The present invention relates to a high frequency device for use in a base station for communications.
A high frequency circuit is provided on the upper surface of the board 4. The high frequency circuit includes a power amplifier (PA) for transmitting and a low noise amplifier (LNA) for receiving and a controller for controlling the PA and LNA. A cover 5 made of metal covers the high frequency circuit to shield the high frequency circuit.
Amplifiers, such as the PA and LNA, generate a large amount of heat, and are fixed directly onto the flat mounting board 2 for dissipating the heat generated by the amplifiers. Alternatively, while the heat generated by the amplifiers are dissipated from plural through-holes provided directly beneath the amplifiers in the board 4, the copper foil on the lower surface of the board 4 contact the flat mounting board 2. The lower surface of the flat mounting board 2 is then joined with a heat sink for dissipating the heat from the amplifiers.
In order to respond to the rapid spread of mobile telephones, the introduction of advanced communications systems, and the extension of communications service areas, the number of base stations or facilities is required to increase. Increasing the number of base stations or facilities however involves the acquirement or the extension of their installation locations. High frequency apparatuses designed for use in the base stations is accordingly demanded to have small sizes.
It is additionally desired for the same purpose to mount the high frequency device 1 on the top of an antenna tower. As the top of an antenna tower however offers a limited installation area, the high frequency device 1 is demanded to have small overall dimensions for ensuring the installation. Further, the high frequency device 1 is demanded to have a small size to be installed at the top of the antenna tower, and accordingly to have a small weight.
A high frequency device includes an antenna connector adapted to be connected with an antenna, a board, a conductor layer provided on an upper surface of the board, a filter mounted on the upper surface of the board and connected with the antenna connector, and a high frequency circuit mounted on a lower surface of the board and connected with the filter. The filter includes a case having a hollow shape having an opening which opens downward, and a resonator accommodated in the case. The case has a lower end around the opening. The lower end of the case is joined to the conductor layer.
The high frequency device has a small size.
A circulator 14 has three ports, an input/output port 14A, an output port 14B, and an input port 14C. The input/output port 14A is connected to the filter 13. The output port 14B is connected to a low noise amplifier (LNA) 15 while the input port 14C is connected to a power amplifier (PA) 16. The reception signal received by the antenna 12A is transferred via the antenna connector 12 to the filter 13. The filter 13 filters and transfers the reception signal to the input/output port 14A of the circulator 14. The circulator 14 transfers the reception signal filtered by the filter 13 to the output port 14B and the transmission signal received from the PA 16 to the input/output port 14A. The circulator 14, the LNA 15, and the PA 16 constitute a high frequency circuit 11A. In other words, the high frequency circuit 11A includes the LNA 15 and the PA 16.
A controller 17 controls the turning on and off and the gain of the PA 16 while detecting an error of the gain of the PA 16 and notifying the malfunction of the PA 16. Plural connectors 18 are connected with the controller 17, the LNA 15, and the PA 16. According to this embodiment, the output port 15B of the LNA 15 is connected to an output connector 18A. The input port 16A of the PA 16 is connected to an input connector 18B. A power supply connector 18C is adapted to supply power to the controller 17, the LNA 15, and the PA 16. A connector 18D is connected to the controller 17.
The structure of the high frequency device 11 will be described below.
The filter 13 according to the embodiment is an air cavity type filter having a passing bandwidth of 3 GHz and having three cavities 113A to 113C. The filter 13 includes a case 21, a board 22, and resonators 23A to 23C. The case 21 is made of a metallic material. The antenna connector 12 is fixed to a side surface of the case 21 with, e.g. screws. A grounding layer 22B is provided in the board 22.
The case 21 includes a box shell 21B and partitions 21D. The box shell 21B has a hollow shape having an opening 21A provided in a lower surface thereof. The box shell 21B includes a top plate 21F and a frame 21E extended downward from an entire outer periphery 21G of the top plate 21F. The case 21 may preferably be formed by punching and bending a surface treated steel plate by, e.g., a pressing process. In this case, the box shell 21B and the partitions 21D accommodated in the box shell 21B are formed separately and joined together by, e.g., soldering to complete the case 21.
