CN-121978422-A - Liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement calibration equipment and test method

CN121978422ACN 121978422 ACN121978422 ACN 121978422ACN-121978422-A

Abstract

The invention discloses a liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement calibration device and a testing method, and belongs to the technical field of satellite phased array communication antennas. The device comprises a frame component, a Z-axis jacking component, an X-axis moving component, a Y-axis moving component, an antenna mounting fixing plate and a polarization rotation measurement centering component. The three-axis coordinate mechanism is inversely installed, so that reflection interference of metal components to signals in the testing process is effectively reduced, the polarization rotation measuring assembly is combined, the center of the antenna circular array can be automatically found, circular interpolation and linear interpolation movement are supported, the radial and circumferential amplitude-phase testing requirements of the circular array antenna are met, an automatic testing and calibrating process for a planar radial waveguide and a liquid crystal tunable resonator array is provided, resonant driving voltages of each liquid crystal resonant cavity under specific frequency can be effectively and accurately calibrated, a foundation is laid for generating high-precision holographic interference patterns, and testing efficiency and calibrating precision are remarkably improved.

Inventors

JU ZHENGFENG
SUN MENG
LI WEI
LIU TAO
GAO FENG

Assignees

南京中网卫星通信股份有限公司

Dates

Publication Date: 20260505
Application Date: 20251229

Claims (9)

