Antenna elements and apparatus suitable for AAS calibration by selective couplerline and TRX RF subgroups

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10263330-B2
Application number	US-201615165105-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 26, 2016
Priority date	May 26, 2016
Publication date	Apr 16, 2019
Grant date	Apr 16, 2019

Abstract

An antenna arrangement includes an antenna element and a corresponding feeder line configured to feed a signal to and from the antenna element, and includes a portion of a couplerline spaced apart from but proximate to the antenna element, the feeder line, and a selectivity element. The portion of the couplerline is configured to receive via inductive coupling the signal from one or both of the feeder line and the antenna element, and to transmit a signal via inductive coupling to the feeder line and/or the antenna element. The antenna arrangement includes the selectivity element, which is spaced apart from but proximate to the antenna element, the feeder line, and the portion of the couplerline, and which is configured to select or not select the antenna element for coupling to the portion of the couplerline. An apparatus may include multiple antenna arrangements (with subgroups) and be configured for AAS calibration.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus, comprising:
an antenna arrangement, comprising:
an antenna element and a corresponding feeder line configured to feed a signal to and from the antenna element;
a portion of a couplerline spaced apart from but proximate to the antenna element, the feeder line, and a selectivity element, the portion of the couplerline configured to receive via inductive coupling the signal from one or both of the feeder line and the antenna element, and to transmit a signal via inductive coupling to one or both of the feeder line and the antenna element; and
the selectivity element, which is spaced apart from but proximate to the antenna element, the feeder line, and the portion of the couplerline, and which is configured to select or not select the antenna element for coupling to the portion of the couplerline, wherein the selectivity element is configured to select or not select the antenna element for coupling to the portion of the couplerline at least by being positioned between the portion of the couplerline and one or both of the feeder line and the antenna element in order to affect the inductive coupling between the portion of the couplerline and the one or both of the feeder line and the antenna element.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:
the selectivity element is configured during operation of the antenna element not to be coupled to a voltage or ground, which configures the selectivity element to select the antenna element for coupling to the portion of the couplerline; and
the selectivity element is configured during operation of the antenna element to be coupled to ground to configure the selectivity element to not select the antenna element for coupling to the portion of the couplerline.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the selectivity element is positioned between the portion of the couplerline and the feeder line, and wherein an axis passes through the selectivity element, the portion of the couplerline, and the feeder line but does not pass through the antenna element, wherein each of the selectivity element, the portion of the couplerline, and the feeder line are on different planes, and wherein the axis is perpendicular to the planes.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein an axis passes through the portion of the couplerline, the selectivity element, and the antenna element but does not pass through the feeder line, wherein each of the selectivity element, portion of the couplerline, and antenna element are on different planes, and wherein the axis is perpendicular to the planes.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the antenna arrangement further comprises a switch coupled to the selectivity element and configured to connect the selectivity element to ground or to not connect the selectivity element to ground.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of the antenna arrangements, wherein the portions of the couplerlines for the plurality of the antenna arrangements are part of a single couplerline that serially connects to each of the plurality of antenna arrangements.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the apparatus further comprises at least one controller, and where the at least one controller is configured to cause the apparatus to:
place a signal on the feeder line;
configure at least one of the selectivity elements to select a corresponding at least one antenna element for coupling to the single couplerline; and
receive a signal from the portion of the single couplerline for antenna calibration.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the apparatus further comprises at least one controller, and where the at least one controller is configured to cause the apparatus to:
place a signal on the single couplerline;
configure at least one selectivity element to select a corresponding at least one antenna element for coupling to the single couplerline; and
receive a signal from the feeder line for antenna calibration.

9. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of antenna arrangements are arranged in an array with columns and rows.

10. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein each of the plurality of antenna arrangements comprises a switch and a directional coupler, the switch configured to connect or not connect the couplerline to directional coupler, wherein each directional coupler is spaced apart from a corresponding feeder line but configured to inductively couple to the corresponding feeder line.

11. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the couplerline is terminated at two ends, each of the two ends having a calibration port.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the calibration ports are part of a beamformer, and the beamform is configured to apply signals to each of the antenna elements for beamforming.

13. The apparatus of claim 11 , further comprising at least one controller, where the at least one controller is configured to cause the apparatus to select individual ones or multiple ones of the plurality of antenna elements and perform antenna calibration with the individual ones or multiple ones of the plurality of antenna elements, the single couplerline and its calibration portions, and the selectivity elements.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the at least one controller further comprises one or more processors and one or more memories, the one or more memories comprising computer program code, and wherein the one or more memories and the computer program code are configured, with the one or more processors, to cause the apparatus to perform the antenna calibration.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of antenna arrangements form an antenna subarray, and wherein the apparatus comprises multiple subarrays, each with its own single couplerline.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , further comprising a plurality of couplings, each set of plurality of couplings configured to direct downlink traffic data and uplink traffic data toward corresponding individual ones of the antenna subarrays and to corresponding selective bi-directional calibration couplerlines.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of couplings and selective bi-directional calibration couplerlines are coupled to at least one controller, and wherein the at least one controller is configured to select individual ones of the sets of couplings to perform antenna calibration of a corresponding antenna subarray.

18. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein each antenna subarray has a corresponding beamformer and a set of the couplings, and each set of couplings directs downlink traffic data and uplink traffic data toward a corresponding beamformer.

19. An apparatus, comprising:
a plurality of antenna arrangements, each antenna arrangement comprising:
an antenna element and a corresponding feeder line configured to feed a signal to and from the antenna element;
a portion of a couplerline spaced apart from but proximate to the antenna element, the feeder line, and a selectivity element, the portion of the couplerline configured to receive via inductive coupling the signal from one or both of the feeder line and the antenna element, and to transmit a signal via inductive coupling to one or both of the feeder line and the antenna element; and
the selectivity element, which is spaced apart from but proximate to the antenna element, the feeder line, and the portion of the couplerline, and which is configured to select or not select the antenna element for coupling to the portion of the couplerline, wherein the selectivity element is configured to select or not select the

Assignees

• Nokia Solutions & Networks Oy

Inventors

• Martikkala Risto Tapani
• Nykanen Asko Heikki

Classifications

• H04W72/21

  in the uplink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards the network · CPC title

• H04W72/23

  in the downlink direction of a wireless link, i.e. towards a terminal · CPC title

• H01Q3/40

  with phasing matrix · CPC title

• H04W72/042

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H01Q1/246

  specially adapted for base stations · CPC title