阅读说明：本技术 一种介质透镜、天线及其应用 (Dielectric lens, antenna and application thereof ) 是由 梁家军 黄冠龙 于 2020-11-12 设计创作，主要内容包括：本发明公开一种介质透镜、天线及其应用,包括透镜本体,所述透镜本体为实心的球形或半球形,且所述透镜本体由均匀的绝缘材料制成。本方案中的透镜本体为实心的球形或半球形,且由均匀的绝缘材料制成,介电常数保持一致,馈源在透镜本体的外部发射电磁波后,经透镜本体的转换可以将馈源发射的电磁波转换为平面电磁波以获得指向性更强的波束,从而提高天线的增益,并且还具有旁瓣和后瓣小,方向性好等优点；不同于龙伯透镜必须通过改变内部材料的介电常数或结构的等效介电常数实现,该透镜本体只需要一种均匀材料即可实现,并且可以一次成型,其制作方式简单,制作成本较低,有利于工业化成产,且该透镜本体特别适用于微波毫米波通信应用。(The invention discloses a dielectric lens, an antenna and application thereof. The lens body in the scheme is solid spherical or hemispherical and is made of uniform insulating materials, the dielectric constant is kept consistent, the feed source can convert the electromagnetic waves emitted by the feed source into plane electromagnetic waves through the conversion of the lens body after the electromagnetic waves are emitted outside the lens body, so that beams with stronger directivity can be obtained, the gain of the antenna is improved, and the lens has the advantages of small side lobe, small back lobe, good directivity and the like; different from the Luneberg lens which is realized by changing the dielectric constant of the internal material or the equivalent dielectric constant of the structure, the lens body can be realized by only one uniform material and can be formed at one time, the manufacturing method is simple, the manufacturing cost is low, the industrial production is facilitated, and the lens body is particularly suitable for microwave and millimeter wave communication application.)

1. A dielectric lens comprising a lens body, said lens body being solid spherical or hemispherical and said lens body being made of a uniform insulating material.

2. A dielectric lens according to claim 1, wherein the lens body is a regular sphere or a regular hemisphere.

3. A dielectric lens according to claim 1, wherein the dielectric constant of the insulating material is 2 to 5.

4. A dielectric lens according to claim 3, wherein the dielectric constant of the insulating material is 2.5 to 3.

5. A dielectric lens according to claim 1, wherein the lens body has a diameter of 0.5 λ -20 λ, said λ being the wavelength.

6. A dielectric lens according to claim 2, wherein the insulating material is one of photopolymer resin, red wax, ABS, PLA, nylon, PMI or ceramic.

7. An antenna using the dielectric lens as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, comprising a fixing member and a feed source for radiating electromagnetic waves, wherein the fixing member is disposed on an outer surface of the lens body, and a plurality of the feed sources are disposed on an inner side of the fixing member;

the main radiation direction of the feed source faces to the spherical center of the lens body.

8. The antenna of claim 7, further comprising a base, wherein a first supporting pillar is disposed below the lens body, and the first supporting pillar is fixed to the base;

and a second supporting column is arranged below the fixing part and fixed with the base.

9. Use of an antenna according to any of claims 7-8 in a base station, router, VR, AR or radar.

Technical Field

The invention relates to the technical field of antennas, in particular to a dielectric lens, an antenna and application thereof.

Background

With the development of society, the demand for wireless communication is increasing, and the frequency of use of electromagnetic waves tends to the millimeter wave band. The millimeter wave has shorter working wavelength, can effectively reduce the sizes of components and systems, and has higher resolution when being used in radar, imaging and other aspects due to the short wavelength; in addition, millimeter waves can provide larger bandwidths and higher data rates, and thus have received much attention from the communication industry in recent years.

However, in addition to the above advantages, the millimeter wave also has the disadvantages of large propagation loss, small coverage area, and the like. Therefore, in order to realize long-distance transmission of millimeter waves and ensure the security of information in the communication process, the antenna generally needs to have the characteristics of high gain, low side lobe and low back lobe. In order to realize the functions, a Luneberg lens can be adopted for millimeter wave transmission, the Luneberg lens is a complete spherical lens and is characterized in that the dielectric constant of materials of the sphere from outside to inside is changed, and the Luneberg lens manufactured by using a plurality of or a plurality of layers of materials with different dielectric constants has a very complicated processing production flow and uncertain processing errors, so that the production cost is very high.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention mainly aims to provide a dielectric lens, an antenna and application thereof, and aims to solve the technical problems that the conventional luneberg lens needs to be manufactured layer by layer, the process requirement is high, and the process is complex.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a dielectric lens, which includes a lens body, wherein the lens body is a solid sphere or a hemisphere, and the lens body is made of a uniform insulating material.

