Patent Description:
With development and promotion of <NUM> technologies (fifth generation mobile communication technologies), base station antenna devices, which are important support for wireless information transmission, are widely used. AAU (Active Antenna Unit) series base stations are new base stations that integrate radio frequency and antennas based on an AAS technology. An AAU (Active Antenna Unit) module mainly includes a passive antenna and an active radio frequency portion. With development of technologies and changes in working environments, the passive antenna and the active radio frequency portion both have changed in sizes and structures. Therefore, how to coordinate structure assemblies of the passive antenna and the active radio frequency portion when a communication base station is being designed becomes a key point of a product design.

<CIT> relates to panel antenna having sealed radio enclosure. <CIT> relates to housing for a radio apparatus for a roadside communication system. <CIT> relates to antenna housing and antennas with such antenna housings. <CIT> relates to antenna apparatus, base station and communications system.

A technical problem to be resolved in the present disclosure is to provide a communication base station to coordinate an assembly relationship between a passive antenna and an active radio frequency portion in a changing requirement on sizes.

The invention has been defined in the independent claim.

An implementation of this application provides a communication base station. The communication base station includes: a radome, a radiator, i.e. a heat sink, and an adapter board, where the adapter board includes a first board surface and a second board surface that are disposed oppositely, the radome is fastened to the first board surface, a first cavity configured to accommodate an antenna component of the communication base station is formed between the radome and the adapter board, the radiator includes a mounting surface and a side wall that are neighboring to each other, a second cavity configured to accommodate a radio frequency component of the communication base station is recessed on the mounting surface, the mounting surface is fixedly connected to the second board surface, the second cavity is communicated with the first cavity, a connector is mounted at a position on the side wall close to the mounting surface, and the connector is electrically connected to the radio frequency component. Specifically, a radio frequency device in the radio frequency component is mounted on a circuit board, the connector is also connected to the circuit board, and the connector is electrically connected to the radio frequency device through a circuit line. In the communication base station in this implementation, an adapter board is designed between the radome and the radiator, so that sizes of the radome and the radiator may be designed based on respective performance requirements. This avoids inconvenience in production and assembly processes. Specifically, in the production process, because an edge of the radiator is not blocked by any mechanical part (such as a water-proof edge), when a screw hole (where the screw hole is configured to mount the connector) at a position on the side wall of the radiator close to the mounting surface is processed, an operation of a machining tool is facilitated. In addition, in the assembly process, mounting of the connector on the radiator is also facilitated. In this way, assembly of the radiator and the connector is very convenient. In an implementation, the adapter board is provided with a through hole for communicating the first cavity with the second cavity, and a projection area of the second cavity on the adapter board is greater than or equal to a hole area of the through hole. The antenna component accommodated in the first cavity needs to be electrically connected to the radio frequency component accommodated in the second cavity. Therefore, the through hole needs to be provided on the adapter board to implement an electrical connection between the two components.

Specifically, the radio frequency device in the radio frequency component is mounted on the circuit board, the circuit board is provided with the connector, and the connector is electrically connected to the antenna component through a transmission line.

In an implementation, a shielding structure is disposed in the second cavity and is configured to wrap and shield the radio frequency component. The shielding structure is designed to block mutual electromagnetic interference between radio frequency components and between the radio frequency component and the antenna component, to improve working performance of the communication base station.

In an implementation, the shielding structure is a shielding case, the shielding case is buckled on an inner bottom surface of the radiator, and the radio frequency component is accommodated in a shielding space formed by the shielding case and the inner bottom surface. In this implementation, the radiator is used as a part of the shielding structure. The radiator is made of a material having a shielding function, and is combined with the shielding case to form the shielding space.

In an implementation, the shielding structure is a shielding board, the shielding board is attached to the second board surface, and the radio frequency component is accommodated in a shielding space formed by the shielding board and an inner surface of the radiator. An attached shielding board is designed on the second board surface to shield the through hole and form a shielding cavity. Such a design can be manufactured conveniently and facilitate assembly of the antenna and base station.

In an implementation, the shielding structure is a shielding board, the shielding board is connected to an inner side face of the second cavity, and the radio frequency component is accommodated in a shielding space formed by the shielding board and an inner surface of the radiator. A metal plate is used to form a shielding board to shield the radio frequency component. A structure is simple, processing is convenient, and manufacturing costs are low.

