Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
  • H01P—WAVEGUIDES; RESONATORS, LINES, OR OTHER DEVICES OF THE WAVEGUIDE TYPE
  • H01P5/00—Coupling devices of the waveguide type
  • H01P5/12—Coupling devices having more than two ports
  • H01P5/16—Conjugate devices, i.e. devices having at least one port decoupled from one other port
  • H01P5/18—Conjugate devices, i.e. devices having at least one port decoupled from one other port consisting of two coupled guides, e.g. directional couplers
  • H01P5/183—Conjugate devices, i.e. devices having at least one port decoupled from one other port consisting of two coupled guides, e.g. directional couplers at least one of the guides being a coaxial line

Definitions

• the invention relates to a directional coupler according to the preamble of claim 1.
• a directional coupler has become known, for example, from DE 23 20 458 C2. It consists of an asymmetrical strip line and a coaxial line, in which the strip line is coupled to the coaxial inner conductor. In the coupling zone, the strip conductor is fitted into an exposed recess in the outer conductor of the coaxial line, the ground conductor of the strip line simultaneously forming the shielding of the coaxial line interrupted by the recess.
• a directional coupler which is comparable to this prior art has also become known from DE 199 28 943 AI.
• the directional coupler can therefore be adjusted by rotating the coupling line in the electromagnetic coaxial cable field.
• the adjustment is limited to the coupling loss, however. Achieving a high straightening sash, which is of great importance in practice, is irrelevant to this solution.
• the directional coupling signal quantities tapped off in the described prior art are fed to an external evaluation device, specifically via coaxial cables. Since high-frequency signals are decoupled, high-quality and cost-intensive coaxial cables and of course equally high-quality and cost-intensive coaxial connectors must be used. This is to ensure that a high-quality connection and thus good directional sharpness can also be achieved with regard to the wave resistance.
• the known directional couplers can only achieve comparatively poor directional sharpness values.
• the invention now proposes, in deviation from the entire prior art, that a damping circuit is provided on the base plate of the directional coupler at the two ends of the coupling piece, or a damping circuit at one end of the coupling piece and a terminating resistor at the other end of the coupling piece , If a terminating resistor is provided at one end of the coupling piece, it is a so-called one-arm directional coupler in which the second coupling arm is terminated by the terminating resistor.
• an electronic level evaluation is preferably provided on the base plate.
• an interface device is accommodated, to which only an unshielded cable can be connected, however, since the high-frequency signal processing takes place on the directional coupler itself. This is because a ribbon cable is preferably connected to this interface device, which of course can be made available much more cheaply than high-quality coaxial cable connections.
• a ⁇ circuit known per se or, for example, a T circuit using the corresponding resistors is used for the attenuators.
• these circuit arrangements can be easily applied to the base plate or the directional coupler.
• the return and the advance can be done on a circuit board.
• the evaluation electronics of the circuit board can be integrated with a high integration density.
• the directional coupler has a high level of sharpness due to the precise mounting of the coupling piece.
• the achievable directional sharpness of the coupler is further improved.
• the integration density can also be increased further.
• filter modules can also be accommodated on the respective arm of the directional coupler.
• a level detector on the directional coupler, i.e. especially on the base plate.
• a non-volatile EEPROM memory module is also located on the directional coupler, in which the transfer function of at least one and preferably both coupling arms, including electronic evaluation, is stored. This now ensures a clear association between the applied RF level value and the resulting detector voltage. All component tolerances of directional coupler and evaluation electronics are summarized and saved on a common assembly. This also considerably simplifies the replacement of individual assemblies in one device. In contrast, in previously known coupler systems, after the replacement of individual components, either a complex adjustment on the entire device would have to be carried out or very high-quality, narrowly tolerated individual components had to be used, which are mutually compatible without adjustment. The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to drawings. The following show in detail:
• Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a coaxial conductor with a connection area for the directional coupler
• Figure 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view through the base plate of the directional coupler and the coaxial conductor
• FIG. 3 a schematic top view of the illustration according to FIG. 2;
• Figure 4 an enlarged detail view of the
• Figure 5 a schematic circuit diagram to illustrate the electronics located on the base plate.
• FIG. 6 a circuit arrangement modified from FIG. 5 for a single-arm directional coupler, in which the one output of the directional coupler is terminated via a terminating resistor and a T-shaped attenuator is provided at the other output, not a ⁇ -shaped one.
• FIGS. 1 et seq. which has a continuous coaxial line piece 1 with one in FIG Includes shown in perspective view and relatively massive outer conductor 3 and with an inner conductor 5.
• the outer conductor 3 has a square or rectangular outer diameter in the exemplary embodiment shown. With the formation of a hollow cylindrical spacing space 7 in the interior of the outer conductor 3, the inner conductor 5, which is cylindrical in the exemplary embodiment shown, is provided such that it is electrically separated from the outer conductor 3.
• a support or mounting section 11 is preferably provided in the form of a recess or cutout.
• an exposed recess 15, i.e. a window 15 is provided in the wall of the outer conductor 3.