Preferably, the lens body is a regular sphere or a regular hemisphere.

Preferably, the dielectric constant of the insulating material is 2-5.

Preferably, the dielectric constant of the insulating material is 2.5-3.

Preferably, the lens body has a diameter of 0.5 λ -20 λ, said λ being the wavelength.

Preferably, the insulating material comprises a photopolymer resin, red wax, ABS, PLA, nylon, PMI or ceramic.

In addition, the invention also provides an antenna using the dielectric lens, which comprises a fixing piece and a feed source for radiating electromagnetic waves, wherein the fixing piece is arranged on the outer surface of the lens body, and the inner side of the fixing piece is provided with a plurality of feed sources; the main radiation direction of the feed source faces to the spherical center of the lens body.

Preferably, the lens further comprises a base, a first support column is arranged below the lens body, and the first support column is fixed with the base; and a second supporting column is arranged below the fixing part and fixed with the base.

In addition, the invention proposes an application of an antenna as defined in any one of the above mentioned in a base station, a router, VR, AR or radar.

The dielectric lens and the antenna have the following beneficial effects: the lens body in the scheme is solid spherical or hemispherical and is made of uniform insulating materials, the dielectric constant is kept consistent, the feed source can convert the electromagnetic wave of the feed source into plane electromagnetic wave to obtain wave beams with stronger directivity after the electromagnetic wave is transmitted on the surface or outside of the lens body, so that the gain of the antenna is improved, and the lens also has the advantages of small side lobe and back lobe, good directivity and the like, different from a Luneberg antenna which is made of the lens by changing the dielectric constant of internal materials or structures, the dielectric lens in the scheme is made of uniform materials, the lens body can be formed at one time, the manufacturing method is simple, the manufacturing cost is lower, the industrial production is facilitated, the processing and the production are very convenient, the cost is greatly reduced, and particularly, the development of the current 3D printing technology is mature day by day, the dielectric lens integrally formed and manufactured by using the 3D printing technology is a novel technology and method for developing a lens antenna, has a huge application value, and is particularly suitable for transmission of microwave and millimeter waves.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention, and for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained according to the structures shown in the drawings without creative efforts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a dielectric lens body according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the variation of the dielectric constant and gain of the dielectric lens according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the variation of the diameter and gain of a dielectric lens according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a graph comparing the gain effect of a dielectric lens of the present invention with a Luneberg lens;

fig. 5 shows the radiation patterns of the feed source of the present invention when phi is 0deg and phi is 90 deg;

fig. 6 shows the radiation pattern of the antenna (feed plus dielectric lens) of the present invention at phi 0deg and phi 90 deg;

FIG. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a first embodiment of a fixing element and a lens of an antenna according to the present invention;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a first embodiment of a fixing element and a feed source of the antenna of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a schematic structural diagram of a fixing element and a lens of an antenna according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of a second embodiment of a fixing element and a feed source of the antenna of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a schematic structural diagram of a fixing element and a lens of an antenna according to a third embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of a third embodiment of a fixing element and a feed source of the antenna of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of a fourth embodiment of a fixing element and a lens of an antenna according to the invention;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of a fixing element and a lens of an antenna according to a fifth embodiment of the invention;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of a fixing element and a lens of an antenna according to a sixth embodiment of the invention.

The reference numbers illustrate:

reference numerals	Name (R)	Reference numerals	Name (R)
				1	Lens body	22	Second support pillar
11	First support column	3	Feed source
				2	Fixing piece	4	Base seat
21	Clamping groove

The implementation, functional features and advantages of the present invention will be further explained with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be described clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of the embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be obtained by a person skilled in the art without inventive effort based on the embodiments of the present invention, are within the scope of the present invention.

It should be noted that if directional indications such as up, down, left, right, front, and rear … … are involved in the embodiment of the present invention, the directional indications are only used to explain the relative positional relationship, motion, and the like between the components in a specific posture as shown in the drawings, and if the specific posture is changed, the directional indications are changed accordingly.

In addition, if there is a description of "first", "second", etc. in an embodiment of the present invention, the description of "first", "second", etc. is for descriptive purposes only and is not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one such feature. In addition, technical solutions between various embodiments may be combined with each other, but must be realized by a person skilled in the art, and when the technical solutions are contradictory or cannot be realized, such a combination should not be considered to exist, and is not within the protection scope of the present invention.

