Patent Application
20230352831
The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to beamforming antennas.
Recent developments in Massive MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) cellular antenna systems involve 8T8R (Eight Transmit Eight Receive) and 64T64R (64 Transmit 64 Receive) concepts in which C-band radiators are arranged in columns, each of which are fed the same signal with differential amplitude and phase weights to provide horizontal beamforming. In the case of 8T8R, the antenna has four columns of antenna elements whereby each antenna element has two dipoles in orthogonal polarization (e.g., +/−45 degrees). Each of the four columns may have twelve antenna elements, which may further be provided different amplitude and phase weights to provide beam tilting along the vertical axis, using a phase shifter (not shown) that is integrated into the antenna. The name 8T8R refers to the fact that eight ports (four per polarization) may be used for both transmission and reception in a TDD (Time-Division Duplex) arrangement. The use of TDD offers the advantage of reciprocity, whereby the antenna's gain pattern is identical for transmission and reception, and the same physical channels over the air interface may be used for both.
Further to 8T8R, for each polarization, a single signal may be applied to each corresponding four ports, with amplitude and phase weights applied to each port (and corresponding column) to implement beamforming in the azimuth plane for both transmission and reception. Accordingly, an 8T8R antenna may support four MIMO layers per polarization.
64T64R is an expansion of 8T8R, but with the antenna elements (each having dipoles of two orthogonal polarizations) with a total of 128 antenna elements. It may support up to 16 MIMO layers per polarization. An advantage of 64T64R is that it may provide for improved beamforming gain by forming a tighter beam, thus being able to differentiate more UEs by beam. This is due to the fact that there are more columns of antenna elements, creating a greater array factor with finer resolution. For example, 8T8R typically as 20-21 dBi of gain, and 64T64R typically has 23-24 dBi.
However, both the 8T8R antenna and the 64T64R antenna have distinct disadvantages. The former may have insufficient gain and an insufficiently narrow beamwidth to implement effective Massive MIMO. The latter, although it provides better performance, it has a severe disadvantage in that it requires a much greater number of power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, and associated infrastructure that can make the deployment of a 64T64R antenna prohibitively complex.
Accordingly what is needed is a Massive MIMO antenna that offers greater performance than 8T8R without incurring 64T64R's problems of complexity and mass.
SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE
An aspect of the present disclosure involves an antenna. The antenna comprises a plurality of columns of antenna elements, wherein a subset of the columns of antenna elements are combined into one or more composite columns; a plurality of ports, each of the plurality of ports corresponding to one of a column and a composite column in the plurality of collumns; one or more splitter/combiners, each of the splitter/combiners being coupled to one of the composite columns; and a phase compensator coupled to an output of each of the one or more splitter/combiners and to each of the remaining ports that do not correspond to a composite column.
Another aspect of the present disclosure involves and antenna. The antenna comprises a plurality of composite columns of antenna elements, wherein each of the composite columns of antenna elements has a plurality of consitituent colums of antenna elements; a plurality of splitter/combiners, each corresponding to a composite column and coupled to the constituent columns of the corresponding composite column; and a phase compensator that is coupled to an output of each of the splitter/combiners and to each of the composite columns.
Another aspect of the present disclosure involves an antenna array having a plurality of composite columns of antenna elements, wherein each of the composite columns of antenna elements comprises a first constituent column and a second constituent column. The first constituent column comprises a top segment having a first number of antenna elements in a first sub-column position; one or more intermediate segments having a second number of antenna elements wherein the one or more intermediate segments are disposed in an alternating first and second sub-column positions; and a bottom segment having a third number antenna elements in the first sub-column position.
Additional advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate (one) several embodiment(s) of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
Exemplary 8T8R array 200 has eight signal input ports: 115a/115b/115c/115d corresponding to the +45 degree polarized dipoles in antenna elements 105; and 120a/120b/120c/120d corresponding to the −45 degree polarized dipoles in antenna elements 105. As mentioned above, composite column 210a has two adjacent columns of antenna elements 105, which are fed RF signals via ports 115a/120a. Accordingly, the two columns within composite column 210a are fed identical copies of RF signals from ports 115a/120a. This is enabled by splitter/combiner 215a, which splits each of the downlink RF signals from ports 115a/120a into two identical downlink signals, one per column within composite column 210a. Splitter/combiner 215a also combines the signals received by each of the two columns of antenna elements 105 of composite column 210a into a single set of RF signals that are output through ports 115a/120a to the coupled radio remote unit (not shown). Similarly, composite column 210d has two columns of antenna elements 105, which are fed RF signals 115d/120d. Accordingly, the two columns within composite column 210d are fed identical copies of RF signals from 115d/120d. This is enabled by splitter combiner 215d, which splits the downlink RF signal from ports 115d/120d into two identical downlink signals, one per column within composite column 210d, and combines the RF signals received by the antenna elements 105 of each of the columns of composite column 210d into a single set of uplink signals that are output through ports 115c/120d to the coupled radio remote unit (not shown).