In an implementation, a water-proof rubber strip is disposed between the first board surface and the radome and a water-proof rubber strip is disposed between the second board surface and the radiator. The antenna base station in this implementation may be widely used in outdoor spaces. Therefore, the product needs to have waterproof performance to avoid impact of rain on device performance. Therefore, when the board surfaces are attached to each other, the water-proof rubber strip needs to be added to avoid damage caused by a water leakage at a connection position to electric elements in the first cavity and the second cavity.

According to the claimed disclosure, the adapter board is provided with a plurality of first screw holes and a plurality of second screw holes, which are configured to detachably connect the radome and the radiator to the adapter board. The radome and the radiator are detachably mounted on two sides of the adapter board by using screw threads. A mounting operation is simple, and manufacturing costs are also low.

The plurality of first screw holes are distributed on an edge of the adapter board, and the radome is mounted in cooperation with the plurality of first screw holes. The first screw holes are adapted to mount the radome in cooperation with the adapter board. A size of the radome is determined by a size of the antenna component. Therefore, when the radome is mounted in cooperation with the adapter board, the size of the adapter board can be determined only based on the size of the radome. The first screw holes are distributed on the edge of the adapter board, that is, the radome is buckled on the edge of the adapter board to make a product structure design as small as possible.

The plurality of second screw holes are distributed around the through hole, and the radiator is mounted in cooperation with the plurality of second screw holes. The radiator is connected to the adapter board through the plurality of second screw holes and by using screw threads. This may be understood as that a region surrounded by the second screw holes is a region on the second board surface on which the radiator is projected. To miniaturize a product structure, a projection of the radiator on the second board surface also needs to be greater than the through hole. Therefore, the region surrounded by the second screw holes needs to be greater than the through hole, in other words, the plurality of second screw holes are distributed around the through hole.

With development of communication technologies, especially maturation of <NUM> technologies, applications thereof also provide new requirements for communication base stations, and miniaturized base stations become a mainstream of future communication products. <FIG> shows a common communication base station <NUM>. The communication base station <NUM> mainly includes a passive antenna portion <NUM> and an active radio frequency portion <NUM>. The passive antenna portion <NUM> is configured to receive and send a communication signal. The active radio frequency portion <NUM> may include a power amplifier, a harmonic circuit, and the like; and is configured to process the communication signal. To enable the communication base station <NUM> to communicate with an external signal, a connector <NUM> is usually further disposed. The connector <NUM> is electrically connected to another communication device through a communication cable. As the <NUM> technologies become mature, an integration degree of the active radio frequency portion <NUM> becomes higher and a size becomes smaller. However, as another important part of the antenna base station <NUM>, a size of the passive antenna portion <NUM> at a specific frequency band basically remains unchanged due to limitations of an antenna gain and a physical size requirement. This poses a challenge to the structural design of the communication base station <NUM>. Because the size of the passive antenna portion <NUM> is relatively fixed and the size of the active radio frequency portion <NUM> becomes smaller as the technologies become mature, a T-shaped structure similar to that in <FIG> is formed. An integrated water-proof edge <NUM> is disposed at a connection position between the active radio frequency portion <NUM> and the passive antenna portion <NUM> and is configured to mount the passive antenna portion <NUM>. The passive antenna portion <NUM> is like a hat covering the active radio frequency portion <NUM>. Such a structure causes a problem that in a production process, when a screw hole configured to fasten the connector <NUM> to the active radio frequency portion <NUM> is processed, an operation of a machining tool is not convenient due to existence of the water-proof edge <NUM>, processing efficiency is low, and a success rate is low. In addition, in a process of mounting the connector <NUM> to the active radio frequency portion <NUM>, an operation is not convenient, and assembly efficiency is low.

In view of this, this application provides a communication base station <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, the communication base station <NUM> mainly includes a radome <NUM>, an adapter board <NUM>, and a radiator, i.e. a heat sink, <NUM> from top to bottom. The adapter board <NUM> and the radiator <NUM> are independent of each other. The adapter board <NUM> includes a first board surface <NUM> and a second board surface <NUM>. As shown in <FIG>, similar to a cover without a bottom, the radome <NUM> is buckled to the first board surface <NUM> to form a first cavity <NUM> configured to accommodate an antenna component <NUM> of the communication base station <NUM>. A surface of the radiator <NUM> facing the second board surface <NUM> of the adapter board <NUM> is a mounting surface <NUM>. The mounting surface <NUM> is attached to the second board surface <NUM>. A part of the mounting surface <NUM> is recessed along a direction away from the adapter board <NUM> to form a second cavity <NUM> configured to accommodate a radio frequency component <NUM> of the communication base station <NUM>.

