Patent Application
20240429620
The present application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202111147305.1, filed Sep. 29, 2021, the entire content of which is incorporated herein by reference as if set forth fully herein.
The present disclosure generally relates to the field of antennas, and more specifically, the present disclosure relates to a fence structure suitable for use in a base station antenna and a base station antenna comprising such a fence structure.
Cellular communication systems are known in the field. In a typical cellular communication system, a geographic area is divided into a series of regions that are referred to as “cells,” and each cell is served by one or more base stations. Each base station may comprise baseband units, radio devices, and antennas, where the antennas may be configured to provide two-way radio frequency (RF) communications with stationary and mobile subscribers (or may be referred to as users) geographically located within the cell. In many cases, a cell may be divided into a plurality of sectors, and each individual antenna provides coverage for each sector. Antennas are usually mounted on a tower or other raised structures and outwardly directed radiation beams (“antenna beams”) generated by each antenna serve the corresponding sectors.
According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a fence structure for an antenna array having a plurality of radiating elements is provided, the fence structure comprising: a first fence structure comprising a plurality of rows of first transverse fences extending in a first direction and a plurality of columns of first longitudinal fences extending in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction, where the first transverse fences and the first longitudinal fences are configured to collectively surround individual radiating elements of the plurality of radiating elements in a box arrangement; and a second fence structure comprising a plurality of second fences, each second fence being arranged between respective two adjacent first longitudinal fences in a respective column of first longitudinal fences and configured to be electrically coupled with first transverse fences located at two sides of the second fence, a height of each second fence in a third direction perpendicular to both the first direction and second direction is larger than heights of the first transverse fence and the first longitudinal fence in the third direction.
In some embodiments, the second fence is in direct electrical contact with the first transverse fences at the two sides of the second fence.
In some embodiments, a first of the second fences capacitively couples with respective first and second of the first transverse fences at the two sides of the first of the second fences.
In some embodiments, the first of the second fences comprises a first coupling part, a second coupling part and a connection part connecting the first coupling part and second coupling part, the first coupling part facing the first of the first transverse fences located at a first side of the first of the second fences to capacitively couple therewith, the second coupling part facing the second of the first transverse fences located at a second side of the first of the second fences opposite to the first side to capacitively couple therewith.
In some embodiments, the first coupling part and the second coupling part of the first of the second fences do not extend beyond the first fence structure in the third direction, and the connection part of the first of the second fences extends beyond the first fence structure in the third direction.
In some embodiments, a first of the second fences comprises a coupling part and a connection part, the coupling part facing a first of the first transverse fences located at a first side of the first of the second fences to capacitively couple therewith, the connection part being in direct electrical contact with a second of the first transverse fences located at a second side of the first of the second fences that is opposite the first side.
In some embodiments, the coupling part of the first of the second fences does not extend beyond the first fence structure in the third direction, and the connection part of the first of the second fences extends beyond the first fence structure in the third direction.
In some embodiments, a first of the second fences has a first part that does not extend beyond the first fence structure in the third direction and a second part that extends beyond the first fence structure in the third direction, and wherein the first part of the first of the second fences has a rectangular shape.
In some embodiments, the second part of the first of the second fences has a rectangular shape or a trapezoidal shape.
In some embodiments, the second part of the first of the second fences comprises an opening.
In some embodiments, a first of the second fences is parallel to a first of the first longitudinal fences.
In some embodiments, a first of the second fences forms an angle relative to a first of the first longitudinal fences.
In some embodiments, a first of the second fences comprises a metal sheet or a printed circuit board covered with a metal foil.
In some embodiments, the first fence structure and the second fence structure are integrally formed.
In some embodiments, a length of a first of the first transverse fences in the first direction is the same as a length of a first of the first longitudinal fences in the second direction, and the height of the first of the first transverse fences in the third direction is the same as the height of the first of the first longitudinal fences in the third direction.
In some embodiments, each second fence is flat or curved.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station antenna is provided, the base station antenna comprising: a ground plane; an antenna array having a plurality of radiating elements mounted on the ground plane to extend forwardly from the ground plane; and a fence structure mounted on the ground plane, the fence structure being the fence structure according to any embodiment of the aforementioned aspect of the present disclosure, wherein the radiating elements extend farther forwardly from the ground plane than the first transverse fences and the first longitudinal fences of the first fence structure of the fence structure, and the first transverse fences and the first longitudinal fences collectively surround individual radiating elements of the plurality of radiating elements in a box arrangement, and wherein the second fences of the second fence structure of the fence structure extend farther forwardly from the ground plane than the first transverse fences and the first longitudinal fences.
In some embodiments, the second fences extend farther forwardly from the ground plane than the radiating elements.
In some embodiments, the base station antenna further comprises a plurality of radomes located in front of the antenna array.
In some embodiments, the second fence structure is configured to reduce a phase difference between a horizontal component and a vertical component of an antenna beam formed by the antenna array at a scanning angle that exceeds 30°.
