Patent Description:
With continuous development of communications technologies, a massive multiple-input multiple-output (massive (multiple-input multiple-output, MIMO)) system has an increasingly high requirement for a miniaturized on-board filter. The miniaturized on-board filter means that a miniaturized filter is directly welded on a circuit board to replace a larger cavity filter in a device, so that a size and a cost of the filter on the device can be reduced and a threshold of commercial use of the massive MIMO system can be lowered.

Currently, a most commonly used miniaturized filter that meets the foregoing requirements is a dielectric filter. The existing dielectric filter is formed by a coupling of several dielectric resonant cavities, in which each dielectric resonant cavity contains a dielectric resonator, so it can also be considered that the dielectric filter is formed by a coupling of several dielectric resonators. However, in such a dielectric filter, because of a coupling between every two dielectric resonators, an overall size of all dielectric resonators connected increases, and a magnetic field distribution area increases. As a result, a high-order harmonic wave frequency decreases and a remote suppression capability deteriorates. Consequently, specification requirements and user requirements cannot be met. Therefore, in practice, an additional low-pass filter needs to be added to work with the dielectric filter to meet a requirement of remote suppression capability.

In conclusion, the existing dielectric filter causes a decrease in a high-order harmonic wave frequency and causes a poor remote suppression capability, which cannot meet the specification requirements. <CIT> describes a dielectric filter with resonator holes, a first through hole and a second through hole. <CIT> describes a dielectric filter and dielectric duplexer.

In accordance with the invention, there is provided a dielectric filter and a communications device as defined in the appended claims, to solve a problem in the prior art that a dielectric filter causes a decrease in a high-order harmonic wave frequency and a poor remote suppression capability, and specification requirements cannot be met.

This application provides a dielectric filter, according to the present claims. In this way, a magnetic field distribution in the dielectric filter may be cut via the first through-hole, so that a magnetic field distribution area is reduced, and the high-order harmonic wave frequency can be increased, thereby improving the remote suppression capability and meeting specification requirements. In addition, the dielectric filter provided in this application is easy to implement and has a simple structure. After the dielectric filter provided in this application meets the specification requirements, a low-pass filter does not need to be used, so that a cost and a loss can be reduced.

The following further describes in detail this application with reference to accompanying drawings.

Embodiments of this application provide a dielectric filter and a communications device, to solve a problem in the prior art that a dielectric filter causes a decrease in a high-order harmonic wave frequency and a poor remote suppression capability, and specification requirements cannot be met.

In the description of this application, terms such as "first" and "second" are merely used for distinction and description, and shall not be understood as an indication or implication of relative importance or an indication or implication of an order.

It is well known that, in systems such as a communications system, a communications device such as a base station and a terminal device includes a filter. Currently, a dielectric filter is usually used to meet the requirements of low-cost and miniaturization. The dielectric filter includes at least two dielectric resonators, and the at least two dielectric resonators are in a sequential coupling arrangement. In practice, because of a coupling between the at least two dielectric resonators in the dielectric filter, a magnetic field in the dielectric filter is distributed in a range including all the dielectric resonators, which causes a decrease in a high-order harmonic wave frequency and deteriorates a remote suppression capability. Currently, in specific implementation, an additional low-pass filter is added to work with the dielectric filter, to meet a requirement for the high-order harmonic wave frequency. Based on this, a dielectric filter and a communications device are designed in the embodiments of this application, so that a magnetic field generated in the designed dielectric filter is cut, thereby improving a high-order harmonic wave frequency and a remote suppression capability. Further, the base station and the terminal device that include the designed dielectric filter can better meet user requirements in a communication process, thereby improving user experience. In addition, the dielectric filter designed in the embodiments of this application is easy to implement and has a simple structure, and therefore has strong practicability. In this way, the additional low-pass filter is no longer required. Only the dielectric filter provided by the embodiments of this application is used, thereby reducing costs.

To describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application more clearly, the following describes in detail, with reference to the accompanying drawings, the dielectric filter and the communications device according to the present claims.

As shown in a schematic structural diagram of the dielectric filter shown in <FIG>, the dielectric filter includes at least two dielectric resonators, for example, a dielectric resonator <NUM>, a dielectric resonator <NUM>, and a dielectric resonator <NUM> shown in <FIG>. A first through-hole is disposed between at least one pair of adjacent dielectric resonators, for example, a first through-hole <NUM> between the dielectric resonator <NUM> and the dielectric resonator <NUM>, and a first through-hole <NUM> between the dielectric resonator <NUM> and the dielectric resonator <NUM> shown in <FIG>.

