Embodiments of this disclosure relate to the communications field, and in particular, to a feeding network of a dual-beam antenna and a dual-beam antenna.
As a mobile broadband (MBB) develops and a quantity of users increases, a network capacity is becoming a bottleneck of development of a universal mobile communications system (UMTS). A common manner of expanding the network capacity mainly focuses on networking with the addition of a spectrum, a station, or multiple sectors, or using of a dual-beam antenna. A quantity of main device channels is increased in the dual-beam antenna to increase a quantity of partitions of service information channels in terms of a vertical dimension, so as to improve spectral efficiency, and further increase the network capacity.
When a dual-beam antenna is applied to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology, a radio-frequency system of a base station has an increasingly high requirement for a technology of a base station antenna, and in particular, for passive inter-modulation (PIM). PIM is an inter-modulation effect caused because passive components such as a joint, a feeder, an antenna, and a filter are non-linear when these components work in a case of a multi-carrier high-power signal. It is usually considered that passive devices are linear. However, the passive devices are non-linear to different extents in a high-power state. Such non-linearity is mainly caused because a joint of the passive devices is not tight, or the like. Due to the non-linearity of these passive devices, higher-order harmonic waves relative to an operating frequency are generated. These harmonic waves mix with the operating frequency to generate a new set of frequencies, and finally generate a set of unwanted spectrums in the air. Consequently, normal communication is affected.
Currently, in design of a base station antenna, a bridge in a splitting network circuit usually uses a microstrip structure in a printed circuit board (PCB), and a phase-shift circuit usually uses a strip line structure on the PCB. The splitting network circuit and the phase-shift circuit are usually separated, and often cascaded in a manner of cable welding or screw connection.
Embodiments of this application provide a feeding network of a dual-beam antenna and a dual-beam antenna, so as to simplify a feeding network structure of a dual-beam antenna, and improve PIM reliability of an antenna system.
According to a first aspect, a feeding network of a dual-beam antenna is provided, including: a cavity, including an upper grounding metal plate and a lower grounding metal plate; a PCB, disposed inside the cavity, where a splitting network circuit and a phase-shift circuit in the feeding network are integrated into the PCB, and arrangement of the PCB and the cavity enables a wire on the PCB to have a strip line structure as a whole; and at least two radio-frequency signal input ports, where the at least two radio-frequency signal input ports are connected to the splitting network circuit on the PCB, and after sequentially passing through the splitting network circuit and the phase-shift circuit on the PCB, radio-frequency signals that are input from the at least two radio-frequency signal input ports form, by using an antenna element of the dual-beam antenna, at least two beams between which there is an angle.
With reference to the first aspect, in an implementation of the first aspect, the at least two radio-frequency signal input ports include a first radio-frequency signal input port and a second radio-frequency signal input port; and the splitting network circuit includes: a 90-degree bridge, where an input end of the 90-degree bridge is connected to the first radio-frequency signal input port; a power splitter, where an input end of the power splitter is connected to the second radio-frequency signal input port; a first 180-degree bridge, where a first input port of the first 180-degree bridge is connected to a first output port of the 90-degree bridge, a second input port of the first 180-degree bridge is connected to a first output port of the power splitter, and the first 180-degree bridge is connected to the phase-shift circuit; and a second 180-degree bridge, where a first input port of the second 180-degree bridge is connected to a second output port of the 90-degree bridge, a second input port of the second 180-degree bridge is connected to a second output port of the power splitter, and the second 180-degree bridge is connected to the phase-shift circuit.
With reference to any one of the first aspect or the foregoing implementation of the first aspect, in another implementation of the first aspect, an isolation end of the 90-degree bridge is grounded.
With reference to any one of the first aspect or the foregoing implementations of the first aspect, in another implementation of the first aspect, the power splitter is a power splitter that has an open-circuit stub.
With reference to any one of the first aspect or the foregoing implementations of the first aspect, in another implementation of the first aspect, a length of the open-circuit stub ranges from ⅛ of an operating wavelength to ½ of the operating wavelength.
With reference to any one of the first aspect or the foregoing implementations of the first aspect, in another implementation of the first aspect, at least one of the 90-degree bridge, the first 180-degree bridge, or the second 180-degree bridge is implemented on the PCB in a broadside coupling manner.
