RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims priority to and the benefit of Chinese Patent Application No. 201911246929.1, filed Dec. 9, 2019, the content of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to communication systems and, more particularly, to radomes for base station antennas and base station antennas.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

Most base station antennas include a radome, which is used to protect internal electronic components of the antenna from the external environment and to reduce wind loads on the antenna.FIG. 1is a schematic horizontal cross-sectional view of a conventional base station antenna. The conventional base station antenna includes a dielectric radome1mounted on a mounting plate20and an array30of radiating elements31that are mounted on the mounting plate20adjacent the inner side of the radome1. In the example shown inFIG. 1, each row of the array30of radiating elements (the rows extend along a width direction of the base station antenna, which is also referred to as a horizontal direction) includes four radiating elements31. Each T-shaped portion in the figure represents a column (along a length direction, which is also referred to as a vertical direction, of the base station antenna) of radiating elements31, where each column may include one or more radiating elements31. The mounting plate20may function as a reflector and a ground plane for the radiating elements31.

SUMMARY

Embodiments the present invention are directed to a radome for a base station antenna and the base station antenna suitable for use in a communication system.

A first aspect of the present invention is a radome for a base station antenna. The radome for a base station antenna includes: a first dielectric layer having a first dielectric constant and a first thickness; a second dielectric layer having a second dielectric constant and a second thickness, the second dielectric layer being positioned on an outer side of the first dielectric layer; and a third dielectric layer having a third dielectric constant and a third thickness, the third dielectric layer being positioned on an outer side of the second dielectric layer. Each of the first and third dielectric constants is greater than the second dielectric constant.

Another aspect of the present invention is a base station antenna. The base station antenna can include: an array of radiating elements; and a radome described above. The first dielectric layer can be closer to the array of radiating elements than the third dielectric layer.

A third aspect of this disclosure is to a base station antenna that includes: an array of radiating elements configured to emit an electromagnetic wave; a radome including a first dielectric layer, the first dielectric layer having a first dielectric constant and a first thickness; and a dielectric plate that is extending between the array of radiating elements and the radome, the dielectric plate having a second dielectric constant and a second thickness. There is a first gas between the dielectric plate and the radome, and each of the first and second dielectric constants is greater than a dielectric constant of the first gas, and a shape of the dielectric plate matches a shape of a corresponding portion of the radome.

Other features of the present invention and advantages thereof will become explicit by means of the following detailed descriptions of exemplary embodiments of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

