Phase shifter, phase shifter array, antenna array and electronic device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12469940-B2
Application number	US-202218279381-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Nov 9, 2022
Priority date	Nov 9, 2022
Publication date	Nov 11, 2025
Grant date	Nov 11, 2025

Abstract

A phase shifter, a phase shifter array, an antenna array and an electronic device are provided and belong to the field of communication technology. The phase shifter includes: first and second dielectric substrates opposite to each other, a first transmission line and a second transmission line on a side of the first dielectric substrate close to the second dielectric substrate, patch electrodes on a side of the second dielectric substrate close to the first dielectric substrate, and a tunable dielectric layer between a layer where the transmission lines are located and a layer where the patch electrodes are located; wherein orthographic projections of two ends of each patch electrode on the first dielectric substrate overlap with orthographic projections of the first and second transmission lines on the first dielectric substrate, respectively; and at least two of the plurality of patch electrodes are connected to different first bias voltage lines.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A phase shifter, comprising a first dielectric substrate and a second dielectric substrate opposite to each other, a first transmission line and a second transmission line on a side of the first dielectric substrate close to the second dielectric substrate, a plurality of patch electrodes on a side of the second dielectric substrate close to the first dielectric substrate, and a tunable dielectric layer between a layer where the first transmission line and the second transmission line are located and a layer where the plurality of patch electrodes are located;
wherein orthographic projections of two ends of each of the plurality of patch electrodes on the first dielectric substrate overlap with orthographic projections of the first transmission line and the second transmission line on the first dielectric substrate, respectively; and wherein at least two of the plurality of patch electrodes are connected to different first bias voltage lines.

2 . The phase shifter of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of patch electrodes are connected to different first bias voltage lines, respectively.

3 . The phase shifter of claim 1 , wherein at least two of the plurality of patch electrodes are connected to a same first bias voltage line, and the patch electrodes connected to the same first bias voltage line are adjacent to each other.

4 . The phase shifter of claim 3 , wherein every two adjacent patch electrodes of the plurality of patch electrodes are connected to the same first bias voltage line, and different first bias voltage lines are connected to different patch electrodes.

5 . The phase shifter of claim 1 , wherein patch electrodes of the plurality of patch electrodes connected to the same first bias voltage line are separated from each other by at least one patch electrode.

6 . The phase shifter of claim 5 , wherein each of some first bias voltage lines comprises a first sub-signal line and a second sub-signal line which are sequentially arranged in a direction away from the second dielectric substrate; and the phase shifter further comprises a first interlayer insulating layer between a layer where the second sub-signal line is located and a layer where the first sub-signal line is located; the first sub-signal line and the second sub-signal line are electrically connected to each other by a via extending through the first interlayer insulating layer, and the first sub-signal line is electrically connected to the patch electrodes.

7 . The phase shifter of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of patch electrodes is connected to a corresponding first bias voltage line through a switching unit, and different patch electrodes are connected to different switching units, and the switching units connected to a same first bias voltage line are connected to different scanning lines, respectively.

8 . The phase shifter of claim 7 , wherein switching units connected to odd-numbered patch electrodes are connected to a same scanning line, and switching units connected to even-numbered patch electrodes are connected to a same scanning line.

9 . The phase shifter of claim 7 , wherein each switching unit comprises a thin film transistor; a first electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the first bias voltage line, a second electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the patch electrode, and a control electrode of the thin film transistor is electrically connected to the scanning line.

10 . The phase shifter of claim 1 , wherein each first bias voltage line comprises a first sub-signal line and a second sub-signal line which are sequentially arranged in a direction away from the second dielectric substrate; and the phase shifter further comprises a first interlayer insulating layer between a layer where the second sub-signal line is located and a layer where the first sub-signal line is located; a first end of the first sub-signal line is connected to the patch electrode, a second end of the first sub-signal line is connected to a first connection portion; a first end of the second sub-signal line is connected to a second connection portion, and the first connection portion is connected to the second connection portion through a via extending through the first interlayer insulating layer; a line width of the first connection portion is greater than that of the first sub-signal line, and a line width of the second connection portion is greater than that of the second sub-signal line.

11 . The phase shifter of claim 7 , wherein the first sub-signal line and the second sub-signal line are both made of metal.

12 . The phase shifter of claim 1 , further comprising a signal electrode on a side of the first dielectric substrate close to the second dielectric substrate, wherein the first transmission line and the second transmission line are respectively on both sides of an extending direction of the signal electrode.

13 . The phase shifter of claim 1 , further comprising a second bias voltage line electrically connected to the first transmission line and the second transmission line.

14 . A phase shifter array, comprising a plurality of the phase shifters in an array, wherein each phase shifter adopts the phase shifter of claim 1 .

15 . The phase shifter array of claim 14 , wherein when each of the plurality of patch electrodes is connected to the corresponding first bias voltage line through the corresponding switching unit, the phase shifters in the same row are arranged such that switching units connected to odd-numbered patch electrodes in each phase shifter are connected to a same scanning line, switching units connected to even-numbered patch electrodes in each phase shifter are connected to a same scanning line; and/or the phase shifters in the same column are arranged such that the patch electrodes are correspondingly connected to the same first bias voltage line in each phase shifter in the arrangement order.

16 . An antenna array, comprising the phase shifter array of claim 14 .

17 . The antenna array of claim 16 , further comprising a radiating array comprising a plurality of radiating units in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of phase shifters in the phase shifter array.

18 . The antenna array of claim 16 , further comprising a feed network configured to feed the phase shifter array.

19 . The antenna array of claim 18 , wherein the feed network feeds the phase shifter array by any one of a coupling slit, a waveguide or a conductive via.

20 . An electronic device, comprising the antenna array of claim 16 .

Assignees

• Beijing Boe Sensor Technology Co Ltd
• Boe Technology Group Co Ltd
• Beijing Boe Technology Dev Co Ltd

Inventors

• Ding Yi
• Cui Zhao
• Ma Yong
• Qu Feng
• Yao Qi
• Che Chuncheng

Classifications

• H01Q3/36

  with variable phase-shifters · CPC title

• G02F1/134309

  characterised by their geometrical arrangement · CPC title

• H01P1/184

  Strip line phase-shifters (H01P1/181, H01P1/185, H01P1/19 take precedence) · CPC title

• G02F1/13

  based on liquid crystals, e.g. single liquid crystal display cells · CPC title

• H01P1/18 Primary

  Phase-shifters (H01P1/165 takes precedence) · CPC title