CN110649397A - A Reconfigurable Planar Reflect Array Antenna with Integrated Reflect Array - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna of an integrated reflective array, which comprises: planar reflective array antenna and phased array antenna, wherein, planar reflective array antenna includes: the array antenna comprises a metal back plate and reflecting units, wherein a plurality of reflecting unit arrays are arranged on the plane of the metal back plate facing the phased array antenna; each reflection unit is connected to the antenna controller through an MEMS switch so that the antenna controller controls the reflection unit to be switched on or off by controlling the on-off of the MEMS switch, and the reflection unit performs phase compensation on electromagnetic signals radiated by the phased array antenna; and the phase center of the phased array antenna is superposed with the focus of the planar reflection array antenna. By applying the embodiment of the invention, the reconfigurable high-gain antenna with composite characteristics can be provided for the front end.

Description

A Reconfigurable Planar Reflect Array Antenna with Integrated Reflect Array

technical field

The invention relates to an antenna, in particular to a reconfigurable plane reflection array antenna with integrated reflection array.

Background technique

One of the important directions for the development of modern integrated communication systems is: large capacity, multi-function, and intelligence. Obviously, by increasing the system capacity, increasing the system function, and optimizing the system algorithm, on the one hand, it can meet the increasing actual demand.

At present, the patent document with the application number CN201410033925.6 discloses a reflection array antenna beam scanning antenna based on the rotating phase shift surface technology. The present invention designs a reflection array beam scanning antenna based on the rotating phase shift surface technology. The array beam scanning antenna includes a radiating element antenna and a reflective array flat plate; the reflective array flat plate includes a polarized beam microstrip reflective array layer and a high transmittance phase shift surface layer; The high transmittance phase-shifting surface layer is a phase-shifting surface plate that can realize plane wave beam deflection; the two are stacked and assembled with a certain air interval to form a reflection array plate; the radiating element antenna adopts a feed-forward type; The central axis of the flat plate is the axis to rotate two layers respectively to realize the scanning of the antenna beam. The invention has a simple structure, is easy to manufacture, has a response to electromagnetic waves of any polarization, is suitable for transmitting and receiving electromagnetic waves of any polarization, and can carry high power.

It can be seen that most of the research on the traditional pattern reconfigurable antenna is to re-implement the function of the existing antenna, and it is essentially an antenna with only a single function. Therefore, it is an urgent technical problem to provide a reconfigurable high-gain antenna with composite characteristics for the front end of a multi-functional miniaturized integrated communication system designed for different communication application scenarios.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The technical problem to be solved by the present invention is how to provide a reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna with integrated reflection array, so as to solve the technical problem of how to provide a reconfigurable high-gain antenna with composite characteristics for the front end in the prior art.

The present invention realizes and solves the above-mentioned technical problems through the following technical means:

An embodiment of the present invention provides a reconfigurable planar reflect array antenna with integrated reflector, the antenna includes: a planar reflect array antenna and a phased array antenna, wherein,

The phased array antenna includes a plurality of radiating elements arranged in an array, and the phase center of the phased array antenna coincides with the focus of the planar reflection array antenna;

The planar reflection array antenna includes: a metal backplane and a reflection unit, wherein a plurality of the reflection element arrays are arranged on the plane of the metal backplane facing the phased array antenna;

Each reflective unit is connected to the antenna controller through a MEMS switch, so that the antenna controller controls whether the reflective unit is turned on by controlling the on-off of the MEMS switch, and the reflective unit responds to the electromagnetic signal radiated by the phased array antenna Perform phase compensation.

By applying the embodiment of the present invention, by arranging the reflection unit on the plane reflection array antenna, when the beam in the main direction needs to be transmitted or received, the MEMS switch is turned off, and a beam with weak directionality is formed at the aperture surface, and when the beam needs to be transmitted or received When the beam in a specific direction is turned on, the MEMS switch can be turned on, so that the reflective unit can perform phase compensation on the beam to achieve equal-phase radiation at the aperture. Compared with the high-gain planar reflector antenna in the prior art, its traditional functions can be retained earlier. On the basis, the equal-phase radiation at the aperture is realized, and the function of the high-gain antenna of the plane reflection array is expanded.

