Slim multi-band antenna array for cellular base stations
First Claim
1. A multiband antenna system for cellular base stations, comprising:
- a common central support located substantially along a central axis of the multiband antenna system;
at least two multiband antenna arrays mounted on the common central support and radially spaced from the central axis of the multiband antenna system;
wherein each of the at least two multiband antenna arrays is longitudinally placed within an angular sector defined around said central axis;
wherein an angular spacing is defined between said angular sector;
a mechanical feature coupled to the common central support and to the at least two multiband antenna arrays to pivotally move each of the at least two multiband antenna arrays around said central axis within its corresponding angular sector, providing each of the at least two multiband antenna arrays with an adjustable azimuth coverage;
wherein each of the at least two multiband antenna arrays comprises a first set of radiating elements operating at a first frequency band and a second set of radiating elements operating at a second frequency band, wherein the second frequency band being higher than the first frequency band;
wherein the radiating elements are smaller than λ
/2 or smaller than λ
/3, wherein (λ
) being a longest operating wavelength; and
wherein a ratio between a central frequency of the second frequency band and a central frequency of the first frequency band is smaller than 2.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
This invention is in the field of base station antennas for wireless communications. The present invention refers to a slim multi-band antenna array for cellular base stations, which provides a reduced width of the base station antenna and minimizes the environmental and visual impact of a network of cellular base station antennas, in particular in mobile telephony and wireless service networks. A multiband antenna array comprises a first set of radiating elements operating at a first frequency band and a second set of radiating elements operating at a second frequency band, said radiating elements being smaller than λ/2 or smaller than λ/3, being (λ) the longest operating wavelength. The ratio between the largest and the smaller of said frequency bands is smaller than 2.
94 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A multiband antenna system for cellular base stations, comprising:
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a common central support located substantially along a central axis of the multiband antenna system; at least two multiband antenna arrays mounted on the common central support and radially spaced from the central axis of the multiband antenna system; wherein each of the at least two multiband antenna arrays is longitudinally placed within an angular sector defined around said central axis; wherein an angular spacing is defined between said angular sector; a mechanical feature coupled to the common central support and to the at least two multiband antenna arrays to pivotally move each of the at least two multiband antenna arrays around said central axis within its corresponding angular sector, providing each of the at least two multiband antenna arrays with an adjustable azimuth coverage; wherein each of the at least two multiband antenna arrays comprises a first set of radiating elements operating at a first frequency band and a second set of radiating elements operating at a second frequency band, wherein the second frequency band being higher than the first frequency band; wherein the radiating elements are smaller than λ
/2 or smaller than λ
/3, wherein (λ
) being a longest operating wavelength; andwherein a ratio between a central frequency of the second frequency band and a central frequency of the first frequency band is smaller than 2. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A dual-polarized multiband antenna array for cellular base station antennas, comprising:
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a set of small dual-polarized radiating elements, said small dual-polarized radiating elements being smaller than one half of a longest operating wavelength of a first and a second frequency bands; wherein the set of small dual-polarized radiating elements are dual-polarized patch antenna elements each comprising a first pair of feeding points combined with a first divider defining a first port of said dual-polarized patch antenna element and a second pair of feeding points combined with a second divider defining a second port of said dual-polarized patch antenna element; wherein said first port provides a first polarization of each dual-polarized patch antenna element of the set of small dual-polarized radiating element and said second port provides a second polarization of each dual-polarized patch antenna element of the set of small dual-polarized radiating element, wherein the second polarization being substantially orthogonal to the first polarization; wherein said antenna array operates at said first and second frequency bands within a 1700 MHz-2700 MHz frequency range, wherein the second frequency band being higher than the first frequency band; wherein a ratio between a central frequency of the second frequency band and a central frequency of the first frequency band being smaller than 1.28; wherein said dual-polarized multiband antenna array features a width smaller than one and a half times the longest operating wavelength of the first and second frequency bands; wherein said set of small dual-polarized radiating elements include a first and second subset of elements, the first subset of elements operating at the first frequency band, the second subset of elements operating at the second frequency band, wherein the elements of the first and second frequency bands are spatially interlaced such that a spacing between any two elements of the first and second subset of elements is between ½ and
⅓
of an operating wavelength; andwherein at least a portion of the set of small dual-polarized radiating elements feature a shape selected from the group consisting of space-filling curve, grid-dimension curve, multilevel, fractal, and combinations thereof.