1. The liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement and calibration device is characterized by comprising a frame component, a Z-axis jacking component, an X-axis moving component, a Y-axis moving component, an antenna installation fixing plate and a polarization rotation measurement centering component, wherein the Z-axis jacking component, the X-axis moving component and the Y-axis moving component are used for driving the antenna installation fixing plate to perform triaxial movement; The polarization rotation measurement center finding assembly comprises two measurement assembly supporting columns, the two measurement assembly supporting columns are fixed on platforms on two sides of the frame assembly, a measurement assembly fixing cross rod is arranged on the two measurement assembly supporting columns, a polarization rotation motor fixing plate is arranged on one side of the measurement assembly supporting column, a polarization driving motor is arranged on the polarization rotation motor fixing plate, a driven belt wheel and an encoder are arranged in the middle of the measurement assembly fixing cross rod, an output shaft of the encoder is connected with the driven belt wheel and used for detecting the rotation angle of the calibration main shaft when the main shaft rotates, the driven belt wheel is connected with a rigid coupling, and the rigid coupling is connected with a center dividing rod or a waveguide probe.
2. The device for measuring and calibrating the liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna of claim 1, wherein the encoder is arranged on an encoder fixing plate, and the encoder fixing plate is connected with a measuring assembly fixing cross rod through a hexagonal stud.
3. The device for measuring and calibrating the liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the Z-axis jacking component comprises a Z-axis screw rod seat fixing plate, the Z-axis screw rod seat fixing plate is fixed on a three-axis coordinate component mounting platen through four Z-axis component fixing columns, the three-axis coordinate component mounting platen is provided with a frame component, the Z-axis screw rod seat fixing plate is provided with a Z-axis driving motor, the Z-axis driving motor is connected with a Z-axis screw rod, the X-axis moving component is connected with the Z-axis lifting plate through a lifting guide post, the Z-axis lifting plate is provided with a Z-axis screw rod nut, the Z-axis screw rod rotates along with the Z-axis screw rod, the Z-axis lifting plate moves up and down under the driving of the Z-axis screw rod nut, and the X-axis moving component and the Y-axis moving component move up and down along with the four Z-axis lifting guide posts.
4. The device for measuring and calibrating the liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna of claim 3, wherein the Z-axis driving motor is fixed on the Z-axis screw rod seat fixing plate through the Z-axis motor fixing seat.
5. The liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement and calibration device according to claim 1, wherein the X-axis moving assembly comprises an X-axis driving motor, an X-axis photoelectric limit switch, an X-axis bottom plate, an X-axis ball screw bearing support seat, an X-axis ball screw, an X-axis guide rail, an X-axis sliding block and an X-axis movable plate, the X-axis bottom plate is fixed with four Z-axis lifting guide posts through an optical axis fixing flange plate, two X-axis guide rails are fixed on the X-axis bottom plate, the X-axis driving motor and the X-axis ball screw are fixedly supported on the X-axis bottom plate through the X-axis ball screw bearing support seat, the X-axis sliding block is arranged on the X-axis guide rail in a sliding mode, and the X-axis movable plate is connected with the X-axis sliding block.
6. The device for measuring and calibrating the liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the Y-axis moving assembly comprises a Y-axis moving plate, a Y-axis ball screw bearing support seat, a Y-axis moving plate reinforcing rib, a Y-axis screw nut fixing seat, a Y-axis screw nut, a Y-axis ball screw, a Y-axis motor fixing seat, a Y-axis driving motor, a Y-axis guide rail, a Y-axis photoelectric limit switch, a Y-axis sliding block and a Y-axis sliding block, wherein the Y-axis sliding block is fixed on the X-axis moving plate, the Y-axis moving plate is fixed with the Y-axis guide rail, the Y-axis driving motor, the Y-axis motor fixing seat, the Y-axis ball screw, the Y-axis screw nut, the Y-axis moving plate reinforcing rib and the Y-axis ball screw bearing support seat are fixed on the Y-axis moving plate, the Y-axis screw nut fixing seat is further arranged on the Y-axis screw nut fixing seat, the Y-axis ball screw passes through the Y-axis screw nut fixing seat, one end of the Y-axis ball screw is connected with the Y-axis driving motor, one end of the Y-axis ball screw is arranged on the Y-axis ball screw bearing support seat, and the Y-axis ball screw is connected with the Y-axis moving plate.
7. The device for calibrating measurement of liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna according to claim 1, wherein the antenna comprises a waveguide coaxial converter, an excitation probe, a planar radial waveguide and a liquid crystal tunable resonator array which are connected in sequence.
8. A method of testing a liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement calibration apparatus as claimed in claims 1 to 7, comprising the steps of: 1) Determining the center of an antenna circular array; 2) The method comprises the following steps of connecting a waveguide coaxial converter with a port 1 of a vector network analyzer, connecting a waveguide probe with a port 2 of the vector network analyzer, controlling an X-axis motor and a Y-axis motor to perform circular interpolation motion, taking the center of the planar radial waveguide as the center of a circle, measuring signal amplitude and phase on concentric circles, and automatically recording test data by an upper computer; 3) After the planar radial waveguide test is completed, the liquid crystal tunable resonator array is assembled and positioned above the planar radial waveguide to test and calibrate the liquid crystal resonator array, and the method comprises the following steps: 3.1 Control system pre-leads X, Y and polarization angle coordinate data of all liquid crystal resonant cavities; 3.2 The test sliding table moves the antenna to be tested according to the coordinate data of the resonant cavity, the receiving waveguide probe is moved to the upper side of the resonant cavity to be tested, meanwhile, the polarization driving motor drives the polarization angle of the receiving waveguide probe to be parallel to the polarization angle of the currently-tested resonant cavity, the port of the vector network analyzer 1 gives a preset frequency signal to the waveguide coaxial converter, and the port of the vector network analyzer 2 is connected to the waveguide probe; 3.3 The control system controls the driving plates of the liquid crystal tunable resonator array to close electrode driving signals of all resonant cavities, only starts electrode driving signals of the resonant cavities to be detected, steps up the electrode driving signals from V, changes the voltage into a V step value after the waveguide probe receives the radiation signals, records the driving voltage of the current resonant cavity when the signal gain value received by the vector network analyzer is maximum, and calibrates the driving voltage of the resonant cavity resonating at the frequency; 3.4 The control system drives the X-axis moving assembly and the Y-axis moving assembly to the next numbered resonant cavity, repeats the previous test, and records the driving voltage at the frequency.
9. The testing method of the liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement calibration equipment is characterized in that the specific method for determining the center of the antenna circular array is characterized in that a middle rod clamp is fixedly arranged on a rigid coupler, a polarization driving motor is controlled to continuously rotate, then a Z-axis jacking component, an X-axis moving component and a Y-axis moving component are manually controlled to rotate, an antenna mounting fixed plate is driven by the X, Y, Z moving component, a middle rod is arranged in a hole in the middle of the antenna mounting fixed plate, the X-axis component is manually controlled to move to the right, when the middle rod touches the edge A of the middle hole of the fixed plate and changes from eccentric rotation to concentric rotation, an X-axis is switched to a stepping small-distance movement mode, when the middle rod is changed from concentric rotation to eccentric rotation again, an X-axis coordinate value X A of the point A is recorded, then the X-axis component is manually controlled to move to the left, when the middle rod touches the edge B of the middle hole of the fixed plate and changes from eccentric rotation to concentric rotation, an X-axis coordinate value X B /X-axis coordinate value X32 is recorded, and the X-axis coordinate 32/32 is calculated to be moved to the position of the X-axis component 32 when the middle rod is changed from eccentric rotation again; Manually controlling the Y-axis assembly to move forwards, switching the Y-axis into a stepping small-distance movement mode when the middle rod touches the edge D point of the middle hole of the fixed plate and changes from eccentric rotation to concentric rotation, recording the coordinate value Y D of the Y-axis of the point D when the middle rod changes from concentric rotation to eccentric rotation again, then manually controlling the Y-axis assembly to move backwards, switching the Y-axis into a stepping small-distance movement mode when the middle rod touches the edge E point of the middle hole of the fixed plate and changes from eccentric rotation to concentric rotation again, recording the coordinate value Y E of the Y-axis of the point E, calculating the coordinate value Y 0 =（Y D +Y E )/2 of the point Y-axis, and then controlling the Y-axis assembly to move to the coordinate value Y 0 ; And determining the center of the middle hole of the fixed plate through four operations.

