Patent Application
20240178551
The present application claims priority from and the benefit of Chinese Patent Application 202211521524.6, filed Nov. 30, 2022, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in full.
The present application generally relates to the field of antennas, and more particularly, to a cellular base station antenna that can be mounted laterally to a pole and a pole assembly that includes the cellular base station antenna.
As demands for wireless data services grow, the traditional response is to increase the number and capacity of traditional cellular base station antennas (macrocells). Antennas used in these macrocells are typically mounted on antenna towers. Traditional antenna towers have three or four legs on which the antenna and a matching remote radio unit (RRU) can be mounted. However, in some environments, structures known as “monopole” are used as mounting structures. A monopole is typically used when fewer antennas/RRUs need to be mounted and/or lower height structures are required.
As macrocell sites become increasingly insufficient and the available spectrum limits the amount of additional capacity that can be obtained from a given macrocell, small cell remote radio units (RRU) and antenna combinations have been developed to “fill” underserved or congested areas that would otherwise exist within the macrocell site. Deployment of small cells—especially in urban environments—is expected to continue to grow. Typically, this small cell structure (sometimes referred to as metrocell) is mounted on a monopole.
In some cases, the small cell antenna may be mounted on the top of the pole or on the side of the pole. However, in many cases, it is desirable to mount the small cell antenna in the middle of the pole because the top of the pole needs to be reserved for other devices, such as other antenna devices or lighting devices.
Therefore, the objective of the present application is to provide a cellular base station antenna and a pole assembly capable of overcoming at least one drawback in the prior art.
According to a first aspect of the present application, a cellular base station antenna is provided, including: a radome having a lateral recess that defines a first accommodating space with a lateral opening and for accommodating a pole, where the cellular base station antenna should be mounted to the pole; and an antenna assembly mounted within a second accommodating space defined by the radome, the antenna assembly including a reflecting plate and a radiating element mounted on the reflecting plate.
In some embodiments, the cellular base station antenna further comprises a cover body, and the cover body is configured to be detachably mounted to the lateral recess of the radome so as to cover the lateral opening.
In some embodiments, the radome is configured as an integral columnar structure with a lateral recess.
In some embodiments, the lateral recess is a U-shaped recess.
In some embodiments, the radome and the cover body form a cylindrical structure.
In some embodiments, the cover body is configured to be joined to the lateral recess of the radome in a form-fitting manner.
In some embodiments, the radome has joint parts, and the cover body has mating parts for joining to the joint parts.
In some embodiments, the joint parts of the radome are respectively provided on both sides of the radome adjacent to the lateral opening.
In some embodiments, the joint part is configured as a joint groove, and the mating part is configured as a joint rib.
In some embodiments, the joint part is configured as a joint rib, and the mating part is configured as a joint groove.
In some embodiments, the cellular base station antenna further includes an end cover, the end cover includes a base surface and an apron bent from an outer edge of the base surface, the base surface has a lateral groove corresponding to a contour of the lateral recess of the radome, the base surface is configured to cover the radome on an end side, and the apron is configured to abut against the radome on a peripheral side.
In some embodiments, the antenna assembly includes a support structure, and a plurality of reflecting plates are fixed on the support structure.
In some embodiments, the support structure includes a base surface with a plurality of prismatic edges and a side surface bent from a corresponding prismatic edge of the base surface, the base surface of the end cover is fixed to the base surface of the support structure via a fastening device, and a corresponding reflecting plate is fixed to a side surface of the support structure via the fastening device.
In some embodiments, the antenna assembly includes a dielectric plate, and the dielectric plate is fixed between the side surface of the support structure and the corresponding reflecting plate.
In some embodiments, the plurality of reflecting plates include a first reflecting plate and a second reflecting plate on both sides of the lateral recess, and the first reflecting plate and the second reflecting plate are spaced apart from each other by the lateral recess, thereby forming a reflection interruption.
In some embodiments, the cellular base station antenna further includes a reflection patch, and the reflection patch is configured to at least partially compensate for the reflection interruption.
In some embodiments, the reflection patch is fixed on an inner surface of the cover body.
In some embodiments, the reflection patch includes a fixed section fixed on the inner surface of the cover body and first coupling sections extending from one end of the fixed section towards the first accommodating space, respectively.
In some embodiments, the first reflecting plate and the second reflecting plate respectively have second coupling sections close to the lateral recess.
In some embodiments, the first coupling section of the reflection patch and the second coupling section of the corresponding reflecting plate are fixed on two opposite sides of the same wall section of the lateral recess.
In some embodiments, the wall section of the lateral recess is formed with a first joint groove on a first side surface facing the first accommodating space, and the wall section of the lateral recess is formed with a second joint groove on a second side surface facing away from the first accommodating space, where the first joint groove is configured to join to the first coupling section of the reflection patch, and the second joint groove is configured to join to the second coupling section of the corresponding reflecting plate.