In some embodiments, the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at the scanning angle that exceeds 30° is reduced by more than 50% as compared with that in a case when the second fence structure does not extend beyond the first fence structure in a direction perpendicular to the ground plane. \
In some embodiments, the second fence structure is configured to substantially have no influence on a phase difference between a horizontal component and a vertical component of an antenna beam formed by the antenna array at a scanning angle of 0°.
In some embodiments, the second fence structure is configured such that a cross-polarization level of an antenna beam formed by the antenna array is less than −20 dB.
According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a base station antenna is provided, the base station antenna comprising: a ground plane; an antenna array having a plurality of radiating elements mounted on the ground plane, the antenna array configured to form an antenna beam; a plurality of radomes located in front of the antenna array; and a fence structure mounted on the ground plane, the fence structure configured to reduce a phase difference between a horizontal component and a vertical component of the antenna beam at a scanning angle that exceeds 30°.
In some embodiments, the fence structure is configured to substantially have no influence on a phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at a scanning angle of 0°.
In some embodiments, the fence structure is configured such that a cross-polarization level of the antenna beam is less than −20 dB.
Through the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure by referencing the attached drawings, other features and advantages of the present disclosure will become clearer.
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 positions, dimensions, and ranges disclosed in the attached drawings and the like.
Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below by referencing the attached drawings. It should be noted: unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions and numerical values of components and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is actually only illustrative, and in no way serves as any limitation to the present disclosure and its application or use. In other words, the structure and method herein are shown in an exemplary manner to illustrate different embodiments of the structure and method in the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will understand that they only illustrate exemplary ways of implementing the present disclosure, rather than exhaustive ways. In addition, the attached drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some features may be enlarged to show details of specific components.
In addition, the technologies, methods, and equipment known to those of ordinary skill in the art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, the technologies, methods, and equipment should be regarded as part of the granted Specification.
In all examples shown and discussed herein, any specific value should be construed as merely exemplary value and not as limiting value. Therefore, other examples of the exemplary embodiment may have different values.
Regarding this point, the inventors of the present disclosure studied the changes in horizontal and vertical components of antenna beams with and without radomes. The inventors discovered that there were no significant changes in amplitudes of the horizontal component and the vertical component of antenna beams before and after introducing the radomes, but the change in phase differences between the horizontal component and the vertical component were relatively large, especially at a large scanning angle (for example, no less than) 30°, the phase differences between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam were significantly increased, as shown in Table 1 below. Therefore, the inventors believe that the introduction of radomes severely affects the phase differences between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam, thereby affecting the radiation patterns.
In order to resolve the aforementioned problems, the present disclosure provides an improved fence structure which is capable of effectively reducing the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of an antenna beam and suppressing the cross-polarization level of the antenna beam, thereby promoting the realization of a desired radiation pattern.
As shown in
The fence structure 100 further comprises a second fence structure 120. The second fence structure 120 comprises a plurality of second fences (such as 121). The height of each second fence in the third direction is larger than the heights of the first transverse fence and the first longitudinal fence in the third direction. Each second fence is arranged between respective two adjacent first longitudinal fences in a respective column of first longitudinal fences. For example, the second fence 121 is arranged between first longitudinal fences 112Y1 and 112Y2. The second fence is configured to be electrically coupled with first transverse fences located at two sides of the second fence. For example, the second fence 121 may be electrically coupled to at least one of first transverse fences 114X1 and 114X2 at one side thereof, and be electrically coupled to at least one of first transverse fences 115X1 and 115X2 at the other side thereof. Therefore, in the fence structure 100, the first fence structure 110 realizes electrical coupling between individual parts of the first fence structure 110 for surrounding individual rows of radiating elements, respectively, through the second fence structure 120 arranged there among. In some embodiments, the first fence structure 110 and the second fence structure 120 may be integrally formed.
The first transverse fence and the first longitudinal fence, for example, may be formed from a metal sheet, a printed circuit board covered with a metal foil, a plastic substrate with metal deposited thereon or other suitable electrically conductive materials. Similarly, the second fence, for example, may be formed with a metal sheet, a printed circuit board covered with a metal foil, a plastic substrate with metal deposited thereon or other suitable electrically conductive materials.
