected to respective ones of a first subset of outputs of the second phase shifter.
In some embodiments, radio frequency (“RF”) signals received by the radiating elements in each respective first sub-array of radiating elements from a first feed node of the base station antenna have a same respective phase, and the RF signals received by the radiating elements in each respective third sub-array of radiating elements from a second feed node of the base station antenna have a same respective phase.
In some embodiments, the first vertically-extending array at least partially comprises alternately arranged first sub-arrays of radiating elements and second sub-arrays of radiating elements, and the second vertically-extending array at least partially comprises alternately arranged third sub-arrays of radiating elements and fourth sub-arrays of radiating elements.
In some embodiments, at least one of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements in the first vertically-extending array does not have a corresponding third sub-array of radiating elements in the second vertically-extending array.
In some embodiments, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating element are offset from phase centers of the corresponding third sub-arrays of radiating elements by an amount less than the amount by which the first and second vertically-extending arrays are staggered in the vertical direction.
In some embodiments, the first number is equal to the second number plus 1.
In some embodiments, the first and second vertically extending arrays each include one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements that each have exactly two radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements that each have exactly one radiating element.
In some embodiments, the first and second vertically extending arrays each include one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements that each have exactly three radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements that each have exactly two radiating elements.
In some embodiments, the first and second vertically extending arrays each include one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements that each have exactly four radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements that each have exactly three radiating elements.
In some embodiments, the first and second vertically extending arrays each include one or more first sub-arrays of radiating elements that each have exactly five radiating elements, and one or more second sub-arrays of radiating elements that each have exactly four radiating elements.
In some embodiments, the amount by which the first and second vertically-extending arrays are staggered in the vertical direction is in the range of 0.2 to 0.4 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the operating band of the first and second vertically-extending arrays.
In some embodiments, the spacing between the first and second vertically-extending arrays in the horizontal direction is in the range of 0.4 to 0.8 times the wavelength corresponding to the center frequency of the operating band of the first and second vertically-extending arrays.
In the drawings:
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, in which several embodiments of the present invention are shown. It should be understood, however, that the present invention may be implemented in many different ways, and is not limited to the example embodiments described below. In fact, the embodiments described hereinafter are intended to make a more complete disclosure of the present invention and to adequately explain the scope of the present invention to a person skilled in the art. It should also be understood that, the embodiments disclosed herein can be combined in various ways to provide many additional embodiments.
It should be understood that, the wording in the specification is only used for describing particular embodiments and is not intended to limit the present invention. All the terms used in the specification (including technical and scientific terms) have the meanings as normally understood by a person skilled in the art, unless otherwise defined. For the sake of conciseness and/or clarity, well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail.
The singular forms “a/an” and “the” as used in the specification, unless clearly indicated otherwise, all contain the plural forms. The words “comprising”, “containing” and “including” when used in the specification indicate the presence of the claimed features, but do not preclude the presence of one or more additional features. The wording “and/or” as used in the specification includes any and all combinations of one or more of the relevant items listed.
In the specification, words describing spatial relationships such as “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, “forth”, “back”, “high”, “low” and the like may describe a relation of one feature to another feature in the drawings. It should be understood that these terms also encompass different orientations of the apparatus in use or operation, in addition to encompassing the orientations shown in the drawings. For example, when the apparatus shown in the drawings is turned over, the features previously described as being “below” other features may be described to be “above” other features at this time. The apparatus may also be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the relative spatial relationships will be correspondingly altered.
It should be understood that, in all the drawings, the same reference signs present the same elements. In the drawings, for the sake of clarity, the sizes of certain features may be modified.
The beam-forming base station antennas according to embodiments of the present invention are applicable to various types of wireless communication networks. These beam-forming base station antennas include a plurality of arrays of radiating elements. These arrays of radiating elements may, for example, be a linear array of radiating elements or a two-dimensional array of radiating elements. These arrays of radiating elements may be mounted in a row on a reflector of the antenna to provide a base station antenna in accordance with embodiments of the present invention.
As described above, as the arrays of radiating elements (for example, one or more arrays of high-band radiating elements and/or one or more arrays of low-band radiating elements) are spaced more closely together to improve the electronic scanning capabilities of the antenna in the azimuth plane, the spacing between the radiating elements is reduced. This reduced spacing degrades the isolation between radiating elements in adjacent arrays, especially between radiators (e.g., dipoles) that have the same polarization (also referred to as Co-pol isolation). Thus, it may be necessary to improve the isolation between radiating elements in adjacent arrays in order to improve the beamforming performance of the base station antenna. For this purpose, the two adjacent arrays of radiating elements may be staggered with respect to each other, that is, the feed points of the radiating elements in two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in a vertical direction, i.e., not horizontally aligned with each other. This increases the spatial distance between the radiators having the same polarization of adjacent radiating elements, thereby improving the isolation.
