CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] The present application claims the benefit of priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202210196609.5, filed on March 2, 2022, and the entire contents of the above-identified application are incorporated by reference as if set forth herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to radio communications, and more specifically, to a radiating element, an antenna assembly, and a base station antenna for a cellular communications system.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Cellular communications systems are well known in the art. In a cellular communications system, a geographic area is divided into a series of sections that are referred to as "cells" which are served by respective base stations. A base station may comprise one or more base station antennas that are configured to provide two-way radio frequency ("RF") communications with mobile subscribers that are within the cell served by the base station.

[0004] Usually, base station antennas are mounted on an elevated structure, for example, an antenna tower, a telegraph pole, a building, or a water tower, such that the longitudinal axis L thereof extends substantially perpendicular to the ground. Base station antennas generally comprise a linear array or a two-dimensional array of radiating elements, such as crossed dipoles or patch radiating elements. These arrays may usually be mounted on the feed board.

[0005] At present, in order to realize automatic soldering, the soldering between the radiating elements and the feed board needs to be implemented on the rear side of the feed board. For this reason, the stalk of the radiating elements must pass through the feed board and reach the rear side of the feed board. However, this feeding method may cause spatial interference between the reflector located behind the feed board and the radiating elements. In addition, in order to avoid spatial interference, disposing additional mitigation measures will also have an undesirable negative impact on the base station antenna.

SUMMARY

[0006] Therefore, the objective of the present disclosure is to provide a radiating element, an antenna assembly, and a related base station antenna capable of overcoming at least one drawback in the prior art.

[0007] According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a radiating element is provided, the radiating element comprises: the radiating element comprises: a stalk and a radiator disposed on the front end of the stalk, where the rear end of the stalk comprises a soldering portion for soldering to a feed board and a protrusion for pre-positioning to the feed board, wherein the protrusion extends rearwardly of the soldering portion. Thus, the electrical properties and/or mechanical properties of the base station antenna may be effectively improved.

[0008] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a radiating element is provided, which comprises: a stalk and a radiator disposed on the front end of the stalk, where the rear end of the stalk comprises a soldering portion for soldering to the feed board, wherein the stalk is constructed as a printed circuit board stalk, which comprises a dielectric substrate and a major surface of the dielectric substrate is printed with a first ground pad and a first feeding pad, and a rear end surface of the dielectric substrate is printed with a side wall soldering area as an electroplated metal layer.

[0009] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, an antenna assembly is provided, which comprises: a reflector; a feed board, where a recess is provided on the feed board for pre-positioning a radiating element; an array of radiating elements mounted on the feed board, which comprises a plurality of radiating elements, wherein each radiating element comprises: a feed board and a radiator disposed on the front end of the stalk, where the rear end of the stalk comprises a soldering portion for soldering to the feed board and a protrusion for pre-positioning to the feed board by being accommodated in the corresponding recess, wherein the protrusion is extended rearwards further than the soldering portion.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a base station antenna is provided, which comprises the radiating element according to some embodiments of the present disclosure or comprises the antenna assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0011] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a method for automatically soldering radiating elements on the front surface of a feed board is provided.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The present disclosure will be explained in more detail by means of embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The schematic drawings are briefly described as follows:

[0013] Figure l is a schematic exploded view of a traditional base station antenna, which shows a mitigating incision on a reflector used for a stalk of a radiating element;

[0014] Figure 2 is a partial rear view of a connection between the radiating element and feed board of the antenna assembly in the base station antenna in Figure 1;

[0015] Figure 3 is a schematic perspective view of an antenna assembly according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which comprises a feed board and a radiating element mounted on the feed board;

[0016] Figure 4a is a schematic diagram of a first main surface of a first dipole radiator of the radiating element in Figure 3;

[0017] Figure 4b is a schematic diagram of a second main surface of the first dipole radiator of the radiating element in Figure 3;

[0018] Figure 5a is a schematic diagram of a first main surface of the feed board in Figure 3; [0019] Figure 5b is a schematic diagram of a second main surface of the feed board in Figure 3;