The radiator <NUM> includes a mounting surface <NUM> and an outer side wall <NUM> that are neighboring to each other. The mounting surface <NUM> is formed on the side wall <NUM> and is a surface that is of the first side wall <NUM> and that faces the second board surface <NUM>. A connector <NUM> is mounted on the side wall <NUM> of the radiator <NUM>. The connector <NUM> is located at a position on the outer side wall <NUM> close to the mounting surface <NUM>. The connector <NUM> is electrically connected to the radio frequency component <NUM> and is configured to communicate the radio frequency component <NUM> with an external circuit (not shown in the figure). Specifically, a radio frequency device in the radio frequency component is mounted on a circuit board, the connector is also connected to the circuit board, and the connector is electrically connected to the radio frequency device through a circuit line. In the communication base station <NUM> in this implementation, the adapter board <NUM> is disposed between the radome <NUM> and the radiator <NUM>. In a production process, a screw hole configured to fasten the connector <NUM> is processed on the radiator <NUM> first. In an assembly process, an operator first mounts the connector <NUM> on the radiator <NUM>, and then fastens the adapter board <NUM> to the radiator <NUM>. Specifically, the radiator <NUM> is mounted on the second board surface <NUM> of the adapter board <NUM> first; and then, the radome <NUM> is mounted on the first board surface <NUM> of the adapter board <NUM>. According to the architecture in this application, in the production process, because an edge of the radiator <NUM> is not blocked by any mechanical part (such as a water-proof edge), when a screw hole (where the screw hole is configured to mount the connector) at a position on the side wall of the radiator <NUM> close to the mounting surface is processed, an operation of a machining tool is facilitated. In addition, in the assembly process, mounting of the connector <NUM> on the radiator <NUM> is also facilitated. In this way, assembly of the radiator <NUM> and the connector <NUM> is very convenient.

In an implementation, as shown in <FIG>, a part of the adapter board <NUM> is hollowed out to form a through hole <NUM> for communicating the first cavity <NUM> with the second cavity <NUM>. For the communication base station <NUM>, the antenna component <NUM> and the radio frequency component <NUM> need to exchange signals and are communicated with each other through a corresponding circuit. Therefore, the through hole <NUM> needs to be provided on the adapter board <NUM>. The two components are electrically connected through a connection line <NUM>.

According to the claimed disclosure, as shown in <FIG>, the adapter board <NUM> is provided with a plurality of first screw holes <NUM> and a plurality of second screw holes <NUM>, which are configured to detachably connect the radome <NUM> and the radiator <NUM> to the adapter board <NUM>. The radome <NUM> and the radiator <NUM> are detachably mounted on two sides of the adapter board <NUM> by using screw threads. A mounting operation is simple, and manufacturing costs are also low.

The plurality of first screw holes <NUM> are distributed on an outer edge of the adapter board <NUM>, the radome <NUM> is mounted in cooperation with the plurality of first screw holes <NUM>, the plurality of second screw holes <NUM> are distributed around the through hole <NUM>, and the radiator <NUM> is mounted in cooperation with the plurality of second screw holes <NUM>. The first screw holes <NUM> are configured to mount the radome <NUM> in cooperation with the adapter board <NUM>. A size of the radome <NUM> is determined by a size of the antenna component <NUM>. Therefore, when the radome <NUM> is mounted in cooperation with the adapter board <NUM>, the size of the adapter board <NUM> can be determined only based on the size of the radome <NUM>. The first screw holes <NUM> are distributed on the edge of the adapter board <NUM>, that is, the radome <NUM> is buckled on the edge of the adapter board <NUM> to make a product structure design as small as possible. Similarly, the radiator <NUM> is connected to the adapter board <NUM> through the plurality of second screw holes <NUM> and by using screw threads. This may be understood as that a region surrounded by the second screw holes <NUM> is a region on the second board surface <NUM> on which the radiator <NUM> is projected. To miniaturize a product structure, a projection of the radiator <NUM> on the second board surface <NUM> also needs to be greater than the through hole <NUM>. Therefore, the region surrounded by the second screw holes <NUM> needs to be greater than the through hole <NUM>, in other words, the plurality of second screw holes <NUM> are distributed around the through hole <NUM>.