Optionally, a dielectric layer is further provided on the plane of the planar reflection array antenna facing the phased array antenna;

The reflection unit is fixed on the dielectric layer.

Optionally, the reflection unit is conformally disposed on the dielectric layer.

Optionally, the radiating element array is arranged at the focal point of the parabolic reflector array for bias feeding; and the focal length of the parabolic reflector array is greater than the working wavelength of the phased array antenna.

Optionally, the radiation mode of the radiation element array includes:

The beams radiated by the radiating elements are formed into an isophase plane at the aperture by the constant amplitude and inphase radiation of the planar reflection array antenna.

Optionally, the center distance between the reflection units is: 0.5λ<S<λ, wherein,

S is the center distance between the reflection units; λ is the working wavelength of the reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna.

Optionally, the calculation formula of the phase compensation value of the reflection unit includes:

Φ=k ₀ (R _n -x _n sinθ _r )+Φ ₀ , where,

Φ is the phase compensation value of the reflection unit; k ₀ is the electromagnetic wave propagation constant in free space; R _n is the distance from the phase center of the radiation element array to the nth reflection unit x _n is the nth reflection unit in the array to the center reference unit distance; θ _r is the reflection angle of the reflected electromagnetic wave relative to the tangent of the parabolic cylinder; Φ ₀ is the reference phase.

Optionally, the reflection unit has a low-profile structure, and includes one or a combination of reflection units with the same size and different rotation angles, a rectangular open-loop reflection unit with an opening and a slit, and a square cross-groove reflection unit.

Optionally, the radiation unit includes: one or a combination of a dipole, a microstrip patch, a coupled laminated patch, a rectangular waveguide, and a circular horn.

The advantages of the present invention are:

By applying the embodiment of the present invention, by arranging the reflection unit on the plane reflection array antenna, when the beam in the main direction needs to be transmitted or received, the MEMS switch is turned off, and a beam with weak directionality is formed at the aperture surface, and when the beam needs to be transmitted or received When the beam in a specific direction is turned on, the MEMS switch can be turned on, so that the reflective unit can perform phase compensation on the beam to achieve equal-phase radiation at the aperture. Compared with the planar reflection array high-gain antenna in the prior art, the embodiment of the present invention combines two functions. The integrated design of the antenna can realize a multi-functional miniaturized integrated communication system for different communication application scenarios, and provide a reconfigurable high-gain antenna with composite characteristics for its front end.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of reflection units in a reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna with an integrated reflection array according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna with integrated reflection array according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a phased array antenna in a reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna with integrated reflection array according to an embodiment of the present invention

4 is a schematic diagram of the working principle of a reconfigurable planar reflector antenna with integrated reflector provided by an embodiment of the present invention when a MEMS switch is disconnected;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a working principle of a reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna with integrated reflection array provided by an embodiment of the present invention when a MEMS switch is turned on.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the present invention. examples, but not all examples. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

Example 1

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the distribution of reflection units 2 in a reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna 3 with integrated reflection array provided by an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 , the antenna includes: a planar reflection array antenna 3 and a phase control Array Antenna 1, where,

Phased array antenna 1 consists of 64 circular aperture horn unit arrays. The radio frequency end of the phased array antenna 1 is composed of modules such as a power supply, a T/R component, and a beamforming module 6. The beamforming module 6 is connected to the transceiver channel of the T/R component, and the beamforming module 6 contains digital Phase shifter, digital attenuator, ASIC wave control chip, can control the amplitude and phase value of each of the circular aperture horn unit 5; the circular aperture horn unit 5 and the T/R component, the T/R component and the The beamforming modules 6 are all connected in a blind matching manner. The phased array antenna 1 has a fixed phase center, the overall aperture of its active front is small, and the phase deviation of the aperture field is not large, and it can be approximated that the aperture of the radiating element has an in-phase field. The phase center of the phased array antenna 1 coincides with the focal point of the planar reflection array antenna 3 . The circular aperture horn unit 5 works in the Ka frequency band, the aperture size is D=24mm, adopts the system of common aperture for transmitting and receiving, the polarization mode is double circular polarization, and the beam polarization can be defined. The focal length of the planar reflection array is greater than the working wavelength of the phased array antenna 1 , for example, it may be 100 times, 500 times, 1000 times, 2000 times, etc., of the working wavelength of the phased array antenna 1 . In addition, in order to reduce the processing cost and suppress the radiation grating lobes of the phased array antenna 1, the front layout adopts a triangular array.