However, the staggered arrangement of the arrays of radiating elements may cause the equivalent phase centers of the adjacent arrays of radiating elements to be offset from each other, thereby creating a spatial phase difference between the adjacent arrays of radiating elements. The spatial phase difference may distort the shape of the radiation pattern (also referred to herein as an “antenna beam”) of the base station antenna and thus affect the RF performance of the base station antenna. The phase center of a radiating element should be understood as a theoretical point, that is to say, it is theoretically considered that signals radiated by the radiating element are radiated outward with this theoretical point as a center. With an increase in the electrical downtilt angle of the base station antenna, the radiation pattern may be distorted more severely due to the staggered arrangement of the arrays of radiating elements. Thus, it may be necessary to compensate for the spatial phase differences by, for example, assigning different amplitude and/or phase weights to different arrays of radiating elements. Such compensation measures, however, may increase the design difficulty and/or cost of the antenna system.
Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments are described.
Each array of high-band radiating elements 21 includes sixteen high-band radiating elements that are spaced apart from each other in a vertical direction V (extending from a top end 4 to a bottom end 5 of the antenna). Likewise, each array of low-band radiating elements 22 includes six low-band radiating elements that are spaced apart from each in the vertical direction V. Further, the arrays of high-band radiating elements 21 are spaced apart from each other at a distance in a horizontal direction H (from a side wall 6 to the opposite side wall 7 of the antenna), and adjacent arrays of high-band radiating elements 21 are staggered with respect to each other in the vertical direction V, that is, the feed points of the high-band radiating elements in any two adjacent arrays of high-band radiating elements 21 are not aligned with each other in the horizontal direction H. As can be seen from
As shown in
As described above, although the spatially staggered arrangement of the two adjacent arrays of radiating elements 2 facilitates an increase in isolation, this may cause the equivalent phase centers of the two adjacent arrays of radiating elements 2 to be spatially offset from each other, thereby distorting the radiation pattern of the base station antenna 1. Thus, how to maintain the advantages of the staggered arrangement of the arrays of radiating elements 2 while reducing or eliminating the disadvantages thereof is a technical problem to be solved by those skilled in the art.
The base station antenna of
As is further shown in
Herein, the radiating elements of a sub-array are “collectively fed” if all the radiating elements in the sub-array are electrically connected to the same output of a particular phase shifter 8 via a power divider 9 and/or signal transmission lines 10. That is to say, the RF signals received by the radiating elements in a collectively fed sub-array of radiating elements 201, 202 from a feed node 11 of the base station antenna will have the same amount of phase shift applied thereto via the phase shifter 8 assigned thereto. Consequently, will have the same phase. If the amplitudes of the RF signals emitted by the two radiating elements are also the same, then the equivalent phase center of the radiating elements in the sub-array of radiating elements 201 may be located halfway between the two radiating elements along a vertical axis that extends through the two radiating elements. Thus, the equivalent phase centers A1 of each first sub-array of radiating elements 201 may be midway between the two radiating elements in the vertical direction, whereas the phase centers A2 of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 may be in the center of the single radiating elements that form each second sub-array 202, that is, at the feeding point of the radiating element.
In the present embodiment, the four arrays of high-band radiating elements 21 include, from left to right in order, a first array of high-band radiating elements 211, a second array of high-band radiating elements 212, a third array of high-band radiating elements 213 and fourth array of high-band radiating elements 214. The first array of high-band radiating elements 211 and the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are configured in the same way, and the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 and the fourth array of high-band radiating elements 214 are configured in the same way. As used herein, “configured in the same way” means that the number of the radiating elements in the array and the arrangement order of the sub-arrays are the same, that is, in the corresponding array of radiating elements, the sub-arrays are arranged in a same order in the vertical direction.
As shown in
Likewise, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are substantially aligned in the horizontal direction with phase centers of the corresponding second sub-array of radiating elements 202 in the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 respectively, and phase centers of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are substantially aligned in the horizontal direction with phase centers of the corresponding first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 respectively.
Likewise, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are substantially aligned in the horizontal direction with phase centers of the corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the fourth array of high-band radiating elements 214 respectively, and phase centers of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are substantially aligned in the horizontal direction with phase centers of the corresponding first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the fourth array of high-band radiating elements 214 respectively.
