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Патент США №

10389041

Автор(ы)

Yoon и др.

Дата выдачи

20 августа 2019 г.

Phased array antenna panel with enhanced isolation and reduced loss

"Панель ФАР с улучшенной развязкой и уменьшенными потерями"

РЕФЕРАТ

A phased array antenna panel includes a central radio frequency (RF) front end chip, neighboring RF front end chips, and an antenna. The antenna has a proximal probe and a distal probe. The proximal probe has one end at a near corner of the antenna adjacent to the central RF front end chip, and reduces an insertion loss in signals processed by the central RF front end chip. The distal probe has one end at a far corner of the antenna adjacent to one of the neighboring RF front end chips, and increases the isolation between signals processed by the central RF front end chip and signals processed by the one of the neighboring RF front end chips.

Автор(ы):

Seunghwan Yoon (Irvine, CA), Alfred Grau Besoli (Irvine, CA), Ahmadreza Rofougaran (Newport Coast, CA), Farid Shirinfar (Granada Hills, CA), Sam Gharavi (Irvine, CA), Michael Boers (South Turramurra, AU), Maryam Rofougaran (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA)

Заявитель:
НаименованиеГородШтатСтранаТип

Movandi Corporation
Newport Beach
CA
US

Патентообладатель:

Movandi Corporation (Newport Beach, CA)

Идентификатор семейства:

62147844

Номер заявки:

15/355,967

Приоритет:

18 ноября 2016 г.

Данные о предшествующей публикации

Идентификатор патентаДата публикации
US 20180145421 A1May 24, 2018

Действующий класс US:1/1
Действующий класс СПК:H01Q1/523; H01Q21/065; H01Q21/24; H01Q25/001; H01Q1/2283; H01Q3/26; H01Q21/0006
Действующий класс МПК:H01Q21/06; H01Q1/52; H01Q21/24; H01Q21/00; H01Q3/26; H01Q25/00; H01Q1/22
Область поиска:;455/562.1

ПРОЦИТИРОВАННЫЕ ССЫЛКИ [НА КОТОРЫЕ ССЫЛАЮТСЯ]


ПАТЕНТНЫЕ ДОКУМЕНТЫ США

5708444January 1998Pouwels
8618983December 2013Chen
Primary Examiner: Yun; Eugene
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Farjami & Farjami LLP


ФОРМУЛА ИЗОБРЕТЕНИЯ



The invention claimed is:

1. A phased array antenna panel comprising: a central radio frequency (RF) front end chip and neighboring RF front end chips; an antenna having a proximal probe and a distal probe; said proximal probe having one end at a near antenna corner adjacent to said central RF front end chip and said distal probe having one end at a far antenna corner adjacent to one of said neighboring RF front end chips; said proximal probe being in an x-axis, and said distal probe being in a y-axis that is substantially perpendicular to said x-axis.

2. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, wherein said antenna provides a reduced insertion loss in signals processed by said central RF front end chip.

3. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, wherein said antenna provides an increased isolation between signals processed by said central RF front end chip and signals processed by said neighboring RF front end chips.

4. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, wherein said central RF front end chip is coupled to said proximal probe.

5. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, wherein said one of said neighboring RF front end chips is coupled to said distal probe.

6. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, further comprising a master chip, wherein said master chip provides phase shift signals for said antenna through said central RF front end chip.

7. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, further comprising a master chip, wherein said master chip provides amplitude control signals for said antenna through said central RF front end chip.

8. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, wherein said antenna comprises a cavity antenna.

9. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, wherein said antenna comprises a patch antenna.

10. The phased array antenna panel of claim 1, wherein a distance between said central RF front end chip and said one end of said proximal probe and is less than approximately 2 millimeters.