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14. A multiband antenna array for cellular base station, comprising:
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a first set of radiating elements; a second set of radiating elements; wherein said multiband antenna array is operable at a first frequency band and at a second frequency band, wherein the second frequency band being higher than the first frequency band; wherein a ratio between a central frequency of the second frequency band and a central frequency of the first frequency band being smaller than 1.5; wherein said first set of radiating elements operate at said first frequency band and said second set of radiating elements operate at said second frequency band; wherein said first and second set of radiating elements being smaller than half a wavelength (λ
/2) or smaller than λ
/3 of a longest operating wavelength; andwherein said first and second set of radiating elements are arranged in two substantially parallel columns and in several substantially parallel rows, wherein in each column at least some elements of said first and second set of radiating elements are interlaced, wherein each radiating element is vertically and horizontally adjacent to respective radiating elements of the other set of radiating elements. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A dual-band dual-polarized radiating system for a cellular base station, said dual-band dual-polarized radiating system comprising:
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three antenna arrays radially displaced from a common mounting structure, wherein said three antenna arrays are symmetrically placed within three 120°
angular sectors around said common mounting structure;wherein an angular spacing between antenna arrays is provided to allow independent azimutal mechanical tilt for each sector; wherein each of said three antenna arrays is composed by at least two sub-arrays operating at a first and at a second frequency band respectively, wherein said first and a second frequency bands are selected within the 1700 MHz-2700 MHz frequency range and wherein the second frequency band being higher than the first frequency band; wherein a ratio between a central frequency of the second frequency band and a central frequency of the first frequency band being smaller than 1.28; wherein said at least two sub-arrays operating at two different frequency bands are collinearly aligned one on top of each other in a stacked arrangement such that a distance between a center to center of each sub-array of the at least two sub-arrays is larger than one operating wavelength; wherein each of said three antenna array features a width smaller than one and a half times a longest operating wavelength of the first and second frequency bands and a thickness smaller than half times the longest operating wavelength of the first and second frequency bands; wherein each of said three arrays includes a set of compact radiating elements, wherein said compact radiating elements are smaller than one half of the longest operating wavelength, wherein at least one of said at least two sub-arrays operating at different frequencies includes a set of compact phase shifters for featuring variable electrical downtilt; and wherein at least one phase shifter feeds two radiating elements together through a power splitter network, wherein the whole dual-band dual-polarized radiating system is covered by a cylindrical radome of a dielectric material, said dielectric material being substantially transparent within the 1700-2700 MHz frequency range. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A mobile telecommunication network comprising:
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one or more dual-band dual-polarized radiating systems, each of the one or more dual-band dual-polarized radiating system comprising; three antenna arrays radially displaced from a common mounting structure, wherein said three antenna arrays are symmetrically placed within three 120°
angular sectors around said common mounting structure;wherein an angular spacing between antenna arrays is provided to allow independent azimutal mechanical tilt for each sector; wherein each of said three antenna arrays is composed by at least two sub-arrays operating at a first and at a second frequency band respectively, wherein said first and a second frequency bands are selected within the 1700 MHz-2700 MHz frequency range and wherein the second frequency band being higher than the first frequency band; wherein a ratio between a central frequency of the second frequency band and a central frequency of the first frequency band being smaller than 1.28; wherein said at least two sub-arrays operating at two different frequency bands are collinearly aligned one on top of each other in a stacked arrangement such that a distance between a center to center of each sub-array of the at least two sub-arrays is larger than one operating wavelength; wherein each of said three antenna array features a width smaller than one and a half times a longest operating wavelength of the first and second frequency bands and a thickness smaller than half times the longest operating wavelength of the first and second frequency bands; wherein each of said three arrays includes a set of compact radiating elements, wherein said compact radiating elements are smaller than one half of the longest operating wavelength, wherein at least one of said at least two sub-arrays operating at different frequencies includes a set of compact phase shifters for featuring variable electrical downtilt; wherein at least one phase shifter feeds two radiating elements together through a power splitter network, wherein the whole dual-band dual-polarized radiating system is covered by a cylindrical radome of a dielectric material, said dielectric material being substantially transparent within the 1700-2700 MHz frequency range; wherein said mobile telecommunication network co-allocates multiple services operating at least at two different frequency bands within the 1700 to 2700 MHz frequency range; and wherein a coverage and capacity of the network is independently adjusted at each of said at least two frequency bands by means of adjusting the phase shifters included in the sub-arrays of the one or more dual-band dual-polarized radiating systems.
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37. A dual-band dual-polarized radiating system for a cellular base station, said dual-band dual-polarized radiating system comprising:
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a central common mounting structure located substantially along a central axis of the dual-band dual-polarized radiating system; at least three antenna arrays mounted on the central common mounting structure and radially displaced from the central common mounting structure, wherein said at least three antenna arrays are symmetrically placed within three 120°
angular sectors around said central common mounting structure;wherein each of the said three arrays comprises at least two sub-arrays adapted to operate at a first and at a second frequency band respectively, wherein the second frequency band being higher than the first frequency band; wherein said first and second frequency bands are selected within the 1700 MHz-2700 MHz frequency range, a ratio between a central frequency of the second frequency band and a central frequency of the first frequency band being smaller than 2; wherein each of the said at least three arrays includes a set of small radiating elements, wherein said small radiating elements are smaller than (λ
/2) or smaller than (λ
/3) of a longest operating wavelength (λ
); andwherein a diameter of a circumference having a center on the central axis of the dual-band dual-polarized radiating system and enclosing the at least three antenna arrays is less than 2λ
at the greater frequency of each band. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification