Patent Description:
Phased-array antenna is an antenna that changes the shape of directional pattern by controlling feeding phase of a radiating element in the array antenna. Controlling the phase may change the direction of the maximum of the antenna directional pattern to achieve beam scanning. The phased-array antennas have a wide range of applications. For example, the phased-array antennas may be used in communication between vehicles and satellites, array radars for autonomous driving, or array radars for safeguard, etc..

Microstrip lines are structures frequently used in the phased-array antennas. Generally, signals transmitted in the microstrip lines include high-frequency transmission signals and low-frequency bias signals (for example, bias voltages). The high-frequency transmission signals may be transmitted among respective phased-array element, and the bias signals of each antenna element need to be separately controlled.

<CIT> concerns an antenna and antenna array. A radiating elements and corresponding feed lines are provided over a variable dielectric constant material sandwiched between two panels. The sandwich may be in the form of an LCD. The dielectric constant in a selected area under the conductive line can be varied to control the phase of the radiating element. The dielectric constant in a selected area under the radiating element can be varied to control the resonance frequency of the radiating element. The dielectric constant in a selected area under the conductive line can be varied to also control the polarization of the radiating element.

<CIT> concerns a two-dimensional (<NUM>-D) beam steerable phased array antenna comprising a continuously electronically steerable material including a tunable material or a variable dielectric material, preferred a liquid crystal material. A compact antenna architecture including a patch antenna array, tunable phase shifters, a feed network and a bias network is proposed. Similar to the LC display, the proposed antenna is fabricated by using automated manufacturing techniques and therefore the fabrication costs are reduced considerably.

<CIT> concerns an electromagnetic induction type liquid crystal panel, its manufacturing method and a liquid crystal display. The liquid crystal panel includes a first substrate and a second substrate oppositely disposed across a box; a liquid crystal layer is filled between the first and second substrates; the liquid crystal panel also includes an antenna array made of conductive material and formed between a first backing substrate and a second backing substrate to keep insulation from the conductive material in the multilayer structure; the antenna array is used to identify electromagnetic signals. The liquid crystal display of this invention includes the electromagnetic induction type liquid crystal panel and an input recognition circuit connected with the output end of the antenna array. This invention uses the technological means of integrating an antenna array in the liquid crystal panel, thereby meeting the requirements of light and thin liquid crystal display as well as reducing assembly costs.

<CIT> concerns a phased array antenna and many plane array antenna device belongs to the telecommunication equipment field. This phased array antenna includes the liquid crystal cell, the liquid crystal cell includes the upper substrate, the infrabasal plate, the liquid crystal layer, the upper substrate includes first substrate base plate, the first bias voltage electrode of setting on the first surface of first substrate base plate, the radiation element of setting on the second surface of first substrate base plate, the infrabasal plate includes second substrate base plate, the second bias voltage electrode of setting on the second surface of second substrate base plate, the telluric electricity field of setting on the first surface of second substrate base plate, set up to the arc through first substrate base plate with the liquid crystal cell and second substrate base plate, make not coplane of a plurality of radiation elements, when the radiation element is arranged on a convex surface, can make the total angle scope of a plurality of radiation elements radiation electromagnetic increase, the main beam is when scanning great angle, gain degradation's degree can reduce, consequently, can increase phased array antenna's sweep range.

Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a phased-array antenna as defined in claim <NUM>, a display panel as defined in claim <NUM>, and a display device as defined in claim <NUM>.