The invention provides a dielectric lens, an antenna and application thereof. The dielectric lens is mainly used for converting electromagnetic waves emitted by the feed source into plane electromagnetic waves to obtain beams with stronger directivity, thereby improving the gain of the antenna, and has the advantages of small side lobe and back lobe, good directivity and the like, is particularly suitable for the transmission of microwave and millimeter waves, has simpler manufacturing process, lower integral production cost and is beneficial to industrial production. The following is a detailed description taking a millimeter wave application as an example.

As shown in fig. 1 to 15, a dielectric lens includes a lens body 1, the lens body 1 is a solid sphere or a hemisphere, and the lens body 1 is made of a uniform insulating material.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1 to 15, the lens body 1 in the present solution mainly includes a spherical shape and an ellipsoidal shape when it is spherical, and when the lens body 1 is hemispherical, it also includes a hemisphere with a circular or elliptical cross section, and the inside of the lens body 1 is a solid structure, when it is manufactured, after the solid lens body 1 is manufactured by using an insulating material, only one material exists inside the lens body 1, the dielectric constants are kept consistent, after the feed source emits electromagnetic waves on the surface of the lens body 1 or outside, a beam with more directivity of a pen shape, a fan shape or other shapes can be obtained by conversion of the lens body 1, the gain of the antenna can be improved, and the directivity is also better, unlike a lens manufactured by changing the dielectric constant of the internal material or structure of a luneberg antenna, the lens body 1 in the present solution can be formed at one time, and the manufacturing method is simple, the manufacturing cost is low, and the method is beneficial to industrial production.

The invention takes the luneberg lens as two groups of comparative examples, wherein one group of comparative examples is made of 2 layers of materials with different dielectric constants, the other group of comparative examples is made of 4 layers of materials with different dielectric constants, the radiuses of the luneberg lens and the lens body 1 in the scheme are both 90mm, the gain effect is detected after simulation, the test result is shown in figure 4, compared with the luneberg lens, the lens body 1 in the scheme also achieves better gain effect, the manufacturing process is greatly simplified, and the production cost is reduced.

Further, the lens body 1 is a regular sphere or a regular hemisphere. Thus, the lens body 1 has the best effect on millimeter wave transmission and gain when being in a spherical shape or a hemispherical shape.

Further, the dielectric constant of the insulating material is 2 to 5. Specifically, when the dielectric constant of the insulating material for manufacturing the lens body 1 is high, the refraction of the electromagnetic wave entering one end of the lens body 1 is large, so that the stable plane wave is not favorably formed at the other end, and the gain effect of the dielectric constant when the dielectric constant is larger than 5 is deteriorated, so that the practical use is inconvenient, therefore, the dielectric constant of the insulating material in the scheme is limited within the range of 2-5, and the millimeter wave lens antenna is ensured to have a good gain effect and a high wireless communication propagation rate.

Further, the dielectric constant of the insulating material is 2.5 to 3. Specifically, as can be seen from fig. 2, when the dielectric constant is gradually increased, the gain effect of the lens body 1 is not always enhanced, but a pole appears when the dielectric constant is 2.5 to 3, and the gain effect is the best at this time, so that the insulating material for manufacturing the lens body 1 preferably has a dielectric constant in the range of 2.5 to 3, and in this range, the antenna has a good gain effect, so that the transmission rate of millimeter wave communication is high.

Further, the lens body 1 has a diameter of 0.5 λ -20 λ, where λ is the wavelength. Specifically, as can be seen from fig. 3, the diameter of the lens body 1 has a preferable range, when the diameter of the lens body 1 is increased to more than 20 λ (where λ is the wavelength corresponding to the millimeter wave operating frequency), the increase of the gain effect is not obvious, and when the diameter is too large, the lens body 1 is not convenient to be mounted on a small instrument; on the contrary, when the diameter of the lens body 1 is too small, the gain improvement effect on the millimeter wave is not obvious, so that the diameter of the lens body 1 of the scheme is set to be in the range of 0.5 lambda-20 lambda, and the effect of high gain on the millimeter wave is achieved. And along with the increase of lens body 1 radius, the gain effect increases gradually, when the diameter of lens body 1 increases to more than 20 lambda, the trend that the gain effect increases slows down to a certain value, consequently control the diameter of lens body 1 in certain range, guarantee that manufacturing cost is lower has better gain effect simultaneously.

Further, the insulating material includes photopolymer resin, red wax, ABS, PLA, nylon, PMI, or ceramic. Thus, when the photopolymer resin, the red wax, the ABS, the PLA, the nylon, the PMI or the ceramic is adopted to manufacture the lens body 1, and when the photopolymer resin is adopted to manufacture the lens body 1, the 3D printing technology can be adopted to manufacture the dielectric lens, so that the manufacturing efficiency is high, the raw material source is wide, the production and manufacturing cost is relatively low, the strength and the aging resistance are good, and the long service life of the lens body 1 can be ensured after the preparation is finished. The lens body 1 can be processed by other materials or other additive manufacturing technologies, and a suitable 3D printing material and a 3D printer can be selected according to the requirements of practical application. Meanwhile, obviously, the processing of the lens body 1 can also be realized by using a common machining technology.