The board 22 includes an insulating board 22F having an upper surface 22U and a lower surface 22L and is made of insulating material. The grounding layer 22B extends in the insulating board 22F in parallel with both the upper surface 22U and the lower surface 22L. A conductor layer 22A is provided on the upper surface 22U of the board 22. The case 21 is mounted on the board 22 such that the opening 21A is closed with the conductor layer 22A.
The resonators 23A to 23C are accommodated in the cavities 113A to 113C, and surrounded by the conductor layer 22A, the box shell 21B, and the partitions 21D of the case 21, respectively. The resonators 23A to 23C are placed directly on the conductor layer 22A and spaced from the case 21. The case 21 and the conductor layer 22A are joined to each other by soldering. Alternatively in the high frequency device of this embodiment, the resonators 23A to 23C can be connected to the case 21 and spaced from the conductor layer 22A.
The shape and amount of the joining material 24 significantly affects the characteristics, such as an insertion loss, of the filter 13. In the filter 13 of the air-cavity type, electric charges may intensively be accumulated at corners of the cavities 113A to 113C. If the shape at the joint between each of the resonators 23A to 23C and the conductor layer 22A or at the joint between the case 21 and the conductor layer 22A has an acute angle, electric charges tend to accumulate at the acute joint, hence deteriorating the characteristics of the filter. The size of the exposed regions 222A having the insulating film 25 not provided on the upper surface 122A of the conductor layer 22A is determined such that the shape of the joining material 24 has no portion having an acute angle. This shape provides the filter 13 with a small insertion loss. This shape reduces variation of the amount of the joining material 24, such as a solder, and reduces the variation of the shape at the corners, accordingly reducing the variation of the characteristics of the filter 13 and the high frequency device 11.
The case 21 is placed on the upper surface 22U of the board 22. The conductor layer 22A functions as a cover of the case 21 of the filter 13 defining the cavities 113A to 113C provided in the filter 13. This structure does not require another cover, thus eliminating the use of molding dies and fabricating the filter 13 at lower cost. Amplifiers 26A and other electronic components 26 constituting the high frequency circuit 11A and the controller 17 are mounted onto the lower surface 22L of the board 22. The amplifier 26A is an electronic device of surface-mount type which serves as the LNA 15 or the PA 16 of the high frequency circuit 11A. The electronic components 26 are of surface-mount type for producing a peripheral circuit of the high frequency circuit 11A and the controller 17. A metal cover 27 shielding the high frequency circuit 11A is mounted onto the lower surface 22L of the board 22 to cover the electronic components 26 and the amplifiers 26A. The cover 27 includes a bottom plate 27A and a side plate 27C which extends upward from an entire outer periphery 27B of the bottom plate 27A. The side plate 27C has an upper end 27D jointed to the board 22. Thus, while the filter 13 is mounted on the upper surface 22U of the board 22, the circulator 14, the LNA 15, the PA 16, and the controller 17 are mounted on the lower surface 22L of the same, hence providing the high frequency device 11 with small overall dimensions.
The structure for dissipating heat generated by the amplifier 26A of the high frequency device 11 will be described in detail below. As shown in
The board 22 according to this embodiment has a multi-layer structure including four conductive layers. The grounding layer 22B is one of the conductive layers. The amplifiers 26A including the LNA 15 and the PA 16 has a ground, that is, a ground 11B of the high frequency circuit 11A is connected to the grounding layer 22B so as to shield the high frequency circuit 11A mounted onto the lower surface 22L of the board 22. This structure facilitates releasing the heat generated by the amplifiers 26A through the grounding layer 22B, accordingly dissipates the heat preferably even if the device 11 has a small size and has a small area for dissipating the heat accordingly. The high frequency device 11 dissipates the heat from the amplifier 26A without the flat mounting board 2 of the conventional high frequency device 1 shown in
The grounding layer 22B is preferably equal to or larger than the conductor layer 22A as to reduce interference between signals in the filter 13 and the high frequency circuit 11A. The grounding layer 22B and the metal cover 27 provided on the lower surface 22L of the board 22 surrounds and shield high frequency circuit 11A securely.