[0020] Figure 6 is a schematic rear perspective view of a radiating element according to some embodiments of the present disclosure

[0021] Figure 7 is a simplified schematic diagram of an antenna assembly in a soldered state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a base station antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, which comprises an antenna assembly and a phase shifter according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] The present disclosure will be described below with reference to the attached drawings, which show several examples of the present disclosure. However, it should be understood that the present disclosure can be presented in many different ways and is not limited to the examples described below. In fact, the examples described below are intended to make the present disclosure more complete and to fully explain the protection scope of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. It should also be understood that the examples disclosed in the present disclosure may be combined in various ways so as to provide more additional examples.

[0024] It should be understood that the terms used herein are only used to describe specific examples, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. All terms used herein (including technical terms and scientific terms) have meanings normally understood by those skilled in the art unless otherwise defined. For brevity and/or clarity, well-known functions or structures may not be further described in detail.

[0025] As used herein, when an element is said to be “on” another element, “attached” to another element, “connected” to another element, “coupled” to another element, or “in contact with” another element, etc., the element may be directly on another element, attached to another element, connected to another element, coupled to another element, or in contact with another element, or an intermediate element may be present. In contrast, if an element is described as “directly” “on” another element, “directly attached” to another element, “directly connected” to another element, “directly coupled” to another element or “directly in contact with” another element, there will be no intermediate elements. As used herein, when one feature is arranged “adjacent” to another feature, it may mean that one feature has a part overlapping with the adjacent feature or a part located above or below the adjacent feature.

[0026] As used herein, spatial relationship terms such as “upper”, “lower”, “left”, “right”, “front”, “back”, “high” and “low” can explain the relationship between one feature and another in the drawings. It should be understood that, in addition to the orientations shown in the attached drawings, the terms expressing spatial relations also comprise different orientations of a device in use or operation. For example, when a device in the attached drawings rotates reversely, the features originally described as being “below” other features now can be described as being “above” the other features”. The device may also be oriented by other means (rotated by 90 degrees or at other locations), and at this time, a relative spatial relation will be explained accordingly.

[0027] As used herein, the term “A or B” comprises “A and B” and “A or B”, not exclusively “A” or “B”, unless otherwise specified.

[0028] As used herein, the term “schematic” or “exemplary” means “serving as an example, instance or explanation”, not as a “model” to be accurately copied”. Any realization method described exemplarily herein may not be 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 specific embodiments.

[0029] As used herein, the word “basically” means including any minor changes caused by design or manufacturing defects, device or component tolerances, environmental influences, and/or other factors. [0030] As used herein, the term “at least part” may be a part of any proportion. For example, it may be greater than 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, or may even be 100%, i.e. all.

[0031] 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.

[0032] It should also be understood that when the term “comprise/include” is used herein, 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 a plurality of other features, steps, operations, units and/or components and/or combinations thereof.

[0033] Figure l is a schematic exploded view of a reflector and a multi-column of radiating elements of a traditional base station antenna 100’. The base station antenna 100’ may be mounted on an elevated structure, for example, an antenna tower, a telegraph pole, a building, or a water tower, such that the longitudinal axis L thereof extends substantially perpendicular to the ground. The base station antenna 100’ is usually mounted in a radome (not shown) that provides environmental protection. The base station antenna 100’ may comprise a reflector 800’, which may comprise a metal surface that provides a ground plane and reflects electromagnetic waves reaching the reflector, for example, so that electromagnetic waves are redirected to propagate forwardly.

[0034] The base station antenna 100’ may comprise one or more antenna assemblies 300’ arranged on the front side of the reflector 800’, and each antenna assembly 300’ may comprise a feed board 400’ and one or more radiating elements 500’ mounted on the feed board 400’. It should be understood that these radiating elements 500’ may be radiating elements of various forms, for example, they may be constructed as low-band (617 - 960 MHz or the sub-band thereof) radiating elements, mid-band (1,427 - 2,690 MHz or the subband thereof) radiating elements or high-band (3.1 - 4.2 GHz or the sub-band thereof) radiating elements, etc., and are not limited herein. [0035] The base station antenna 100’ may also comprise mechanical and electronic components (not shown) that are usually arranged on the rear side of the reflector 800’, for example, connectors, cables, phase shifters, RET units, or duplexers, etc. The base station antenna 100' may also include one or more additional arrays of radiating elements (not shown).

