JP3120497B2 - Distribution phase shifter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a distribution phase shifter capable of distributing power of a high-frequency signal and continuously changing the phase of the distributed signal. Using this distribution phase shifter, it is possible to configure a variable phase feeder capable of continuously changing the beam tilt angle (directivity) of the array antenna.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to change the beam tilt angle of an array antenna, the length of a cable for feeding a high-frequency signal distributed by a power distributor to each array antenna element is changed. To change the phase distribution of the high-frequency current supplied to the array antenna.

To change the amount of phase shift in a power supply device using such a cable, for example, when the power supply device is installed outdoors, the waterproofing section is removed, the cable is removed from the connector, and the length of the cable is reduced. It was necessary to replace the cable or cut and shorten the cable itself, and then re-attach the connector and perform the waterproofing process again.

In order to change the beam tilt angle of the array antenna, a cable having the same length and having a phase shifter inserted between the power distributor and the array antenna is also used. In a power supply device using this phase shifter, a large number of switches and cables are required to change the phase continuously or at a fine pitch, resulting in large dimensions and cost. In addition, since the switch has mechanical contacts, there is a possibility that a contact failure occurs due to aging, which causes intermodulation and noise.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems and to provide a distribution phase shifter capable of continuously changing the phase with a simple and highly reliable structure.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a distribution phase shifter comprising: an output-side strip conductor having a partially open annular shape and having both ends as output ends;
An input-side strip conductor having one end positioned at the center of the radius of the ring, an arc-shaped sliding portion having a radius substantially the same as the radius of the ring, and a center of curvature extending from the center of the sliding portion. A conductor slider including an arm portion having substantially the same length as the radius of the ring extending vertically.The tip of the arm portion is rotatable around the center of the radius of curvature of the ring. An insulator is interposed at least between the output-side strip conductor and the arc-shaped sliding portion, and between the input-side strip conductor and the arm portion.

[0007] The distribution phase shifter may include an impedance-compensating strip conductor added to a part of the input-side strip conductor.

[0008]

According to the structure of the first aspect, the high-frequency signal input from the input-side strip conductor is transmitted to the conductor slider, and in the sliding portion, the two-way direction of the output-side strip conductor via the insulator. , And reach the output terminals, so that power distribution can be performed. Further, since the distance between the position of the sliding portion and both output ends of the output strip conductor is determined by the rotation angle of the arm portion, by rotating the arm portion, the position of the sliding portion and the output strip conductor are determined. Can be changed. Therefore, it is possible to freely adjust the phase difference between the high-frequency signals appearing at both output ends of the output-side strip conductor.

Further, according to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to compensate by matching the capacitance of the input side strip conductor between the strip conductor and the ground, thereby achieving matching.

[0010]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a distribution phase shifter 1 according to the embodiment. The distribution phase shifter 1 has an elongated input-side strip conductor 3 and a partially opened annular output-side strip conductor 2 disposed on a dielectric substrate 7. The input-side strip conductor 3 has a circular shape. One end is arranged at the center of the ring of the output side strip conductor 2 (the central axis is indicated by A). Further, a strip conductor 6 for impedance compensation having a length λ / 2 (λ is a wavelength) is branched from the input strip conductor 3 at one end of the circular shape of the input strip conductor 3. Strip conductor 6 for impedance compensation
Are inductive for compensating the capacitance generated between the end of the input-side strip conductor 3 and the ground. Further, an anchor-shaped conductor slider 5 is provided, and one end (for example, a portion connected to an anchor rope) of an anchor main shaft (hereinafter referred to as an "arm portion") 5c is arranged around a central axis A of the ring. It is arranged to be rotatable. The lengths of the portions corresponding to the hooks on the left and right of the anchor, ie, the portions sliding on the output-side strip conductor 2 (hereinafter, referred to as “sliding portions”) 5a and 5b are λ /
There are four each. And a high dielectric constant insulator 4 which is an insulating material for general high-frequency electric wires such as polyfluoroethylene.
a and 4b are interposed between the conductor slider 5 and the input strip conductor 3 and between the conductor slider 5 and the output strip conductor 2, respectively.

The width of the conductor is selected so that the characteristic impedance of the input strip conductor 3 is, for example, 50Ω, and the width of the conductor is selected so that the characteristic impedance of the output strip conductor 2 is 100Ω. With the above structure, the high-frequency signal input from the input-side strip conductor 3 is transferred to the arm 5c of the conductor slider 5 via the high dielectric constant insulator 4b.
And the left and right sliding portions 5a, 5
It reaches b. The left and right sliding portions 5a and 5b are coupled to the output side strip conductor 2 via the high dielectric constant insulator 4a. The arm portion 5c is provided with some inductance, and resonates with the reactance of the high dielectric insulators 4a and 4b so as to achieve impedance matching. A high dielectric constant insulator 4 is provided on the left and right sliding portions 5a and 5b.
a, the length of each transmission line is selected to be λ / 4, so that equivalently, a conductor slide is formed at the center of the sliding portions 5a and 5b. This means that the arm 5c of the moving element 5 and the output-side strip conductor 2 are connected.

The impedance when the output side strip conductor 2 is viewed from the arm portion 5c of the conductor slider 5 is 50Ω because two output side strip conductors 2 having a characteristic impedance of 100Ω are connected in parallel. Therefore, the impedances on the input and output sides match. If the propagation wavelength of the output side strip conductor 2 is λε, the radius of the arm is r, and the conductor slider 5 is rotated to the left by an angle θ from the center position, the output phase of the left output side strip conductor 2 [delta] _L is the _{δ L = (2π / λε)} rθ output phase [delta] _R of the output-side strip conductor 2 of the right, [delta] _R = - a (2π / λε) rθ.