It should be noted that, in the dielectric filter shown in <FIG>, only a case in which a first through-hole is disposed between each pair of dielectric resonators is shown. Optionally, in <FIG>, only the first through-hole <NUM> or only the first through-hole <NUM> may be disposed, that is, the first through-hole is disposed between only one pair of adjacent dielectric resonators. In other words, the first through-hole is disposed between some of the adjacent dielectric resonators. Details are not listed herein in this application.

Specifically, the first through-hole is disposed between the at least one pair of adjacent dielectric resonators, so that the first through-hole cuts a magnetic field generated between the pair of adjacent dielectric resonators. For example, <FIG> is a schematic diagram of distribution of a magnetic field in a dielectric filter in the prior art, and <FIG> is a schematic diagram of distribution of a magnetic field in the dielectric filter shown as example. Compared with the magnetic field in <FIG>, the magnetic field in <FIG> is cut. It can be obviously seen that a distribution area of the magnetic field in <FIG> is much larger than a distribution area of the magnetic field in <FIG>. Therefore, by using the dielectric filter provided in <FIG>, a magnetic field distribution area can be reduced, so that a high-order harmonic wave frequency can be increased, and a remote suppression capability can be improved, thereby meeting specification requirements.

In an optional implementation, the first through-hole penetrates the dielectric filter, one opening of the first through-hole is located on a first surface and the other opening is located on a second surface; and the first surface and the second surface are respectively side surfaces on two sides of an arrangement direction of the at least two resonators in the dielectric filter. In this way, the first through-hole can cut a magnetic field between the pair of adjacent dielectric resonators.

For example, the first through-hole <NUM> in <FIG> is used as an example for description. It may be understood that the arrangement direction of the at least two dielectric resonators in the dielectric filter in <FIG> may be a direction from the dielectric resonator <NUM> to the dielectric resonator <NUM> and then to the dielectric resonator <NUM>. The two sides of the arrangement direction are the first side and the second side shown in <FIG>, the first surface is a side surface of the first side or a side surface of the second side, and the second surface is a side surface of a side other than the side for the first surface in the two sides. This is not specifically limited in this application. For example, one opening of the first through-hole <NUM> in <FIG> is located on the side surface of the first side of the dielectric filter, and the other opening is located on the side surface of the second side of the dielectric filter.

It should be noted that <FIG> shows only a simplest and intuitive cuboid structure of the dielectric filter. Therefore, there is only one side surface on each of the first side and the second side in <FIG>. However, it should be understood that <FIG> is merely an example. An existence form of the dielectric filter provided in the embodiments of this application is not limited to a cuboid, and may also be a polyhedron (with more than six sides). In this case, there may be a plurality of side surfaces on both the first side and the second side, one opening of the first through-hole <NUM> may be located on a side surface in the plurality of side surfaces of the first side, and the other opening may be located on a side surface in the plurality of side surfaces of the second side. This is not limited in this application. For example, <FIG> is a schematic structural diagram of a dielectric filter. In <FIG>, there are three side faces on both the first side and the second side of the dielectric filter. One opening of the first through-hole <NUM> is located on a side surface of the first side, and the other opening is located on a side surface of the second side. The second through-hole <NUM> is similar, and details are not described herein again.

It should be noted that the foregoing listed existence forms of the dielectric filter are regular polyhedrons. In practice, the dielectric filter may also be irregular polyhedrons, that is, a quantity of side surfaces of the first side is different from a quantity of side surfaces of the second side, or a side surface is concave or convex, and the like. However, it only needs to be ensured that the two openings are located on any side surfaces of the two sides of the arrangement direction of the at least two dielectric resonators. Specifically, details are not listed one by one herein this application.

In an optional implementation, one or more first through-holes are disposed between at least one pair of adjacent dielectric resonators. <FIG> shows an example in which only one first through-hole is disposed between two adjacent dielectric resonators. Specifically, there may be one or more first through-holes between a pair of adjacent dielectric resonators, and there may also be one or more first through-holes between another pair of adjacent resonators. For example, in <FIG>, there may be only one first through-hole (that is, there may be only one first through-hole <NUM>) between the dielectric resonator <NUM> and the dielectric resonator <NUM>, and there may be a plurality of first through-holes between the dielectric resonator <NUM> and the dielectric resonator <NUM> (that is, there may be another first through-hole in addition to the first through-hole <NUM>). For another example, in <FIG>, there may be a plurality of first through-holes (that is, there may be another first through-hole in addition to the first through-hole <NUM>) between the dielectric resonator <NUM> and the dielectric resonator <NUM>, and there may be only one first through-hole (that is, there may be only the first through-hole <NUM>) between the dielectric resonator <NUM> and the dielectric resonator <NUM>. For example, <FIG> shows a case in which there are a plurality of first through-holes between a pair of dielectric resonators.