[0036] Figure 2 is a rear view of a connection between a radiating element 500’ and a feed board 400’ of an antenna assembly 300' in the traditional base station antenna 100’. In order to realize automatic soldering, the soldering between the radiating element 500’ and feed board 400’ is implemented on the rear side of the feed board 400'. As shown in Figure 2, the feed board 400' includes a slot or "through groove" 110’ for a stalk 510’ of the radiating element 500’ to pass through. The rear end of the stalk 510’ — the rear end is printed with a ground pad 531 ’ and a feeding pad 532’ — passes through the through groove 110' of the feed board 400' to extend rearwardly from the rear side of the feed board 400'. The ground pad 531’ and feeding pad 532' of the stalk 510' may be soldered to a corresponding ground pad 430’ and feeding pad 420’ on the rear side of the feed board 400', thereby achieving an effective feeding connection of the feed board 400' to the radiating element 500'.

[0037] However, as shown in Figure 1, the rear end 511’ of the stalk 510’ that extends backward may cause undesirable spatial interference with the reflector 800’ on the rear side of the feed board 400’. In order to avoid spatial interference between the reflector 800’ and the radiating element 500’, a corresponding mitigating incision 130’ also needs to be formed in the reflector 800’ to accommodate the backward protruding rear end 511’ of the stalk 510’. However, this traditional design structure may have one or a plurality of the following disadvantages:

[0038] first, the mitigating incision 130’ may weaken the strength of the reflector 800’, which in turn weakens the strength of the entire antenna;

[0039] second, burrs that may form during a punching operation that forms the mitigating incision 130’ may cause high passive intermodulation (PIM) risk; [0040] third, the mitigating incision 130’ may affect the pattern characteristics, for example, cross polarization (CPR) performance, of the base station antenna 100;

[0041] fourth, since soldering is performed on the rear side of the feed board 400', this may lead to feeding discontinuity, which in turn may lead to poor return loss performance of the base station antenna 100’;

[0042] fifth, the backward protruding rear end 511’ of the stalk 510’ may affect the mounting of a phase shifter mounted on the rear side of the reflector 800’.

[0043] Next, refer to Figures 3 to 8 for a detailed description of some exemplary aspects according to the present disclosure.

[0044] Refer to Figure 3, which shows a schematic perspective view of an antenna assembly 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The antenna assembly 300 may comprise a feed board 400 and a radiating element 500 mounted on the feed board 400, and the radiating element 500 is mounted to extend forwardly from the feed board 400. The feed board 400 may be realized by, for example, using a printed circuit board. In the depicted embodiment, only one radiating element 500 is mounted on the feed board 400, but the antenna assembly 300 may comprise more radiating elements 500, and any type of radiating element 500 may be used.

[0045] In Figure 3, the radiating element 500 is constructed as a dual-polarized radiating element that includes first and second dipole radiators that are transversely placed relative to each other to provide dual-polarized operation. Each dipole radiator comprise a stalk 510 and a radiator 520 disposed on the front end of the stalk 510. Each dipole radiator may be implemented using a printed circuit board. For example, a feed line 514 of the stalk 510 and a radiating arm of the radiator 520 may be printed on the dielectric substrate of the printed circuit board as a metal pattern. It should be understood that the design method of the radiating element 500 may be varied and is not limited to the current embodiment. For example, in some embodiments, the radiator 520 and the stalk 510 of the radiating element 500 may be constructed separately, and the radiator 520 may be soldered onto the front end of the stalk 510. In some embodiments, the radiator 520 of the radiating element 500 may be a sheet metal radiator. In some embodiments, the stalk 510 of the radiating element 500 may be a sheet metal stalk.