Therefore, when it is desired to realize a constant phase difference δ using the distribution phase shifter 1, the conductor slider 5 may be turned by an angle satisfying θ = λεδ / 4πr. 4
The distribution variable phase feeder includes three distribution phase shifters 1 (referred to as first, second, and third distribution phase shifters), and a connection circuit diagram thereof is shown in FIG. That is, the end 11 of the input-side strip conductor 3 of the first distribution phase shifter 1a is a power receiving end, and both ends of the annular output-side strip conductor 2 of the first distribution phase shifter 1a are second and second ends. 3 are connected to the ends of the input-side strip conductors 3 of the three phase shifters 1b and 1c, respectively. Further, both ends of the annular output-side strip conductor 2 of the second distribution phase shifter 1b are connected to the feeding ends 12 respectively.
And 13, two ends of the annular output-side strip conductor 2 of the third distribution phase shifter 1c are connected to feed ends 14 and 15 respectively.
It is connected to the.

In the above four-distribution variable phase power supply,
When it is desired to provide an output phase difference with a constant gradient to the terminals 12, 13, 14, and 15, for example, to obtain an output having a phase of 3δ, δ, -δ, -3δ, the first distribution phase shifter 1a And the second and third distribution phase shifters 1b and 1c
May be rotated by θ. As described above, the four-distribution variable phase power supply device of the embodiment can continuously change the power supply phase of each terminal while equally dividing the power of the input high-frequency signal into four. Can be continuously changed. Further, since the sliding portion does not make metal contact, it is possible to prevent noise and intermodulation due to sliding.

Next, how to achieve impedance matching will be described. When a multi-distribution variable phase feeder is configured using a plurality of stages of the distribution phase shifter 1, the characteristic impedance of the output-side strip conductor 2 increases according to the number of stages, so that it is difficult to achieve phase matching on the output side. It is becoming. Therefore, the following technique is used to match the impedance on the input side and the impedance on the output side.

In FIG. 3, a 50 Ω line L1 is used on the input side, and an impedance transformer L2 having a length of λ / 4 is inserted. The impedance of the impedance transformer L2 may be selected to be (25 × 50) ^1/2 = 35Ω. In FIG. 4, the output side strip conductor L
3, L6 is connected to impedance transformers L4 and L7 having a length of λ / 4 using 100Ω lines. The impedance of the impedance transformers L4 and L7 may be selected to be (50 × 100) ^1/2 = 70Ω.

Although the present invention has been described based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, the length of the left and right sliding portions 5a and 5b on which the parallel plate transmission line insulated by the high dielectric constant insulator 4a is formed is represented by λ.
In addition to / 4, 3λ / 4, 5λ / 4, etc. may be selected. Various other changes can be made without changing the gist of the present invention.

[0018]

As described above, according to the distribution phase shifter according to the first aspect, the distribution phase shifter can be configured using a strip line or the like, so that the size and weight can be reduced and the manufacturing is easy. become. Further, since the power distribution and the phase shift can be performed with the same configuration, the number of components is reduced and reliability is improved as compared with the case where the power distribution and the phase shift are performed separately. Furthermore, since there is no metal contact, the occurrence of poor contact and the like is reduced.

Further, if a variable phase feeder is constituted by using a plurality of the above-mentioned distribution phase shifters, it is extremely effective as a feeder of an array antenna such as an antenna of a mobile communication base station whose service area needs to be changed at any time. . According to the distribution phase shifter of the second aspect, a strip conductor for impedance compensation is added to a part of the input-side strip conductor to compensate for a capacitance between the input-side strip conductor and the ground, thereby achieving matching. Can avoid loss of distribution.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a main part of a distribution phase shifter according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a connection diagram of a variable phase feeder configured by three distribution phase shifters.

FIG. 3 is a connection diagram of a distribution phase shifter whose input side impedance is matched using an impedance transformer.

FIG. 4 is a connection diagram of a distribution phase shifter whose output side impedance is matched using an impedance transformer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Distribution phase shifter 2 Output side strip conductor 3 Input side strip conductor 4a, 4b High dielectric constant insulator 5 Conductor slider 6 Impedance compensation strip conductor

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Masaki Mita 1-3-1 Shimaya, Konohana-ku, Osaka-shi Osaka Works, Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (56) References JP-A-58-75901 (JP, A) Kaihei 4-80107 (JP, U) Patent 176791 (JP, C2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H01P 5/12 H01P 1/18 H01P 5/04 603

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] An output strip conductor having a partially open annular shape and having both ends as output ends; an input side strip conductor having one end positioned at a center of a radius of the annular shape; An arc-shaped sliding portion having a radius substantially equal to the radius, and an arm portion having a length substantially equal to the radius of the ring extending vertically from the center of the sliding portion toward the center of curvature. A conductor slider, the tip of the arm portion being rotatable around the center of the radius of curvature of the ring, between the output-side strip conductor and the arc-shaped sliding portion, and the input-side strip. A phase shifter, wherein an insulator is interposed between a conductor and an arm. 2. The phase shifter according to claim 1, wherein a strip conductor for impedance compensation is added to a part of said input-side strip conductor.