阅读说明：本技术 移相器及电调天线 (Phase shifter and electrically tunable antenna ) 是由 法斌斌 苏国生 李明超 黄明达 陈礼涛 于 2020-12-24 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开了一种移相器及电调天线,所述移相器,其包括介质组件、移相组件及屏蔽组件,所述介质组件包括底层介质板与顶层介质板；所述移相组件包括设置在底层介质板顶面且于其纵长方向两侧并排平行设置的两个固定传输线与设置在顶层介质板底面的移相元件,所述移相元件包括横向带状线与自该横向带状线两端同向平行折出的两个活动传输线,活动传输线与固定传输线一一对应耦合连接；所述屏蔽组件包括对应与两个固定传输线并排平行设置的两个耦合线,以及屏蔽罩,所述屏蔽罩在所述纵长方向的两侧与两个耦合线固定连接,构成遮罩所述移相组件的屏蔽腔。本发明屏蔽罩与耦合线相焊接,以形成用于容纳顶层介质板的屏蔽腔,屏蔽外界信号对移相的干扰。(The invention discloses a phase shifter and an electrically tunable antenna, wherein the phase shifter comprises a medium component, a phase shifting component and a shielding component, wherein the medium component comprises a bottom layer medium plate and a top layer medium plate; the phase shifting component comprises two fixed transmission lines which are arranged on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab and arranged in parallel side by side on two sides in the longitudinal direction of the bottom dielectric slab and a phase shifting element which is arranged on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab, the phase shifting element comprises a transverse strip line and two movable transmission lines which are folded out from two ends of the transverse strip line in parallel in the same direction, and the movable transmission lines are in one-to-one corresponding coupling connection with the fixed transmission lines; the shielding assembly comprises two coupling lines and a shielding cover, the two coupling lines are arranged in parallel side by side corresponding to the two fixed transmission lines, the shielding cover is fixedly connected with the two sides of the longitudinal direction and the two coupling lines to form a shielding cover, and the shielding cavity of the phase shifting assembly is formed. The shielding cover is welded with the coupling line to form a shielding cavity for accommodating the top dielectric plate and shielding the interference of external signals on phase shift.)

1. A phase shifter comprises a medium component, a phase shifting component and a shielding component, and is characterized in that:

the medium component comprises a bottom medium plate and a top medium plate;

the phase shifting component comprises two fixed transmission lines which are arranged on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab and arranged in parallel side by side on two sides in the longitudinal direction of the bottom dielectric slab and a phase shifting element which is arranged on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab, the phase shifting element comprises a transverse strip line and two movable transmission lines which are folded out from two ends of the transverse strip line in parallel in the same direction, and the movable transmission lines are in one-to-one corresponding coupling connection with the fixed transmission lines;

the shielding assembly comprises a grounding layer, two coupling lines and a shielding cover, wherein the grounding layer is arranged on the bottom surface of the bottom dielectric slab and is electrically connected with the shielding assembly, the two coupling lines are arranged in parallel with the two fixed transmission lines in parallel, and the shielding cover is fixedly connected with the two coupling lines on two sides in the longitudinal direction and forms a shield together with the grounding layer.

2. The phase shifter of claim 1, wherein the top dielectric plate is controlled to move the phase shifting element in the longitudinal direction to change the phase of the signal inputted from one fixed transmission line and outputted from the other fixed transmission line.

3. The phase shifter according to claim 1, wherein the movable transmission line and/or the fixed transmission line has a tapered line structure of a trapezoid that is narrow and wide from one end to the other end thereof.

4. The phase shifter of claim 3, wherein the movable transmission line and the fixed transmission line are disposed in opposite directions with narrow ends thereof when both of the movable transmission line and the fixed transmission line are in the trapezoidal taper line structure.

5. The phase shifter of claim 4, wherein the movable transmission line and the fixed transmission line are projectively butted against each other at narrow ends.

6. The phase shifter of claim 1, wherein the bottom dielectric plate, the top dielectric plate and the shielding cap are stacked in sequence, and a movable cavity allowing the top dielectric plate to be controlled to drive the phase shifting element to move along the longitudinal direction is formed between the shielding cap and the bottom dielectric plate.

7. The phase shifter of claim 6, wherein the height of the movable cavity is adapted to limit the movement of the top dielectric plate in the height direction of the phase shifter, and only a loose gap in the height direction is reserved for the relative movement of the bottom dielectric plate and the top dielectric plate.

8. The phase shifter of claim 1, wherein the shielding case comprises a rectangular body, and the body is folded to form two side plates at two sides of the longitudinal direction, and the two side plates are respectively welded with the two coupling wires for electrical connection.

9. The phase shifter of claim 8, wherein the two coupled lines are equally spaced such that they restrict lateral movement of the phase shifting element after the two side plates of the two shields are welded together.