In an implementation, as shown in <FIG>, widths of the radome <NUM>, the adapter board <NUM>, and the radiator <NUM> are equivalent. Therefore, to compare sizes of projection areas of corresponding structures on the adapter board <NUM>, lengths D (shown as D <NUM>, D2, and D3 in the figure) are used as substitutes. Sizes of D in the sectional view are compared to show the sizes of the projection areas corresponding to the structures. In this implementation, a projection of the first cavity <NUM> on the adapter board <NUM> is greater than a projection of the second cavity <NUM> on the adapter board <NUM>. As specified above, the length D1 of the first cavity <NUM> is greater than the length D3 of the second cavity <NUM> in the figure. As can be learned from the foregoing descriptions, the adapter board <NUM> has a function of separating the radome <NUM> and the radiator <NUM>, in other words, the radome <NUM> is fastened to the first board surface <NUM> of the adapter board <NUM>, and the radiator <NUM> is fastened to the second board surface <NUM> of the adapter board <NUM>. In the design of the communication base station <NUM>, a size of the antenna component <NUM> is determined by an inherent frequency band and a gain effect of communication and is difficult to reduce. This also determines a size of the first cavity <NUM>. However, with development of communication technologies, a module integration degree of the radio frequency component <NUM> becomes higher, and a size of the radio frequency component <NUM> also becomes smaller, that is, the second cavity <NUM> configured to accommodate the radio frequency component <NUM> may be miniaturized. Therefore, sizes of projections of the first cavity <NUM> and the second cavity <NUM> that are separately located on two sides of the adapter board <NUM> need to be different on the adapter board <NUM>, to ensure a miniaturization design of the entire communication base station <NUM>.

In an implementation, as shown in <FIG>, a projection area of the second cavity <NUM> on the adapter board <NUM> is equal to a hole area of the through hole <NUM>, that is, the length D3 of the second cavity <NUM> is equal to the length D2 of the through hole <NUM> in the figure. Because the mounting surface <NUM> of the radiator <NUM> is in contact with the second board surface <NUM>, to fasten the radiator <NUM> to the second board surface <NUM>, a size of the second cavity <NUM> cannot be less than a size of the through hole <NUM>. Otherwise, the mounting surface <NUM> cannot be attached to the second board surface <NUM> normally. It should be noted that to miniaturize the entire product, when the radio frequency component <NUM> becomes small, the size of the second cavity <NUM> is reduced accordingly. If the size of the radio frequency component <NUM> is less than the size of the through hole <NUM>, to ensure normal attachment between the mounting surface <NUM> and the second board surface <NUM>, a projection area of the second cavity <NUM> can only be equal to the hole area of the through hole <NUM> and cannot be equal to the radio frequency component <NUM> with a smaller size.

In an implementation, as shown in <FIG>, a projection area of the second cavity <NUM> on the adapter board <NUM> is greater than a hole area of the through hole <NUM>, that is, the length D3 of the second cavity <NUM> is greater than the length D2 of the through hole <NUM> in the figure. Because the mounting surface <NUM> of the radiator <NUM> is in contact with the second board surface <NUM>, to fasten the radiator <NUM> to the second board surface <NUM>, a size of the second cavity <NUM> cannot be less than a size of the through hole <NUM>. Otherwise, the mounting surface <NUM> cannot be attached to the second board surface <NUM> normally. Herein, a purpose of setting the projection area of the second cavity <NUM> greater than the hole area of the through hole <NUM> is to make the size of the second cavity <NUM> irrelevant to the through hole <NUM>. A more important point is a size of the radio frequency component <NUM>. When the size of the radio frequency component <NUM> is greater than the size of the through hole <NUM>, a projection area of the second cavity <NUM> for accommodating the radio frequency component <NUM> on the second board surface <NUM> is definitely greater than the hole area of the through hole <NUM>. In an implementation, as shown in <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, and <FIG>, a shielding structure is disposed in the second cavity <NUM> and is configured to wrap and shield the radio frequency component <NUM>. The shielding structure is designed to block electromagnetic interference from the radio frequency component <NUM> to the antenna component <NUM>, to improve working performance of the antenna component <NUM>.

