TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention relates to the technical field of antennas, in particular to a 5G MMW dual-polarized antenna module and a handheld device.

DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART

The fifth-generation (5G) wireless communication technology will be soon commercially used. In accordance with the communication frequency, 5G can be divided into a sub-6 GHz frequency band and a millimeter wave (MMW) frequency band, wherein the MMW frequency band is rich in spectrum resources, can greatly increase the communication rate and has the advantage of low delay. Compared with previous low-frequency bands which have been widely applied, the path loss during MMW transmission is large, the MMW transmission distance is short, and hence, it is necessary to constitute an array by multiple antenna units to increase the gain and to fulfill a beam-forming capacity.

Accompanied with the technological innovation, new challenges have brought to the design of MMW antennas. Up to now, there have already been some designs of MMW antennas applied to handheld devices, but most existing MMW antennas have certain problems. For example, Chinese Invention Patents (Publication No. CN109193133A and Publication No. CN109193134A) put forward a series of antennas designed on metal frames, but the integration of such antennas with radio frequency front ends still remains unresolved. Antennas provided by Chinese Utility Model Patent “5G MMW Mobile Phone Antenna Based on Rectangular Patch Array” (Publication No. CN208655889U), Chinese Utility Model Patent “Four-unit MMW Antenna System for Mobile Communication Terminal” (Publication No. CN208460981U), and Chinese Utility Model Patent “Compact Wideband MMW Antenna” (Publication No. CN207781866U) are all designed based on broadside radiation. These antennas have to be vertically disposed on side faces of mobile phones to fulfill lateral radiation, which directly affects the thickness of the mobile phones. Chinese Utility Model Patent “End-radiation MMW Antenna with Controllable Radiation Direction” (Publication No. CN207517869U) and Chinese Utility Model Patent “Wireless Mobile Terminal and Antenna” (Publication No. CN108288757A) provide antenna units that can fulfill end radiation, but such antennas are single-polarized. Dual-polarized antennas can improve the channel capacity, thereby being more advantageous. Recently, Qualcomm has launched a dual-polarized MMW antenna module based on rectangular patch antennas; however, because the principal radiation direction of the antenna module is perpendicular to the surface of the patch antennas, the antenna module has to be vertically disposed on the side edge of mobile phones, which is not conducive to ultra-thin development of the mobile phones.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The technical issue to be settled by the invention is to provide a 5G MMW dual-polarized antenna module which can fulfill lateral radiation and has a small thickness, and a handheld device.

One technical solution adopted by the invention to settle the aforesaid technical issues is as follows:

A 5G MMW dual-polarized antenna module comprises at least two antenna units. Each antenna unit comprises a first horizontal metal plate, a second horizontal metal plate, a first vertical metal plate, a second vertical metal plate and a patch antenna assembly, wherein a metal cavity for accommodating electronic components is defined by the first horizontal metal plate, the second horizontal metal plate, the first vertical metal plate and the second vertical metal plate; the patch antenna assembly is located on a side, away from the metal cavity, of the first vertical metal plate and comprises a first radiation part, a second radiation part and a third radiation part which are connected in sequence; and the first radiation part and the third radiation part are both located on a side, close to the first vertical metal plate, of the second radiation part.

Furthermore, each antenna unit further comprises a first feed structure and a second feed structure, wherein two ends of the first feed structure are respectively located on two opposite sides of the first vertical metal plate, and two ends of the second feed structure are respectively located on two opposite sides of the first vertical metal plate.

Furthermore, the first feed structure comprises a first vertical part, a first horizontal part and a second vertical part which are connected in sequence, wherein the first vertical part penetrates through a through hole in the third radiation part, and the first horizontal part penetrates through a through hole in the first vertical metal plate.

Furthermore, the second feed structure comprises a second horizontal part, a third horizontal part and a third vertical part which are connected in sequence, wherein the third horizontal part penetrates through a through hole in the first vertical metal plate, and the second horizontal part is disposed close to the patch antenna assembly.

Furthermore, the shape of the first feed structure may be changed as required, for example, a fourth horizontal part is disposed at an end, away from the first horizontal part, of the first vertical part; or, the first vertical part is transformed into a bent structure.

Furthermore, the first radiation part and the third radiation part are symmetrically disposed with respect to the second radiation part.

Furthermore, the first radiation part is circular, rectangular or regular polygonal, and the second radiation part is a metal plate structure or a metal mesh structure.

Furthermore, the second horizontal metal plate comprises a first metal part and a second metal part, wherein the first metal part and the second metal part are respectively located on two opposite sides of the first vertical metal plate, and the patch antenna assembly is located above the first metal part.

Furthermore, the 5G MMW dual-polarized antenna module further comprises an insulating substrate, and the antenna units are disposed in the insulating substrate. Furthermore, the 5G MMW dual-polarized antenna module is formed through an LTCC process.

Furthermore, a chip is integrated on a side, away from the first horizontal metal plate, of the second horizontal metal plate to feed power to the antenna unit. A radio frequency chip comprises a phase shifter, an amplifier and other elements, wherein the phase shifter can provide a phase difference for the antenna unit to fulfill a beam scanning capacity, the amplifier can compensate for the loss of the phase shifter, and a digital integrated circuit chip supplies power to the radio frequency chip.

Another technical solution adopted by the invention is as follows:

A handheld device comprises the 5G MMW dual-polarized antenna module.

The invention has the following beneficial effects: different electronic components such as feed lines, filters and switches can be disposed in the metal cavity; the patch antenna assembly is a folded patch antenna, which can fulfill lateral radiation and has a small thickness; the antenna module can work within the 5G MMW frequency band and has the characteristic of dual polarization; and when applied to the handheld device, the antenna module will not increase the thickness of the handheld device and is conducive to ultra-thin development of the handheld device.