In some embodiments, the first coupling section and the corresponding second coupling section at least partially overlap.
In some embodiments, the plurality of reflecting plates and reflection patch form a substantially closed polygonal reflection outline.
In some embodiments, the bottom of the lateral recess of the radome is configured to at least partially abut against a peripheral wall of the pole.
According to a second aspect of the present application, a pole assembly is provided, including a pole; and a cellular base station antenna capable of being mounted laterally to the pole, the cellular base station antenna being configured as the cellular base station antenna according to some embodiments of the present application.
In some embodiments, the cellular base station antenna is configured to be mounted to the middle of the pole.
In some embodiments, a lighting device is mounted on the top of the pole.
The present application will be described below with reference to the attached drawings, wherein the attached drawings illustrate certain embodiments of the present application. However, it should be understood that the present application may be presented in many different ways and is not limited to the embodiments described below; in fact, the embodiments described below are intended to make the disclosure of the present application more complete and to fully explain the protection scope of the present application to those skilled in the art. It should also be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the present disclosure may be combined in various ways so as to provide more additional embodiments.
It should be understood that the terms used herein are only used to describe specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present application. 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, 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 attached 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 locations), 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 “schematic” or “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 application is not limited by any expressed or implied theory given in the above technical field, background art, summary of the invention or 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.
As used herein, the term “partially” may be a part of any proportion. For example, it may be greater than 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or may even be 100%, i.e. all.
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.
According to the present application, a cellular base station antenna that can be mounted laterally on a pole, such as a monopole, is provided and includes a radome having a lateral recess that defines a first accommodating space with a lateral opening and for accommodating a pole; and an antenna assembly mounted within a second accommodating space defined by the radome, the antenna assembly including a reflecting plate and a radiating element mounted on the reflecting plate.
When the lateral opening of the cellular base station antenna is moved laterally towards the monopole, the monopole can easily enter into the first accommodating space via the lateral opening and be securely received at the bottom of the lateral recess. The cellular base station antenna may then be securely mounted to the monopole by means of a suitable fastening device, thereby allowing lateral mounting of the cellular base station antenna on any desired section or height of the monopole, such as the middle section.
Advantageously, the cellular base station antenna may further include a cover body, and the cover body may be configured to be detachably mounted to the lateral recess of the radome so as to cover the lateral opening. As such, the cellular base station antenna may have a substantially closed generally cylindrical outline.
Referring now to
As shown in
Referring to
Unlike the cylindrical radome of the traditional donut type antenna 100′, the radome 10 of the antenna 100 of the present application is no longer a complete cylinder, but a columnar structure with the lateral recess 11. “The lateral recess 11” may be understood as a bent structure portion of the radome 10 that is recessed from the outside towards the inside.
The radome 10 is typically formed from a material that enables signals to enter and exit from the antenna. Exemplary materials of the radome 10 may include polymeric materials such as PVC, glass fibers, fiber reinforced polypropylene, acrylonitrile styrene acrylate (ASA), and polycarbonate. By casting, the radome 10 may be configured as an integral columnar structure.
The lateral recess 11 of the radome 10 may be configured as a substantially U-shaped recess. The first accommodating space 101 may be configured as a substantially U-shaped accommodation groove. It should be understood that “U-shaped” does not mean that the shape is strictly identical with the letter “U”, but rather means that the lateral recess 11 has one bottom section 12 and two wall sections 13 extending outwardly from the bottom section, thereby forming a generally U-shaped outline.
In some embodiments, the bottom section 12 of the lateral recess 11 may be flat, arcuate or stepped. In some embodiments, the two wall sections 13 of the lateral recess 11 may be flat or may be stepped. In some embodiments, the two wall sections 13 of the lateral recess 11 may also have different configuration and/or angular orientations in order to avoid specific components.
Advantageously, the outline of the bottom section 12 of the U-shaped recess may substantially correspond to the peripheral wall outline of the monopole 60, so that the peripheral wall of the monopole 60 can more securely abut or confront the bottom of the lateral recess 11. When the monopole 60 is a cylindrical monopole 60, the bottom section 12 of the U-shaped recess may have a circularly curved cross-section. When the monopole 60 is a prismatic monopole 60, the bottom section 12 of the U-shaped recess may have a linear or angled cross-section.
As shown in
In some embodiments, for aesthetic reasons, the cellular base station antenna 100 and a matching RRU module (not shown in the figure) may be hidden into a substantially cylindrical shield (not shown in the figure), which can cover and hide the cellular base station antenna 100 and RRU module. In some cases, the end cover 20 and/or the cover body 30 mentioned in the present application may be omitted in view of the presence of the shield.
Referring to
The antenna assembly 40 may be mounted in the second accommodating space 102 within the radome 10, and the antenna assembly 40 may include a support structure 41, a plurality of reflecting plates 42 mounted at a plurality of prismatic edges of the support structure 41, and a radiating element array 43 mounted on the plurality of reflecting plates 42.