ОПИСАНИЕ



РОДСТВЕННОЕ(ЫЕ) ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ(Я)

The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/225,071, filed on Aug. 1, 2016, and titled "Wireless Receiver with Axial Ratio and Cross-Polarization Calibration," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/225,523, filed on Aug. 1, 2016, and titled "Wireless Receiver with Tracking Using Location, Heading, and Motion Sensors and Adaptive Power Detection," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/226,785, filed on Aug. 2, 2016, and titled "Large Scale Integration and Control of Antennas with Master Chip and Front End Chips on a Single Antenna Panel," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/255,656, filed on Sep. 2, 2016, and titled "Novel Antenna Arrangements and Routing Configurations in Large Scale Integration of Antennas with Front End Chips in a Wireless Receiver," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/256,038 filed on Sep. 2, 2016, and titled "Transceiver Using Novel Phased Array Antenna Panel for Concurrently Transmitting and Receiving Wireless Signals," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/256,222 filed on Sep. 2, 2016, and titled "Wireless Transceiver Having Receive Antennas and Transmit Antennas with Orthogonal Polarizations in a Phased Array Antenna Panel," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/278,970 filed on Sep. 28, 2016, and titled "Low-Cost and Low-Loss Phased Array Antenna Panel," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/279,171 filed on Sep. 28, 2016, and titled "Phased Array Antenna Panel Having Cavities with RF Shields for Antenna Probes," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/279,219 filed on Sep. 28, 2016, and titled "Phased Array Antenna Panel Having Quad Split Cavities Dedicated to Vertical-Polarization and Horizontal-Polarization Antenna Probes," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/335,034 filed on Oct. 26, 2016, and titled "Lens-Enhanced Phased Array Antenna Panel," and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/335,179 filed on Oct. 26, 2016, and titled "Phased Array Antenna Panel with Configurable Slanted Antenna Rows." The disclosures of all of these related applications are hereby incorporated fully by reference into the present application.

ИСТОРИЯ ВОПРОСА

Phased array antenna panels with large numbers of antennas and front end chips integrated on a single board are being developed in view of higher wireless communication frequencies being used between a satellite transmitter and a wireless receiver, and also more recently in view of higher frequencies used in the evolving 5G wireless communications (5th generation mobile networks or 5th generation wireless systems). Phased array antenna panels are capable of beamforming by phase shifting and amplitude control techniques, and without physically changing direction or orientation of the phased array antenna panels, and without a need for mechanical parts to effect such changes in direction or orientation.

Phased array antenna panels often require antennas to be capable of transmitting or receiving signals while there are other antennas in the phased array in close proximity, resulting in poor signal isolation between signals received from or transmitted by the various antennas in the phased array. Increasing the separation between antennas or employing specialized isolation techniques can improve signal isolation. However, due to increased cost, size and complexity of the phased array, these approaches can be impractical. In addition, because of the high-loss nature of wireless communication signals, energy loss occurs between antennas and front end chips processing the signals to be received from or transmitted by the antennas. Thus, there is a need in the art for large scale integration of phased array antenna panels with increased signal isolation and reduced signal loss.

РЕЗЮМЕ

The present disclosure is directed to a phased array antenna panel with increased signal isolation and reduced signal loss, substantially as shown in and/or described in connection with at least one of the figures, and as set forth in the claims

КРАТКОЕ ОПИСАНИЕ РИСУНКОВ

FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application.

FIG. 1B illustrates a layout diagram of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application.

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application.

FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application.

ПОДРОБНОЕ ОПИСАНИЕ

The following description contains specific information pertaining to implementations in the present disclosure. The drawings in the present application and their accompanying detailed description are directed to merely exemplary implementations. Unless noted otherwise, like or corresponding elements among the figures may be indicated by like or corresponding reference numerals. Moreover, the drawings and illustrations in the present application are generally not to scale, and are not intended to correspond to actual relative dimensions.

FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, phased array antenna panel 100 includes substrate 102 having layers 102a, 102b, and 102c, front surface 104 having front end units 105, and master chip 180. In the present implementation, substrate 102 may be a multi-layer printed circuit board (PCB) having layers 102a, 102b, and 102c. Although only three layers are shown in FIG. 1A, in another implementation, substrate 102 may be a multi-layer PCB having greater or fewer than three layers.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, front surface 104 having front end units 105 is formed on top layer 102a of substrate 102. In one implementation, substrate 102 of phased array antenna panel 100 may include 500 front end units 105, each having a radio frequency (RF) front end chip connected to a plurality of antennas (not explicitly shown in FIG. 1A). In one implementation, phased array antenna panel 100 may include 2000 antennas on front surface 104, where each front end unit 105 includes four antennas connected to an RF front end chip (not explicitly shown in FIG. 1A).