10. The phase shifter of claim 1, wherein the two coupling lines are electrically connected to the ground plane through vias formed in a bottom dielectric plate.

11. The phase shifter of claim 1, wherein the shield assembly further comprises a coupling line disposed intermediate the two fixed transmission lines and electrically connected to the shield case and the ground layer.

12. The phase shifter of claim 1, wherein the two coupled lines are disposed outside the two fixed transmission lines, and each coupled line is provided with a gap, so that the adjacent fixed transmission line of the coupled line is folded out of the shielding cavity without obstruction to form a signal connection port.

13. The phase shifter of any one of claims 1-12, wherein the surfaces of the transverse striplines and the movable transmission lines of the fixed transmission line and the phase shifting element are provided with an oxidized insulating coating.

14. A phase shifter according to any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the fixed transmission line, the lateral strip line of the phase shift element and the movable transmission line, and the coupling line and the ground layer are formed by printing a metallic copper plane on the corresponding dielectric board.

15. An electrically tunable antenna comprising a plurality of radiating elements for radiating signals of the same frequency band by means of parallel feeding, characterized in that it comprises at least one phase shifter according to any one of claims 1 to 14, configured and adapted to change the phase of the signal fed thereto and output it to the radiating element connected thereto, so as to change the tilt angle of the beam radiated by the antenna into free space.

16. An electrically tunable antenna according to claim 15, wherein a signal output from one of the phase shifters is connected to a power divider formed by a microstrip line, and the power divider divides the output signal into multiple paths for feeding to different radiating elements.

17. An electrically tunable antenna according to claim 15 or 16, wherein the radiating element and the phase shifter share a bottom dielectric plate.

Technical Field

The invention belongs to the technical field of mobile communication, and particularly relates to a phase shifter and an electric tilt antenna with the phase shifter.

Background

In mobile communication, an electrically tunable antenna is one of the key devices, and a phase shifter is the most core component of the electrically tunable antenna. The performance of the phase shifter directly determines the performance of the electrically-tuned antenna, thereby influencing the network coverage quality, and the importance of the phase shifter in the field of mobile communication is self-evident.

The principle of a commonly used phase shifter in an electrically tunable antenna is that the length of a transmission line in an access circuit is changed to change the length of an electrical transmission path through which a signal passes when flowing through the phase shifter, so that the phase change of an input signal is realized.

However, this method is suitable for an electrically tunable antenna with a large phase difference change, and has the following problems:

1. the phase shifter is usually realized in a microstrip line coupling mode, the microstrip line is of a semi-open structure, the requirement of a coupling circuit on a gap is high, and the performance of the circuit is seriously influenced by tiny gap change;

2. in order to control the gap between the coupling circuits, the gap is controlled by introducing a plastic fixing structure, but the plastic fixing structure causes overlarge resistance between the microstrip lines, so that the microstrip line structure needs larger pulling force when the antenna is declined, but the overlarge pulling force causes instability of the microstrip line structure, and the change of the phase is influenced again.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for a phase shifter that can stably control the phase shift and ensure accurate phase shift.

Disclosure of Invention

One objective of the present invention is to provide a phase shifter with a stable coupling slot structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrically tunable antenna adapted to the phase shifter.

In order to meet the purpose of the invention, the invention adopts the following technical scheme:

one of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a phase shifter, which comprises a dielectric component, a phase shifting component and a shielding component,

the medium component comprises a bottom medium plate and a top medium plate;

the phase shifting component comprises two fixed transmission lines which are arranged on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab and arranged in parallel side by side on two sides in the longitudinal direction of the bottom dielectric slab and a phase shifting element which is arranged on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab, the phase shifting element comprises a transverse strip line and two movable transmission lines which are folded out from two ends of the transverse strip line in parallel in the same direction, and the movable transmission lines are in one-to-one corresponding coupling connection with the fixed transmission lines;

the shielding assembly comprises a grounding layer, two coupling lines and a shielding cover, wherein the grounding layer is arranged on the bottom surface of the bottom dielectric slab and is electrically connected with the shielding assembly, the two coupling lines are arranged in parallel with the two fixed transmission lines in parallel, and the shielding cover is fixedly connected with the two coupling lines on two sides in the longitudinal direction and forms a shield together with the grounding layer.

Furthermore, the top dielectric plate is controlled to drive the phase shift element to move along the longitudinal direction, so that the phase of a signal input from one fixed transmission line and output from the other fixed transmission line is changed.

Specifically, the movable transmission line and/or the fixed transmission line are in a trapezoidal gradually-changing line structure with a narrow width and a wide width from one end to the other end of the movable transmission line and/or the fixed transmission line.

Specifically, when the movable transmission line and the fixed transmission line are both in the trapezoidal gradient line structure, the movable transmission line and the fixed transmission line are oppositely arranged with narrow ends.