Description

Liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement calibration equipment and test method Technical Field The invention belongs to the technical field of satellite phased array communication antennas, and particularly relates to a liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement calibration device and a testing method. Background With the rapid development of 5G and future 6G communication technologies, performance requirements of wireless communication systems on antennas are increasing. The need for antenna beam scanning has increased significantly with the low orbit satellite internet as the primary approach to 6G communication arrangements. The traditional mechanical scanning antenna is difficult to meet the requirements of high-speed and flexible communication in the future due to low scanning speed and huge volume. Phased array antennas can realize electronic scanning, have the capability of fast beam switching and flexible beam forming, and are important components of future wireless communication systems. Currently, the dominant phased array antennas are active phased array antennas. However, the active phased array antenna is limited in various application scenes due to the characteristics of high cost, high power consumption and the like. With the development of low-orbit satellite communication, the demands on the number of antennas and low-cost satellite terminals in the market are more urgent. The liquid crystal phased array antenna is used as a passive antenna, and has the following advantages: 1. Low cost The manufacturing process is similar to that of a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD), and the existing mature and efficient display screen manufacturing technology can be utilized, so that expensive and complex semiconductor processes and assembly processes are avoided. This makes mass production of low cost, large antennas possible. 2. Extremely low energy consumption The power consumption mainly comes from a control circuit, and the power consumption of the liquid crystal unit is very small and is far lower than that of a traditional active phased array antenna which needs a high-power phase shifter and a T/R component. 3. Beam reconfigurable By using the principle of holography, the directional beam of the antenna can be dynamically reconstructed by loading the antenna with different holograms (phase profiles). It is even possible to generate multiple independent beams simultaneously for seamless handoff between different satellites. Although holographic phased array antennas based on liquid crystal panel technology have a number of significant advantages, as an emerging antenna form, it faces a lot of challenges in testing and calibrating liquid crystal resonance units, there are many mature scan frames or testing devices on the market for flat active phased array antennas, which mostly adopt a three-axis coordinate moving structure, place the antenna to be tested on a platform, and then drive the three-axis coordinate mechanism to scan with a test probe on a certain plane separated from the antenna to be tested by several wavelengths, and measure the amplitude and phase distribution of the antenna on the plane. However, the scanning frames have a common disadvantage that the antenna to be tested is placed below, and at least two-axis coordinate moving devices are arranged above the antenna, so that a large number of metal objects are arranged above the antenna to be tested, and test signals are reflected when the antenna is tested, so that the test precision is seriously affected. In addition, the scanning frame only supports single movement of X, Y coordinate axes, and the liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna is used as a circular array antenna, and the amplitude and phase distribution in the circumferential and radial directions are required to be tested, so that X, Y axes are required to do linear interpolation or circumferential interpolation movement. In addition, the liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna needs to calibrate each liquid crystal resonant cavity, and if a transmission scanning frame needs to test thousands of points, the efficiency is extremely low. Therefore, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, it is necessary to invent a measurement/calibration device for a liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna to achieve the purposes of testing and calibration in the antenna production process. Disclosure of Invention The invention aims to provide a liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement calibration device and a testing method, which are used for solving the problems in the background technology. The invention provides a liquid crystal holographic phased array antenna measurement and calibration device which comprises a frame component, a Z-axis jacking component, an X-axis moving component, a Y-axis moving component, an antenna installation fixing plate and a polarization rotation measurement centering co