In the present implementation, master chip 180 may be formed in layer 102c of substrate 102, where master chip 180 may be connected to front end units 105 on top layer 102a using a plurality of control and data buses (not explicitly shown in FIG. 1A) routed through various layers of substrate 102. In the present implementation, master chip 180 is configured to provide phase shift and amplitude control signals from a digital core in master chip 180 to the RF front end chips in each of front end units 105 based on signals received from the antennas in each of front end units 105.

FIG. 1B illustrates a layout diagram of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application. For example, layout diagram 190 illustrates a layout of a simplified phased array antenna panel on a single printed circuit board (PCB), where master chip 180 is configured to drive in parallel four control and data buses, e.g., control and data buses 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d, where each control and data bus is coupled to a respective antenna segment, e.g., antenna segments 111, 113, 115, and 117, where each antenna segment has four front end units, e.g., front end units 105a, 105b, 105c, and 105d in antenna segment 111, where each front end unit includes an RF front end chip, e.g., RF front end chip 106a in front end unit 105a, and where each RF front end chip is coupled to four antennas, e.g., antennas 12a, 14a, 16a, and 18a coupled to RF front end chip 106a in front end unit 105a.

As illustrated in FIG. 1B, front surface 104 includes antennas 12a through 12p, 14a through 14p, 16a through 16p, and 18a through 18p, collectively referred to as antennas 12-18. In one implementation, antennas 12-18 may be configured to receive and/or transmit signals from and/or to one or more commercial geostationary communication satellites or low earth orbit satellites.

In one implementation, for a wireless transmitter transmitting signals at 10 GHz (i.e., .lamda.=30 mm), each antenna needs an area of at least a quarter wavelength (i.e., .lamda./4=7.5 mm) by a quarter wavelength (i.e., .lamda./4=7.5 mm) to receive the transmitted signals. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, antennas 12-18 in front surface 104 may each have a square shape having dimensions of 7.5 mm by 7.5 mm, for example. In one implementation, each adjacent pair of antennas 12-18 may be separated by a distance of a multiple integer of the quarter wavelength (i.e., n*.lamda./4), such as 7.5 mm, 15 mm, 22.5 mm and etc. In general, the performance of the phased array antenna panel improves with the number of antennas 12-18 on front surface 104.

In the present implementation, the phased array antenna panel is a flat panel array employing antennas 12-18, where antennas 12-18 are coupled to associated active circuits to form a beam for reception (or transmission). In one implementation, the beam is formed fully electronically by means of phase control devices associated with antennas 12-18. Thus, phased array antenna panel 100 can provide fully electronic beamforming without the use of mechanical parts.

As illustrated in FIG. 1B, RF front end chips 106a through 106p, and antennas 12a through 12p, 14a through 14p, 16a through 16p, and 18a through 18p, are divided into respective antenna segments 111, 113, 115, and 117. As further illustrated in FIG. 1B, antenna segment 111 includes front end unit 105a having RF front end chip 106a coupled to antennas 12a, 14a, 16a, and 18a, front end unit 105b having RF front end chip 106b coupled to antennas 12b, 14b, 16b, and 18b, front end unit 105c having RF front end chip 106c coupled to antennas 12c, 14c, 16c, and 18c, and front end unit 105d having RF front end chip 106d coupled to antennas 12d, 14d, 16d, and 18d. Antenna segment 113 includes similar front end units having RF front end chip 106e coupled to antennas 12e, 14e, 16e, and 18e, RF front end chip 106f coupled to antennas 12f, 14f, 16f, and 18f, RF front end chip 106g coupled to antennas 12g, 14g, 16g, and 18g, and RF front end chip 106h coupled to antennas 12h, 14h, 16h, and 18h. Antenna segment 115 also includes similar front end units having RF front end chip 106i coupled to antennas 12i, 14i, 16i, and 18i, RF front end chip 106j coupled to antennas 12j, 14j, 16j, and 18j, RF front end chip 106k coupled to antennas 12k, 14k, 16k, and 18k, and RF front end chip 106l coupled to antennas 12l, 14l, 16l, and 18l. Antenna segment 117 also includes similar front end units having RF front end chip 106m coupled to antennas 12m, 14m, 16m, and 18m, RF front end chip 106n coupled to antennas 12n, 14n, 16n, and 18n, RF front end chip 106o coupled to antennas 12o, 14o, 16o, and 18o, and RF front end chip 106p coupled to antennas 12p, 14p, 16p, and 18p.