In the illustrated embodiment, the cellular base station antenna 100 may have a “three-sector” configuration in which one cell is divided into three 120° sectors in the azimuth plane. As shown in
It should be understood that the sector configuration of the cellular base station antenna 100 may have a variety of feasible variations. In some embodiments, the antenna assembly 40 may include fewer than three reflecting plates 42. In some embodiments, the antenna assembly 40 may include more than three reflecting plates 42, for example, it may have four reflecting plates 42 (as shown in
Referring to
As shown in
When the support structure 41 is a metal member, direct contact between the metal support structure 41 and the reflecting plate 42 (typically an aluminum reflecting plate 42) may deteriorate passive intermodulation (PIM) performance of the cellular base station antenna 100. In order to avoid direct contact between the support structure 41 and the reflecting plate 42, the antenna assembly 40 may include a dielectric plate 44, which is fixed between the side surface 402 of the support structure 41 and the corresponding reflecting plate 42, as shown in
With continued reference to
In order to at least partially overcome the problem caused by the reflection interruption, the cellular base station antenna 100 may further include a reflection patch 50, which may be configured as a metal sheet metal member. Advantageously, the reflection patch 50 may be fixed on the cover body 30. Thus, when the cover body 30 is mounted at the lateral recess 11 of the radome 10, the reflection patch 50 may be mounted in place so as to provide favorable reflection compensation.
Next, the cover body 30 of the cellular base station antenna 100 and the reflection patch 50 are described in further detail with reference to
The cover body 30 may be configured as a lateral cover plate for covering the lateral opening 14 brought by the lateral recess 11, which may be configured to be detachably mounted to the lateral recess 11 of the radome 10. As shown in
As shown in
It should be understood that the detachable connection method may have a variety of possibilities and is not limited to the above-mentioned methods. In some embodiments, the joint part 12 of the radome 10 may be configured as a joint rib, and the mating part 32 on the cover body 30 may be configured as a joint groove. In other embodiments, the connection between the radome 10 and the cover body 30 may be achieved via a threaded connection, a snap connection, bonding, and/or a hinge connection.
With continued reference to
In order to form a substantially continuous reflection outline, a path may be coincident between the reflection patch 50 and the first and second reflecting plates 42-1, 42-2 on both sides of the lateral recess 11. As shown in
Advantageously, the first coupling section 52 of the reflection patch 50 and the second coupling section 62 of the corresponding reflecting plate 42 may be fixed on two opposite sides of a same wall section 16 of the lateral recess 11.
In order to fix the first coupling section 52 of the reflection patch 50, the wall section 16 of the lateral recess 11 may be formed with a first joint groove 17 on a first side surface facing the first accommodating space 101, and the first joint groove 17 may be configured to embed into the first coupling section 52 of the reflection patch 50. In addition, in order to fix the second coupling sections 62 of the first and second reflecting plates 42-2, the wall section 16 of the lateral recess 11 may be formed with a second joint groove 18 on a second side surface facing away from the first accommodating space 101 (or otherwise facing towards the second accommodating space 102), and the second joint groove 18 may be configured to embed into the second coupling section 62 of the corresponding reflecting plate 42. Advantageously, the first and second joint grooves 17, 18 may be substantially shaped on both sides of the same location of the lateral recess 11, thereby achieving good coupling between the reflection patch 50 and the reflecting plate 42.
It should be understood that the corresponding coupling section may be fixed in a variety of ways and is not limited to the above-mentioned methods. In other embodiments, the fixing of the corresponding coupling section may also be achieved through bonding, form-fitting, a snap connection, a threaded connection, welding, etc.
As such, the plurality of reflecting plates 42 and the reflection patch 50 may generally form a substantially closed polygonal reflection outline. The substantially closed polygonal reflection outline is advantageous in that it provides a larger ground plane for the radiating element array and improves the pattern of antenna beam emitted by the radiating element array.
Next, assembly steps for mounting the antenna to the monopole 60 according to some embodiments of the present application are described with reference to
As shown in
To implement assembly, the lateral opening 14 of the radome 10 may move towards the monopole 60 such that the monopole 60 can enter the first accommodating space 101 defined by the lateral recess 11 via the lateral opening 14. As shown in
As shown in
After the radome 10 is securely mounted to the monopole 60, the cover body 30 (advantageously, together with the reflection patch 50) may be connected to the radome 10, as shown in
Some embodiments of the present disclosure are exemplary described above in connection with the accompanying drawings. Those skilled in the art should understand that the specific structures shown in the above embodiments are exemplary only and not limiting. Moreover, those skilled in the art can combine the above-described various technical features in a variety of possible ways to form a new technical solution or make other modifications, which are included within the scope of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202211521524.6 | Nov 2022 | CN | national |