Preferably, the movable transmission line and the fixed transmission line are in projection butt joint with each other at narrow ends.

Furthermore, the bottom dielectric slab, the top dielectric slab and the shielding cover are sequentially stacked, and a movable cavity allowing the top dielectric slab to be controlled to drive the phase shift element to move along the longitudinal direction is formed between the shielding cover and the bottom dielectric slab.

Preferably, the height of the movable cavity is suitable for limiting the movement of the top dielectric slab along the height direction of the phase shifter, and only a loose gap in the height direction is reserved for the relative movement of the bottom dielectric slab and the top dielectric slab.

Specifically, the shielding case includes the body that is the rectangle the both sides of lengthwise direction, the body is rolled over two curb plates respectively with two coupling line welds and realizes electric connection.

Preferably, the two coupling lines are equally spaced so as to restrict lateral movement of the phase shift element after the two side plates of the two shielding cases are welded.

Furthermore, the two coupling lines are electrically connected with the ground layer through via holes formed in the bottom dielectric plate.

Preferably, the shielding assembly further includes a coupling line disposed between the two fixed transmission lines, and electrically connected to the shielding cover and the ground layer.

Specifically, two coupling lines all lie in two fixed transmission line outsides, every coupling line all reserves the breach to the fixed transmission line barrier-free book that this coupling line closes on is drawn out form signal connection port outside the shielding chamber.

Preferably, the surfaces of the transverse strip lines and the movable transmission lines of the fixed transmission lines and the phase shift elements are provided with oxidation insulating coatings.

Preferably, the fixed transmission line, the transverse strip line and the movable transmission line of the phase shift element, and the coupling line and the ground layer are formed by printing metal copper planes on the corresponding dielectric plates.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electrically tunable antenna, which comprises a plurality of radiating elements for radiating signals in the same frequency band by parallel feeding, and the phase shifter is configured to change the phase of the signals fed into the phase shifter and output the signals to the radiating elements connected to the phase shifter, so as to change the tilt angle of the beam radiated to the free space by the antenna.

Furthermore, a signal output by one phase shifter is connected to a power divider formed by microstrip lines, and the power divider divides the output signal into multiple paths to be fed into different radiation oscillators.

Furthermore, the radiation oscillator and the phase shifter share a bottom dielectric plate.

Compared with the prior art, the invention has the following advantages:

the shielding cover of the phase shifter, the coupling line arranged on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab and the ground layer arranged on the bottom surface of the bottom dielectric slab jointly form a shielding cavity, and the shielding cavity is used for accommodating the shielding phase shifting element, so that the interference of an external signal when a movable transmission line of the phase shifting element is coupled with a fixed transmission line is avoided.

The height and the width of the shielding cavity are equal to or slightly larger than those of a top-layer dielectric slab arranged in the shielding cavity, and the top-layer dielectric slab and a bottom-layer dielectric slab are mutually attached or have slight gaps, so that a movable transmission line arranged on the bottom surface of the top-layer dielectric slab is coupled with a fixed transmission line arranged on the top surface of the bottom-layer dielectric slab, and the coupling structure is stable in structure due to the fact that the top-layer dielectric slab and the bottom-layer dielectric slab are mutually attached or have slight gaps.

The phase shifting element is arranged on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab, and in order to adjust the phase shifting effect of the phase shifter, the length of the coupling part of the movable transmission line and the fixed transmission line can be adjusted by moving the top dielectric slab relative to the bottom dielectric slab, so that the length of an electric transmission path of the phase shifting component is changed, and the change of the phase of an antenna signal is realized.

Additional aspects and 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.

Drawings

The foregoing and/or additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent and readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifter according to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the phase shifter of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an exploded view of the phase shifter of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the phase shifter of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of the phase shifter of the present invention in a first state.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a phase shifter of the present invention in a second state.

Fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating the states of the fixed transmission line and the moving transmission line when the phase shifter of the present invention is in the second state.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a fixed transmission line and a moving transmission line of the phase shifter of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of the electrically tunable antenna of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the electrically tunable antenna of the present invention.

Fig. 11 is an exploded schematic view of the electrically tunable antenna of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like or similar reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar function throughout. The embodiments described below by referring to the drawings are exemplary only for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention.

As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", "the" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "coupled" to another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the other element or intervening elements may also be present. Further, "connected" or "coupled" as used herein may include wirelessly connected or wirelessly coupled. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes all or any element and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that, unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the prior art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Referring to fig. 1, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a phase shifter,

comprises a medium component, a phase-shifting component and a shielding component.

