Patent Description:
An antenna device may comprise at least two antennas that are separately provided, which may provide performance improvements of the antenna device, facilitate flexible configuration of the antenna device, and/or provide other benefits. In such an antenna device, a signal radiated toward the front side of the antenna device may leak to the rear side of the antenna device through a space between two adjacent antennas, resulting in a radiation degraded front-to-back ratio for the antenna device.

<CIT> discloses a method for increasing front-to-rear ratio of a base station antenna. A reflective plate of the base station antenna comprises a plurality of single reflective plates arranged side by side, wherein adjacent two single reflective plates are not in electrical connection; and an adjustment method comprises a step of setting a resonant cavity in the back sides of the two adjacent single reflective plates, wherein the resonant frequency of the resonant cavity covers the backward radiation electromagnetic wave frequency of the base station antenna. By virtue of the method, the backward radiation electromagnetic wave of the base station antenna can be absorbed effectively, so that the front-to-rear ratio of the base station antenna is further increased effectively by reducing the backward radiation electromagnetic wave of the base station antenna. An improvement apparatus for increasing the front-to-rear ratio of the base station antenna comprises one resonant cavity formed in the back sides of the two adjacent single reflective plates; an opening towards a gap is formed in the resonant cavity; and the resonant frequency of the resonant cavity covers the backward radiation electromagnetic wave frequency of the base station antenna. By virtue of the apparatus, the front-to-rear ratio of the base station antenna can be increased effectively; and in addition, the improvement apparatus is simple in structure and low in manufacturing cost.

<CIT> relates to the field of communications technologies and discloses an antenna system, and the antenna system includes: a radiating element, at least one strip line ground plane and signal cavity, and at least one inner conductor, where the radiating element includes radiation arms, radiation baluns, and feeding inner cores; the strip line ground plane is used as a reflective surface of the radiating element; the baluns of the radiating element are electrically connected to the strip line ground plane, and all of at least two feeding inner cores of the radiating element are electrically connected to one inner conductor. Therefore, a feeding manner of an existing array antenna can be optimized very conveniently, assembly time is greatly reduced, quantities of welding points and cables are reduced, and consistency and reliability are improved.

<CIT> provides an antenna apparatus, a base station and a communications system. The antenna apparatus includes: an antenna part, including a common radome; an active part, connected to the antenna part and including at least one active module, where each active module includes at least one antenna element, and an element reflector and a phase shifter that are corresponding to each antenna element, where the element reflector of the at least one active module is configured to implement an antenna function; and a common part, connected to the active part and the antenna part, and shared by the at least one active module in the active part, where the common part includes at least one common module. By using the above antenna apparatus, each radio frequency module can be flexibly configured, so as to meet requirements for different product combinations and further simplify onsite replacement and maintenance operations.

It is one of the objectives of the present disclosure to provide an antenna device. The invention is disclosed in independent claim <NUM>, the dependent claims explaining specific embodiments of the invention.

Other features and aspects of the present disclosure and advantages thereof will become more apparent from the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings, which constitute a part of the specification, illustrate embodiments of the present disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure will be better understood according to the following detailed description with reference of the accompanying drawings, wherein:.

Note that, in the embodiments described below, in some cases the same portions or portions having similar functions are denoted by the same reference numerals in different drawings, and description of such portions is not repeated. In some cases, similar reference numerals and letters are used to refer to similar items, and thus once an item is defined in one figure, it need not be further discussed for following figures.

In order to facilitate understanding, the position, the size, the range, or the like of each structure illustrated in the drawings and the like are not accurately represented in some cases. Thus, the disclosure is not necessarily limited to the position, size, range, or the like as disclosed in the drawings and the like.

Various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the relative arrangement of the components and steps, the numerical expressions, and numerical values set forth in these embodiments do not limit the scope of the present disclosure unless it is specifically stated otherwise.