The planar reflection array antenna 3 includes: a metal backplane 4 and a reflection unit 2, wherein a plurality of the reflection units 2 are evenly distributed to form a planar array, and the planar array is arranged on the metal backplane 4 toward the phased array antenna. On the plane of 1, there are metal microstrip patches with different sizes, and the size of the patch is determined by the phase value that needs to be compensated for each element of the radiation element array. In order to facilitate the control of the grating lobe of the array factor of the reflection unit 2 array, the mutual coupling effect between the reflection units 2 and the requirements of discrete distribution, the center distance between the reflection units 2 is: 0.5λ<S<λ, wherein, S is the center distance between the reflection units 2 ; λ is the working wavelength of the reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna 3 . The phase compensated by the different sizes of the reflection unit 2 needs to be cycled with a period of 360°, so that the wavelengths of integer multiples can be directly eliminated. The metal back plate 4 is a square flat plate with spatial symmetry, and the side length of the aperture is 21λ, where λ is the wavelength corresponding to the working frequency. The metal backplane 4 has one degree of freedom in both the elevation plane and the azimuth plane, and maintains the two-dimensional phased scanning characteristics of the beam of the radiation unit.

Each reflection unit 2 is connected to the antenna controller through a MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical System, micro-electromechanical system) switch, so that the antenna controller controls whether the reflection unit 2 is turned on by controlling the on-off of the MEMS switch, And the reflection unit 2 performs phase compensation on the electromagnetic signal radiated by the phased array antenna 1; the plane reflection array antenna 3 radiates the beams radiated by the radiation unit 4 with equal amplitude and in phase to form an equal phase plane at the aperture.

Exemplarily, in the embodiment of the present invention, the radio frequency part of the array antenna 1 is designed using the multi-channel, common aperture technology for transceivers, and can feed the planar reflection array in two modes. The two operating modes are the phase-controlled scanning mode and the unit amplitude-phase fixed mode.

Applying the embodiment of the present invention, when the communication system needs beam shaping or adaptive anti-jamming, the phased array antenna 1 works in the phased scanning mode, the MEMS switch loaded by the reflection unit 2 is turned off, and the signal of the processing module is blocked. It is sent to the beamforming module 6, and the signal is weighted, phase-shifted, and delayed in the beamforming module 6 and sent to the T/R component, filtered and amplified by the T/R component, and then enters the active phased array A two-dimensional phased scanning beam is formed on the aperture surface, and the weighted phase is only controlled by the phase shifter at the rear end of the phased array antenna 1, and the scanning beam radiated by the phased array antenna 1 is reflected by the metal backplane 4 Then, the high-gain two-dimensional phase control function is realized in the far field after being reflected by the plane reflection array.

Applying the embodiment of the present invention, when the communication system needs fixed multi-beam coverage, the phased array antenna 1 is adjusted to the unit amplitude and phase fixed mode, the beam forming module 6 does not perform weighting and phase shifting processing, and the reflection unit 2 loads The MEMS switch is connected, and the 64 receiving beams from the far field induce an induced current in the reflection array unit 2, and are sent to the active phased array aperture surface of the phased array antenna 1 after compensating the phase by the reflection array. The 64 circular aperture horn units 4 on the source antenna front receive the corresponding beams, which are filtered and amplified by the T/R component to form 64 independent beam signals, which are sent to the back-end processing module. In the embodiment of the present invention, a reconfigurable beam is introduced, and the flexibility of the integrated communication system is enhanced by multiplexing the T/R components at the back end of the feeder link, and the intelligence and multi-function of the integrated communication system are realized.

In a specific implementation of the embodiment of the present invention, the reflection unit 2 has a low-profile structure, and includes: a reflection unit 2 with the same size and different rotation angles, a rectangular open-loop reflection unit 2 with an open slot, and a square cross-groove reflection unit one or a combination of 2. The reflection unit 2 can be obtained by using a copper plate, an aluminum plate or a stainless steel plate and processed through a PCB process.

