Related Application

The present application claims the benefit of and priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202011548974.5, filed December 24, 2020, the entire content of which is incorporated hereby by reference in its entirety.

Technical field

The present disclosure relates to an antenna connector and an antenna.

Background art

A power divider is a device that divides the energy of an input signal into two or more sub-components that have equal or unequal energy that are output at respective output ports. In an antenna, power dividers are often used to divide a radio frequency (RF) feed signal into a plurality of sub-components, and each sub-component is passed to a respective radiating element array.

Most small cell antennas are designed to provide omnidirectional coverage in the azimuth (horizontal) plane. Consequently, most small cell antennas include multiple reflecting plates (which may comprise an integral structure or a plurality of separate reflecting plates), with one or more radiating elements are mounted on each reflecting plate., The radiating elements are typically mounted on feed board printed circuit boards which are mounted outwardly of the reflecting plates. The radiating elements that are mounted on different reflecting plates are configured to emit RF energy in different directions. For example, four reflecting plates may be arranged to define a tube with a rectangular crosssection, and radiating elements may be mounted to extend outwardly from each reflecting plate. Power dividers may be used to split an RF feed signal into multiple sub-components, and the sub-components may be fed to radiating elements that are mounted on different reflecting plates. The small cell antenna may be configured to form a radiation pattern or "antenna beam" having a desired shape in the azimuth plane, such as an omnidirectional pattern, a peanut-shaped pattern, or a heart-shaped pattern.

Summary of the invention

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, an antenna connector is provided, including: an input terminal configured to receive an input signal; a power divider configured to divide the input signal into multipath output signals; a housing configured to house the power divider; and a plurality of output terminals, each configured to provide the multipath output signals to corresponding radiating element arrays.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the input terminal may be electrically connected to a feeder panel in order to receive input signals from the feeder panel.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the housing may include a first housing and a second housing opposite to each other.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the power divider may include an input port and a plurality of output ports. The input terminal passes through the first housing and is electrically connected to the input port, and the plurality of output terminals pass through the second housing and are electrically connected to the plurality of output ports.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the plurality of output terminals may be soldered to the corresponding output ports.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the plurality of output terminals may be plugged into the corresponding output ports.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the input terminal may be soldered to the input port.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the input terminal may be plugged into the input port.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the first housing and the second housing may be connected together by fasteners, such as screws, bolts, rivets, and the like.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the working frequency of the power divider may be 3 GHz to 6 GHz, for example 5GHz-6GHz.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, an antenna device is provided, including: a feeder panel, configured to output a signal; the antenna connector according to the present disclosure; and a plurality of radiating element arrays, configured to radiate electromagnetic waves according to the multipath output signals.

Other features and advantages of the present disclosure will be made clearer by the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure with reference to the attached drawings.

Brief description of the attached drawings

The attached drawings, which form a part of the Specification, describe exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the Specification, are used to explain the principles of the embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. l is a schematic diagram of a radiating element array.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of an antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 A is a schematic view of a connector according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3B is an exploded view of the connector of Fig. 3 A.

Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a radiating element array according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5A is a sectional view of a power divider according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5B is a schematic diagram of a power divider according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of a cable assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Note that in the embodiments described below, the same signs may be sometimes used jointly between different drawings to denote the same parts or parts with the same functions, and repeated descriptions of these parts are omitted. In some cases, similar labels and/or letters are used to indicate similar items. Therefore, once an item is defined in one figure, it may not be further discussed in subsequent figures.

For ease of understanding, the position, dimension, and range of each structure shown in the attached drawings and the like may not indicate the actual position, dimension, and range. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the position, size, range, etc. disclosed in the attached drawings.

Specific embodiments

Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings. It should be noted: unless otherwise specifically stated, the relative arrangement, numerical expressions and numerical values of components and steps set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is actually only illustrative, and in no way serves as any limitation to the present disclosure and its application or use. In other words, the structure and method herein are shown in an exemplary manner to illustrate different embodiments of the structure and method in the present disclosure. However, those skilled in the art will understand that they only illustrate exemplary ways of implementing the present disclosure, rather than exhaustive ways. In addition, the attached drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some features may be enlarged to show details of specific components.