The following description of at least one exemplary embodiment is merely illustrative in nature and is in no way intended to limit this disclosure, its application, or uses. That is to say, the structure and method herein are illustrated by way of example to explain different embodiments of the structure and method of the present disclosure. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that, these examples, while indicating the implementations of the present disclosure, are given by way of illustration only, but not in an exhaustive way. In addition, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, and some features may be enlarged to show details of some specific components.

Techniques, methods and devices as known by one of ordinary skill in the relevant art may not be discussed in detail, but are intended to be regarded as a part of the specification where appropriate.

In all of the examples as illustrated and discussed herein, any specific values should be interpreted to be illustrative only and non-limiting. Thus, other examples of the exemplary embodiments could have different values.

The present disclosure provides an antenna device that includes a first antenna and a second antenna, in which a coupling capacitor is additionally provided at a spacing between the first antenna and the second antenna, so as to suppress a signal radiated by the antenna device from leaking to the rear side of the antenna device through the spacing, so that the antenna device still can maintain a high front-to-back ratio, thereby improving the radiation performance of the antenna device.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in <FIG>, the antenna device includes a first antenna <NUM>, a second antenna <NUM>, and a coupling capacitor <NUM>.

The first antenna <NUM> includes a first reflecting member <NUM> configured to reflect at least a portion of a signal radiated by the antenna device, and specifically, the first reflecting member <NUM> may reflect at least a portion of a signal radiated by the first antenna <NUM> and may also reflect a portion of a signal radiated by the second antenna <NUM>, as described below. A first reflecting surface <NUM> of the first reflecting member <NUM> is disposed toward the front side of the antenna device to reflect backwardly directed radiation forwardly. The first reflecting surface <NUM> may be a planar or curved surface according to different requirements. Hereinafter, the first reflecting surface <NUM> will be described as a planar surface for example, but it is understood that embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the first reflecting member <NUM> may be formed of a conductive metal material, or the first reflecting member <NUM> may include other material and a metal thin film deposited on the surface of the material or the like.

As shown in <FIG>, the first antenna <NUM> may also include one or more antenna elements <NUM>. The antenna elements <NUM> project forwardly from the first reflecting surface <NUM>. A portion of the signal radiated forwardly by the antenna element <NUM> will be radiated directly into the front space, and a portion of the signal radiated backwardly by the antenna element <NUM> will be reflected forwardly by at least the first reflecting surface <NUM> (and a portion of the signal may be also reflected by a second reflecting surface <NUM> as described below). The antenna elements <NUM> may include only a single type of antenna element corresponding to a single frequency band, or may include multiple types of antenna elements corresponding to multiple frequency bands or having other different properties. Furthermore, the plurality of antenna elements <NUM> may be arranged in various ways, so that the signal radiated by the first antenna <NUM> may meet one or more specific requirements.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the first antenna <NUM> may include a plurality of first antenna elements <NUM> arranged in an array and a plurality of second antenna elements <NUM> arranged in an array. The first antenna element <NUM> may be configured to radiate a first signal within a first frequency band and the second antenna element <NUM> may be configured to radiate a second signal within a second frequency band. In some embodiments, at least some frequencies in the second frequency band are higher than the highest frequency in the first frequency band. That is, the first antenna <NUM> may radiate respective signals in two different frequency bands via the first and second antenna elements <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. For example, the first antenna elements <NUM> may be configured to radiate signals in the <NUM>-<NUM> frequency band or a portion thereof and the second antenna elements <NUM> may be configured to radiate signals in the <NUM>-<NUM> frequency band or a portion thereof. In the depicted embodiment, two columns of first antenna elements <NUM> are provided and six columns of second antenna elements <NUM> are provided.

As shown in <FIG>, the second antenna <NUM> includes a second reflecting member <NUM> configured to reflect at least a portion of the signal radiated by the antenna device, and specifically, the second reflecting member <NUM> may reflect at least a portion of the signal radiated by the second antenna <NUM> and may also reflect a portion of the signal radiated by the first antenna <NUM>. The second reflecting surface <NUM> of the second reflecting member <NUM> is disposed toward the front side of the antenna device to radiate the signal forwardly. The second reflecting surface <NUM> may be a planar or a curved surface according to different requirements. Hereinafter, the second reflecting surface <NUM> will be described as a planar surface for example, but it is understood that embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited thereto. In some embodiments, the second reflecting member <NUM> may be formed of a conductive metal material, or the second reflecting member <NUM> may include other material and a metal thin film deposited on the surface of the material or the like.