The radiation unit includes: one or a combination of dipoles, microstrip patches, coupled laminated patches, rectangular waveguides, and circular horns.

In practical applications, the formula Φ=k ₀ (R _n -x _n sinθ _r )+Φ ₀ can be used in advance to calculate the phase compensation value of each reflection unit 2, where Φ is the phase compensation value of the reflection unit 2; k ₀ is the electromagnetic wave propagation constant in free space; R _n is the distance from the phase center of the array of radiation elements 4 to the nth reflection element 2 x _n is the distance from the nth reflection element 2 in the array to the central reference element; θ _r is the reflection The reflection angle of the electromagnetic wave relative to the tangent of the parabolic cylinder; Φ ₀ is the reference phase.

By applying the embodiment of the present invention, by disposing the reflection unit 2 on the plane reflection array antenna 3, when the beam in the main direction needs to be transmitted or received, the MEMS switch is turned off, and a beam with weak directionality is formed at the aperture surface, and when the beam needs to be transmitted or received, the MEMS switch is turned off. Or when receiving a beam in a specific direction, turn on the MEMS switch, so that the reflection unit 2 can phase-compensate the beam to achieve equal-phase radiation at the aperture. Compared with the high-gain planar reflector antenna in the prior art, its traditional method can be preserved earlier. On the basis of the function of the radiator, the equal phase radiation at the aperture is realized, and the function of the high-gain plane reflection array antenna is expanded.

In addition, the antenna provided by the embodiment of the present invention integrates the reflection array antenna and the planar reflection array antenna 3 on the premise of not increasing the cost, weight, and volume, and provides two alternative high-gain beams on the same aperture surface. It improves the security and stability of the integrated communication system, and realizes the multi-function, low cost and intelligence of the front end of the system.

Moreover, in the prior art, in order to realize multiple communications on the same communication platform, various types of front-end antennas are usually erected on the platform, which will lead to redundant system, low area utilization, and substantial increase in cost. The embodiment of the present invention utilizes a reconfigurable antenna with a directional pattern, and on the premise of not increasing additional aperture surface, weight, and system complexity, utilizes the concept of a reconfigurable antenna, and integrates the planar reflection array and the existing reflection array antenna with multiple functions. Integrated, make full use of the respective advantages of the two antenna systems, reduce the defects of the respective antenna systems, and provide antenna solutions for complex high-speed communication application scenarios. On the other hand, the increase in the number of communication subsystems mounted on the same platform will increase the overall cost of the integrated communication system, increase the weight of the system, increase the radar cross section of the system, and lead to poor electromagnetic compatibility. Therefore, the embodiments of the present invention can also reduce the weight of the system and improve the electromagnetic compatibility.

Finally, the introduction of the multi-beam reflector in the embodiment of the present invention extends the traditional frequency domain phase matching technology to the space domain phase matching technology, and uses the phased array antenna 1 to provide multiple degrees of freedom relative to the different spatial positions of the planar reflector. The phase compensation of the reflect array achieves the phase consistency of the radiation aperture surface, and then achieves multi-beam coverage in the far field. In this way, the front element resources of the phased array radiating element are fully exploited, the degree of freedom of the antenna is greatly expanded, and the multi-phase information compensation is realized.

Example 2

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna 3 with an integrated reflection array provided by an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a reconfigurable planar reflection array antenna 3 with an integrated reflection array provided by an embodiment of the present invention. Schematic diagram of the structure of the mid-phased array antenna 1,

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , the difference between Embodiment 2 of the present invention and Embodiment 1 of the present invention is that the array of radiation elements 4 is arranged at the focal point of the parabolic reflector for bias feeding; and the The focal length of the parabolic reflector is greater than the working wavelength of the phased array antenna 1 .

Instead, it illuminates the center of the metal reflective plane at an offset angle. The introduction of the bias radiating element 41 eliminates the shielding of the electromagnetic waves radiated by the planar reflector, thereby improving the antenna's gain reduction and side lobe level increase due to shielding, and at the same time improving the antenna's standing wave ratio.