The technologies, methods, and equipment known to those of ordinary skill in the art may not be discussed in detail, but where appropriate, the technologies, methods, and equipment should be regarded as part of the granted Specification.

In all examples shown and discussed herein, any specific value should be construed as merely exemplary value and not as limiting value. Therefore, other examples of the exemplary embodiment may have different values.

Most cellular operators have strict limits on the size of small cell antennas that have specific capabilities. Thus, in order to conserve space within a small cell antenna, power dividers have been integrated into or otherwise implemented on the feed boards. However, such an arrangement may require multiple different versions of a feed board.

For example, Fig. 1 schematically shows two versions of an array assembly (where an array assembly comprises a feed board and the radiating elements mounted thereon) that are used to form an antenna beam having a peanut-shaped cross-section in the azimuth plane. The array component N1 + and the array component N1 - are respectively arranged on two opposite reflecting plates. The two array components each include a column of radiating elements and a corresponding power divider. The power divider of the array component N1 + includes a positive polarization signal jumper port 1, a positive polarization signal input port 2 and a negative polarization signal input port 3. The power divider of the array component N1 - comprises a positive polarization signal input port 4, a negative polarization signal input port 5, and a negative polarization signal jumper port 6. The positive polarization signal input port 2 and the negative polarization signal input port 5 are directly electrically connected to an external signal source (not shown). The positive polarization signal input from the positive polarization signal input port 2 is input to the positive polarization signal input port 4 of the array component N1 - through the positive polarization signal jumper port 1. The negative polarization signal input from the negative polarization signal input port 5 is input to the negative polarization signal input port 3 of the array component N1 + via the negative polarization signal jumper port 6. For more complicated radiation patterns or tighter space, more versions of the array assembly may be required.

Implementing the power divider and the feed board increases the size of the feed board. For small antennas with limited space, sometimes the outer surface of the reflecting plate may not be large enough for such an arrangement. Most antenna manufacturers mount a separate power divider in an internal cavity formed by the reflecting plates, and then connect the radiating elements on different reflecting plates using jumper cables. However, there are several shortcomings with this approach. First, when the power divider is located in the internal cavity, debugging the antenna may become very inconvenient. Second, if the solder joints between the power divider and the jumper cables are of poor quality, or if the power divider itself has a problem, the reflecting plates have to be disassembled for repair, which may be very time consuming. Third, for multi-band and multi-port antennas, many jumper cables are required, which make the routing process for the jumper cables complicated and increases the level of difficulty in assembling process.

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of an antenna 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 2, the antenna 100 includes a power divider 102 and a radiating element array 110. The power divider 102 receives an input signal from a signal source (not shown). The power divider 102 includes one input port and four output ports. The input port of the power divider 102 is used to receive an input signal, divide the input signal into four sub-components that comprise respective output signals, and outputs the output signals from the four respective output ports. The radiating element array 110 includes four columns of radiating elements 111, 112, 113, and 114, which are electrically connected to the four output ports of the power divider 102, respectively. The radiating element array 110 can radiate electromagnetic waves to the outside according to the output signals from the four output ports of the power divider 102.

Those skilled in the art should understand that the four output signals of the power divider 102 can have the same power level or different power levels, which is not particularly limited in the present disclosure.

In the exemplary antenna 100 shown in Fig. 2, the power divider 102 is a separate component. As a result, the same feed board may be used on each reflecting panel, and thus it is only necessary to design one feed board for the antenna 100. In addition, since the power divider 102 is separate, the size of the feed board can be reduced.

Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B are schematic views of an antenna connector 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In particular, Fig. 3 A is a schematic view of the antenna connector 300, and Fig. 3B is an exploded perspective view of the antenna connector 300. As shown in Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B, the antenna connector 300 includes: an input terminal 301, a housing 302, a power divider 304, and a plurality of output terminals 303. The housing 302 includes a first housing 311 and a second housing 312 opposite to each other, as illustrated. The power divider 304 is arranged in a cavity formed by the first housing 311 and the second housing 312. The power divider 304 may comprise a printed circuit board. The printed circuit board may include a dielectric substrate having conductive traces on a first main surface thereof and a metal ground plane on a second main surface thereof that is opposite the first main surface.