In the optional implementation, the first through-hole may be but is not limited to a straight-through hole, a bent-through hole, an irregular through-hole, or the like. In an optional implementation, when there are a plurality of first through-holes between the pair of adj acent dielectric resonators, some of the plurality of first through-holes may be straight-through holes, some may be bent-through holes, some may be irregular through-holes, or the like. Alternatively, all of the plurality of first through-holes may be straight-through holes, bent-through holes, irregular through-holes, or the like. This is not limited in this application.

In a possible implementation, the first through-hole is in communication with a through-hole group, and the through-hole group includes one or more second through-holes; and openings of all the second through-holes are located on a side surface close to the top or bottom of the at least two dielectric resonators in the dielectric filter. For example, in the schematic structural diagram of the dielectric filter shown in <FIG>, the second through-hole <NUM> is a through-hole group in communication with the first through-hole <NUM>, and the second through-hole <NUM> is a through-hole group in communication with the first through-hole <NUM>. In addition, openings of both the second through-hole <NUM> and the second through-hole <NUM> are located on a side surface close to the top of the at least two dielectric resonators in the dielectric filter. It should be noted that, when each of a plurality of first through-holes is in communication with one through-hole group, openings of all the second through-holes in the plurality of through-hole groups are all on a side surface of the top, or are all on a side surface of the bottom, but cannot be located as follows: some openings are on a side surface of the top, and the other openings are on a side surface of the bottom, to avoid a short circuit of the dielectric filter.

<FIG> shows only a case in which there is only one second through-hole in the through-hole group in communication with the first through-hole. Certainly, the first through-hole <NUM> may be in communication with a plurality of second through-holes, and the first through-hole <NUM> is in communication with a plurality of second through-holes, or one of the first through-hole <NUM> and the second through-hole <NUM> is in communication with one second through-hole, and the other is in communication with a plurality of second through-holes, which are not listed one by one herein. For example, <FIG> shows a case in which the through-hole group in communication with the first through-hole <NUM> includes two second through-holes (that is, a plurality of second through-holes), and the through-hole group in communication with the first through-hole <NUM> includes two second through-holes (that is, a plurality of second through-holes).

In an optional implementation, when there are a plurality of first through-holes between a pair of adj acent dielectric resonators, each first through-hole may be in communication with a through-hole group, that is, each first through-hole may be in communication with at least one second through-hole. For example, <FIG> shows such a schematic structural diagram of the dielectric filter.

In an optional implementation, when there are a plurality of first through-holes between a pair of adjacent dielectric resonators, a connection relationship between the plurality of first through-holes and at least one second through-hole may alternatively be shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, or <FIG>. Certainly, there may be another structure, which is not listed one by one herein.

In an optional implementation, when there are a plurality of first through-holes between a pair of adjacent dielectric filters, some first through-holes in the plurality of first through-holes may be in communication with a through-hole group, and the remaining first through-holes are not in communication with a through-hole group. In another optional implementation, when a first through-hole is disposed between a plurality of pairs of adjacent dielectric resonators, first through-holes between some pairs of adjacent dielectric resonators may be in communication with a through-hole group, and first through-holes of the other several pairs of adjacent dielectric resonators are not in communication with a through-hole group. This is not limited in this application.

The first through-hole is in communication with the through-hole via the through-hole group, so that a magnetic field cutting capability is stronger than that when only the first through-hole is disposed, and the high-order harmonic wave frequency can be further increased.

In a possible design, at least one non-through hole is disposed on a first through-hole, and a non-through hole is in communication with a second through-hole. For example, in a schematic structural diagram of a dielectric filter shown in <FIG>, a non-through hole <NUM> is disposed on a first through-hole <NUM> and is in communication with a second through-hole <NUM>. A non-through hole <NUM> is disposed on a first through-hole <NUM> and is in communication with a second through-hole <NUM>.

In an optional implementation, when a through-hole group in communication with a first through-hole includes a plurality of second through-holes, a quantity of at least one non-through hole disposed on the first through-hole may be less than or equal to a quantity of the plurality of second through-holes. To be specific, when the quantity of the at least one non-through hole is equal to the quantity of the second through-holes, each second through-hole in the plurality of second through-holes is in communication with one non-through hole; when the quantity of the at least one non-through hole is less than the quantity of the second through-holes, each second through-hole of some (a quantity of these second through-holes is equal to a quantity of non-through holes) of the plurality of second through-holes is separately in communication with a non-through hole, and the other second through-holes are not in communication with a non-through hole.

In an optional implementation, when there are a plurality of first through-holes between at least one pair of adjacent dielectric resonators, and at least one second through-hole is in communication with each of the plurality of first through-holes, a relationship among the first through-holes, the second through-holes, and the non-through holes may be as shown in schematic diagrams of the dielectric filter shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>. Certainly, there may be another structure, which is not listed one by one herein.