In a specific implementation, as shown in <FIG>, the shielding structure disposed in the second cavity <NUM> is a shielding case <NUM>. The shielding case <NUM> is configured to shield the radio frequency device on the circuit board of the radio frequency component <NUM>.

In an implementation, the shielding case <NUM> is buckled to an inner bottom surface <NUM> of the radiator <NUM> to form a shielding space (as shown in <FIG>). In this case, a size of the shielding space is determined by the shielding case <NUM>, and a size of the shielding case <NUM> may be adjusted based on the radio frequency component <NUM>.

In a situation, as shown in <FIG>, the radio frequency component <NUM> is large. As a result, the projection of the second cavity <NUM> on the adapter board <NUM> is greater than the through hole <NUM>. Therefore, in this case, a height of the shielding case <NUM> cannot be higher than a height of the second cavity <NUM>. In another situation, as shown in <FIG>, the size of the radio frequency component <NUM> is small. As a result, the projection area of the second cavity <NUM> on the adapter board <NUM> is equal to the hole area of the through hole <NUM>. Therefore, in this case, a height of the shielding case <NUM> can be higher than a height of the second cavity <NUM>. In addition, when the shielding case <NUM> is used as the shielding structure, shielding effects in different directions of the radio frequency component <NUM> are the same.

In a specific implementation, as shown in <FIG>, the shielding structure is a shielding board <NUM>. The shielding board <NUM> is attached to the second board surface <NUM>, and the radio frequency component <NUM> is accommodated in a shielding space formed by the shielding board <NUM> and an inner surface <NUM> of the radiator <NUM>. An attached shielding board <NUM> is designed on the second board surface <NUM> to shield the through hole <NUM> and form a shielding cavity. Such a design can be manufactured conveniently and facilitate assembly of the antenna base station <NUM>.

In a specific implementation, as shown in <FIG>, the shielding structure is a shielding board <NUM>, the shielding board <NUM> is connected to an inner side face <NUM> of the second cavity <NUM>, and the radio frequency component <NUM> is accommodated in a shielding space formed by the shielding board <NUM> and an inner surface <NUM> of the radiator <NUM>. A metal plate is used to form a shielding board <NUM> to shield the radio frequency component <NUM>. A structure is simple, processing is convenient, and manufacturing costs are low.

In an implementation, as shown in <FIG>, a water-proof rubber strip <NUM> is disposed between the first board surface <NUM> and the radome <NUM> and a water-proof rubber strip <NUM> is disposed between the second board surface <NUM> and the radiator <NUM>. The antenna base station <NUM> in this implementation may be widely used in outdoor spaces. Therefore, the product needs to have waterproof performance to avoid impact of rain on device performance. Therefore, when the board surfaces are attached to each other, the water-proof rubber strip <NUM> needs to be added to avoid damage caused by a water leakage at a connection position to electric elements in the first cavity <NUM> and the second cavity <NUM>.

Claim 1:
A communication base station (<NUM>), comprising a radome (<NUM>), a heat sink (<NUM>), and an adapter board (<NUM>),
wherein the adapter board comprises a first board surface (<NUM>) and a second board surface (<NUM>) that are disposed oppositely, the radome is fastened to the first board surface, a first cavity (<NUM>) configured to accommodate an antenna component (<NUM>) of the communication base station is formed between the radome and the adapter board, the heat sink comprises a mounting surface (<NUM>) and a side wall (<NUM>, <NUM>) that are neighboring to each other, a second cavity (<NUM>) configured to accommodate a radio frequency component (<NUM>) of the communication base station is recessed on the mounting surface, the mounting surface is detachably connected to the second board surface, the second cavity is communicated with the first cavity by a through hole (<NUM>) provided in the adapter board (<NUM>), a connector (<NUM>) is mounted at a position on the side wall close to the mounting surface, and the connector is electrically connectable to the radio frequency component;
wherein the adapter board is provided with a plurality of first screw holes (<NUM>) and a plurality of second screw holes (<NUM>), which are configured to detachably connect the radome and the heat sink to the adapter board;
wherein the plurality of first screw holes are distributed on an outer edge of the adapter board, and the radome is mounted in cooperation with the plurality of first screw holes; and
wherein the plurality of second screw holes are distributed around the through hole, and the heat sink is mounted in cooperation with the plurality of second screw holes.