In the antenna connector 300 shown in Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B, the power divider 304 can divide one input signal into four output signals, that is, it includes one input port and four output ports. The input terminal 301 of the antenna connector 300 passes through a hole 322 in the first housing 311 and is electrically connected to the input port of the power divider 304. The input terminal 301 can provide an input signal from a signal source (not shown) to the power divider 304. The four output terminals 303 of the antenna connector 300 pass through the second housing 312 and are electrically connected to the radiating element array, thereby providing the signals output from the respective output ports of the power divider 304 to the corresponding radiating elements.

Figs. 5A and 5B show schematic diagrams of a power divider 304 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Fig. 5A is a sectional view of a power divider 304. As shown in Fig. 5A, the power divider 304 includes a substrate 502 made of a dielectric material, a ground layer 503 made of a conductive material, and a functional layer 501 formed with conductive traces.

Fig. 5B shows a plan view of a power divider 304. As shown in Fig. 5B, the power divider 304 is a T-shaped power divider with an operating frequency of 5GHz-6GHz. The power divider 304 includes one input port 511, four output ports 512 and an absorption resistor 513. The input port 511 is electrically connected to the input terminal 301 of the antenna connector 300, and the four output ports 512 are respectively electrically connected to the four output terminals 303 of the antenna connector 300. For example, the input terminal 301 and the output terminal 303 can be directly soldered to the corresponding input port 511 and output port 512 to realize electrical connection. In addition, the input port 511 and the output port 512 can be provided with pin holes, for example, and the input terminal 301 and the output terminal 303 can be provided with pins, which can be inserted into the corresponding pin holes to realize electrical connection.

In addition, in some cases, the power divider 304 may also be provided with an absorption resistor 513. It should be understood that the absorption resistor 513 can absorb part of the energy and adjust the power profile so that the output signal of the power divider can meet the requirements of customers and relevant specifications.

It should be understood that the antenna connector 300 shown in Fig. 3A and Fig. 3B is merely an exemplary embodiment of the connector of the present disclosure. The antenna connector according to the present disclosure is not limited to the structure shown in Fig. 3 A and Fig. 3B. The antenna connector according to the present disclosure may include: an input terminal configured to receive an input signal; a power divider configured to divide the input signal into multiple output signals; a housing configured to house the power divider; and a plurality of output terminals, each configured to provide the multiple output signals to corresponding radiating element arrays.

For example, Fig. 4 is a schematic view of a radiating element array of a small cell antenna according to the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 4, in order to realize an omnidirectional radiation pattern in the azimuth plane, a reflector 401 has four reflecting panels that face in four different directions, and each panel is provided with a radiating element array 402. The signals output from the four output ports of the power divider 304 of the antenna connector 300 are provided to the corresponding radiating element arrays 402 via the four output terminals 303.

In some embodiments according to the present disclosure, the input terminal 301 and the output terminals 303 may be electrically connected to the input port and the output ports of the power divider 304 by soldering. In addition, other suitable electrical connection methods, such as a plug-in method, may also be used.

The first housing 311 and the second housing 312 may be fixed together by fasteners 305, such as screws, bolts, rivets, etc. As shown in Fig. 3B, the first housing 311 and the second housing 312 are rectangular, and four corners are respectively provided with holes 321. The fasteners 305 pass through the holes 321 to fasten the first housing 311 and the second housing 312 together. In an embodiment according to the present disclosure, when the first housing 311 and the second housing 312 are fastened together by the fasteners 305, the input terminal 301 and the input port of the power divider 304 maintain electrical contact by pressure, thereby achieving electrical connection. In addition, the output ports of the power divider 304 may be in a form of a plug jack and the output terminal 303 may be in a form of a plug pin. In this way, the electrical connection between the output terminal 303 and the output port of the power divider 304 is realized through plugging.

By using the connector of the present disclosure, the influence of solder joints on the antenna device can be reduced or eliminated. For example, the amount of tin in a solder joint affects return loss. The installation of the antenna device is a field operation. Under conditions such as outdoors, when the installer manually solders each terminal to the corresponding port of the power divider, the amount of tin in each solder joint may be uneven and the return loss may be increased. At the same time, when the amount of tin is large, it may also increase the levels of passive intermodulation (PIM) distortion generated in the antenna. When the connector of the present disclosure is used, the soldering between each terminal (for example, the input terminal 301 and the output terminal 303) and the power divider 304 can be completed in batches in the factory. As a result, the soldering quality and the amount of tin in the solder joints can be strictly controlled, so that the return loss remains consistent and the passive intermodulation distortion level is reduced.