Exemplarily, the radiation unit 4 is a standard circular waveguide horn antenna, the circular aperture horn unit works in the Ka frequency band, the aperture size is D=24mm, adopts a system of common aperture for transceivers, and the polarization mode is double circular polarization, Beam polarization can be defined, and it is connected to the back-end processing module through coaxial cable. In order to avoid the influence of the radiation element 4 on the reflected beam characteristics, and to ensure that the beam radiated by the metal plane reflection array will not affect the normal operation of the radiation element 4, the design angle of the axis of the radiation element 4 is Φ=32.5°. The diameter of the radiation unit 4 is evenly irradiated to ensure that the energy loss at the edge of the parabolic cylinder is minimized.

In a specific implementation of the embodiment of the present invention, a dielectric layer 3 is further provided on the plane of the planar reflection array antenna 3 facing the phased array antenna 1; the reflection unit 2 is fixed on the dielectric layer 3 on. In order to reduce the radiation loss of the reflection unit 22, the dielectric layer 3 is made of materials with low dielectric constant, low loss tangent angle and low water absorption. Meanwhile, in order to suppress surface waves and ensure a certain working bandwidth, the thickness of the plate is h=0.05λ.

It should be noted that the materials used for the dielectric layer 3 are existing materials, which can be selected by users according to actual needs, and will not affect the application effects of the embodiments of the present invention.

Further, the reflection unit 2 is conformally disposed on the dielectric layer 3 .

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the working principle of a reconfigurable planar reflector antenna 3 with an integrated reflector provided by an embodiment of the present invention when the MEMS switch is disconnected; FIG. A schematic diagram of the working principle when the MEMS switch in the reconstructed planar reflectarray antenna 3 is turned on. The working principle shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 is the same as the working principle in Embodiment 1, and the only difference is that in Embodiment 2, bias feeding is used, which is not repeated in this embodiment of the present invention.

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, but not to limit them; although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that: The recorded technical solutions are modified, or some technical features thereof are equivalently replaced; and these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims (8)

1. A reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna incorporating a reflective array, the antenna comprising: planar reflective array antennas and phased array antennas, wherein,

the phased array antenna comprises a plurality of radiating units arranged in an array, and the phase center of the phased array antenna is superposed with the focus of the planar reflection array antenna;

the planar reflective array antenna includes: the array antenna comprises a metal back plate and reflecting units, wherein a plurality of reflecting unit arrays are arranged on the plane of the metal back plate facing the phased array antenna;

each reflection unit is connected to the antenna controller through the MEMS switch so that the antenna controller controls the reflection unit to be switched on or off by controlling the on-off of the MEMS switch, and the reflection unit performs phase compensation on electromagnetic signals radiated by the phased array antenna.

2. The reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna of claim 1, wherein a dielectric layer is further disposed on a plane of the planar reflective array antenna facing the phased array antenna;

the reflecting unit is fixed on the dielectric layer.

3. The reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna of claim 2, wherein the reflective elements are disposed conformal to the dielectric layer.

4. The reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna of claim 1, wherein the radiating element array is disposed at a focus of the parabolic cylindrical reflective array for bias feeding; and the focal length of the parabolic cylinder reflection array is greater than the working wavelength of the phased array antenna.

5. The reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna of claim 1, wherein the center-to-center distances between the reflective units are as follows: 0.5 lambda < S < lambda, wherein,

s is the center distance between the reflecting units; and lambda is the working wavelength of the reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna.

6. The reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the formula for calculating the phase compensation value of the reflective unit comprises:

Φ＝k₀(R_n-x_nsinθ_r)+Φ₀wherein, in the step (A),

phi is a phase compensation value of the reflection unit; k is a radical of₀Is the electromagnetic wave propagation constant of free space; r_nIs the distance x from the phase center of the radiation unit array to the n-th reflection unit_nThe distance from the nth reflecting unit to the central reference unit in the array; theta_rThe reflection angle of the reflected electromagnetic wave relative to the tangent of the parabolic cylinder; phi₀Is the reference phase.

7. The reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna of claim 6, wherein the reflective unit has a low-profile structure and comprises: one or a combination of reflection units with the same size and different rotation angles, an open gap rectangular open-loop reflection unit and a square cross-shaped groove reflection unit.

8. The reconfigurable planar reflective array antenna of claim 6, wherein the radiating element comprises: one or a combination of dipoles, microstrip patches, coupling laminated patches, rectangular waveguides and circular horns.

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