With reference to any one of the first aspect or the foregoing implementations of the first aspect, in another implementation of the first aspect, a sliding medium is disposed between the phase-shift circuit on the PCB and the upper grounding metal plate and/or the lower grounding metal plate, and phase shift by the phase-shift circuit is implemented by sliding the sliding medium.
With reference to any one of the first aspect or the foregoing implementations of the first aspect, in another implementation of the first aspect, there is a gap between the splitting network circuit on the PCB and each of the upper grounding metal plate and the lower grounding metal plate.
With reference to any one of the first aspect or the foregoing implementations of the first aspect, in another implementation of the first aspect, the cavity is an extruded cavity.
According to a second aspect, a dual-beam antenna is provided, where the dual-beam antenna includes the feeding network according to any one of the foregoing implementations, and the dual-beam antenna further includes: an antenna element, connected to the feeding network, where after passing through the feeding network and the antenna element, radio-frequency signals that are input into the dual-beam antenna form at least two beams between which there is an angle.
The splitting network circuit and the phase-shift circuit in the feeding network of the dual-beam antenna are integrated into the PCB by using a strip line structure. Therefore, a feeding network structure of the dual-beam antenna is simplified, a hidden PIM danger caused by connecting the splitting network circuit and the phase-shift circuit by means of soldering or by using a screw is reduced, and PIM reliability of an antenna system is improved.
The following describes technical solutions in embodiments of this application with reference to accompanying drawings.
The splitting network circuit and the phase-shift circuit in the feeding network of the dual-beam antenna are integrated into the PCB by using a strip line structure. Therefore, a feeding network structure of the dual-beam antenna is simplified, a hidden PIM danger caused by connecting the splitting network circuit and the phase-shift circuit by means of soldering or by using a screw is reduced, and PIM reliability of an antenna system is improved.
Optionally, in an embodiment,
For example, if a first radio-frequency signal with a phase of 0 degree is input into the input end of the 90-degree bridge, a third radio-frequency signal with a phase of 0 degree and a fourth radio-frequency signal with a phase of 90 degrees may be generated. If the third radio-frequency signal is input into the first input port (that is, a delta port) of the first 180-degree bridge, two equi-amplitude signals (that is, equi-amplitude phase-inverted signals) may be generated, that is, a signal with a phase of 0 degree and a signal with a phase of 180 degrees. If the fourth radio-frequency signal is input into the first input port (that is, a delta port) of the second 180-degree bridge, two equi-amplitude signals (that is, equi-amplitude phase-inverted signals) may be generated, that is, a signal with a phase of 90 degrees and a signal with a phase of 270 degrees. If a second radio-frequency signal is input into the input port of the power splitter, equi-amplitude in-phase signals may be generated, that is, a fifth radio-frequency signal and a sixth radio-frequency signal. If the fifth radio-frequency signal is input into the second input port (that is, a sum port) of the first 180-degree bridge, two equi-amplitude in-phase signals may be generated. If the sixth radio-frequency signal is input into the second input port (that is, a sum port) of the second 180-degree bridge, two equi-amplitude in-phase signals may be generated.
It should be understood that, the foregoing four equi-amplitude radio-frequency signals with a phase difference of 90 degrees and the foregoing four equi-amplitude in-phase radio-frequency signals may be simultaneously generated by the splitting network circuit. A sequence for generating the foregoing radio-frequency signals is not specifically limited in this embodiment of this application.
Specifically, in the feeding network of the dual-beam antenna shown in
It should be further understood that, in the splitting network circuit, an output port that is of a 180-degree bridge and directly outputs a radio-frequency signal without using the phase-shift circuit may be any one of two output ports of the first 180-degree bridge and the two output ports of the second 180-degree bridge.
Another embodiment of this application is described in the following with reference to
In the phase-shift circuit of the feeding network of a dual-beam antenna shown in
It should be further noted that,
Optionally, in an embodiment, transmission lines on the PCB may include a metal strip line at an upper layer and a metal strip line at a lower layer of the PCB. The metal strip line at the upper layer and the metal strip line at the lower layer may be connected by using a metal via hole. Therefore, the metal strip line at the upper layer and the metal strip line at the lower layer may be regarded as one strip line. According to such a cabling manner, costs of the feeding network are reduced, and a weight of the PCB is lightened.