The cover 27 is formed by punching and bending a surface treated steel plate by, e.g., a pressing process, thereby being inexpensive. The cover 27 can be fabricated not only by the pressing procedures but also by a die-casting process or a cutting process. The cover 27 employs materials or surface treatment, to provide high thermal conductivity.
The connector 18 according to this embodiment is mounted on the upper surface 22U of the board 22. This arrangement eliminates an aperture provided in the cover 27 for accessing the connector 18 from an outside of the high frequency device 11, thus shielding the high frequency circuit 11A securely. The connector 18 can be accessed easily from the outside even if a heat sink is mounted to a lower surface of the cover 27.
According to this embodiment, the board 22 has a recess 22G provided in the lower surface 22L thereof so as to locate directly above the side plate 27C of the cover 27. An exposed region 28 of the grinding layer 22B is exposed through the recess 22G. An upper end 27D of the side plate 27C of the cover 27 contacts the exposed region 28 of the grinding layer 22B. The cover 27 and the grinding layer 22B are joined directly with each other, and shield the high frequency circuit 11A securely. The heat generated by the amplifiers 26A serving as the LNA 15 and the PA 16 is efficiently dissipated to the cover 27 via the grounding layer 22B even if the device 11 has a small size and has a small area for dissipating the heat accordingly. According to this embodiment, the cover 27 is fixed to the board 22 with screws but can be joined to the board with, e.g. solder.
According to this embodiment, the conductor layer 22A is electrically isolated from the grounding layer 22B. This structure prevents signals of the high frequency circuit 11A from leaking and prevents signals of the filter 13 from entering to the high frequency circuit 11A.
Adjusting screw 29 is provided at the case 21 above each of the resonators 23A to 23C as to control the band-pass characteristics of the filter 13. The band-pass characteristics of the filter 13 is adjusted by turning the adjusting screws 29 to change the distance between the adjusting screw 29 and each of resonators 23A to 23C. According to this embodiment, the resonators 23A to 23C are placed on the conductor layer 22A while the adjusting screws 29 extend from positions opposite to the board 22. This arrangement allows the bottom plate 27A of the cover 27 to be flat, hence allowing a heat sink to be mounted onto the bottom plate 27A of the cover 27. Further, this arrangement increases the contact area between the cover 27 and the heat sinks, accordingly releasing the heat efficiency.
The exposed region 32B of the grounding layer 22B extends continuously to the exposed region 32A and is exposed from the insulating plate 22F and the amplifier 26A. The heat sink 33 surrounds a side and a lower surface of the amplifier 26A. The exposed region 32B of the grounding layer 22B is joined with the upper end 33A of the heat sink 33. The heat sink 33 is thermally coupled to a lower end 33B with the cover 27. This structure allows the heat generated by the amplifier 26A to transmit to the cover 27 near the amplifier 26A, hence dissipating the heat from the amplifier 26A preferably. According to this embodiment, the exposed region 32B is provided as both sides of the amplifier 26A in the recess 22E. The heat sink 33 has a squared C-shape and is has a lower surface 33B connected contacting a contact spring 34 mounted onto an inner surface of the cover 27. This arrangement dissipates the heat effectively from the amplifier 26A.
According to this embodiment, the slit 41 is formed by punching the top plate 21F of the box shell 21B in a direction from the metallic layer 221 to the metal plate 121. The punching often produces rounded corners 44 at the outer surface of the top plate 21F. More particularly, the metallic layer 221 has extended surfaces 45 thereof extending from an inner wall 41A at the slit 41. The extended surfaces 45 is connected with the joining material 43, and increase the joining area between the metallic layer 221 and the joining materials 43, accordingly transmitting the heat from the partition 21D to the box shell 21B effectively.
According to the embodiment, terms, such as “upper surface”, “lower surface”, “upward”, “downward”, “directly beneath”, “top (plate)”, and “bottom (plate)”, suggesting direction indicate relative directions depending only on the positions of components, such as the case 21, board 22, resonators 23A to 23C, of the high frequency device 11, but do not indicate absolute directions, such as a vertical direction.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2008-151250 | Jun 2008 | JP | national |
2008-219162 | Aug 2008 | JP | national |
2008-236082 | Sep 2008 | JP | national |