As shown in <FIG>, the second antenna <NUM> may further include one or more antenna elements <NUM> that project forwardly from the second reflecting surface <NUM>. In this case, a portion of the signal radiated forwardly by the antenna element <NUM> will be radiated directly into the front space, and a portion of the signal radiated backwardly by the antenna element <NUM> will be reflected forwardly by at least the second reflecting surface <NUM> (and a portion of the signal may be also reflected by the first reflecting surface <NUM>). The antenna element <NUM> may include only a single type of antenna element corresponding to a single frequency band, or may include multiple types of antenna elements corresponding to multiple frequency bands or having other different properties. Furthermore, the plurality of antenna elements <NUM> may be arranged in various ways, so that the signal radiated by the second antenna <NUM> may meet one or more specific requirements.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the second antenna <NUM> may include a plurality of third antenna elements <NUM> arranged in an array and a plurality of fourth antenna elements <NUM> arranged in an array. The third antenna element <NUM> may be configured to radiate a third signal within a third frequency band and the fourth antenna element <NUM> may be configured to radiate a fourth signal within a fourth frequency band. In a specific example, the third frequency band is the first frequency band, and the third signal is the first signal. That is, in this case, the first antenna element <NUM> in the first antenna <NUM> and the third antenna element <NUM> in the second antenna <NUM> participate in radiating the first signal within the first frequency band together. In other words, the first antenna <NUM> and the second antenna <NUM> can be regarded as one complete antenna for the first signal. In some embodiments, at least some frequencies in the fourth frequency band are higher than the highest frequency in the third frequency band or the first frequency band. The fourth frequency band may be the same as or different from the second frequency band. In the particular embodiment shown in <FIG>, the second antenna <NUM> may radiate respective signals in two different frequency bands via the third and fourth antenna elements <NUM> and <NUM>, respectively. For example, the third antenna elements <NUM> and the fourth antenna elements <NUM> may be arranged according to a 2L4H layout as shown in <FIG>, wherein the third antenna elements <NUM> form a column between two columns of the fourth antenna elements <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the first antenna <NUM> and the second antenna <NUM> may be separately provided and electrically connected through, for example, a blind-mate connector or the like. Accordingly, there is a spacing <NUM> between the first reflecting member <NUM> and the second reflecting member <NUM>. The first antenna <NUM> and the second antenna <NUM> may be arranged in an up-down direction (i.e., may be vertically stacked). As shown in <FIG>, the second antenna <NUM> is disposed below the first antenna <NUM>. However, it is understood that the first antenna <NUM> and the second antenna <NUM> may be arranged in other manners (for example, arranged in a left-right direction, etc.), and are not limited to the arrangement shown int the figures and described herein.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the first reflecting surface <NUM> and the second reflecting surface <NUM> may be disposed to be coplanar with each other, so as to help avoid mutual interference between the first antenna <NUM> and the second antenna <NUM>, and improve the radiation effect of the antenna device.

In some embodiments, both the first antenna <NUM> and the second antenna <NUM> may be passive antennas. Alternatively, in some other embodiments, at least one of the first antenna <NUM> and the second antenna <NUM> may include an active apparatus <NUM> (see <FIG>). The active apparatus <NUM> may include circuits or components such as a receiving module, an amplifying module, a power supply module and the like. The active apparatus <NUM> may be disposed rearwardly of the first reflecting member <NUM> and/or the second reflecting member <NUM>.