Optionally, in an embodiment, an isolation end of the 90-degree bridge is grounded.
Optionally, in an embodiment, the power splitter may be a power splitter that has an open-circuit stub.
Optionally, in an embodiment, a length of the open-circuit stub may range from ⅛ of an operating wavelength to ½ of the operating wavelength.
Optionally, in an embodiment, at least one of the 90-degree bridge, the first 180-degree bridge, or the second 180-degree bridge is implemented on the PCB in a broadside coupling manner. A structure of a 90-degree bridge is specifically described in the following with reference to
Specifically,
Optionally, in an embodiment, a sliding medium is disposed between the phase-shift circuit on the PCB and the upper grounding metal plate and/or the lower grounding metal plate, and phase shift by the phase-shift circuit is implemented by sliding the sliding medium.
Specifically,
Optionally, in an embodiment, there is a gap between the splitting network circuit on the PCB and each of the upper grounding metal plate and the lower grounding metal plate.
Optionally, in an embodiment, the cavity is an extruded cavity.
The splitting network circuit and the phase-shift circuit in the feeding network of the dual-beam antenna are integrated into the PCB by using a strip line structure. Therefore, a feeding network structure of the dual-beam antenna is simplified, a hidden PIM danger caused by connecting the splitting network circuit and the phase-shift circuit by means of soldering or by using a screw is reduced, and PIM reliability of an antenna system is improved.
It should be understood that in the embodiments of this application, “B corresponding to A” indicates that B is associated with A, and B may be determined according to A. However, it should further be understood that determining A according to B does not mean that B is determined according to A only; that is, B may also be determined according to A and/or other information.
It should be understood that the term “and/or” in this specification describes only an association relationship for describing associated objects and represents that three relationships may exist. For example, A and/or B may represent the following three cases: Only A exists, both A and B exist, and only B exists. In addition, the character “/” in this specification generally indicates an “or” relationship between the associated objects.
It should be understood that sequence numbers of the foregoing processes do not mean execution sequences in various embodiments of this application. The execution sequences of the processes should be determined according to functions and internal logic of the processes, and should not be construed as any limitation on the implementation processes of the embodiments of this application.
A person of ordinary skill in the art may be aware that, in combination with the examples described in the embodiments disclosed in this specification, units and algorithm steps can be implemented by electronic hardware or a combination of computer software and electronic hardware. Whether the functions are performed by hardware or software depends on particular applications and design constraint conditions of the technical solutions. A person skilled in the art may use different methods to implement the described functions for each particular application, but it should not be considered that the implementation goes beyond the scope of this application.
It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that, for the purpose of convenient and brief description, for a detailed working process of the foregoing system, apparatus, and unit, reference may be made to a corresponding process in the foregoing method embodiments, and details are not described herein again.
In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and method may be implemented in other manners. For example, the described apparatus embodiment is merely an example. For example, the unit division is merely logical function division and may be other division in actual implementation. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be implemented by using some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections between the apparatuses or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.
The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one position, or may be distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual requirements to achieve the objectives of the solutions of the embodiments.
In addition, functional units in the embodiments of this application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the units may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit.
When the functions are implemented in the form of a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, the functions may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on such an understanding, the technical solutions of this application essentially, or the part contributing to the prior art, or some of the technical solutions may be implemented in a form of a software product. The software product is stored in a storage medium, and includes several instructions for instructing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, a network device, or the like) to perform all or some of the steps of the methods described in the embodiments of this application. The foregoing storage medium includes: any medium that can store program code, such as a USB flash drive, a removable hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk, or an optical disc.
The foregoing descriptions are merely specific implementations of this application, but are not intended to limit the protection scope of this application. Any variation or replacement readily figured out by a person skilled in the art within the technical scope disclosed in this application shall fall within the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
201510923138.3 | Dec 2015 | CN | national |
This application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/CN2016/109551, filed on Dec. 13, 2016, which claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201510923138.3, filed on Dec. 14, 2015. The disclosures of the aforementioned applications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | PCT/CN2016/109551 | Dec 2016 | US |
Child | 16007165 | US |