In addition, the invention also provides an antenna using the dielectric lens, which comprises a fixing piece 2 and a feed source 3 for radiating electromagnetic waves, wherein the fixing piece 2 is arranged on the outer surface of the lens body 1, and the inner side of the fixing piece 2 is provided with a plurality of feed sources 3; the main radiation direction of the feed source 3 is towards the spherical center of the lens body 1.

It can be understood that the antenna in this scheme includes feed 3, feed 3 radiates out the electromagnetic wave, feed 3 passes through draw-in groove 21 and installs the inside at mounting 2, specifically set up the outer wall at lens body 1, a plurality of feeds 3 transmit the inside to lens body 1 after the outer wall radiation electromagnetic wave of lens body 1, can make the wave beam of the electromagnetic wave that sees through more gathering via lens body 1, thereby its gain is better with the directionality, feed 3's millimeter wave main radiation direction need be towards the centre of sphere of lens body 1, in order to guarantee its good propagation effect. As shown in fig. 5 to 6, in the radiation pattern of the single feed source 3, the maximum gain is 7.07dBi, and after the lens body 1 is added, the maximum gain of the antenna reaches 22.6dBi, so that the gain effect is better. The fixing member 2 may be attached to the outer wall surface of the lens body 1, or may be provided at a position close to the outer wall surface of the lens body 1 so as not to directly contact with the lens body 1.

As shown in fig. 7 to 15, the fixing element 2 is disposed outside the lens body 1 in various manners, the fixing element 2 may be a hollow hemisphere structure wrapped on the outer wall of the lens body 1, the number of the fixing elements on the outer wall of the lens may be relatively increased according to the installation area of the actual feed sources 3, and after electromagnetic waves generated by the feed sources 3 are radiated in different directions, a user may receive electromagnetic wave signals radiated from different feed sources 3, so as to achieve a higher transmission rate and a larger coverage range; in another group of embodiments, the fixing member 2 is an annular band distributed around the outer wall of the lens body 1, a plurality of groups of feed sources 3 can be distributed inside the annular band for radiating electromagnetic waves, in this embodiment, the annular band can also be replaced by an arc-shaped band, the number of the corresponding feed sources 3 is further reduced, and in the actual installation process, the fixing member 2 can be installed on the outer wall of the lens body 1 in a manner of being perpendicular to or parallel to the horizontal plane; in another set of embodiments, the fixing element 2 can also be arranged into two vertically intersecting annular bands or arc bands, so that the radiation direction of the electromagnetic wave can be adjusted while the installation number of the feed sources 3 is increased.

Further, the lens further comprises a base 4, a first support column 11 is arranged below the lens body 1, and the first support column 11 is fixed with the base 4; a second supporting column 22 is arranged below the fixing part 2, and the second supporting column 22 is fixed with the base 4.

So, the antenna in this scheme can directly be blocked and establish on the apparatus that needs the installation, also can directly put in the position that needs the installation through base 4 and support column, and base 4 is the plectane, and structural more integration is fixed through first support column 11 between lens body 1 and the base 4, and is same, and mounting 2 is fixed through second support column 22 and base 4, and the installation is accomplished the back, and the antenna can be installed in optional position through base 4.

In addition, the invention proposes the use of an antenna according to any one of the preceding claims in a base station, a router, VR, AR or radar.

The antenna in the scheme has better gain effect and directivity for the transmission of microwave and millimeter waves, so that the antenna can be used in various fields, when the antenna is used in a millimeter wave base station, the transmission rate of the antenna is higher, and the transmission efficiency and the communication capacity of the antenna are improved; when the antenna is used on a router, the traditional flat antenna array can be replaced, users in a single space can respectively receive electromagnetic waves from different feed sources 3 in different areas by arranging the plurality of feed sources 3, the signal transmission rate is high, the signal coverage range is large, and the experience of the users is better; similarly, the antenna in the scheme can be used on VR or AR, and the signal line connected with VR or AR can be removed because of the improvement of the transmission rate, so that the use is more convenient; when the antenna in the scheme is used on a radar such as a vehicle-mounted millimeter wave radar, the detection range is farther and the sensing range is wider due to the fact that the directivity of millimeter waves is enhanced.

The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, and all modifications and equivalents of the present invention, which are made by the contents of the present specification and the accompanying drawings, or directly/indirectly applied to other related technical fields, are included in the scope of the present invention.