In a specific embodiment shown in <FIG>, the first antenna <NUM> may include the active apparatus <NUM> that may be electrically connected to at least some of the antenna elements <NUM> in the first antenna <NUM>. For example, the active apparatus <NUM> may be electrically connected to the second antenna elements <NUM> in the first antenna <NUM> shown in <FIG>. In other embodiments, the active apparatus <NUM> may also be electrically connected to the second antenna <NUM>, or a first active apparatus <NUM> may be included in the first antenna <NUM> and a second active apparatus <NUM> may be included in the second antenna <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the first antenna <NUM> may include a first radome <NUM>, and/or the second antenna <NUM> may include a second radome <NUM>. The radomes <NUM>, <NUM> can protect the antennas <NUM>, <NUM> from the external environment. The radomes <NUM>, <NUM> may be substantially transparent to electromagnetic radiation in the operating frequency bands of the respective antennas <NUM>, <NUM> and can withstand external severe environment in mechanical performance to prevent damage from rain, ice, snow, sand, solar radiation and the like to the antennas <NUM>, <NUM>. In the specific embodiment shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the first reflecting member <NUM> and the antenna elements <NUM> of the first antenna <NUM> may be arranged within the first radome <NUM>, and the second reflecting member <NUM> and the antenna elements <NUM> of the second antenna <NUM> may be arranged within the second radome <NUM>. Furthermore, the active apparatus <NUM> of the first antenna <NUM> may be disposed outside the first radome <NUM>, and on the rear side of the first radome <NUM>.

As shown in <FIG>, the coupling capacitor <NUM> may include the spacing <NUM> along with a first polar plate <NUM> and a second polar plate <NUM>. The first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> may be disposed close to, proximate to, or adjacent to the spacing <NUM>. For example, the first polar plate <NUM> may be on a side of the first reflecting surface <NUM> of the first reflecting member <NUM> that is close to or adjacent to the spacing <NUM>, and the second polar plate <NUM> may be on a side of the second reflecting surface <NUM> of the second reflecting member <NUM> that is close to or adjacent to the spacing <NUM>. The coupling capacitor <NUM> may suppress the signal radiated by the antenna device from leaking to the rear side of the antenna device through the spacing <NUM>. In particular, the influence of the spacing <NUM> on the signal transmission will be greatly reduced due to the presence of the coupling capacitor <NUM>, and when the capacitance of the coupling capacitor <NUM> is sufficiently large, the signal transmission will be similar to that in the case where the spacing <NUM> is absent (i.e., the antenna device has a complete reflecting member or reflecting surface).

The capacitance of the coupling capacitor <NUM> is generally decided by its structural parameter, which may specifically include an effective capacitor area and an effective capacitor separation of the coupling capacitor <NUM>. The effective capacitor area may correspond to an area in which some or all of the first polar plate <NUM> overlaps with some or all of the second polar plate <NUM>, and the effective capacitor separation may be the distance between overlapping portions of the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM>. In many cases the separation between the first antenna <NUM> and the second antenna <NUM> in the antenna device may be fixed, and this may effectively fix the effective capacitor separation. Therefore, the capacitance of the coupling capacitor <NUM> can be adjusted to an appropriate value by adjusting the effective capacitor area, i.e., the area where the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> overlap. Although a sufficient capacitance may often be obtained by making the overlapping area large, the increased sizes of the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> may place high demands on a space in the antenna device for arranging the coupling capacitor <NUM>. Thus, space limitations may limit the size of the first and second polar plates <NUM>, <NUM>, and hence the effective capacitor area.

In general, the influence of the spacing <NUM> is more significant on relatively low frequency signals than that on relatively high frequency signals. Therefore, in determining the structural parameters of the coupling capacitor <NUM> may be configured according to a portion of the signal radiated by the antenna device having the lowest frequency. When the radiation effect of the portion of the signal having the lowest frequency can meet the requirement, the radiation effect of a portion of the signal having higher frequencies can also meet the requirement in general.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> are parallel to each other to utilize the limited space as much as possible, so that the capacitance of the coupling capacitor <NUM> is large enough to improve the radiation effect of the antenna device.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> are disposed completely opposite each other. Compared with the case in which the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> are arranged in an offset manner, such an arrangement can obtain a larger effective capacitor area, thereby obtaining a larger capacitance, to improve the radiation effect of the antenna device.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the first polar plate <NUM> may be disposed perpendicularly to the first reflecting surface <NUM>, and the second polar plate <NUM> may be disposed perpendicularly to the second reflecting surface <NUM>, so as to help simplify a manufacturing process of the coupling capacitor <NUM> and improve the radiation effect of the antenna device.