[0046] Figures 4a and 4b are schematic diagrams of respective first and second main surfaces of the first dipole radiator 501 of one of the radiating elements 500 of the antenna assembly 300. In the depicted embodiment, only the schematic diagram of the first dipole radiator 501 used for a first polarization of the radiating element 500 is shown, and it should be understood that a second dipole radiator used for a second polarization of the radiating element 500 may have basically the same design.

[0047] The first dipole radiator 501 may comprise, for example, printed dipole arms 521, 522. The stalk 510 of the first dipole radiator 501 may comprise a printed feed line 514 that is constructed as a feeding balun. In the depicted embodiment, the feeding balun may feed the corresponding dipole arms 521, 522 through for example, coupling feeding.

[0048] The rear end of the stalk 510 of the radiating element 500 may comprise a soldering portion 530 for soldering onto the feed board 400. A first ground pad 531 for grounding and a first feeding pad 532 for feeding may be provided in soldering portion 530. The first ground pad 531 and the first feeding pad 532 may be printed on the first main surface and/or second main surface of the dielectric substrate of the stalk 510. In the depicted embodiment, the first main surface of the dielectric substrate may be printed with the first ground pad 531, and the second main surface of the dielectric substrate may be printed with a grounding area 533 or a ground copper layer. The first ground pad 531 may be electrically connected to the grounding area 533 through one or more metalized vias 534. In the depicted embodiment, the feeding balun may be printed on the first main surface of the dielectric substrate and be electrically connected to or directly printed together with the first feeding pad 532 used for feeding.

[0049] Figure 5a and Figure 5b are schematic diagrams of the respective first and second main surfaces of one of the feed boards 400 of the antenna assembly 300.

[0050] As shown in Figure 3 and Figure 5a, the first main surface (i.e., the front surface) on the front side of the feed board 400 may have a first RF feed (not shown), a first feeding transmission line 411 electrically connected to the first RF feed, a first second feeding pad 420-1 electrically connected to the first feeding transmission line, a second RF feed, a second second feeding transmission line 412 electrically connected to the second RF feed, and a second feeding pad 420-2 electrically connected to the second feeding transmission line. The front surface of the feed board 400 may also have a second ground pad 430, which may be electrically connected to a ground layer on the rear surface of the feed board 400 through a metalized via or another conductor. The second feeding pad 420 may be separated and electrically isolated from the second ground pad 430 by a region that does not include a metalized coating. The various above elements of the feed board 400 may be realized as a printed metal pattern on the printed circuit board that forms the feed board 400. The first RF feed may be used as the input/output of the feed board 400 for first polarization radio frequency signals (such as +45° polarization), while the second RF feed may be used as the input/output of the feed board 400 for second polarization radio frequency signals (such as -45° polarization).

[0051] Different from the soldering operation between the radiating element 500’ and the feed board 400’ implemented on the rear side of the feed board 400’ as described in Figures 1 and 2, the present disclosure proposes to implement the soldering operation between the radiating element 500 and the feed board 400 on the front side of the feed board 400 to avoid at least one of the aforementioned disadvantages. For example, if the feeding continuity improves, the return loss performance of the base station antenna 100 may thereby be improved.

[0052] As shown in Figure 3 to Figure 5b, the rear end of the stalk 510 may comprise one or more protrusions 540 for pre-positioning to the feed board 400. The protrusions 540 may be in the transverse external area of the rear end of the stalk 510 in some embodiments. In such embodiments, the soldering portion 530 of the stalk 510 may be in the transverse internal area at the rear end of the stalk 510. In other embodiments, the protrusions 540 may be in the transverse internal area at the rear end of the stalk 510. In other embodiments, the soldering portion 530 of the stalk 510 is in the transverse external area at the rear end of the stalk 510. In the depicted embodiment, the rear end of the stalk 510 may comprise two protrusions 540 in two opposite transverse external areas, and the soldering portion 530 is between the two protrusions 540. In general, the dimensions of the protrusion 540 may be smaller than that of the soldering portion 530. For example, the transverse width of the soldering portion 530 may be at least two times, three times or even four times greater than the transverse width of the protrusion 540. This is favorable to the wiring design of the stalk 510.