Referring to fig. 2, the dielectric assembly includes a bottom dielectric sheet 1 and a top dielectric sheet 2. The bottom dielectric plate 1 and the top dielectric plate 2 are used for printing and/or providing components for phase shifting. The top surface of the bottom dielectric plate 1 is arranged opposite to the bottom surface of the top dielectric plate 2. The top dielectric plate 2 is controlled to move relative to the bottom dielectric plate 1, so that the length of an electric transmission path of the phase-shifting component is changed, and the phase of an antenna signal is changed.

Referring to fig. 3, the phase shifting assembly includes a fixed transmission line 14 and a phase shifting element. The fixed transmission line 14 is disposed on the top surface of the bottom dielectric plate 1. Two fixed transmission lines 14 are provided on the underlying dielectric board 1 in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The fixed transmission lines 14 are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the bottom dielectric slab 1, and the two fixed transmission lines 14 are uniformly distributed on two sides of a central line in the longitudinal direction of the bottom dielectric slab 1 and are arranged in parallel.

The phase shift element comprises a transverse strip line 22 and two movable transmission lines 21 folded out from two ends of the transverse strip line 22 in parallel in the same direction. The phase shift element is arranged on the bottom surface of the top dielectric plate 2, and the two movable transmission lines 21 correspond to the two fixed transmission lines 14 one by one. The movable transmission lines 21 are disposed along the longitudinal direction of the top dielectric slab 2 corresponding to the fixed transmission lines 14, and the two movable transmission lines 21 are uniformly distributed on two sides of the central line of the top dielectric slab 2, which is defined by the central line of the top dielectric slab 2 in the longitudinal direction.

Referring to fig. 8, in a preferred embodiment, the fixed transmission line 14 and/or the moving transmission line 21 have a structure of a trapezoidal gradient line that is narrow and wide from one end to the other end. The fixed transmission line 14 and the movable transmission line 21 are both in a trapezoidal gradient structure that is gradually narrowed from one end to the other end, that is, a trapezoidal structure. At both ends of the fixed transmission line 14 and the movable transmission line 21 in the longitudinal direction, the wider end is called as a wide end, the narrower end is called as a narrow end, and the change of the width from the wide end to the narrow end is a linear gradual change, so that the widths of the fixed transmission line 14 and the movable transmission line 21 in the longitudinal direction are not the same. The trapezoidal fixed transmission line 14 is coupled with the movable transmission line 21, so that dynamic impedance matching can be realized, and the standing wave ratio of the port is improved.

In general, the wide ends of the two fixed transmission lines 14 are in the same direction, the wide ends of the two moving transmission lines 21 are in the same direction, and the two fixed transmission lines 14 are opposite to the narrow ends of the two moving transmission lines 21. And vice versa.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a phase shifting function of a phase shifting component is implemented. Referring to fig. 4-7, two fixed transmission lines 14 are provided corresponding to the phase shifting elements. The two fixed transmission lines 14 arranged on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1 correspond to the two movable transmission lines 21 arranged on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab 2, the narrow ends of the fixed transmission lines 14 are arranged opposite to the narrow ends of the movable transmission lines 21, the fixed transmission lines 14 are correspondingly parallel to the movable transmission lines 21, the top dielectric slab 2 is moved to couple the fixed transmission lines 14 with the movable transmission lines 21, the projections of the fixed transmission lines 14 and the movable transmission lines 21 in the height direction of the top dielectric slab 2 or the bottom dielectric slab 1 (hereinafter, the projections are referred to as the projections in the height direction of the top dielectric slab 2 or the bottom dielectric slab 1) are partially overlapped or intersected on the phase shifter structure, and the overlapped or intersected projections are the coupled parts of the movable transmission lines 21 and the fixed transmission lines 14. The specific coupling form of the movable transmission line 21 and the fixed transmission line 14 can be seen in fig. 5 and 6. Generally, said projections of the fixed transmission line 14 and the movable transmission line 21 are symmetrically arranged along a center line between the fixed transmission line 14 and the movable transmission line 21.

The two fixed transmission lines 14 are correspondingly coupled with the two movable transmission lines 21, and the two movable transmission lines 21 are connected through the transverse strip line 22, so that the two fixed transmission lines 14, the two movable transmission lines 21 and the transverse strip line 22 are coupled to form a 'phase-shifting transmission line' together. The phase shifter structure is characterized in that the projections of the two fixed transmission lines 14 on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, the projection of the transverse strip line 22 and the projection of the two movable transmission lines 21 on the bottom surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1 form a continuous uninterrupted phase shifting transmission line. And because the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1 is attached to the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab 2, the coupling part of the movable transmission line 21 and the fixed transmission line 14 can well transmit signals, and the electrical performance is enhanced. In order to ensure the capacitive coupling performance of the phase shifter, an oxide insulating coating is provided on the surfaces of the fixed transmission line 14, the movable transmission line and the transverse stripline 22, and the oxide insulating coating can be formed by an anodizing process, thereby ensuring the capacitive coupling and having high-strength corrosion resistance and wear resistance, and ensuring the service life of the phase shifter.