• the coupler 19 with the coupler substrate 19 ' is then securely mounted on the outer conductor 3, for example by a plurality of screws 16 which are offset laterally to the exposed recess 15, a coupling line piece 23 being provided on the underside of the coupler substrate 19'.
• the coupling line has a length of preferably ⁇ / 4, in particular a length of> ⁇ / 16, especially around ⁇ / 8.
• corresponding threaded bores are machined into the wall of the outer conductor 3 at the points at which the screws 16 are seated, which are aligned with corresponding bores 18 in the coupler substrate 19 'in order to screw in the corresponding screws 16.
• the coupling line piece 23 can be provided in a predetermined orientation on the coupler substrate 19 ', in such a way that experience has shown favorable values for coupling damping.
• the coupling line piece 23 can consist, for example, of a strip line. However, a wire bracket or a wired component (resistor) can be used in the same way.
• the coupler substrate 19 ' is constructed in the form of a multilayer layer, which offers good shielding due to the shielding area and, consequently, results in a coupler which is overall resistant to interference radiation.
• the multilayer layer 19 ' the shielding of the coaxial line interrupted by the exposed cutout 15 is completely closed again.
• the signals tapped at the coupling line piece 23 in the electromagnetic field in question are passed through to the top of the coupler, where the electronic components are located, which convert the decoupled HF signals directly into analog LF voltages for further processing.
• Attenuators or attenuation circuits 27 are provided immediately adjacent to the ends of the coupling line, which serve as a forced adjustment on both sides for the coupling line and thus fundamentally determine the directional effect of the coupler.
• the damping circuit 27 is in the form of a ⁇ circuit, in which a first resistor R1 is in the signal line 29 and in front of and behind the resistor R1 a further resistor R2 or R3 connected to ground or a counter potential are connected.
• a T-shaped damping circuit can be used, in which two resistors R4 and R5 are connected in series in the signal line 29 and between them a ground or a counter potential connected resistor R6 is connected.
• Attenuation circuits can also be implemented in principle (e.g. fixed attenuators).
• the electronic RF components on the coupling top are selected and arranged identically and symmetrically for both coupling arms. Since potentially disruptive influences such as mismatches, component tolerances and temperature drifts affect both coupling arms equally, these influences are compensated for each other.
• a filter 31 and, for example, a level detector 33 and an EEPROM 37 can be accommodated downstream of the damping circuits 27 in both coupling arms A, B, the transfer function of the two preferably being in the EEPROM memory module Coupling arms including electronic evaluation are stored.
• the entire arrangement, including an interface device 35, can be accommodated on the coupling substrate 19 '. If the central section 19a of the coupling conductor substrate 19 'for the electronic components are not large enough, the coupler substrate 19' can include a central portion 19a, which is located directly above the free recess 15 on the outer conductor 3 of the coaxial line piece 1, a laterally protruding extension portion 19b ( Figure 4).
• a mating connector or contact device 36 with an unshielded cable, for example an unshielded flat cable 41, which leads to an externally accommodated microprocessor module 43 can now be connected to the mentioned interface device 35 for tapping the analog signals.
• the coupler substrate 19 ' is constructed as a 4-layer multilayer, as a result of which the combination of HF directional coupler and electronic evaluation can be implemented on a single compact assembly.
• the layer structure of the coupler substrate can also be designed differently, for example with a different substrate thickness or number of layers.
• the circuit board substrate can change for every position and therefore also have different quality levels and price classes.
• FIG. 6 shows that the damping members 27 can also be designed in the form of the T circuit mentioned.
• a directional coupler is shown with reference to Figure 6, which is designed with one arm.
• the one coupling arm on the coupler substrate 19 ' is terminated by a terminating resistor 49.
• the coupling line piece can vary in length and width and can also be mounted in a different relative position, that is to say in particular a rotational position with respect to the inner conductor located underneath.
• the coupling line piece need not be designed as a strip line. Rather, it can also be implemented as a wire bracket or in the form of a wired component (resistor).
• the position and structure of the coupler substrate may differ from the exemplary embodiments shown.
• different substrate thicknesses or a coupler substrate with a position and number different from the exemplary embodiment shown can be used.
• circuit board substrate can also be constructed from different quality levels and price classes.
• the electrical and electronic components can be located on the top of the coupler, i.e. the top of the coupler substrate 19 'as well as on the bottom.
• the modules described can also contain elements for temperature compensation which, for example, allow software or hardware temperature compensation.
• the module on the coupler substrate can also contain differential values of level and phase between the two coupling poor deliver. These signals can also be evaluated accordingly and made available to a downstream microprocessor via the ribbon cable.
• the two coupling arms a and b can be evaluated via separate or common electronic paths 29.
• frequency-determining elements such as bandpass filters 31 or bandstops can be implemented in the evaluation paths.
• an additional circuit or a microprocessor can be provided on the module, which evaluates the detector voltages obtained and derived the variables, such as. B. reflection factor, return loss or standing wave ratio (VSWR) generated. If necessary, the coupler substrate may have to be larger or it may have a larger coupling projection 19b.
• the coupler substrate may have to be larger or it may have a larger coupling projection 19b.