As illustrated in FIG. 1B, master chip 108 is configured to drive in parallel control and data buses 110a, 110b, 110c, and 110d coupled to antenna segments 111, 113, 115, and 117, respectively. For example, control and data bus 110a is coupled to RF front end chips 106a, 106b, 106c, and 106d in antenna segment 111 to provide phase shift signals and amplitude control signals to the corresponding antennas coupled to each of RF front end chips 106a, 106b, 106c, and 106d. Control and data buses 110b, 110c, and 110d are configured to perform similar functions as control and data bus 110a. In the present implementation, master chip 180 and antenna segments 111, 113, 115, and 117 having RF front end chips 106a through 106p and antennas 12-18 are all integrated on a single printed circuit board.

It should be understood that layout diagram 190 in FIG. 1B is intended to show a simplified phased array antenna panel according to the present inventive concepts. In one implementation, master chip 180 may be configured to control a total of 2000 antennas disposed in ten antenna segments. In this implementation, master chip 180 may be configured to drive in parallel ten control and data buses, where each control and data bus is coupled to a respective antenna segment, where each antenna segment has a set of 50 RF front end chips and a group of 200 antennas are in each antenna segment; thus, each RF front end chip is coupled to four antennas. Even though this implementation describes each RF front end chip coupled to four antennas, this implementation is merely an example. An RF front end chip may be coupled to any number of antennas, particularly a number of antennas ranging from three to sixteen.

FIG. 2 illustrates a functional block diagram of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application. In the present implementation, front end unit 205a may correspond to front end unit 105a in FIG. 1B of the present application. As illustrated in FIG. 2, front end unit 205a includes antennas 22a, 24a, 26a, and 28a coupled to RF front end chip 206a, where antennas 22a, 24a, 26a, and 28a and RF front end chip 206a may correspond to antennas 12a, 14a, 16a, and 18a and RF front end chip 106a, respectively, in FIG. 1B.

In the present implementation, antennas 22a, 24a, 26a, and 28a may be configured to receive signals from one or more commercial geostationary communication satellites, for example, which typically employ circularly polarized or linearly polarized signals defined at the satellite with a horizontally-polarized (H) signal having its electric-field oriented parallel with the equatorial plane and a vertically-polarized (V) signal having its electric-field oriented perpendicular to the equatorial plane. As illustrated in FIG. 2, each of antennas 22a, 24a, 26a, and 28a is configured to provide an H output and a V output to RF front end chip 206a.

For example, antenna 22a provides linearly polarized signal 208a, having horizontally-polarized signal H22a and vertically-polarized signal V22a, to RF front end chip 206a. Antenna 24a provides linearly polarized signal 208b, having horizontally-polarized signal H24a and vertically-polarized signal V24a, to RF front end chip 206a. Antenna 26a provides linearly polarized signal 208c, having horizontally-polarized signal H26a and vertically-polarized signal V26a, to RF front end chip 206a. Antenna 28a provides linearly polarized signal 208d, having horizontally-polarized signal H28a and vertically-polarized signal V28a, to RF front end chip 206a.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, horizontally-polarized signal H22a from antenna 22a is provided to a receiving chip having low noise amplifier (LNA) 222a, phase shifter 224a and variable gain amplifier (VGA) 226a, where LNA 222a is configured to generate an output to phase shifter 224a, and phase shifter 224a is configured to generate an output to VGA 226a. In addition, vertically-polarized signal V22a from antenna 22a is provided to a receiving chip including low noise amplifier (LNA) 222b, phase shifter 224b and variable gain amplifier (VGA) 226b, where LNA 222b is configured to generate an output to phase shifter 224b, and phase shifter 224b is configured to generate an output to VGA 226b.