The phase-shifting transmission line is composed of two fixed transmission lines 14, two movable transmission lines 21 and a transverse strip line 22, wherein the coupling part of the fixed transmission line 14 and the movable transmission line 21 is a coupling part, that is, the phase-shifting transmission line is formed by connecting the uncoupled part of the fixed transmission line 14, the uncoupled part of the coupling part and the movable transmission line 21 and the transverse strip line 22. Specifically, referring to fig. 6, the overall structure of the phase-shifting transmission line is generally: uncoupled section of fixed transmission line 14-coupled section-uncoupled section of movable transmission line 21-transverse stripline 22-uncoupled section of movable transmission line 21-coupled section-uncoupled section of fixed transmission line 14. Thus, the phase-shifting transmission line formed by the projection of the two movable transmission lines 21, the projection of the two fixed transmission lines 14 and the projection of the transverse stripline 22 is U-shaped.

Because the top dielectric slab 2 can be controlled to move in the longitudinal direction, the two movable transmission lines 21 and the transverse strip line 22 of the phase shift element disposed on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab 2 can be driven to move relative to the fixed transmission line 14 disposed on the bottom dielectric slab 1, so that the length of the electrical transmission path of the phase shift transmission line is changed, and the phase of the signal flowing through the phase shifter can be changed.

A signal input end P1 and a signal output end P2 are arranged on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, and the signal input end P1 is connected with the wide end of one fixed transmission line 14 of the two fixed transmission lines 14 to input signals; the signal output terminal P2 is connected to the wide end of the other fixed transmission line 14 to output a signal. That is, the signal input terminal P1 and the signal output terminal P2 are respectively located at two ends of the phase-shift transmission line, and the antenna signal is input from one end of the phase-shift transmission line connected to the signal input terminal P1 and output from one end of the phase-shift transmission line connected to the signal output terminal P2. Because the fixed transmission line 14 is trapezoidal, it can dynamically match the impedance linearly in the phase shifting process, and has better impedance matching effect.

As described above, the movement of the top dielectric plate 2 changes the length of the phase-shift transmission line so that the change in the length of the phase-shift transmission line is changed between three states, the first state being that the projection of the movable transmission line 21 completely overlaps the projection of the fixed transmission line 14 with no or a small amount of non-overlapping portions, whereby the phase-shift transmission line of the phase shifter, i.e., the electrical transmission path thereof, is shortest, as shown in fig. 5; the second state is that the projection of the narrow end of the movable transmission line 21 is connected with the projection of the narrow end of the fixed transmission line 14 or has a tiny gap, and the phase-shifting transmission line of the phase shifter has the longest electric transmission path length; in the third state, the projection of the movable transmission line 21 overlaps with the projection of the fixed transmission line 14, and the phase-shifting transmission line of the phase shifter, i.e., the electrical transmission path thereof, is between the longest and shortest, as shown in fig. 6; under each state, the length and the area of the phase-shifting transmission line are changed, and the phase-shifting effect is dynamically influenced. The three states of the phase-shifting transmission line and the phase-shifting effect thereof will be described in detail below.

When the phase-shifting transmission line is in the first state, as shown in fig. 5, the movable transmission line 21 is fully coupled with the fixed transmission line 14, and the projection of the movable transmission line 21 on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab 2 overlaps or nearly overlaps with the projection of the fixed transmission line 14 on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, that is, the overall structure of the phase-shifting transmission line is: coupling-lateral stripline 22-coupling. When the phase-shifting transmission line is in the first state, the length is shortest, the whole area is smallest, but the area of the coupling part is largest. The antenna signal input from the signal input terminal P1 passes through the shortest electrical transmission path length but the largest coupling area.

The phase-shifting transmission line is in the second state, the projection of the narrow end of the movable transmission line 21 arranged on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab 2 is connected with or has a gap with the projection of the narrow end of the fixed transmission line 14 arranged on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, and there is no coupling part, that is, the whole structure of the phase-shifting transmission line is: fixed transmission line 14-movable transmission line 21-transverse stripline 22-movable transmission line 21-fixed transmission line 14. The phase-shift transmission line has the longest length and no coupling portion, so that an antenna signal input to the phase-shift transmission line through the signal input terminal P1 will travel through the phase-shift transmission line having the longest length.

When the phase-shifting transmission line is in the third state, as shown in fig. 6, the fixed transmission line 14 is coupled to the movable transmission line 21, and the projection of the movable transmission line 21 on the bottom surface of the top dielectric slab 2 overlaps or intersects with the projection of the fixed transmission line 14 on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, that is, the overall structure of the phase-shifting transmission line is: uncoupled section of fixed transmission line 14-coupled section-uncoupled section of movable transmission line 21-transverse stripline 22-uncoupled section of movable transmission line 21-coupled section-uncoupled section of fixed transmission line 14. When the phase-shifting transmission line is in the third state, the length of the phase-shifting transmission line is between the first state and the second state, so that the phase-shifting change of the phase shifter is also between the first state and the second state. Therefore, the position of the phase shift element is changed by moving the top dielectric plate 2, so that the length of the phase shift transmission line is changed, and the phase of the input signal can be changed.