In some embodiments, the base station antenna 200 further comprises a plurality of radomes (similar to the plurality of radomes 13 in
The main difference between the fence structure 100 and the fence structure 12 is in the second fence structure 120. This shows that the fence structure 100, especially the second fence structure 120, successfully reduces the negative impact of the radomes on the antenna beam formed by the antenna array 220, such that the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam is significantly reduced, thereby ensuring that the cross-polarization level of the antenna beam is less than −20 dB. In some embodiments, the second fence structure 120 may be configured to reduce the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam formed by the antenna array 220 at a scanning angle of no less than 30°. In particular, in some embodiments, the second fence structure 120 may be configured such that the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam formed by the antenna array 220 at a scanning angle of no less than 30° is reduced by more than 50% as compared with that in a case when the second fence structure 120 does not extend beyond the first fence structure 110 in a direction (third direction) perpendicular to the ground plane 210 (equivalent to the case of the fence structure 12). For example, as shown in Table 2, as compared to the case where the fence structure 12 is used, when the fence structure 100 is used, the phase differences between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at a frequency of 3.98 GHz at scanning angles of 47° and −47° are reduced by 11.3° (approximately 78%) and 14.2° (approximately 66%), respectively, the phase differences between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at a frequency of 3.84 GHz at scanning angles of 47° and −47° are reduced by 11.1° (approximately 70%) and 12.5° (approximately 58%), respectively, and the phase differences between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at a frequency of 3.7 GHz at scanning angles of 47° and −47° are reduced by 11.8° (approximately 66%) and 12.5° (approximately 56%), respectively. In some embodiments, the second fence structure 120 may be configured to substantially have no influence on the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam formed by the antenna array 220 at a scanning angle of 0°. The term “substantially” herein may refer to changes not exceeding 10% of the described value. For example, as shown in Table 2, as compared to the case where the fence structure 12 is used, when the fence structure 100 is used, the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at a frequency of 3.98 GHz at the scanning angle of 0° only changed by 0.7° (approximately 9%) and the phase differences between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at frequencies of 3.84 GHz and 3.7 GHz at the scanning angle of 0° only changed by 0.1° (approximately 1%). Therefore, the fence structure according to the embodiments of the present disclosure is capable of improving the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at a scanning angle of no less than 30° while substantially not degrading the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam at a scanning angle of 0°.
Various exemplary modifications of the fence structure 100 according to the present disclosure are described with reference to
In some embodiments, the second fence may be parallel to the first longitudinal fence, for example as shown in
In some embodiments, some or all of the second fences may be in direct electrical contact with the first transverse fences that are at the two sides of each second fence. As shown in
Based on the above, the second fence may have more variations. For example, the XY cross-sectional shape of the second fence may be “|” (as shown in
The second fence may be regarded as comprising a first part that does not extend beyond the first fence structure 110 in the third direction and a second part that extends beyond the first fence structure 110 in the third direction. The first part of the second fence may have a rectangular shape. In some embodiments, the second part of the second fence may have a rectangular shape, a trapezoidal shape or other suitable shapes. As shown in
The fence structure of the present disclosure is capable of effectively reducing the phase difference between the horizontal component and the vertical component of the antenna beam formed by an antenna array that has multiple radomes positioned in front of the radiating elements of the array, suppressing the cross-polarization level of the antenna beam below −20 dB, and improving other aspects of the radiation pattern.
The terms “left,” “right,” “front,” “rear,” “top,” “bottom,” “upper,” “lower,” “high,” “low” in the descriptions and claims, if present, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily used to describe constant relative positions. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, for example, can operate on other orientations that differ from those orientations shown herein or otherwise described. For example, when the device in the drawing is turned upside down, features that were originally described as “above” other features can now be described as “below” 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.
In the Specification and Claims, when an element is referred to as being “above” another element, “attached” to another element, “connected” to another element, “coupled” to another element, or “contacting” another element,” the element may be directly above another element, directly attached to another element, directly connected to another element, directly coupled to another element, or directly contacting another element, or there may be one or a plurality of intermediate elements. In contrast, if an element is described “directly” “above” another element, “directly attached” to another element, “directly connected” to another element, “directly coupled” to another element or “directly contacting” another element, there will be no intermediate elements. In the Specification and Claims, a feature that is arranged “adjacent” to another feature, may denote that a feature has a part that overlaps an adjacent feature or a part located above or below the adjacent feature.
As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration” rather than as a “model” to be copied exactly. Any realization method described exemplarily herein is not necessarily interpreted as being preferable or advantageous over other realization methods. Moreover, the present disclosure is not limited by any expressed or implied theory given in the technical field, background art, summary of the invention, or specific implementation methods.
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 “include/comprise” is used in this text, 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 more other features, entireties, steps, operations, units and/or components and/or combinations thereof, In the present disclosure, the term “provide” is used in a broad sense to cover all ways of obtaining an object, so “providing an object” includes but is not limited to “purchase,” “preparation/manufacturing,” “arrangement/setting,” “installation/assembly,” and/or “order” of the object, etc.
As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The terms used herein are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are also intended to include the plural forms, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Those skilled in the art should realize that the boundaries between the above operations are merely illustrative. A plurality of operations can be combined into a single operation, which may be distributed in the additional operation, and the operations can be executed at least partially overlapping in time. Also, alternative embodiments may include a plurality of instances of specific operations, and the order of operations may be changed in other various embodiments. However, other modifications, changes and substitutions are also possible. Aspects and elements of all embodiments disclosed above may be combined in any manner and/or in conjunction with aspects or elements of other embodiments to provide a plurality of additional embodiments. Therefore, the Specification and attached drawings hereof should be regarded as illustrative rather than limitative.
Although some specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail through examples, those skilled in the art should understand that the above examples are only for illustration rather than for limiting the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments 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 embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the attached claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 202111147305.1 | Sep 2021 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/US2022/075719 | 8/31/2022 | WO |