[0053] Corresponding to the protrusion 540, a positioning recess 440 for prepositioning the radiating element 500 may be provided on the feed board 400. In some embodiments, the positioning recess 440 of the feed board 400 may be a through groove that extends all the way through the dielectric substrate of the feed board 400, and the protrusion 540 may at least be partially accommodated in the through groove. In some embodiments, the positioning recess 440 of the feed board 400 may be a blind slot (i.e., a recess that does not extend the full way through the dielectric substrate of the feed board 400), and the protrusion 540 may at least partially accommodated in the blind slot.

[0054] As shown in Figures 4a and 4b, the protrusion 540 may extend backwards by a certain distance further than the soldering portion 530, such that the soldering portion 530 remains above the front surface of the feed board 400 while the protrusion 540 may further extend backwards into the positioning recess 440 of the feed board 400, thereby achieving effective positioning of the radiating element 500 on the feed board 400. In some embodiments, the distance that the protrusion 540 extends backwards further than the soldering portion 530 may be less than or equal to the thickness of the feed board 400. In some embodiments, the range of distance that the protrusion 540 extends backwards further than the soldering portion 530 is between 0.2 mm and 10 mm, and between 0.5 mm and 5 mm. Thus, it ensures that the rear end of the stalk 510 no longer extends backwards beyond the rear surface of the feed board 400, thereby avoiding spatial interference with the reflector 800. Therefore, compared with the structures described in Figures 1 and 2, the feed board 400 no longer needs to be designed with a through groove for the rear end of the entire stalk 510 to pass through, and it also avoids the need to additionally dispose the above undesirable mitigating incision on the reflector 800.

[0055] The protrusion 540 may be devoid of any metal in some embodiments. In other words, each protrusion may be formed using a portion of the dielectric substrate of the feed board 400 that does not have any metal patterned thereon. Thus, even if the protrusion comes into contact with the reflector 800, it should not be a source of passive intermodulation distortion.

[0056] As shown in Figure 3, in order to implement the soldering operation between the radiating element 500 and the feed board 400 on the front side of the feed board 400, the first ground pad 531 on the soldering portion 530 of the stalk 510 may be electrically connected, for example, soldered, to the corresponding second ground pad 430 on the front surface of the feed board 400, and the first feeding pad 532 on the soldering portion 530 of the stalk 510 may be electrically connected, for example, soldered, to the corresponding second feeding pad 420 on the front surface of the feed board 400, thereby realizing effective feeding connection of the feed board 400 and the radiating element 500.

[0057] In addition, the present disclosure also proposes a method for automatically soldering the radiating element 500 on the front surface of the feed board 400, which promotes the realization of the assembly of the antenna assembly 300 in an efficient and reliable manner.

[0058] The method may comprise the following steps:

[0059] Step S10: Place a metal mesh with fixed openings, for example, a steel mesh, on the front surface of the feed board 400.

[0060] Step S20: Apply solder paste on the metal mesh.

[0061] Step S30: Remove the metal mesh, so that the soldering area on the front surface of the feed board 400 that corresponds to the fixed openings on the metal mesh is provided with solder paste. These areas where solder paste is left may comprise the aforementioned second ground pad 430 and the second feeding pad 420 allocated to the corresponding radiating element 500. [0062] Step S40: Pre-position the radiating element 500 into the positioning recess

440 on the front surface of the feed board 400 by means of the protrusion 540 on the rear end of the stalk 510. The protrusion 540 may be shape-fitted into the positioning recess 440, thereby achieving an effective and stable pre-positioning of the radiating element 500 on the feed board 400.

[0063] Step S50: Keep the soldering portion 530 on the rear end of the stalk 510 of the radiating element 500 above the front surface of the feed board 400, and provide the first ground pad 531 for grounding and the first feeding pad 532 for feeding on the soldering portion 530.