In summary, to adjust the phase of the signal, the top dielectric plate 2 is moved, so that the phase-shifting transmission line is placed in any one of the first state, the second state, the third state, and the like, which are the phase adjustment result states of the phase shifter, and different phase adjustment effects are generated in different adjustment result states.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, referring to fig. 2 and 3, the shielding component of the phase shifter includes a ground layer 11, a coupling line 13, and a shielding case 3.

The grounding layer 11 is a copper layer and is printed on the bottom surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, and the grounding layer 11 is used for signal interference between transmission line layers and improves the stability of phase shift and electrical performance. The ground layer 11 covers the entire bottom surface of the lower dielectric sheet 2.

The coupling lines 13 are printed on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, the coupling lines 13 include a plurality of coupling lines 13, and the plurality of coupling lines 13 and the fixed transmission lines 14 are arranged in parallel side by side. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the coupled lines 13 are two. The two coupling lines 13 are respectively disposed outside the two fixed transmission lines 14, that is, one of the coupling lines 13 is disposed on the left side of the fixed transmission line 14 on the left side of the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, and the other coupling line 13 is disposed on the right side of the fixed transmission line 14 on the right side of the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1. In the embodiments disclosed hereinafter, further description of the coupling lines 13 will be introduced, which is not shown here for the moment.

The shielding cover 3 covers the bottom dielectric slab 1 to cover the top dielectric slab 2, so that the top dielectric slab 2 arranged in the shielding cover 3 can be controlled to move along the longitudinal direction relative to the bottom dielectric slab 1, and the two sides of the shielding cover 3 in the longitudinal direction are respectively fixedly welded with the two coupling lines 13 to match with the grounding layer 11 on the bottom surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1, so as to form a shielding cavity to cover the top dielectric slab 2 and prevent signals in the phase shifter from being interfered.

Specifically, in the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the shielding case 3 is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the bottom dielectric plate 1, and the shielding case 3 includes a rectangular body, which is in a plate shape and is parallel to the top dielectric plate 2, and two side plates are folded from the body of the shielding case 3 at two sides of the longitudinal direction, and the two side plates are respectively fixed to the two coupling lines 13 by welding, so as to achieve physical connection and electrical connection.

The shielding cavity of the top dielectric plate 2 is shielded by the shielding cover 3, the coupling line 13 and the ground layer 11. The height and width of the shielding cavity are equal to or slightly larger than those of the top dielectric plate 2, so as to form a movable cavity allowing the top dielectric plate 2 to be controlled to move along the longitudinal direction thereof. Specifically, in order to make the bottom surface of the top medium plate 2 and the top surface of the bottom medium plate 1 relatively movable, the height of the movable cavity is set to only a height suitable for the top medium plate 2 to move therein, that is, the height of the movable cavity is equal to or slightly greater than the height of the top medium plate 2, so as to leave a clearance in the height direction for the top medium plate 2 to relatively move with respect to the bottom medium plate 1. The width of the shielding cavity is defined by two coupling lines 13, and the width of the two coupling lines 13 is limited by the transverse width of the whole top dielectric plate, so that the width of the shielding cavity is equal to or slightly larger than the width of the top dielectric plate 2, so that the top dielectric plate 2 can be limited from moving along the transverse direction when the top dielectric plate 2 is controlled to move in the movable cavity formed by the shielding cavity.

Thus, by defining the height and width of the shield case 3 relative to the bottom dielectric plate 1, the top dielectric plate 2 can be defined to be controlled to move only in the longitudinal direction of the entire phase shifter, and the top dielectric plate 2 is prevented from moving away from the longitudinal direction and accidentally moving in the height direction and/or the lateral direction thereof.

The top dielectric plate 2 is located in the shielding cavity, and the top dielectric plate 2 is controlled to move in the movable cavity so as to drive the phase shift element arranged on the bottom surface of the top dielectric plate 2 to move, so as to change the length of the phase shift transmission line, and thus change the phase of the antenna signal input from the signal input end P1 and output from the signal output end P2.

On the bottom dielectric slab 1, a plurality of metalized through holes 15 may be specifically disposed on the coupling line 13, so that the coupling line 13 disposed on the top surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1 is electrically connected to the ground layer 11 located on the bottom surface of the bottom dielectric slab 1 through the metalized through holes 15, and further the shielding cover 3 is electrically connected to the ground layer 11 to form the shielding cavity, so as to ground the interference signal.