Landscapes

• Coupling Device And Connection With Printed Circuit (AREA)
• Measurement Of Resistance Or Impedance (AREA)
• Cable Transmission Systems, Equalization Of Radio And Reduction Of Echo (AREA)
• Details Of Connecting Devices For Male And Female Coupling (AREA)
• Variable-Direction Aerials And Aerial Arrays (AREA)
• Compositions Of Oxide Ceramics (AREA)
• Control Of Motors That Do Not Use Commutators (AREA)
• Paper (AREA)
• Transceivers (AREA)

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• 2002
  • 2002-06-27 DE DE10228851A patent/DE10228851B4/de not_active Expired - Fee Related
• 2003
  • 2003-04-11 CN CNU032384459U patent/CN2653713Y/zh not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-06-05 AT AT03761455T patent/ATE294453T1/de not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-06-05 CA CA002460153A patent/CA2460153C/fr not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-06-05 AU AU2003242635A patent/AU2003242635B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2003-06-05 WO PCT/EP2003/005931 patent/WO2004004062A1/fr active IP Right Grant
  • 2003-06-05 BR BR0305208-7A patent/BR0305208A/pt not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2003-06-05 EP EP03761455A patent/EP1407508B1/fr not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-06-05 CN CNB038010046A patent/CN1274057C/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2003-06-05 DE DE50300483T patent/DE50300483D1/de not_active Expired - Lifetime
  • 2003-06-06 US US10/455,802 patent/US6882243B2/en not_active Expired - Lifetime

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