The direction in which the first polar plate <NUM> extends relative to the first reflecting surface <NUM> and the direction in which the second polar plate <NUM> extends relative to the second reflecting surface <NUM> can be determined according to the arranged positions of other components and structures in the antenna device, so as to avoid the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> having adverse effects on other components of the antenna device. In order to make the capacitance of the coupling capacitor <NUM> be as large as possible, the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> may extend in the same direction, although embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>, the first polar plate <NUM> may extend toward the front side of the antenna device relative to the first reflecting surface <NUM>, and the second polar plate <NUM> may extend toward the front side of the antenna device relative to the second reflecting surface <NUM>.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG> and <FIG>, the first polar plate <NUM> may extend toward the rear side of the antenna device relative to the first reflecting surface <NUM>, and the second polar plate <NUM> may extend toward the rear side of the antenna device relative to the second reflecting surface <NUM>.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>, the first polar plate <NUM> may extend toward both the front and rear sides of the antenna device relative to the first reflecting surface <NUM>, and the second polar plate <NUM> may extend toward both the front and rear sides of the antenna device relative to the second reflecting surface <NUM>, to further increase the capacitance of the coupling capacitor <NUM>.

The first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> may be formed in various ways.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the first reflecting member <NUM> may include a first conductive plate 410a disposed at an angle relative to the first reflecting surface <NUM>, and the first conductive plate 410a may form the first polar plate <NUM>. The second reflecting member <NUM> may include a second conductive plate 420a disposed at an angle relative to the second reflecting surface <NUM>, and the second conductive plate 420a may form the second polar plate <NUM>.

Specifically, the first polar plate <NUM> may be formed by bending the first reflecting member <NUM> at a first preset angle relative to a first reflecting plate <NUM>, where the first reflecting plate <NUM> is a planar plate that includes the first reflecting surface <NUM>. The second polar plate <NUM> may be formed by bending the second reflecting member <NUM> at a second preset angle relative to a second reflecting plate <NUM>, where the second reflecting plate <NUM> is a planar plate that includes the second reflecting surface <NUM>. In other words, the first reflecting plate <NUM> may be formed integrally with the first polar plate <NUM>, and the second reflecting plate <NUM> may be formed integrally with the second polar plate <NUM>, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process of the coupling capacitor <NUM>.

In some embodiments, the first preset angle may be a right angle, and the second preset angle may be a right angle, which may help simplify the manufacturing process of the coupling capacitor <NUM> and improve the radiation effect of the antenna device.

In some embodiments, the first reflecting member <NUM> is disposed entirely within the first radome <NUM> and the second reflecting member <NUM> is disposed entirely within the second radome <NUM>, and accordingly, the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> of the coupling capacitor <NUM> may be disposed within the first radome <NUM> and the second radome <NUM>, respectively. The first radome <NUM> and the second radome <NUM> will not adversely affect the coupling effect of the coupling capacitor <NUM>, and can protect the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM>, thereby improving the radiation effect of the antenna device.

According to the claimed invention, as shown in <FIG>, the antenna device includes a first capacitive member 410b and a second capacitive member 420b. The first capacitive member 410b is a separate structure from the first reflecting member <NUM>, and at least a portion of the first capacitive member 410b is configured to form the first polar plate <NUM>. The second capacitive member 420b is a separate structure from the second reflecting member <NUM>, and at least a portion of the second capacitive member 420b is configured to form the second polar plate <NUM>.

