Traces between phase array antenna and radio frequency integrated circuit in mm wave systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017005408-A1
Application number	US-201514790847-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 2, 2015
Priority date	Jul 2, 2015
Publication date	Jan 5, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Systems and associated methods for improved beamforming of the phase array antenna are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a communication system for wireless signals has a phase array antenna having a plurality of individual antennas and a plurality of electrically conductive traces. The individual traces electrically connect corresponding individual antennas with a transmitter. The lengths of individual traces Ti, Tk satisfy equation Abs ((Ti−Tk) mod (λ))<λ/B, where λ is a wavelength of the wireless signal and λ/B is a fraction of λ.

First claim

I/we claim:

1 . A communication system for wireless signals, comprising:
a phase array antenna having a plurality of individual antennas; and a plurality of electrically conductive traces, wherein individual traces electrically connect corresponding individual antennas with a transmitter, wherein lengths of individual traces Ti, Tk satisfy equation:
Abs(( Ti−Tk )mod(λ))<λ/ B

where λ is a wavelength of a wireless signal to be applied to the antenna and λ/B is a fraction of λ.

2 . The system of claim 1 wherein individual antennas of the phase array antenna are spaced apart by λ/2.

3 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising the transmitter capable of transmitting signal through the traces to the phase array antenna.

4 . The system of claim 1 wherein λ/B is close to zero.

5 . The system of claim 1 wherein B is selected from a group consisting of 2, 4, 8 and 16.

6 . The system of claim 1 , further comprising a beamformer capable of performing amplitude and/or phase adjustment to a wireless signal to be applied to individual conductive traces.

7 . The system of claim 6 wherein the beamformer is an optimal beamformer capable of cancelling phase offsets generated by the unequal trace lengths.

8 . The system of claim 6 wherein the beamformer applies complex weights wi that satisfy:
wi =exp( j* 2π Ti /λ)* w′i

where w′i is a complex weight that corresponds to the electrically conductive traces having uniform length, and j is unit imaginary number.

9 . The system of claim 6 , further comprising a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) capable of sending signals to the beamformer.

10 . A communication system for wireless signals, comprising:
a phase array antenna having a plurality of individual antennas; a plurality of electrically conductive traces, wherein individual traces electrically connect corresponding individual antennas with a transmitter, wherein lengths of individual traces Ti, Tk have unequal trace lengths that cause phase offset errors among the individual antennas of the phase array antenna; and a beamformer configured to perform amplitude and/or phase adjustment to a wireless signal to be applied to individual conductive traces, wherein the beamformer is an optimal beamformer configured to cancel the phase offsets among individual antennas of the phase array antenna.

11 . The system of claim 10 wherein the optimal beamformer applies complex weights wi that satisfy:
wi =exp( j* 2π Ti /λ)* w′i

where w′i is a complex weight that corresponds to the electrically conductive traces having uniform length, and j is a unit imaginary number.

12 . The system of claim 10 wherein the lengths of individual traces Ti, Tk satisfy equation:
Abs(( Ti−Tk )mod(λ))<λ/ B

where λ is a wavelength of a wireless signal to be applied to the antenna and λ/B is a fraction of λ.

13 . A method for producing a phase array antenna, the method comprising:
manufacturing traces for connections to individual antennas of the phase array antenna, wherein the lengths of the traces satisfy Abs ((Ti−Tk) mod (λ))<λ/B, where λ is a wavelength of the wireless signal and λ/B is a fraction of λ; and c connecting the traces to the phase array antenna.

14 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising connecting the traces to a transmitter.

15 . The method of claim 13 , further comprising connecting the traces to the phase array antenna to an optimal beamformer, wherein the optimal beamformer applies complex weights wi that satisfy:
wi =exp( j* 2π Ti /λ)* w′i
where w′i is a complex weight that corresponds to the electrically conductive traces having uniform length, and j is unit imaginary number.

16 . The method of claim 15 , further comprising connecting a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC) to the beamformer.

17 . A computer-readable storage medium storing processor-executable instructions that, when executed, cause a beamformer to apply complex weights wi to signals, comprising:
instruction to calculate the complex weights as:
wi =exp( j* 2π Ti /λ)* w′i

where w′i is a complex weight that corresponds to the electrically conductive traces having uniform length, and j is unit imaginary number; wherein lengths of individual traces Ti, Tk that connect the beamformer with elements of a phase array system satisfy equation:
Abs(( Ti−Tk )mod(λ))<λ/ B

where λ is a wavelength of the wireless signal and λ/B is a fraction of λ.

18 . A method for beamforming, comprising:
emitting a wireless signal from a phase array antenna having a plurality of individual antennas, wherein individual traces that electrically connect individual antennas of the phase array antenna with a transmitter have unequal trace lengths that cause phase offset errors among the individual antennas of the phase array antenna; and beamforming the RF signal of the phase array antenna, wherein the adjusts amplitude and/or phase of the wireless signal that is applied to individual conductive traces, and wherein the beamformer is an optimal beamformer configured to cancel the phase offsets among individual antennas of the phase array antenna.

19 . The method of claim 18 wherein beamforming the RF signal includes applying complex weights wi that satisfy:
wi =exp( j* 2π Ti /λ)* w′i

where w′i is a complex weight that corresponds to the electrically conductive traces having uniform length, and j is a unit imaginary number.

20 . The method of claim 18 wherein the lengths of individual traces Ti, Tk satisfy equation:
Abs(( Ti−Tk )mod(λ))<λ/ B

where λ is a wavelength of a wireless signal to be applied to the antenna and λ/B is a fraction of λ.

Assignees

• Facebook Inc

Inventors

• Gomadam Krishna S
• Tujkovic Djordje
• Kohli Sanjai

Classifications

• H01Q3/28

  varying the amplitude · CPC title

• H01Q21/0087

  Apparatus or processes specially adapted for manufacturing antenna arrays (manufacturing waveguides H01P11/00) · CPC title

• H01Q3/34 Primary

  by electrical means (active lenses or reflecting arrays H01Q3/46) · CPC title

• H04B17/12

  of transmit antennas, e.g. of the amplitude or phase · CPC title

• H04B7/0671

  using different delays between antennas · CPC title