SMALL CELL ANTENNAS SUITABLE FOR MIMO OPERATION

• US 20200136689A1
• Filed: 12/31/2019
• Published: 04/30/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommScope Technologies, LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: CommScope Technologies, LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Bisiules, Peter J., Zimmerman, Martin L.
• Granted Patent: US 10,924,169 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 1/246 specially adapted for base stations
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 15/14 Reflecting surfaces; Equivalent structures electromagnetic shields H01Q1/526
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 19/108 Combination of a dipole with a plane reflecting surface H01Q19/106 takes precedence; strip line H01Q9/065
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/065 Patch antenna array
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/08 the units being spaced along or adjacent to a rectilinear path waveguide fed H01Q21/0037
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/20 the units being spaced along or adjacent to a curvilinear path slotted waveguide arrays H01Q21/005; circularly or helically slotted waveguides H01Q21/0062
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/205 providing an omnidirectional coverage turnstile aerials H01Q21/26
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/26 Turnstile or like antennas comprising arrangements of three or more elongated elements disposed radially and symmetrically in a horizontal plane about a common centre
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 21/28 Combinations of substantially independent non-interacting antenna units or systems multiple beam H01Q25/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 25/005 providing two patterns of opposite direction; back to back antennas H01Q25/004 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/40 Imbricated or interleaved structures; Combined or electromagnetically coupled arrangements, e.g. comprising two or more non-connected fed radiating elements
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/42 using two or more imbricated arrays H01Q5/49 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/45 using two or more feeds in association with a common reflecting, diffracting or refracting device
• CPC Class Codes: H01Q 5/48 Combinations of two or more dipole type antennas
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0408 using two or more beams, i.e. beam diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0413 MIMO systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0469 taking special antenna structures, e.g. cross polarized antennas into account
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/0617 for beam forming
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 7/10 Polarisation diversity; Directional diversity
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 16/28 using beam steering

Abstract

A base station antenna includes a first set of radiating elements that are configured to generate a first antenna beam that has a first peanut-shaped antenna pattern in an azimuth plane and a second set of radiating elements that are configured to generate a second antenna beam that has a second peanut-shaped antenna pattern in the azimuth plane. A longitudinal axis of the first peanut-shaped antenna pattern in the azimuth plane is rotated approximately ninety degrees from a longitudinal axis of the second peanut-shaped antenna pattern in the azimuth plane.

Claims

1. A base station antenna, comprising:

a first set of radiating elements that are configured to generate a first antenna beam that covers a first sector in an azimuth plane and a third sector in the azimuth plane;

a second set of radiating elements that are configured to generate a second antenna beam that covers a second sector in the azimuth plane and a fourth sector in the azimuth plane;

a third set of radiating elements that are configured to generate a third antenna beam that covers a fifth sector in an azimuth plane and a seventh sector in the azimuth plane; and

a fourth set of radiating elements that are configured to generate a fourth antenna beam that covers a sixth sector in the azimuth plane and an eighth sector in the azimuth plane,

wherein the second sector is between the first sector and the third sector,

wherein the fourth sector is between the first sector and the third sector and opposite the second sector,

wherein the sixth sector is between the fifth sector and the seventh sector, and

wherein the eight sector is between the fifth sector and the seventh sector and opposite the sixth sector.

5. The base station antenna of claim 1, wherein the first through fourth sets of radiating elements are mounted on a tubular reflector assembly that has an octagonal, a dodecagon or a hexadecagon cross-section in the azimuth plane.

6. The base station antenna of claim 1, wherein the first through fourth antenna beams each have a peanut-shaped cross-section in the azimuth plane.

7. The base station antenna of claim 1, wherein the first and second antenna beams together provide omnidirectional coverage in the azimuth plane, and wherein the third and fourth antenna beams together provide omnidirectional coverage in the azimuth plane.

8. The base station antenna of claim 1, further comprising;

a first feed network that is coupled to the first and third linear arrays of radiating elements;

a second feed network that is coupled to the second and fourth linear arrays of radiating elements;

a third feed network that is coupled to the fifth and seventh linear arrays of radiating elements; and

a fourth feed network that is coupled to the sixth and eighth linear arrays of radiating elements.

