Antenna apparatus supporting adjustability of an antenna beam direction

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10608334-B2
Application number	US-201715494779-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 24, 2017
Priority date	Oct 28, 2014
Publication date	Mar 31, 2020
Grant date	Mar 31, 2020

Abstract

A support of an adjustability of an antenna beam direction is rendered less expensive in terms of implementation by the following measure: a beam forming network switchable between fixedly preconfigured beam forming states is coupled to an antenna array via a switching network switchable between different connecting states according to which the antenna interfaces of the beam forming network are connected to the antennas so that relative positions of the antennas connected to the antenna interfaces differ among the connection states, or more than one beam forming network is provided, each switchable between fixedly preconfigured beam forming states and coupled to a respective set of antennas of an antenna array, respectively, with the beam directions of provided be the beam forming networks being mutually disjoint.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An antenna apparatus supporting adjustability of an antenna beam direction, comprising
an antenna array of antennas;
a beamforming network comprising M antenna interfaces and being switchable between m fixedly preconfigured beamforming states so as to couple the M antenna interfaces at different mutual phase and/or amplitude variations, and
a switching network switchable between N different connecting states, wherein the switching network is configured to, in each connecting state, connect the M antenna interfaces with a set of M antennas of the antenna array such that relative positions of the M antennas connected to the M antenna interfaces in the respective connecting state, differ among the N connection states,
wherein the switching network is configured such that the sets of M antennas connected to the M antenna interfaces in the N connecting states, are mutually disjoint,
wherein the switching network is configured such that the sets of M antennas connected to the M antenna interfaces in the N connecting states, with N>2, are positioned at lattice sites of mutually congruent two-dimensional lattices lying in a common plane.

2. The antenna apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the antenna apparatus is configured to adjust the direction of the wireless direction within a hemisphere.

3. The antenna apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the beam forming network comprises m signal interfaces, each of which corresponding to a respective one of the m fixedly preconfigured beamforming states and coupled, at antenna-interface-individual phase delay and amplitude factor which are specific for the respective fixedly preconfigured beam forming state, to the M antenna interfaces, so that the beam forming network is switchable by changing the signal interface via which the beam forming network is operated.

4. The antenna apparatus according to claim 3 , further comprising a switching circuit configured to connect exactly one of the m signal interfaces with a receiver and/or transmitter circuit.

5. The antenna apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the beam forming network is configured such that, for each of the N connecting states, the m fixedly preconfigured beam forming states result in a set of m different beam directions which are asymmetrically distributed with respect to a normal of the common plane.

6. The antenna apparatus according to claim 5 , wherein the sets of m different beam directions of the N connecting states are interleaved so that a solid state angle region spanned by the sets of m different beam directions of the N connecting states may be partitioned into N sections so that in each section exactly one beam direction of each of the sets of m different beam directions of the N connecting states is.

7. The antenna apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the antenna apparatus is controllable with respect to which of the m fixedly preconfigured beamforming states the beamforming network assumes and which of the N different connecting states the switching network assumes, thereby resulting in m×N control states of the apparatus, each of which is associated with a different beam direction of the wireless channel.

8. An antenna apparatus supporting adjustability of an antenna beam direction, comprising
an antenna array of antennas;
a beamforming network comprising M antenna interfaces and being switchable between m fixedly preconfigured beamforming states so as to couple the M antenna interfaces at different mutual phase and/or amplitude variations, and
a switching network switchable between N different connecting states, wherein the switching network is configured to, in each connecting state, connect the M antenna interfaces with a set of M antennas of the antenna array such that relative positions of the M antennas connected to the M antenna interfaces in the respective connecting state, differ among the N connection states,
wherein the positions of the M antennas connected to the M antenna interfaces in the N connection states, with N>2, are lattice sites of mutually congruent two-dimensional lattices and mutually transferrable to each other by isometry operations.

9. The antenna apparatus according to claim 8 , wherein the beam forming network is configured such that, for each of the N connecting states, the m fixedly preconfigured beam forming states result in a set of m different beam directions which is non-invariant against the isometric operations.

10. An antenna apparatus supporting adjustability of an antenna beam direction, comprising
an antenna array of antennas;
a beamforming network comprising M antenna interfaces and being switchable between m fixedly preconfigured beamforming states so as to couple the M antenna interfaces at different mutual phase and/or amplitude variations,
a switching network switchable between N different connecting states, wherein the switching network is configured to, in each connecting state, connect the M antenna interfaces with a set of M antennas of the antenna array such that relative positions of the M antennas connected to the M antenna interfaces in the respective connecting state, differ among the N connection states,
a further antenna array of further antennas;
a further beam forming network comprising M′ further antenna interfaces and being switchable between m′ fixedly preconfigured beamforming states so as to couple the M′ further antenna interfaces at different mutual phase and/or amplitude variations;
a further switching network switchable between at least N′ different connecting states, wherein the further switching network is configured to, in each connecting state, connect the M′ antenna interfaces with a set of M′ further antennas of the further antenna array such that relative positions of the M′ further antennas connected to the M′ further antenna interfaces in the respective connection state, differ among the N′ connection states; and
a controllable combination circuit configured to couple, at a controllable manner, a signal interface of the beam forming network and a further signal interface of the further beam forming network so that the antenna beam direction results from a combination of beams of the antenna array and the further antenna array.

11. An antenna apparatus supporting adjustability of an antenna beam direction, comprising
an antenna array of antennas comprising a first set of antennas and a second set of antennas;
a first beam forming network connectable to the first set of antennas and being switchable between fixedly preconfigured beam forming states so as to couple the first set of antennas at different mutual phase and/or amplitude variations,
a second beam forming network connectable to the second set of antennas and being switchable between fixedly preconfigured beam forming states so as to couple the second set of antennas at different mutual phase and/or amplitude variations,
wherein the m fixedly preconfigured beam forming states of the first beam forming network result in a first set of different beam directions which is disjoint to a second set of different beam directions resulting from the fixedly preconfigured beam forming states of the second beam forming network,
wherein the first and second sets of antennas each comprise M antennas and the first and second beam forming networks each comprising M antenna interfaces and m signal interfaces, each of which corresponding to a respective one of m fixedly preconfigured beamforming states and coupled, at antenna-interface-individual phase delay and amplitude factor which are specific for the respective fixedly preconfigured beam forming state, to the M antenna interfaces, so that the first and second beam

Assignees

• Fraunhofer Ges Forschung

Inventors

• Schuehler Mario
• Weisgerber Lars
• Arendt Johannes
• Wansch Rainer

Classifications

• H01Q3/24 Primary

  varying the orientation by switching energy from one active radiating element to another, e.g. for beam switching · CPC title

• H01Q25/00

  Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns (arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern H01Q3/00) · CPC title

• H01Q3/2605

  Array of radiating elements provided with a feedback control over the element weights, e.g. adaptive arrays · CPC title

• H01Q1/246

  specially adapted for base stations · CPC title

• H04B7/086

  using weights depending on external parameters, e.g. direction of arrival [DOA], predetermined weights or beamforming · CPC title