In an optional implementation, each non-through hole in communication with a second through-hole may be considered as a case in which the second through-hole continues to penetrate the first through-hole after being connected to the first through-hole but does not reach a side surface of the dielectric filter, that is, the non-through hole may be considered as a part of the second through-hole.

In an optional implementation, the at least one first through-hole, the at least one second through-hole, and the at least one non-through hole may be coated with metal materials. The metal materials may be the same or may be different from each other. This is not limited in this application. Optionally, the metal materials may be silver, copper, or the like.

The dielectric filter may be a TEM-type dielectric filter. For example, <FIG> shows a possible structure example of the TEM-type dielectric filter, which is used to increase the high-order harmonic wave frequency of the TEM-type dielectric filter.

It should be noted that in the schematic diagram of the dielectric filter shown in the embodiments of this application, the first through-hole, the second through-hole, and the non-through hole are all shown in circular holes as an example. It should be understood that this is merely an example. Optionally, the first through-hole, the second through-hole, and the non-through hole may all be square holes, step holes, irregular holes, or the like. This is not limited in this application. The step holes are formed by cascading holes with different diameters. It should be understood that, in the schematic diagram of the dielectric filter shown in the embodiments of this application, circular holes in the first through-hole, the second through-hole, and the non-through hole may be replaced with holes of any shapes such as square holes, step holes, and irregular shape holes. Details are not shown in this application.

Similarly, it should be noted that the dielectric resonators in the dielectric filter shown in the embodiments of this application are all shown as cylinders, and this is merely an example. The dielectric resonators are not limited to be cylinders, and may be in any other shape.

According to the dielectric filter provided in this application, because a first through-hole is disposed between at least one pair of adjacent dielectric resonators to cut a magnetic field between the adjacent dielectric resonators, a high-order harmonic frequency and a remote suppression capability can be improved. Therefore, the dielectric filter provided in this application meets the specification requirements, and no additional low-pass filter needs to be used to work with the dielectric filter to meet the specification requirements. In this way, unnecessary loss can be avoided, and costs can be reduced. The dielectric filter structure according to the present claims is simple and easy to implement, so it is very practical.

Based on the foregoing embodiments, this embodiment of this application also provides a communications device, where the communications device includes the dielectric filter described in the foregoing embodiments. In an optional implementation, the communications device may be but is not limited to a base station, a terminal device, or the like.

The high-order harmonic wave frequencies corresponding to the dielectric filter (a communications device) shown in <FIG> (only a first through-hole is disposed) and <FIG> (a first through-hole is in communication with a through-hole group) and an existing dielectric filter in a same scenario are described as follows:.

Table <NUM> briefly describes the high-order harmonic wave frequency corresponding to the existing dielectric filter, the dielectric filter shown in <FIG>, and the dielectric filter shown in <FIG>. It can be learned from Table <NUM> that the high-order harmonic wave frequency generated by using the dielectric filter provided in the embodiments of this application is higher than the high-order harmonic wave frequency generated by using the existing dielectric filter. In other words, the high-order harmonic wave frequency generated by using the dielectric filter shown in <FIG> is increased by <NUM> compared with that of the existing dielectric filter. The high-order harmonic wave frequency of the dielectric filter shown in <FIG> is increased by <NUM> compared with that of the existing dielectric filter. Therefore, it can be proved that the high-order harmonic wave frequency can be increased by using the dielectric filter disclosed in this application.

Further, it may be further learned from Table <NUM> that the high-order harmonic wave frequency generated by using the dielectric filter shown in <FIG> is higher than the high-order harmonic wave frequency generated by using the dielectric filter shown in <FIG>. Therefore, the dielectric filter on which the through-hole group in communication with the first through-hole is disposed has a better effect of improving the high-order harmonic wave frequency than the dielectric filter on which only the first through-hole is disposed.

Claim 1:
A dielectric filter, comprising at least two dielectric resonators, wherein the dielectric filter has a first surface and a second surface that are respectively side surfaces on two sides of an arrangement direction of the at least two resonators;
the dielectric filter further comprising a first through-hole disposed between the at least one pair of adj acent dielectric resonators, wherein one opening of the first through-hole is located on the first surface, and the other opening is located on the second surface to penetrate the dielectric filter;
the first through-hole is connected to a through-hole group, and the through-hole group comprises one or more second through-holes connected to the first through-hole with openings of all second through-holes located on a side surface close to the top or the bottom of the at least two dielectric resonators in the dielectric filter such that the first through-hole and one or more second through-holes are configured to cut a magnetic field between the at least one pair of adjacent dielectric resonators;
characterised in that at least one non-through hole is connected to the first through-hole, and the at least one non-through hole is in communication with one second through-hole.