At an aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a phased-array antenna. The phased-array antenna may include a first substrate and a second substrate arranged oppositely each other, and a plurality of phased-array elements located between the first substrate and the second substrate. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the phased-array elements may include: a first electrode; a second electrode arranged opposite to the first electrode; a voltage-controlled phase shift material located between the first electrode and the second electrode, wherein the first electrode is configured to receive a bias signal for controlling the voltage-controlled phase shift material, and the second electrode serves as a ground electrode; and a microstrip line located at a side of the first electrode far away from the voltage-controlled phase shift material and electrically insulated from the first electrode, wherein the microstrip line is configured to receive or transmit a transmission signal; and wherein the first electrode and the microstrip line have the same shape, such that the same mask can be used when manufacturing the first electrode and the microstrip line.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a thickness of the first electrode is greater than about <NUM> and less than about <NUM>.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, an orthographic projection of the microstrip line on the first substrate overlaps an orthographic projection of the first electrode on the first substrate.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first electrodes of different phased-array elements are electrically isolated with each other.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, each of the phased-array elements may further include an insulation layer located between the microstrip line and the first electrode. The insulation layers of different phased-array elements are formed integrally.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first electrode and the microstrip may have, for example, a spiral or snakelike shape.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second electrode may be a block electrode.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second electrodes of different phased-array elements may be formed integrally.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the phased-array antenna may further include a feed interface configured to transmit the transmission signal, and a power divider configured to couple the feed interface to the microstrip lines of the phased-array elements.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the power divider and the microstrip line may be arranged in a same layer.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the phased-array antenna may further include a pin located in a peripheral region of the phased-array antenna and a wiring coupling the pin to the first electrode.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the pin, the wiring, and the first electrode may be arranged in a same layer.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the voltage-controlled phase shift material may include, for example, a liquid crystal material.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the phased-array antenna may further include a first alignment layer located on a side of the first electrode facing the voltage-controlled phase shift material, and a second alignment layer located on a side of the second electrode facing the voltage-controlled phase shift material.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a material of the first electrode may include, for example, metal or metal oxide.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a material of the microstrip line may include metal.

At another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a display panel. The display panel may include the phased-array antenna in one or more embodiments referring to the phased-array antenna of the present disclosure.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the phased-array antenna may be located in a peripheral region of the display panel.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the display panel may include a liquid crystal display panel having a color filter substrate and an array substrate. The first substrate may be one of the color filter substrate and the array substrate, and the second substrate may be the other of the color filter substrate and the array substrate.

At still another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a display device. The display device may include the display panel in one or more embodiments referring to the display panel of the present disclosure.

Further adaptive aspects and ranges are apparent from the description provided herein. It is to be understood that various aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented individually or in combination with one or more other aspects. It is also to be understood that the description and specific embodiments herein are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

The accompanying drawings set forth herein are merely for the purpose of describing the selected embodiments, are not all possible implementations and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, in which.

Throughout various views of these accompanying drawings, corresponding reference numbers indicate corresponding parts or features.

Various embodiments will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are provided as exemplary examples of the present disclosure, so as to enable those skilled in the art to implement the present disclosure.

Notably, the figures and the examples below are not meant to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Where certain elements of the present disclosure may be partially or fully implemented using known components (or methods or processes), only those portions of such known components (or methods or processes) that are necessary for an understanding of the present disclosure will be described, and the detailed descriptions of other portions of such known components will be omitted so as not to obscure the present disclosure.

As used herein, the terms "have", "comprise" and "contain" as well as grammatical variations thereof are used in a non-exclusive way. Thus, the expression "A has B" as well as the expression "A comprises B" or "A contains B" may both refer to the fact that, besides B, A contains one or more further components and/or constituents, and to the case that, besides B, no other components, constituents or elements are present in A.

For the purpose of description hereinafter, as direction-calibrated in the accompanying drawings, the terms "above", "below", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom" and derivatives thereof shall relate to the present disclosure. The terms "covered with", "on top of', "positioned on", or "positioned on top of" mean that, for example, a first element of a first structure is on a second element of a second structure, wherein an intermediate element such as an interface structure may exist between the first element and the second element. The term "direct contact" means that, such as, the first element of the first structure and the second element of the second structure are connected without any intermediary conducting, insulating or semiconductor layers at the interface of the two elements.

As used herein and in the appended claims, the singular form of a word includes the plural, and vice versa, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, singular words are generally inclusive of the plurals of the respective terms.

<FIG> schematically illustrates an arrangement of a microstrip line of a phased-array antenna <NUM>; and <FIG> schematically illustrates a sectional view of the phased-array antenna <NUM> in <FIG> along Line CC'. As shown in <FIG>, the phased-array antenna <NUM> may include a first substrate <NUM>, a second substrate <NUM>, a plurality of phased-array elements <NUM>, a feed interface <NUM>, a power divider <NUM>, a pin <NUM>, and a wiring <NUM>. At least one of the phased-array elements <NUM> may include a microstrip line <NUM>, a ground electrode <NUM> arranged opposite to the microstrip line <NUM>, and a voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM> located between the microstrip line <NUM> and the ground electrode <NUM>.