Because the signal input terminal P1 and the signal output terminal P2 are connected to the wide ends of the two fixed transmission lines 14, respectively, the signal input terminal P1 and the signal output terminal P2 are folded out from the wide ends of the two fixed transmission lines 14 of the bottom dielectric slab 1 laterally and outwardly. The two coupling lines 13 are located outside the two fixed transmission lines 14, so as to facilitate the folding and forming of the signal input terminal P1 and the signal output terminal P2, as shown in fig. 3, a notch is respectively disposed at the positions of the two coupling lines 13 opposite to the signal input terminal P1 and the signal output terminal P2, so that the signal input terminal P1 and the signal output terminal P2 are wired.

In some embodiments, a coupling line 13 is further disposed between the two fixed transmission lines 14, and the coupling line 13 is similarly electrically connected to the ground layer 11 on the bottom surface of the bottom dielectric board 1 through a metalized via 15 so as to enhance the anti-interference effect. Generally, the coupling line 13 is disposed along the longitudinal direction of the bottom dielectric plate and is disposed at the middle position of the two fixed transmission lines 14.

In this embodiment, the fixed transmission line 14, the transverse stripline 22, the movable transmission line 21, the coupling line 13 and the ground plane 11 are printed on the corresponding positions of the corresponding dielectric board by using a copper metal plane, so as to obtain better electrical performance.

In some embodiments, the phase shifter is manufactured by disposing or printing the corresponding components on the bottom dielectric plate 1, the top dielectric plate 2 and the shield cover 33. The specific production process is that the fixed transmission line 14, the coupling line 13 and the grounding layer 11 are printed at corresponding positions of the bottom dielectric slab 1, and the bottom dielectric slab 1 is provided with corresponding metallized through holes 15 and the fixed transmission line 14 is provided with a metal oxide layer; the movable transmission lines 21 and the transverse strip lines 22 are printed on the top dielectric plate 2, and metal oxide layers are arranged on the movable transmission lines 21 and the transverse strip lines 22. Thereafter, the top dielectric sheet 2 on which the respective elements are arranged or printed is disposed on the top surface of the bottom dielectric sheet 1 such that the movable transmission lines 21 are arranged in alignment with the fixed transmission lines 14. Then, two side plates of the shielding cover 33 are respectively welded with the corresponding coupling lines 13 on the bottom dielectric plate 2 to form a shielding cavity for accommodating the top dielectric plate 2, so that the top dielectric plate 2 can move relative to the bottom dielectric plate 1.

The phase shifter has simple production process, is convenient for large-scale production and manufacture, and reduces the marginal cost of a single phase shifter.

In some embodiments, in the phase shifter, in the using stage, the antenna signal to be phase-shifted is input into the phase-shifting transmission line from the signal input end P1, during the process of passing through the phase-shifting transmission line, the phase of the antenna signal is changed due to the length of the phase-shifting transmission line path, and then the phase-shifted antenna signal is output through the signal output end P2. Specifically, in order to adjust the phase of the signal, the length of the phase-shifting transmission line can be changed by moving the top dielectric plate 2, and the phase-shifting effect can be adjusted.

The invention also discloses an electrically tunable antenna, as shown in fig. 9 to 11, the electrically tunable antenna can divide an input signal into multiple signals through a power divider, and output the multiple signals to multiple radiating oscillators of the antenna respectively, wherein any one signal can change the phase of the signal through a phase shifter as required. The electrically tunable antenna is generally suitable for parallel feeding of a plurality of radiating elements by using a phase difference principle, so that the same signal may be processed by a plurality of power dividers and phase shifters in sequence and then finally output to one radiating element, and the electrically tunable antenna can be flexibly determined by a person skilled in the art.

The phase shifter is used in the electrically tunable antenna, the phase of a signal flowing through the phase shifter is adjusted by moving the top dielectric plate 2 of the phase shifter, and the top dielectric plates 2 of different phase shifters are moved by different distances, so that the phase shifters can output the signals with different phases.

Generally speaking, the electrically tunable antenna includes a plurality of radiating elements 41, a spacer 42, a microstrip transmission line 43, a power divider and the phase shifter described above, where the power divider includes a one-to-two power divider and a one-to-three power divider, and the phase shifter includes a first-stage phase shifter and a second-stage phase shifter. In the invention, the radiation oscillator 41 and the phase shifter share the bottom dielectric plate 1, so that the same dielectric plate with a larger area can be used as the bottom dielectric plate 1 of a plurality of phase shifters, and a physical support structure is provided for the radiation oscillator 41, thereby further improving the integration level of the product and being beneficial to the miniaturization of the antenna. The isolation strip 42, the microstrip transmission line 43 and the power divider are all disposed on the bottom dielectric slab 1.