2. The base station antenna of claim 2, wherein the first set of radiating elements comprises:

a first subset of radiating elements that are arranged as a first linear array of radiating elements; and

a third subset of radiating elements that are arranged as a third linear array of radiating elements,

wherein the third linear array of radiating elements is mounted opposite the first linear array of radiating elements.

3. The base station antenna of claim 2, wherein the second set of radiating elements comprises:

a second subset of radiating elements that are arranged as a second linear array of radiating elements; and

a fourth subset of radiating elements that are arranged as a fourth linear array of radiating elements,

wherein the fourth linear array of radiating elements is mounted opposite the second linear array of radiating elements.

4. The base station antenna of claim 3, wherein the first linear array of radiating elements points in a direction opposite a pointing direction of the third linear array of radiating elements.

9. The base station antenna of claim 2, further comprising a feed network that feeds the first subset of radiating elements out-of-phase with respect to third subset of radiating elements.

10. A base station antenna, comprising:

a first array of radiating elements that are mounted to extend outwardly from a first backplane;

a second array of radiating elements that are mounted to extend outwardly from a second backplane;

a third array of radiating elements that are mounted to extend outwardly from a third backplane, the third backplane being generally opposite the first backplane;

a fourth array of radiating elements that are mounted to extend outwardly from a fourth backplane, the second backplane being generally opposite the fourth backplane;

a fifth array that includes at least one radiating element that is mounted to extend outwardly from the first backplane;

a sixth array that includes at least one radiating element that is mounted to extend outwardly from the third backplane;

a first feed network that is coupled to the first and third arrays;

a second feed network that is coupled to the second and fourth arrays; and

a third feed network that is coupled to the fifth and sixth arrays,

wherein the radiating elements in the first through fourth arrays are configured to operate in a first frequency band and the radiating elements in the fifth and sixth arrays are configured to operate in a second frequency band that is at lower frequencies than the first frequency band.

11. The base station antenna of claim 10, wherein the first and third arrays of radiating elements are configured to generate a first antenna beam that has a peanut-shaped cross-section in an azimuth plane, the second and fourth arrays of radiating elements are configured to generate a second antenna beam that has a peanut-shaped cross-section in the azimuth plane, and the fifth and sixth arrays of radiating elements are configured to generate a third antenna beam that has a peanut-shaped cross-section in the azimuth plane.

12. The base station antenna of claim 10, wherein each of the fifth and sixth arrays includes a single radiating element.

13. The base station antenna of claim 10, further comprising

a seventh array that includes at least one radiating element that is mounted to extend outwardly from the second backplane;

an eighth array that includes at least one radiating element that is mounted to extend outwardly from the fourth backplane;

a fourth feed network that is coupled to the seventh and eighth arrays;

wherein the radiating elements in the seventh and eighth arrays are configured to operate in the second frequency band.

14. The base station antenna of claim 13, wherein the radiating elements of the fifth and sixth arrays are mounted on respective upper portions of the first and third backplanes, and the radiating elements of the seventh and eighth arrays are mounted on respective lower portions of the second and fourth backplanes.

15. A base station antenna, comprising:

first through eighth arrays of radiating elements, the radiating elements of the first through eighth arrays mounted to extend outwardly from respective first through eighth backplanes;

a first feed network that is coupled to the first and third arrays;

a second feed network that is coupled to the second and fourth arrays; and

a third feed network that is coupled to the fifth and sixth arrays,

wherein the first through eighth arrays of radiating elements are configured to generate two pairs of antenna beams that each have a peanut-shaped cross-section in an azimuth plane at each of two polarizations.

16. The base station antenna of claim 15, wherein the first through eighth backplanes comprise a tubular reflector.

17. The base station antenna of claim 16, wherein the tubular reflector has an octagonal horizontal cross-section.

18. The base station antenna of claim 15, wherein the antenna beams in the first pair of antenna beams are offset from each other by 90°

, and the antenna beams in the second pair of antenna beams are offset from each other by 90°

.