A high-frequency transmission signal may be inputted into the power divider <NUM> through the feeder interface <NUM>, and then may be inputted into each phased-array element <NUM> through the power divider <NUM>. A low-frequency bias signal may be applied to the pin <NUM> and may be transmitted into the microstrip line <NUM> via the wiring <NUM>. Both the high-frequency transmission signal and the low-frequency bias signal are transmitted on the microstrip line <NUM>. In order to prevent short-circuit or interference of the bias signals of different phased-array elements <NUM>, a filter <NUM> is arranged in each of the phased-array elements <NUM>. The filter <NUM> can block the propagation of the bias signals between the phased-array elements <NUM>, but allow the high-frequency transmission signal to pass through. However, the arrangement of the filter <NUM> in the phased-array element <NUM> will cause a certain loss of the high-frequency transmission signal, reducing the antenna gain. In addition, the filter <NUM> may also occupy, to a certain extent, the space of the phased-array element <NUM>, which is disadvantageous to the integration of the phased-array antenna.

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a phased-array antenna is disclosed. In the phased-array antenna provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure, an additional first electrode is introduced into each phased-array element, wherein the first electrode is configured to receive a bias signal, for example, a bias voltage; whereas the microstrip line is configured to receive or transmit a transmission signal. With this configuration, it is unnecessary to use a filter in the phased-array element, so loss due to the filter may be reduced, and the antenna gain may be improved.

<FIG> schematically illustrates an arrangement of a microstrip line of a phased-array antenna according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> schematically illustrates an arrangement of a first electrode of a phased-array antenna according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. <FIG> and <FIG> respectively schematically illustrate sectional views of the phased-array antenna along Line AA' and Line BB' in <FIG> according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

The phased-array antenna provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure is described in detail below with reference to <FIG>.

It is to be noted that, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a phased-array element including <NUM>×<NUM> arrays is taken as an example for illustration. However, it is to be understood that the phased-array antenna provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure is also suitable for a phased-array antenna with other phased-array element arrangement, which may be set by those skilled in the art according to actual needs. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, a plurality of phased-array elements are arranged in n rows x m columns. In other embodiments of the present disclosure, a plurality of phased-array elements may also be arranged in a non-array form.

As shown in <FIG>, the phased-array antenna <NUM> provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure includes a first substrate <NUM> and a second substrate <NUM> arranged oppositely each other, and a plurality of phased-array elements <NUM> located between the first substrate <NUM> and the second substrate <NUM>, which are arranged for example in an array. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, at least one of the phased-array elements <NUM> includes a first electrode <NUM>, a second electrode <NUM> arranged opposite to the first electrode <NUM>, a voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM> located between the first electrode <NUM> and the second electrode <NUM>, and a microstrip line <NUM> located at a side of the first electrode <NUM> far away from the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM> and electrically insulated from the first electrode <NUM>. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first electrode <NUM> is configured to receive a bias signal for controlling the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM>, the second electrode <NUM> serves as a ground electrode, and the microstrip line <NUM> is configured to receive or transmit a transmission signal, such as a microwave signal.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the microstrip line <NUM> may receive or transmit a transmission signal. The voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM> may serve as a transmission medium of the transmission signal. By providing a bias signal (e.g., a bias voltage) to the first electrode <NUM>, an electric field is generated between the first electrode <NUM> and the second electrode <NUM>. The electric field may change a dielectric constant of the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM>, such that a change of a phase of the transmission signal transmitted in the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM>, that is, a phase shift, may take place.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, by incorporating the first electrode <NUM> into each phased-array element <NUM>, the bias signal (e.g., the bias voltage) and the transmission signal may be respectively provided to the first electrode <NUM> and the microstrip line <NUM>. It is unnecessary to arrange a filter in the phased-array element <NUM> for preventing the interference of the bias signal among different phased-array elements. Therefore, the loss due to the filter may be reduced, and thus the antenna gain may be improved. In addition, according to the phased-array antenna provided by some embodiments of the present disclosure, no filter is used, and thus no volume space of the phased-array antenna is occupied by the filter, which may facilitate the integration of the phased-array antenna into other devices.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM> may include a liquid crystal material. However, the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and as an example, the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM> may also include a ferroelectric material.