As shown in FIG. 2, horizontally-polarized signal H24a from antenna 24a is provided to a receiving chip having low noise amplifier (LNA) 222c, phase shifter 224c and variable gain amplifier (VGA) 226c, where LNA 222c is configured to generate an output to phase shifter 224c, and phase shifter 224c is configured to generate an output to VGA 226c. In addition, vertically-polarized signal V24a from antenna 24a is provided to a receiving chip including low noise amplifier (LNA) 222d, phase shifter 224d and variable gain amplifier (VGA) 226d, where LNA 222d is configured to generate an output to phase shifter 224d, and phase shifter 224d is configured to generate an output to VGA 226d.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, horizontally-polarized signal H26a from antenna 26a is provided to a receiving chip having low noise amplifier (LNA) 222e, phase shifter 224e and variable gain amplifier (VGA) 226e, where LNA 222e is configured to generate an output to phase shifter 224e, and phase shifter 224e is configured to generate an output to VGA 226e. In addition, vertically-polarized signal V26a from antenna 26a is provided to a receiving chip including low noise amplifier (LNA) 222f, phase shifter 224f and variable gain amplifier (VGA) 226f, where LNA 222f is configured to generate an output to phase shifter 224f, and phase shifter 224f is configured to generate an output to VGA 226f.

As further shown in FIG. 2, horizontally-polarized signal H28a from antenna 28a is provided to a receiving chip having low noise amplifier (LNA) 222g, phase shifter 224g and variable gain amplifier (VGA) 226g, where LNA 222g is configured to generate an output to phase shifter 224g, and phase shifter 224g is configured to generate an output to VGA 226g. In addition, vertically-polarized signal V28a from antenna 28a is provided to a receiving chip including low noise amplifier (LNA) 222h, phase shifter 224h and variable gain amplifier (VGA) 226h, where LNA 222h is configured to generate an output to phase shifter 224h, and phase shifter 224h is configured to generate an output to VGA 226h.

As further illustrated in FIG. 2, control and data bus 210a, which may correspond to control and data bus 110a in FIG. 1B, is provided to RF front end chip 206a, where control and data bus 210a is configured to provide phase shift signals to phase shifters 224a, 224b, 224c, 224d, 224e, 224f, 224g, and 224h in RF front end chip 206a to cause a phase shift in at least one of these phase shifters, and to provide amplitude control signals to VGAs 226a, 226b, 226c, 226d, 226e, 226f, 226g, and 226h, and optionally to LNAs 222a, 222b, 222c, 222d, 222e, 222f, 222g, and 222h in RF front end chip 206a to cause an amplitude change in at least one of the linearly polarized signals received from antennas 22a, 24a, 26a, and 28a. It should be noted that control and data bus 210a is also provided to other front end units, such as front end units 105b, 105c, and 105d in segment 111 of FIG. 1B. In one implementation, at least one of the phase shift signals carried by control and data bus 210a is configured to cause a phase shift in at least one linearly polarized signal, e.g., horizontally-polarized signals H22a through H28a and vertically-polarized signals V22a through V28a, received from a corresponding antenna, e.g., antennas 22a, 24a, 26a, and 28a.

In one implementation, amplified and phase shifted horizontally-polarized signals H'22a, H'24a, H'26a, and H'28a in front end unit 205a, and other amplified and phase shifted horizontally-polarized signals from the other front end units, e.g. front end units 105b, 105c, and 105d as well as front end units in antenna segments 113, 115, and 117 shown in FIG. 1B, may be provided to a summation block (not explicitly shown in FIG. 2), that is configured to sum all of the powers of the amplified and phase shifted horizontally-polarized signals, and combine all of the phases of the amplified and phase shifted horizontally-polarized signals, to provide an H-combined output to a master chip such as master chip 180 in FIG. 1. Similarly, amplified and phase shifted vertically-polarized signals V'22a, V'24a, V'26a, and V'28a in front end unit 205a, and other amplified and phase shifted vertically-polarized signals from the other front end units, e.g. front end units 105b, 105c, and 105d as well as front end units in antenna segments 113, 115, and 117 shown in FIG. 1B, may be provided to a summation block (not explicitly shown in FIG. 2), that is configured to sum all of the powers of the amplified and phase shifted horizontally-polarized signals, and combine all of the phases of the amplified and phase shifted horizontally-polarized signals, to provide a V-combined output to a master chip such as master chip 180 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application. As illustrated in FIG. 3, exemplary phased array antenna panel 300 includes substrate 302, central RF front end chip 310, neighboring front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350, and antennas 312a, 312b, 312c, and 312d, collectively referred to as antennas 312, having respective proximal probes 314a, 314b, 314c, and 314d, collectively referred to as proximal probes 314, respective distal probes 316a, 316b, 316c, and 316d, collectively referred to as distal probes 316, respective near antenna corners 315a, 315b, 315c, and 315d, collectively referred to as near antenna corners 315, and respective far antenna corners 317a, 317b, 317c, and 317d, collectively referred to as far antenna corners 317. Some features discussed in conjunction with the layout diagram of FIG. 1B, such as a master chip and control and data buses are omitted in FIG. 3 for the purposes of clarity.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, antennas 312 are arranged on the top surface of substrate 302. In the present example, antennas 312 have substantially square shapes, or substantially rectangular shapes, and are aligned with each other. In this example, the distance between each antenna and an adjacent antenna is a fixed distance. As illustrated in the example of FIG. 3, fixed distance D1 separates various adjacent antennas, such as antenna 312b from adjacent antennas 312a and 312c. In one implementation, distance D1 may be a quarter wavelength (i.e., .lamda./4). Antennas 312 may be, for example, cavity antennas or patch antennas or other types of antennas. The shape of antennas 312 may correspond to, for example, the shape of an opening in a cavity antenna or the shape of an antenna plate in a patch antenna. In other implementations, antennas 312 may have substantially circular shapes, or may have any other shapes. In some implementations, some of antennas 312 may be offset rather than aligned. In various implementations, distance D1 may be less than or greater than a quarter wavelength (i.e., less than or greater than .lamda./4), or the distance between each antenna and an adjacent antenna might not be a fixed distance.