Another function of splitter/combiners 215a and 215d is to align the phases of spit/merged signals 115a/120a and 115d/120d so that they are phase matched for proper beamforming when the RF signals are transmitted/received by the two columns of composite columns 210a and 210d, respectively. An example of how this may be done is by equipping splitter/combiner 215a/d with a combination of power dividers and designing the lengths of the traces internal to splitter/combiner 215a/d to remove any path length discrepancies between ports 115a/120a/115d/120d and the respective columns within composite columns 210a/d. An example power divider is a Wilkinson power divider, although other power divider configurations are possible.
Exemplary 8T8R array 200 further has a phase compensator 225, which is coupled to the outputs 220 of splitter/combiners 215a/d and ports 115b/120b and 115c/120c, as well as to all of the columns 210a/b/c/d. The function of phase compensator 225 is to provide phase compensation of the outputs 220 of splitter/combiners 215a/d with the outputs of signal ports 115b/120b and 115c/120c. This is required because, unlike conventional 8T8R array 100 in which the signals from ports 115a/b/c/d and 120a/b/c/d are identical copies of the same respective RF signal (one per polarization), the signals from splitter/combiners 215a/d are sufficiently modified by splitter/combiners 215a/d that their signal output 220 needs phase compensation with the signals from ports 115b/120b and 115c/120c as well as the signals from the other splitter/combiner. Phase compensator 225 has a delay line (not shown) that imparts a delay to match the phases of the signals from ports 115b/120b and 115c/120c as well as match their phases to the signal outputs 220 from splitter combiners 215a/d. Thus by introducing delay lines on the middle ports 115b/120b/115c/120c, phase compensator 225 removes any path length discrepancies between ports 115a/120a/115b/120b/115c/120c/115d/120d.
An advantage of exemplary 8T8R array 200 is that with additional columns of antenna elements, antenna aperture is increased with the additional antenna elements, and the increased width of array 200 with the addition of two columns increases the array factor such that the gain of 8T8R array 200 increases with the narrowing of its beam in the azimuth plane compared to conventional 8T8R array 100. For example, as mentioned above, the gain of conventional 8T8R array 100 may typically be 20-21 dBi, whereas the gain of exemplary 8T8R array 200 may be 22.8 dBi.
Exemplary 8T8R array 300 has a phase compensator 325, which may be similar to phase compensator 225 of antenna array 200, with a difference in that phase compensator 325 is coupled to outputs 320 of four splitter/combiners 315a/b/c/d and is not directly coupled to any of the ports 115b/120b/115c/120c, as is the case with antenna array 200.
An advantage of exemplary 8T8R antenna array 300 is that the addition of two columns—thus creating four composite columns 310a/b/c/d—expands the aperture of antenna array 300. Each port 115a/115b/115c/115d and 120a/120b/120c/120d is coupled to two columns of respective composite columns 310a, 310b, 310c, and 310d. The resulting additional array factor provides the narrow beamwidth for each of the RF signals from ports 115a/115b/115c/115d and 120a/120b/120c/120d. This expanded array factor increases the gain and narrows the azimuth beamwidth such that the gain of exemplary antenna array 300 may be as high as 23.8 dBi.
Having more elements (three, in this example) in a given constituent column at the top and bottom of antenna array 500 provides for better beam control in the vertical direction, providing for a narrower and more directive beam. In this variation, there would be eight columns in total, which may be high gain 16T/16R that is the expansion of high gain 8T8R. Accordingly, each first constituent column 515 and second constituent column 517 may be coupled to two corresponding ports, one per polarization. And each first constituent column 515 and second constituent column 517 having an improved gain due to the array factor provided by the interweaving pattern.
Although not shown in
Additional variations of the disclosed antenna arrays are possible. For example, a variation of antenna array 200 may have composite columns formed of the inner four columns of antenna elements. In this variation, columns 210a and 210d may have a single column, column 210b may be a composite having two adjacent columns and column 210c may be a composite having two adjacent columns between composite column 210b and column 210d. Further, although exemplary antenna arrays 200 and 300 have six and eight columns respectively, it will be understood that each of these arrays may have more columns such that the composite columns may have more than two columns, or a combination of numbers of columns. It will be understood that such variations are possible and within the scope of the disclosure.
This application is a non-provisional of and claim priority benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 63/336,970, filed Apr. 29, 2022, pending, which application is hereby incorporated by this reference in its entirety as if fully set forth herein.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63336970 | Apr 2022 | US |