In each phased-array element, the microstrip line <NUM> may be electrically insulated from the first electrode <NUM> by an insulation layer <NUM> located between the microstrip line <NUM> and the first electrode <NUM>. As an example, the insulation layers <NUM> of different phased-array elements <NUM> may be formed integrally. In this way, when preparing the insulation layer <NUM>, an insulation material may be deposited on a surface of the first electrode <NUM> of each phased-array element <NUM> without needing to further pattern the deposited insulation material. However, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto, and it is also feasible that the insulation layers <NUM> of different phased-array elements <NUM> are discontinuous.

In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in <FIG>, the first electrodes <NUM> of different phased-array elements <NUM> are electrically isolated, so as to prevent mutual interference of bias signals of different phased-array elements <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the microstrip lines <NUM> in each column of phased-array elements <NUM> are formed to be continuous such that the transmission signal may be transmitted between the respective phased-array elements <NUM> in each column.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, an orthographic projection of the first electrode <NUM> on the first substrate <NUM> substantially overlaps an orthographic projection of the microstrip line <NUM> on the first substrate <NUM>. That is, in some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first electrode <NUM> is arranged at a position substantially corresponding to a position of the microstrip line <NUM> in a direction perpendicular to the substrate.

As used herein, "overlap" or "substantial overlap" may include a case where an element/component A (e.g., an orthographic projection of the first electrode on the first substrate) completely overlaps an element/component B (e.g., an orthographic projection of the microstrip line on the first substrate). Further, a case where profiles of the orthographic projections of the first electrode and the microstrip line have a deviation within <NUM>% compared to the case of complete overlap is the case of substantial overlap.

According to the invention, the first electrode <NUM> and the microstrip line <NUM> have the same shape, such as a spiral shape or a snakelike shape. With this configuration, when the first electrode <NUM> is manufactured, the same mask as the microstrip line <NUM> may be used, and it is unnecessary to provide a special mask for the first electrode <NUM>, so the process may be simplified.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the second electrode <NUM> may be formed as a block electrode. Alternatively, the second electrodes <NUM> of different phased-array elements <NUM> are formed integrally to serve as ground electrodes of the respective phased-array elements <NUM>.

The "formed integrally" described in the embodiments of the present disclosure may refer to forming a continuous structure in one film forming process, or may refer to that two structures may be separately manufactured, but eventually physically formed into a continuous structure without other objects therebetween.

Referring to <FIG> again, the phased-array antenna <NUM> may further include a feed interface <NUM> configured to transmit the transmission signal, and a power divider <NUM> configured to couple the feed interface <NUM> to the microstrip line <NUM> of the respective phased-array element <NUM>. In this configuration, the transmission signal is fed to the power divider <NUM> by the feed interface <NUM>, and then is distributed to the respective phased-array element <NUM> by the power divider <NUM>.

In an exemplary embodiment, the power divider <NUM> and the microstrip line <NUM> may be arranged in a same layer, i.e., formed of a same film layer.

As used herein, the "arranged in a same layer" may include a case where the element/component A and the element/component B are formed by the same film layer, and may also include a case where there is equal distance from a specific reference object (such as a substrate) in the thickness direction.

The microstrip line <NUM> may be formed of metal. Due to a high conductivity of the metal, using the metal to form the microstrip line <NUM> may reduce signal loss.

Referring again to <FIG>, the phased-array antenna <NUM> may further include a pin <NUM> located in a peripheral region of the phased-array antenna, and a wiring <NUM> coupling the pin <NUM> to the first electrode <NUM>. With this configuration, a bias signal source (such as a bias voltage source) may be coupled to the pin <NUM>, and the bias signal may be provided to the first electrode <NUM> through the wiring <NUM>.

In an exemplary embodiment, the pin <NUM>, the wiring <NUM> and the first electrode <NUM> may be arranged in a same layer, i.e., formed of a same film layer. Through this design, the pin <NUM>, the wiring <NUM> and the first electrode <NUM> may be formed in one patterning process.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the first electrode <NUM> may be formed of any electrically conductive material. For example, a material forming the first electrode <NUM> may include but is not limited to metal or metal oxide.

<FIG> schematically illustrates a sectional view of another phased-array antenna <NUM> according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the embodiment as shown in <FIG>, the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM> includes a liquid crystal material. In addition to the components in the embodiments as shown in <FIG>, the phased-array antenna <NUM> further includes a first alignment layer <NUM> located on a side of the first electrode <NUM> close to the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM>, and a second alignment layer <NUM> located on a side of the second electrode <NUM> close to the voltage-controlled phase shift material <NUM>. The first alignment layer <NUM> and the second alignment layer <NUM> may allow liquid crystal molecules to have a specific initial orientation. Materials and forming processes of the first alignment layer <NUM> and the second alignment layer <NUM> are not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure, and may be selected by those skilled in the art according to actual needs.