[0064] Step S60: Transfer the pre-positioned radiating element 500 and the feed board 400 to a high-temperature furnace such that the solder paste on the front surface of the feed board 400 is melted.

[0065] Step S70: Remove the pre-positioned radiating element 500 and the feed board 400 from the high-temperature furnace, such that the radiating element 500 is reliably soldered onto the feed board 400. Specifically, the first ground pad 531 on the soldering portion 530 of the stalk 510 and the corresponding second ground pad 430 on the front surface of the feed board 400 are soldered to each other, and the first feeding pad 532 on the soldering portion 530 of the stalk 510 and the corresponding second feeding pad 420 on the front surface of the feed board 400 are soldered to each other.

[0066] Next, refer to Figure 6 and Figure 7, which further describe in detail the antenna assembly 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. Figure 6 is a schematic rear perspective view of the radiating element 500 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, and Figure 7 is a simplified schematic diagram of the antenna assembly 300 in a soldered state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0067] It should be understood that the various technical features described in detail from Figures 3 to 5b may be applicable to the antenna assembly 300 and the radiating element 500 thereof described in Figures 6 and 7. Details are not described herein again. Only the further design solutions of the radiating element 500 and the antenna assembly 300 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure are described in detail herein.

[0068] As shown in Figure 6, the soldering portion 530 on the rear end of the stalk 510 of the radiating element 500 may comprise a side wall soldering area 550. The side wall soldering area 550 may be printed on the rear end surface of the soldering portion 530 as an electroplated metal layer, i.e. facing the end surface of the feed board 400. As mentioned above, the stalk 510 may be realized using a printed circuit board, and the stalk 510 may comprise a dielectric substrate, a first ground pad 531 and a first feeding pad 532 printed on the corresponding main surface (i.e., front and/or back) of the dielectric substrate, and one or a plurality of side wall soldering areas 550 printed on the corresponding rear end surface of the dielectric substrate.

[0069] In some embodiments, the side wall soldering area 550 on the rear end surface of the soldering portion 530 may be electrically connected to the first ground pad 531 or the first feeding pad 532 on the front and/or back of the soldering portion 530. In the depicted embodiment, the side wall soldering area 550 may transition from the rear end surface of the soldering portion 530 to the first ground pad 531 or first feeding pad 532 on the front and/or back of the soldering portion 530 such that the side wall soldering area 550 may be fused or merged with the first ground pad 531 or the first feeding pad 532. Accordingly, a soldering area 445 for the side wall soldering area 550 may be provided on the front surface of the feed board 400. In some embodiments, these soldering areas may be fused with the second ground pad 430 or the second feeding pad 420.

[0070] Refer to Figure 7, which is a simplified schematic diagram of the antenna assembly 300 in a soldered state according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 7, the soldering portion 530 of the radiating element 500 is positioned forwardly of the front surface of the feed board 400, and the soldering portion 530 is at least partially spaced apart from the front surface of the feed board 400 by a gap 120. Accordingly, the front surface of the feed board 400 may be provided with a soldering area for the side wall soldering area 550 and that is at least in the space 120. By means of the soldering of the side wall soldering area 550 with the soldering area on the feed board 400, an additional soldering part 433 between the radiating element 500 and the feed board 400 is created, so that the space 120 between the radiating element 500 and the feed board 400 is eliminated, thereby effectively improving the soldering strength of the radiating element 500 on the feed board 400.

[0071] Next, refer to Figure 8, which describes the base station antenna 100 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The base station antenna 100 comprises an antenna assembly 300 and a phase shifter 600 mounted on the rear surface of the reflector 800, for example, a cavity phase shifter, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In view of the design solution of the antenna assembly 300 described by the present disclosure, the protrusion 540 of the stalk 510 does not have spatial interference with the reflector 800, so the stalk 510 no longer needs to extend rearwardly beyond the rear surface of the reflector 800. Thus, the phase shifter 600 may be directly formed on the rear surface of the reflector 800 in an abutting manner. This method of mounting the phase shifter 600 is favorable to the compact structure of the base station antenna 100, and improves the spatial utilization rate of the base station antenna 100.