One of the electrically tunable antennas is a dual-polarized antenna, and the feeding structure thereof can be seen in fig. 9, and the electrically tunable antenna adapts to each polarization thereof, and includes a one-to-three power divider 44 disposed in the middle of the bottom dielectric slab 1, where the one-to-three power divider 44 divides a fed signal into three paths, and the three paths are respectively electrically connected to signal input ends of a radiation oscillator (middle radiation oscillator 45) located in the middle of the bottom dielectric slab 1, a first-stage phase shifter (hereinafter, referred to as left-stage phase shifter 46) on the left side of the bottom dielectric slab 1, and a first-stage phase shifter (hereinafter, referred to as right-stage phase shifter 47) on the right side of the bottom. The signal output end of the left first-stage phase shifter 46 is connected to a one-to-two power divider (hereinafter, abbreviated as left one-to-two power divider 48), one of the two signal output ends of the left one-to-two power divider 48 is connected to a radiation oscillator (hereinafter, abbreviated as left first-stage radiation oscillator 49), the other of the two signal output ends of the left one-to-two power divider 49 after power division is connected to the signal input end of a phase shifter (hereinafter, abbreviated as left second-stage phase shifter 50), the signal output end of the left second-stage phase shifter 50 is connected to a radiation oscillator (hereinafter, abbreviated as left second-stage radiation oscillator 51), and the circuit layout on the right side of the middle radiation oscillator 45 is the same as that on. The feeding structure of the other polarization of the electrically tunable antenna is the same as the above-mentioned structure, which is not repeated. In some embodiments, a one-to-two phase shifter (hereinafter, referred to as a left middle-to-two phase shifter) and a radiation oscillator (hereinafter, referred to as a left middle radiation oscillator) may be further disposed between the left first-stage phase shifter 46 and the left first-to-two phase shifter 48, such that the output terminal of the left first-stage phase shifter 46 is connected to the left middle-to-two phase shifter, and the power branches of the left middle-to-two phase shifter are respectively connected to the left middle radiation oscillator and the left first-to-two phase shifter.

The circuit principle of the electrically tunable antenna is as follows: the input end of the one-to-three power divider 44 receives the antenna signal input by the signal input end P1, the one-to-three power divider 44 performs power division on the antenna signal, and divides the antenna signal into three signals, wherein the first signal is fed into the middle radiation oscillator 45, and the middle radiation oscillator 45 radiates the signal to the outside after receiving the signal; the second signal is output to the input of the left stage phase shifter 46, and the third signal is output to the input of the right stage phase shifter 47. The left first-stage phase shifter 46 receives the second path of signal, the top-layer dielectric plate 2 of the left first-stage phase shifter 46 is moved to shift the phase of the second path of signal, the phase-shifted second path of signal is output to the input end of the left first-branch and second-branch power divider 48, the left first-branch and second-branch power divider 48 distributes the power of the second path of signal into two paths of signal, the two paths of signal are respectively the second path of signal and the second path of signal, the second path of signal is fed into the left first-stage radiation oscillator 49, and the left first-stage radiation oscillator 49 radiates the signal to the outside after receiving the second path of signal; the second two paths of signals are output to a left second-stage phase shifter 50, the left second-stage phase shifter 50 shifts the phase of the second two paths of signals, changes the phase of the second two paths of signals, and then feeds the second two paths of signals into a left second-stage radiation oscillator 51 to radiate signals outside; the circuit principle of the third signal is the same as that of the second signal. The circuit layout on the right side of the middle radiating element 45 is the same as on the left side. The feeding structure of the other polarization of the electrically tunable antenna is the same as the above-mentioned structure, which is not repeated.

Therefore, by arranging the phase shifter and the power divider in the electrically tunable antenna, the power of one path of signal input from the outside and the phase shift can be formed into multiple paths of signals with different phases.

In summary, the phase shifter of the present invention is welded to the coupling line disposed on the top surface of the bottom dielectric plate through the shielding cover to form a shielding cavity for accommodating the top dielectric plate, and the shielding cavity shields the interference of the external signal to the phase shift. The width and the height of the shielding cavity are equal to or slightly larger than the height and the width of the top dielectric plate, the top dielectric plate is limited to move along the longitudinal direction of the top dielectric plate, the phase-shifting transmission line is changed, and the phase-shifting effect of the phase shifter is further changed.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that various operations, methods, steps in the processes, acts, or solutions discussed in the present application may be alternated, modified, combined, or deleted. Further, various operations, methods, steps in the flows, which have been discussed in the present application, may be interchanged, modified, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or eliminated. Further, steps, measures, schemes in the various operations, methods, procedures disclosed in the prior art and the present invention can also be alternated, changed, rearranged, decomposed, combined, or deleted.

The foregoing is only a partial embodiment of the present invention, and it should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, various modifications and decorations can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these modifications and decorations should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.