As further illustrated in FIG. 3, central RF front end chip 310 and neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350 are arranged on the top surface of substrate 302. Central RF front end chip 310 is adjacent to near antenna corners 315 of antennas 312. Neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350 are adjacent to respective far antenna corners 317a, 317b, 317c, and 317d of respective antennas 312a, 312b, 312c, and 312d. Thus, each of antennas 312 is adjacent to two RF front end chips, one neighboring RF front end chip and the central RF front end chip 310, and central RF front end chip 310 is adjacent to four antennas 312. Although the present application refers to "central" RF front end chip 310, the term "central" does not necessarily mean that RF front end chip 310 is (or is required to be) precisely and mathematically centered; the term "central" is used merely as a short-hand reference and for convenience to refer to an RF front chip that is situated between other RF front end chips (which are also referred to as "neighboring RF front end chips" in the present application). Central RF front end chip 310 may be substantially centered or generally between neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350. In other implementations, central RF front end chip 310 may be between a number of neighboring RF front end chips that is fewer than four or greater than four.

FIG. 3 illustrates proximal probes 314 and distal probes 316 disposed in antennas 312. Proximal probes 314a, 314b, 314c, and 314d each have one end at respective near antenna corners 315a, 315b, 315c, and 315d adjacent to central RF front end chip 310. Proximal probes 314a, 314b, 314c, and 314d each have another end extending into respective antennas 312a, 312b, 312c, and 312d, away from central RF front end chip 310. Distal probes 316a, 316b, 316c, and 316d each have one end at respective far antenna corners 317a, 317b, 317c, and 317d adjacent to respective neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350. Distal probes 316a, 316b, 316c, and 316d each have another end extending into respective antennas 312a, 312b, 312c, and 312d, away from respective neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350. Although the present application refers to proximal probes 314 and distal probes 316, the terminology is relative rather than absolute. In the present example, RF front end chip 310 is a central RF front end chip, thus probe 314a is a proximal probe and probe 316a is a distal probe. However, in a different example, RF front end chip 320 may be considered a central RF front end chip, thus, probe 316a would be a proximal probe and probe 314a would be a distal probe. In FIG. 3, the dashed circles, such as dashed circle 382, surround each RF front end chip and its relative proximal probes.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, proximal probes 314 and distal probes 316 are arranged at near antenna corners 315 and far antenna corners 317 respectively, but may or may not be completely flush with near antenna corners 315 and far antenna corners 317. For example, in antenna 312a, distance D2 may separate proximal probe 314a from near antenna corner 315a, and separates distal probe 316a from far antenna corner 317a. Distance D2 may be, for example, a distance that allows tolerance during production or alignment of proximal probes 314 and distal probes 316. Distance D2 may be designed so as to reduce the distance between central RF front end chip 310 and proximal probes 314, or between neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350 and distal probes 316. In one example, the distance between central RF front end chip 310 and proximal probes 314 may be less than approximately 2 millimeters.