[0072] In accordance with one or more of the inventive concepts of the present disclosure, at least the following are provided.

[0073] 1. A radiating element, comprising: a stalk having a front end and a rear end; and a radiator disposed on the front end of the stalk, wherein the rear end of the stalk comprises a soldering portion for soldering to a feed board and a protrusion for prepositioning to the feed board, and wherein the protrusion extends rearwardly of the soldering portion.

[0074] 2. The radiating element according to 1, wherein the protrusion and the soldering portion are in a transverse external area at the rear end of the stalk.

[0075] 3. The radiating element according to 2, wherein the rear end of the stalk comprises two protrusions in two opposite transverse external areas. [0076] 4. The radiating element according to 1, wherein a distance that the protrusion extends backwards further than the soldering portion is less than or equal to a thickness of the feed board.

[0077] 5. The radiating element according to 1, wherein a distance that the protrusion extends rearwardly further than the soldering portion is between 0.2 mm and 10 mm.

[0078] 6. The radiating element according to 5, wherein the distance that the protrusion extends rearwardly further than the soldering portion is between 0.5 mm and 5 mm.

[0079] 7. The radiating element according to 1, wherein a first ground pad and a first feeding pad are provided in the soldering portion.

[0080] 8. The radiating element according to 7, wherein the first ground pad and the first feeding pad are on a first main surface and/or a second main surface of the soldering portion.

[0081] 9. The radiating element according to 8, wherein a side wall soldering area is disposed on the rear end surface of the soldering portion.

[0082] 10. The radiating element according to 9, wherein the side wall soldering area is electrically connected to the first ground pad or the first feeding pad.

[0083] 11. The radiating element according to 9, wherein the side wall soldering area is fused to the first ground pad or the first feeding pad on the first main surface and/or the second main surface of the soldering portion from the rear end surface of the soldering portion.

[0084] 12. The radiating element according to 1, wherein transverse dimensions of the soldering portion are at least two times larger than transverse dimensions of the protrusion.

[0085] 13. A radiating element, comprising: a stalk having a front end and a rear end; and a radiator on the front end of the stalk, wherein the rear end of the stalk comprises a soldering portion for soldering to a feed board, wherein the stalk is a printed circuit board stalk and comprises a dielectric substrate, with a first main surface of the dielectric substrate printed with a first ground pad and a first feeding pad, and a second main surface of the dielectric substrate printed with a side wall soldering area as an electroplated metal layer.

[0086] 14. The radiating element according to 13, wherein the side wall soldering area is electrically connected to the first ground pad or the first feeding pad.

[0087] 15. The radiating element according to 13, wherein a second main surface of the dielectric substrate is printed with a grounding area, where the first ground pad is electrically connected to the grounding area through a metalized via, wherein the side wall soldering area is in a side wall area between the first ground pad and the grounding area.

[0088] 16. The radiating element according to 15, wherein the side wall soldering area transitions from the rear end surface of the soldering portion to the first ground pad such that the side wall soldering area and first ground pad are integrated.

[0089] 17. The radiating element according to 13, wherein the rear end of the stalk further comprises a protrusion for pre-positioning to the feed board, wherein the protrusion extends rearwardly further than the soldering portion.

[0090] 18. The radiating element according to 17, wherein the protrusion is in a transverse external area at the rear end of the stalk, and the soldering portion is in a transverse internal area at the rear end of the stalk.

[0091] 19. The radiating element according to 17, wherein a distance that the protrusion extends rearwardly further than the soldering portion is between 0.5 mm and 5 mm.