<FIG> illustrates a simulation result of a first electrode of a phased-array antenna with different thicknesses H according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, wherein a horizontal axis represents a frequency of a transmission signal, and a vertical axis represents a loss of the phased-array antenna.

In operation, a model of the phased-array antenna according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be established by simulation software. Specifically, following parameters may be assumed.

The voltage-controlled phase shift material is a liquid crystal material, and a liquid crystal layer has a dielectric constant of <NUM> and has a thickness of <NUM>.

In <FIG>, H=<NUM> means that no first electrode is arranged in the phased-array antenna, and the phased-array antenna as shown in <FIG> is simulated.

As can be seen from the simulation result in <FIG>, the thickness of the first electrode has an effect on the loss of the phased-array antenna. Under the above simulation conditions, when the thickness of the first electrode is less than <NUM>, the loss of the phased-array antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is smaller than the loss of the phased-array antenna as shown in <FIG>. However, when the thickness of the first electrode is greater than <NUM>, the loss of the phased-array antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure is greater than the loss of the phased-array antenna as shown in <FIG>. Alternatively, when the phased-array antenna according to some embodiments of the present disclosure has the above parameters, the thickness H of the first electrode may be greater than about <NUM> and less than about <NUM>.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a display panel is further disclosed. Alternatively, the display panel may include at least one phased-array antenna according to the embodiments of the present disclosure, such as the at least one phased-array antenna according to one or more embodiments disclosed above in detail. Therefore, reference may be made to the embodiments of the phased-array antenna for the alternative embodiments of the display panel.

<FIG> schematically illustrates a plan view of a display panel according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in <FIG>, the display panel <NUM> may have a peripheral region <NUM> and a display region <NUM>. The phased-array antennas <NUM> or <NUM> may be located in the peripheral region <NUM> of the display panel.

In an exemplary embodiment, the display panel <NUM> may be a liquid crystal display panel including a color filter substrate and an array substrate. The first substrate <NUM>, <NUM> described in the above embodiments relating to the phased-array antenna may serve as one of the color filter substrate and the array substrate, and the second substrate <NUM>, <NUM> may serve as the other of the color filter substrate and the array substrate. In some embodiments of the present disclosure, in the case that the voltage-controlled phase shift material of the phased-array antenna includes the liquid crystal material, the liquid crystal layer of the liquid crystal display panel may be formed integrally with the liquid crystal layer of the phased-array antenna.

In some embodiments of the present disclosure, other conventional elements or components required for the liquid crystal display panel may also be arranged on the color filter substrate and the array substrate. As an example, the color filter substrate may further include, but is not limited to, a first polarizer, an array-distributed color filter, and a black matrix for separating color filters from each other. The array substrate may include but is not limited to an array-distributed thin film transistor, a pixel electrode, and a second polarizer.

Claim 1:
A phased-array antenna (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) comprising:
a first substrate (<NUM>, <NUM>); and
a plurality of phased-array elements (<NUM>, <NUM>) arranged on the first substrate (<NUM>, <NUM>), wherein at least one of the phased-array elements (<NUM>, <NUM>) comprises:
a first electrode (<NUM>);
a second electrode (<NUM>) facing the first electrode (<NUM>);
a voltage-controlled phase shift material (<NUM>) located between the first electrode (<NUM>) and the second electrode (<NUM>), wherein the first electrode (<NUM>) is configured to receive a bias signal for controlling the voltage-controlled phase shift material (<NUM>), and the second electrode (<NUM>) serves as a ground electrode; and
a microstrip line (<NUM>, <NUM>) electrically insulated from the first electrode (<NUM>), wherein the first electrode (<NUM>) is located between the microstrip line (<NUM>, <NUM>) and the voltage-controlled phase shift material (<NUM>), and the microstrip line (<NUM>, <NUM>) is configured to receive or transmit a transmission signal,
characterized in that the first electrode (<NUM>) and the microstrip line (<NUM>) have the same shape, such that the same mask can be used when manufacturing the first electrode and the microstrip line.