In addition, by using the antenna connector of the present disclosure, the array assembly (for example, the feed board) and the power divider are separated, reducing the volume of the array assembly and simplifying the design of the array assembly. As such, it may only be necessary to design one kind of array assembly, which is conducive to modularization and platformization of product design.

In addition, in the antenna connector according to the present disclosure, the working frequency range of the power divider may be, for example, a wide frequency band (for example, 3 GHz to 6 GHz) or other suitable frequency bands.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the antenna connector 300 described above. For example, the power divider 304 may have two, three, five, or more output ports. The housing 302 may also be composed of three or more housings, or may be formed by a single housing. The housing may be made of, for example, a metal material, or may be made of other materials such as resin and plastic.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic diagram of a cable assembly according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Fig. 6, the cable assembly includes the above antenna connector 300, input cable 601 and multiple output cables 602 according to the embodiment of the present disclosure. The input cable 601 can be electrically connected to the input terminal 301 of the antenna connector 300. One end of each of a plurality of output cables 602 can be respectively connected to the corresponding output terminals 303 of the antenna connector 300, and the opposite end of each respective output cable 602 can be electrically connected to the corresponding radiation elements.

The words “front”, “rear”, “top”, “bottom”, “above”, “below”, etc. in the Specification and Claims, if present, are used for descriptive purposes and are not necessarily used to describe constant relative positions. It should be understood that the terms used in this way are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances, so that the embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, for example, can operate on other orientations that differ from those orientations shown herein or otherwise described.

As used herein, the word “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance, or illustration” rather than as a “model” to be copied exactly. Any realization method described exemplarily herein is not necessarily interpreted as being preferable or advantageous over other realization methods. Furthermore, the present disclosure is not limited by any expressed or implied theory given in the above technical field, background art, summary of the invention or embodiments.

As used herein, the word “basically” means comprising any minor changes caused by design or manufacturing defects, device or component tolerances, environmental influences, and/or other factors. The word “basically” also allows the gap from the perfect or ideal situation due to parasitic effects, noise, and other practical considerations that may be present in the actual realization.

In addition, the above description may have mentioned elements or nodes or features that are “connected” or “coupled” together. As used herein, unless specified otherwise, “connect” means that an element/node/feature is directly electrically, mechanically, logically connected, or connected in other manners (or directly communicated) with another element/node/feature. Similarly, unless explicitly stated otherwise, “coupled” means that one element/node/feature can be mechanically, electrically, logically or otherwise connected with another element/node/feature in a direct or indirect manner to allow interaction, even though the two features may not be directly connected. That is, “coupled” is intended to comprise direct and indirect connection of components or other features, including connection using one or a plurality of intermediate components.

In addition, for reference purposes only, “first”, “second” and similar terms may also be used herein, and thus are not intended to be limitative. For example, unless the context clearly indicates, the words “first”, “second” and other such numerical words involving structures or elements do not imply a sequence or order.

It should also be understood that when the term “include/comprise” is used in this text, it indicates the presence of the specified feature, entirety, step, operation, unit and/or component, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, entireties, steps, operations, units and/or components and/or combinations thereof.

Those skilled in the art should realize that the boundaries between the above operations are merely illustrative. A plurality of operations can be combined into a single operation, which may be distributed in the additional operation, and the operations can be executed at least partially overlapping in time. Also, alternative embodiments may include a plurality of instances of specific operations, and the order of operations may be changed in various other embodiments. However, other modifications, changes and substitutions are also possible. Therefore, the Specification and attached drawings hereof should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

Although some specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail by examples, those skilled in the art should understand that the above examples are only for illustration, not for limiting the scope of the present disclosure. The embodiments disclosed herein can be combined arbitrarily without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art should also understand that various modifications can be made to the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure. The scope of the present disclosure is defined by the claims attached.