[0092] 20. An antenna assembly, comprising: a reflector; a feed board, where recesses are provided on the feed board for pre-positioning radiating elements; and an array of radiating elements mounted on the feed board, which comprises a plurality of radiating elements, wherein each radiating element comprises: a stalk and a radiator on a front end of the stalk, where a rear end of the stalk comprises a soldering portion for soldering to the feed board and a protrusion for pre-positioning the radiating element on the feed board by being accommodated in a corresponding recess, wherein the protrusion extends rearwardly further than the soldering portion. [0093] 21. The antenna assembly according to Claim 20, wherein a distance that the protrusion extends rearwardly further than the soldering portion is less than or equal to a thickness of the feed board, such that the protrusion does not extend rearwardly of the feed board.

[0094] 22. The antenna assembly according to 21, wherein a distance that the protrusion extends rearwardly further than the soldering portion is between 0.5 mm and 5 mm.

[0095] 23. The antenna assembly according to 21, wherein the soldering portion is above a front surface of the feed board.

[0096] 24. The antenna assembly according to 23, wherein the soldering portion is at least partially separated from the front surface of the feed board by a gap.

[0097] 25. The antenna assembly according to 24, wherein a first ground pad and a first feeding pad are provided in the soldering portion, and a second ground pad and a second feeding pad are provided on the front surface of the feed board, wherein the first ground pad is soldered onto the second ground pad and the first feeding pad is soldered onto the second feeding pad.

[0098] 26. The antenna assembly according to 25, wherein a side wall soldering area is provided on the rear end surface of the soldering portion.

[0099] 27. The radiating element according to 26, wherein the side wall soldering area is electrically connected to the first ground pad or the first feeding pad.

[0100] 28. The radiating element according to 27, wherein the side wall soldering area transitions to the first ground pad or the first feeding pad on a first main surface and/or a second main surface of the soldering portion from the rear end surface of the soldering portion.

[0101] 29. The antenna assembly according to 26, wherein a soldering area for the side wall soldering area may be provided on the front surface of the feed board. [0102] 30. The antenna assembly according to 29, wherein the soldering area for the side wall soldering area is at least in the gap between the soldering portion and the front surface of the feed board.

[0103] 31. The antenna assembly according to 29, wherein the soldering area for the side wall soldering area is fused together with the second ground pad or the second feeding pad.

[0104] 32. The antenna assembly according to 20, wherein the protrusion of the stalk is spaced forwardly of the reflector, and the reflector does not have a mitigating incision thereon for the stalk.

[0105] 33. A base station antenna, wherein the base station antenna comprises the radiating element according to any one of 1 to 19 or comprises the antenna assembly according to any one of 20 to 32.

[0106] 34. The base station antenna according to 33, wherein the base station antenna further comprises a phase shifter, which is mounted on the rear surface of the reflector that departs from the feed board.

[0107] 35. The base station antenna according to 34, wherein the phase shifter is directly formed on the rear surface of the reflector in an abutting manner.

[0108] 36. The base station antenna according to 34, wherein the phase shifter is a cavity phase shifter.

[0109] 37. A method for automatically soldering radiating elements on the front surface of a feed board, wherein the method comprises: placing a metal mesh with set openings on the front surface of the feed board; applying solder paste on the metal mesh; removing the metal mesh, so that soldering areas on the front surface of the feed board are provided with solder paste; pre-positioning a radiating element into the positioning recesses on the front surface of the feed board via a respective protrusion on a rear end of a stalk of the radiating element; keeping a soldering portion on the rear end of the stalk of the radiating element above the front surface of the feed board, wherein a first ground pad for grounding and a first feeding pad for feeding are provided on the soldering portion; transferring the pre- positioned radiating element and the feed board to a furnace such that the solder paste on the front surface of the feed board is melted; and removing the pre-positioned radiating element and the feed board from the furnace, such that the radiating element is soldered onto the feed board.

[0110] 38. The method according to 37, wherein the radiating element is constructed as the radiating element according to any one of 1 to 19.

[0111] Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been described, those skilled in the art should understand that many variations and modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Therefore, all variations and changes are included in the protection scope of the present disclosure defined by the claims. The present disclosure is defined by the attached claims, and equivalents of these claims are also included.