Further, the first capacitive member 410b may include a first fixing portion <NUM> connected with the first polar plate <NUM>, and the first fixing portion <NUM> may be configured to be mechanically connected to the first reflecting member <NUM>. The second capacitive member 420b may include a second fixing portion <NUM> connected with the second polar plate <NUM>, and the second fixing portion <NUM> may be configured to be mechanically connected to the second reflecting member <NUM>.

In the specific examples shown in <FIG>, the first fixing portion <NUM> may include a first fixing plate, and the first fixing plate may be connected to the first reflecting member <NUM> in parallel to the first reflecting surface <NUM>. The second fixing portion <NUM> may include a second fixing plate, and the second fixing plate <NUM> may be connected to the second reflecting member <NUM> in parallel to the second reflecting surface <NUM>.

It is understood that in specific examples and embodiments, the first fixing portion <NUM> and/or the second fixing portion <NUM> may include screws, bolts, and fasteners or other components or assemblies for connection.

Different ways of disposing the first polar plate <NUM> and the second polar plate <NUM> of the coupling capacitor <NUM> may also be combined with each other. In the specific example shown in <FIG>, the first polar plate <NUM> of the coupling capacitor <NUM> may be a portion 410a of the first reflecting member <NUM> that is formed by bending the first reflecting member <NUM>, and the second polar plate <NUM> may be formed by a portion of the second capacitive member 420b that is independent of the second reflecting member <NUM>.

In the specific example shown in <FIG>, the first polar plate <NUM> may also be formed of two parts, with the first part 410c formed by bending the first reflecting member <NUM>, and the second part 410d formed of at least a portion of the first capacitive member that is independent of the first reflecting member <NUM>. Similarly, the second polar plate <NUM> may also be formed of two parts, with the first part 420c formed by bending the second reflecting member <NUM>, and the second part 420d formed of at least a portion of the first capacitive member that is independent of the second reflecting member <NUM>.

It is to be understood that the above embodiments may be combined in other ways, even though descriptions of such combinations are omitted herein in the interest of brevity.

According to another exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in <FIG>, the coupling capacitor <NUM> in the antenna device may be formed by the first reflecting member <NUM> of the first antenna, the second reflecting member <NUM> of the second antenna, and an additionally provided capacitive polar plate <NUM>.

The basic configurations of the first antenna and the second antenna in an antenna device according to the embodiment of <FIG> may be as in the above description, and descriptions thereof are not repeated herein. Instead, differences between the exemplary embodiment and the previously described embodiments will be emphasized hereinafter.

The capacitive polar plate <NUM> may be disposed close to the spacing <NUM> between the first and second reflecting members <NUM> and <NUM> so as to form a coupling capacitor <NUM> with at least one of the first and second reflecting members <NUM> and <NUM>, to suppress the signal radiated by the antenna device from leaking to the rear side of the antenna device through the spacing <NUM>.

The capacitance of the coupling capacitor <NUM> is generally decided by its structural parameter, which may specifically include an effective capacitor area and an effective capacitor separation of the coupling capacitor <NUM>. The effective capacitor area may be based on a polar plate area of the capacitive polar plate <NUM>, a width of the spacing <NUM> between the first reflecting member <NUM> and the second reflecting member <NUM> and the like, and the effective capacitor separation may be obtained according to parameters such as a first separation between the capacitive polar plate <NUM> and the first reflecting member <NUM>, a second separation between the capacitive polar plate <NUM> and the second reflecting member <NUM> and the like.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, the capacitive polar plate <NUM> is parallel to at least one of the first and second reflecting members <NUM> and <NUM>, to increase the capacitance of the coupling capacitor <NUM> as much as possible, and to improve the radiation effect of the antenna device.

In some embodiments, as shown in <FIG>, a projection of the capacitive polar plate <NUM> on a plane where the first reflecting member <NUM> and the second reflecting member <NUM> are in covers the spacing <NUM>, so as to reduce signal leakage from the spacing <NUM> to the rear side of the antenna device as much as possible.

