Patent Publication Number: US-11031676-B2

Title: Millimeter wave array antenna architecture

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, especially to a millimeter wave array antenna architecture. 
     BACKGROUND 
     The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) presented main application prospects of 5G in the 22nd conference of ITU-RWPSD in June 2015. The ITU defined three main application scenarios including enhanced mobile broadband, large-scale machine communication and high-reliability low-latency communication. The three application scenarios respectively correspond to different key indices, wherein a user peak rate in the enhanced mobile broadband scenario is 20 Gbps and a lowest user rate in the enhanced mobile broadband scenario is 100 Mbps. In order to achieve these harsh indices, some key technologies including the millimeter wave technology will be adopted. 
     Abundant band width resources in a millimeter wave frequency band guarantee a high-speed transmission rate. However, due to severe space loss to electromagnetic waves in the frequency band, a wireless communication system using the millimeter wave frequency band needs to adopt an architecture of a phased array. By using a phase shifter, phases of array elements are distributed according to a certain rule, thereby a high gain wave beam is formed, and the wave beam scans within a certain space scope through a phase shift change. A scanning coverage of a single phased array antenna is generally less than one hemisphere. If the form of a single array is used in the mobile phone terminal, it may cause signal instability. If the wave beam is to cover an entire sphere, at least two arrays are needed. Therefore, a current communication system using the millimeter wave technology has defects of low coverage efficiency and poor communication stability. 
     Therefore, it is necessary to provide a new millimeter wave array antenna architecture to solve the above-described problem. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic three-dimensional diagram of a millimeter wave array antenna architecture provided in the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic structural diagram of a preferred embodiment of the millimeter wave array antenna architecture provided in the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic structural diagram at another view of the millimeter wave array antenna architecture of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a coverage efficiency test diagram of a millimeter wave array antenna architecture provided in the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure will be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the present disclosure. It is evident that the embodiments described are only some rather than all embodiments in the present disclosure. 
       FIGS. 1-3  are schematic structural diagrams of a millimeter wave array antenna architecture provided in the present disclosure. The millimeter wave array antenna architecture includes six antenna arrays and an installation body for installing the six antenna arrays. Herein the installation body is of a cuboid or a cube. In this embodiment, the installation body is a mobile phone. Naturally, the installation body may otherwise be another mobile terminal like a personal digital assistant. The six antenna arrays are respectively disposed on six installation faces of the installation body, so that a scanning scope of the antenna arrays covers every installation face of the installation body, thereby realizing non-dead-spot full-space scanning. 
     Specifically, the six installation faces of the installation body include a top face  21  and a bottom face  22  disposed opposite to each other, a left side face  23  and a right side face  24  disposed opposite to each other, and an upper side face  25  and a lower side face  26  disposed opposite to each other. The upper side face  25 , the left side face  23 , the lower side face  26  and the right side face  24  abut end to end sequentially to form a rectangular ring-like structure, the top face  21  and the bottom face  22  respectively covering two end openings of the rectangular ring-like structure. Correspondingly, the six antenna arrays include a first antenna array  11  disposed on the top face  21 , a second antenna array  12  disposed on the bottom face  22 , a third antenna array  13  disposed on the left side face  23 , a fourth antenna array  14  disposed on the right side face  24 , a fifth antenna array  15  disposed on the upper side face  25 , and a sixth antenna array  16  disposed on the lower side face  26 . 
     Specific installation positions of the respective antenna arrays on the installation faces may be determined according to arrangement of elements in the installation body. In this embodiment, the first antenna array  11  and the second antenna array  12  are disposed symmetrical to each other and closer to the upper side face  25 , the third antenna array  13  and the fourth antenna array  14  are disposed symmetrical to each other and closer to the upper side face  25 , and the fifth antenna array  15  and the sixth antenna array  16  are disposed symmetrical to each other and on the center of the upper side face  25  and the center of the lower side face, respectively. 
     Among the above-described antenna arrays, all of them may be of area arrays, all of them may otherwise be of line arrays, or some may be of area arrays while the others may be of line arrays. The antenna arrays being of area arrays may make shorter a distance between each antenna unit forming an antenna array and a radio frequency chip port. The antenna arrays being of line arrays may, on the one hand, make a space taken by a millimeter wave array in an installation body narrower, thus facilitating an antenna array to be disposed at an edge position of the installation body without affecting arrangement of other elements in the installation body. On the other hand, a line array just needs to scan one angle, which simplifies difficulty in design and test and complexity of wave beam management. Naturally, it is necessary to consider which positions are suitable for area arrays and which positions are suitable for line arrays according to a particular structure inside an installation body, when design is being performed. 
     Each of the antenna arrays may include a single antenna unit or a plurality of antenna units. When the antenna array is of a single antenna unit, the antenna unit may be of any one of a patch antenna, a dipole antenna or a slot antenna. When the antenna array consists of a plurality of antenna units, the plurality of antenna units may be of one or more of a patch antenna, a dipole antenna or a slot antenna. 
     The six antenna arrays may operate in a diversity mode or in a MIMO mode. The diversity mode may reduce a transmission power, while the MIMO mode may enlarge a system&#39;s capacity and improve reliability of transmission, but may not solve the problem of selective fading of frequency. Therefore, relationships between the six antenna arrays may be determined according to practical needs. 
       FIG. 4  shows a coverage efficiency test diagram of a millimeter wave array antenna architecture provided in the present disclosure. It is shown in the test result that the coverage efficiency is high. Due to the six antenna arrays&#39; non-dead-spot full-space scanning on the installation faces of the installation body, areas with weak wave beam coverage on the installation body are reduced to the least, which is advantageous for ensuring an antenna coverage efficiency, thereby improving stability of the mobile communication system and a user&#39;s experience. 
     Compared with a related art, the millimeter wave array antenna architecture provided in the present disclosure has the following beneficial effects: 
     1) Due to the six antenna arrays&#39; non-dead-spot full-space scanning on the installation faces of the installation body, areas with weak wave beam coverage on the installation body are reduced to the least, which is advantageous for ensuring an antenna coverage efficiency, thereby improving stability of the mobile communication system and a user&#39;s experience. 
     2) It may be determined whether each of the six antenna arrays shall be of area array or line array according to a particular structure inside an installation body, and thus a design may be very flexible. 
     The above description is only an embodiment of the present disclosure, which does not impose a limitation to the scope of the present disclosure. Any equivalent structures or any equivalent step variants that are made by using the disclosure and the drawings of the present disclosure and that may be directly or indirectly applied to another related art are all included in the scope of patent protection of the present disclosure.