It should be understood that the phase center is a theoretical point for an ideal antenna. However, in the actual antenna, the phase center may also be a region as opposed to a point. Therefore, pursuant to embodiments of the present invention is the first sub-arrays of radiating element 201 and the second sub-array of radiating elements 202 in each array of radiating elements 21 may be configured such that, in the vertical direction V, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating element 201 in each array of radiating elements 21 are respectively offset from phase centers of the corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating element 202 in the adjacent array of radiating elements 21 by an amount less than 0.5, 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, 0.1 or 0.05 times the amount by which the two adjacent arrays of radiating elements are staggered in the vertical direction V. In some embodiments, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating element 201 in each of the arrays of radiating elements 21 may be substantially aligned with phase centers of the corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the adjacent array of radiating elements. The smaller the amount by which the phase centers are offset, the less the radiation pattern is distorted, so that the RF performance of the base station antenna is improved.
With respect to the base station antenna according to the first embodiment of the present invention illustrated in
The base station antenna of
Thus, the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 and the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in a first array of radiating elements 21 are arranged in a first order in the vertical direction V, and the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 and the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in a second array of radiating elements that is adjacent the first array of radiating elements 21 are arranged in a second order in the vertical direction V that is different from first order. As a result, each first sub-array of radiating elements 201 in an array of radiating elements 21 is located, in the horizontal direction H, directly next to a second sub-array of radiating elements 202 of an adjacent array. Each first sub-array of radiating elements 201 thus may have a corresponding second sub-array of radiating elements 202 located on its direct left side, its direct right side, or on both its direct left side and its direct right side, in the horizontal direction, as shown in
As shown in
Unlike the embodiment of
In other embodiments, the sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 at the bottom end of the antenna in the array of radiating elements 21 may additionally or alternatively not have corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the adjacent array of radiating elements respectively. Experiments have shown that the absence of corresponding sub-arrays of radiating elements for a few sub-arrays of radiating elements may not produce a significant negative effect on the RF performance of the base station antenna. Moreover, the base station antenna of
As shown in
In the present embodiment, the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the first array of high-band radiating elements 211 correspond to (i.e., are adjacent to in the horizontal direction) the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 respectively, and the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the first array of high-band radiating elements 211 correspond to the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 respectively. Thus, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the first array of high-band radiating elements 211 are substantially aligned with phase centers of their corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 in the horizontal direction. Phase centers of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the first array of high-band radiating elements 211 are substantially aligned with phase centers of their corresponding first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 in the horizontal direction.
Likewise, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are substantially aligned with the phase centers of their corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 in the horizontal direction H, and phase centers of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are substantially aligned with phase centers of their corresponding first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the second array of high-band radiating elements 212 in the horizontal direction H.
Likewise, phase centers of the first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are substantially aligned with phase centers of their corresponding second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the fourth array of high-band radiating elements 214 in the horizontal direction H, and phase centers of the second sub-arrays of radiating elements 202 in the third array of high-band radiating elements 213 are substantially aligned with phase centers of their corresponding first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 in the fourth array of high-band radiating elements 214 in the horizontal direction H.
As shown in
Further, as can be seen, the first sub-array of radiating elements 201 extends a distance W3 in the vertical direction V, and the second sub-array of radiating elements 202 that corresponds to the first sub-array of radiating elements 201 extends a distance W4 in the vertical direction V. It can be seen that W4 is within W3, and preferably W4 is in the central region of W3.
It should be understood that the number of the arrays of radiating elements in the base station antennas according to embodiments of the present invention and the number and arrangement of the sub-arrays of radiating elements in each array of radiating elements may be varied from the example embodiments discussed above. For example, in other embodiments, there may be more than four arrays of radiating elements. It will also be appreciated that additional arrays of radiating elements may also be included in the above-described base station antennas such as, for example, one or more arrays of low-band radiating elements as discussed above with reference to
As one additional example, a base station antenna according to further embodiments of the present invention includes arrays of radiating elements that have four sub-arrays of radiating elements: two first sub-arrays of radiating elements that each include four adjacent radiating elements, and two second sub-arrays of radiating elements that each include three adjacent radiating elements (a total of 14 radiating elements calculated as 2*4+2*3=14); the adjacent arrays of radiating elements each include four sub-arrays of radiating elements: two adjacent second sub-arrays of radiating elements that each include three radiating elements, and two first sub-arrays of radiating elements 201 that each include four adjacent radiating elements (a total of fourteen radiating elements calculated as 2*3+2*4=14).
Although the specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail by way of example, those skilled in the art should understand that the above examples are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. The various embodiments disclosed herein may be combined in any combination without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. It should also be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure.
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