In some embodiments, the first reflecting member <NUM> and a portion of the capacitive polar plate <NUM> may be disposed within the first radome, while the second reflecting member <NUM> and another portion of the capacitive polar plate <NUM> may be disposed within the second radome. In addition, the capacitive polar plate <NUM> may be fixed to the radome by a fastener or the like.

The terms "front," "back," "top," "bottom," "over," "under" and the like, as used herein, if any, are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing permanent relative positions. It should be understood that such terms are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances such that the embodiments of the disclosure described herein are, for example, capable of operation in other orientations than those illustrated or otherwise described herein.

The term "exemplary", as used herein, means "serving as an example, instance, or illustration", rather than as a "model" that would be exactly duplicated. Any implementation described herein as exemplary is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other implementations. Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed or implied theory presented in the preceding technical field, background, summary or detailed description.

The term "substantially", as used herein, is intended to encompass any slight variations due to design or manufacturing imperfections, device or component tolerances, environmental effects and/or other factors. The term "substantially" also allows for variation from a perfect or ideal case due to parasitic effects, noise, and other practical considerations that may be present in an actual implementation.

In addition, the foregoing description may refer to elements or nodes or features being "connected" or "coupled" together. As used herein, unless expressly stated otherwise, "connected" means that one element/node/feature is electrically, mechanically, logically or otherwise directly joined to (or directly communicates with) another element/node/feature. Likewise, unless expressly stated otherwise, "coupled" means that one element/node/feature may be mechanically, electrically, logically or otherwise joined to another element/node/feature in either a direct or indirect manner to permit interaction even though the two features may not be directly connected. That is, "coupled" is intended to encompass both direct and indirect joining of elements or other features, including connection with one or more intervening elements.

In addition, certain terminology, such as the terms "first", "second" and the like, may also be used in the following description for the purpose of reference only, and thus are not intended to be limiting. For example, the terms "first", "second" and other such numerical terms referring to structures or elements do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context.

Further, it should be noted that, the terms "comprise", "include", "have" and any other variants, as used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

In this disclosure, the term "provide" is intended in a broad sense to encompass all ways of obtaining an object, thus the expression "providing an object" includes but is not limited to "purchasing", "preparing/manufacturing", "disposing/arranging", "installing/assembling", and/or "ordering" the object, or the like.

Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that boundaries between the above described operations are merely illustrative. The multiple operations may be combined into a single operation, a single operation may be distributed in additional operations and operations may be executed at least partially overlapping in time. Moreover, alternative embodiments may include multiple instances of a particular operation, and the order of operations may be altered in various other embodiments. However, other modifications, variations and alternatives are also possible. The description and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than in a restrictive sense.

Claim 1:
An antenna device, comprising:
a first antenna (<NUM>) comprising a first reflecting member (<NUM>) configured to reflect at least a portion of a first signal radiated by the first antenna;
a second antenna (<NUM>) comprising a second reflecting member (<NUM>) configured to reflect at least a portion of a second signal radiated by the second antenna, wherein the first reflecting member and the second reflecting member are separated from each other by a spacing (<NUM>); and
a coupling capacitor comprising a first polar plate (<NUM>) and a second polar plate (<NUM>), wherein the first polar plate (<NUM>) is on a side of a first reflecting surface (<NUM>) of the first reflecting member (<NUM>) and is adjacent to the spacing (<NUM>), and wherein the second polar plate (<NUM>) is on a side of a second reflecting surface (<NUM>) of the second reflecting member (<NUM>) and is adjacent to the spacing (<NUM>),
characterized in that
the antenna device further comprises:
a first capacitive member (410b) which is a separate structure from the first reflecting member (<NUM>) and configured to be connected mechanically to the first reflecting member (<NUM>), with at least a portion of the first capacitive member (410b) configured to form the first polar plate (<NUM>); and/or
a second capacitive member (420b) which is a separate structure from the second reflecting member (<NUM>) and configured to be connected mechanically to the second reflecting member (<NUM>), with at least a portion of the second capacitive member (420b) configured to form the second polar plate (<NUM>).