FIG. 3 further illustrates exemplary orientations of an x-axis (e.g., x-axis 362) and a perpendicular, or substantially perpendicular, y-axis (e.g., y-axis 364). Antennas 312a and 312c have respective proximal probes 314a and 314c parallel to the y-axis, and respective distal probes 316a and 316c parallel to the x-axis. Antennas 312b and 312d have respective proximal probes 314b and 314d parallel to the x-axis, and respective distal probes 316b and 316d parallel to the y-axis. Probes parallel to the x-axis may be configured to receive or transmit horizontally-polarized signals. Probes parallel to the y-axis may be configured to receive or transmit vertically-polarized signals. Thus, each of antennas 312 may be configured to receive or transmit two polarized signals, one horizontally-polarized signal and one vertically-polarized signal, as stated above.

FIG. 3 further shows electrical connectors 318a, 318b, 318c, and 318d, collectively referred to as electrical connectors 318, coupling respective proximal probes 314a, 314b, 314c, and 314d to central RF front end chip 310. Electrical connectors 318 may be, for example, traces in substrate 302. Electrical connectors 318 provide signals between proximal probes 314 of antennas 312 and central RF front end chip 310. As stated above, a master chip (not shown in FIG. 3) may provide phase shift and amplitude control signals to antennas 312 through central RF front end chip 310. By arranging proximal probes 314 of antennas 312 at near antenna corners 315 adjacent to central RF front end chip 310, phased array antenna panel 300 reduces insertion loss between antennas 312 and central RF front end chip 310 processing the signals to be received from or transmitted by antennas 312. Thus, when employing a large number of antennas, phased array antenna panel 300 achieves reduced energy loss.

FIG. 3 further illustrates electrical connectors 328, 338, 348, and 358, coupling respective distal probes 316a, 316b, 316c, and 316d to respective neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350. Electrical connectors 328, 338, 348, and 358, may be, for example, traces in substrate 302. Electrical connectors 328, 338, 348, and 358 provide signals between distal probes 316 of antennas 312 and neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350. By arranging distal probes 316 of antennas 312 at far antenna corners 317 adjacent to neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350, probes within a single antenna are physically distanced from each other while receiving or transmitting signals. In addition, by arranging distal probes 316 of antennas 312 at far antenna corners 317 adjacent to neighboring RF front end chips 320, 330, 340, and 350, probes within a single antenna can receive signals from or transmit signals to different RF front end chips. For example, distal probe 316a of antenna 312a can receive a horizontally-polarized signal from neighboring RF front end chip 320, while proximal probe 314a of antenna 312a can receive a vertically-polarized signal from central RF front end chip 310. Thus, phased array antenna panel 300 achieves increased the isolation between those signals.

FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of a portion of an exemplary phased array antenna panel according to one implementation of the present application. FIG. 4 illustrates a large-scale implementation of the present application. Numerous antennas, RF front end chips, and their corresponding probes are arranged on phased array antenna panel 400. Dashed circle 482 in FIG. 4 may correspond to dashed circle 382 in FIG. 3, which encloses four proximal probes 314a, 314b, 314c, and 314d. In one example, phased array antenna panel 400 may be a substantially square module having dimensions of eight inches by eight inches (i.e., 8 in..times.8 in). In other implementations, phased array antenna panel module may have any other shape or dimensions. The various implementations and examples of antennas, electrical connectors, probes, and distances in relation to any elements discussed in FIG. 3 may also apply to the large-scale implementation shown in phased array antenna panel 400 in FIG. 4.

Thus, various implementations of the present application result in an increased signal isolation and reduced signal loss in the phased array antenna panel without increasing cost, size, and complexity of the phased array antennal panel.

From the above description it is manifest that various techniques can be used for implementing the concepts described in the present application without departing from the scope of those concepts. Moreover, while the concepts have been described with specific reference to certain implementations, a person of ordinary skill in the art would recognize that changes can be made in form and detail without departing from the scope of those concepts. As such, the described implementations are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. It should also be understood that the present application is not limited to the particular implementations described above, but many rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions are possible without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

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