Patent ID: 10424839

Abstract:
The present invention provides a phase shifter assembly for an array antenna, comprising: a first level phase shifter, wherein the first level phase shifter is configured to control the phases of a plurality of sub-arrays of the array antenna, where each sub-array comprises one or more radiating elements; a second level phase shifter, wherein the second level phase shifter is configured to proportionally change the phases of the radiating elements in the corresponding sub-arrays; and a power divider, wherein the power divider is connected between the first level phase shifter and the second level phase shifter. The phase shifter assembly has the advantages of both a distributed phase shifter network and a lumped phase shifter network. Specifically, the phase shifter assemblies can independently control the phases of the radiating elements in the array to obtain better sidelobe suppression. Further, phase control parts of the phase shifter are concentrated within a certain physical space range, so the size of the phase shifter assembly may be greatly decreased, and the cost may be greatly reduced, as compared with a conventional distributed phase shifter assembly design.