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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03

Dipole versus Patch structures
Advantages of Kathreins dipole antennas
compared to
typical printed board solutions
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Dipole versus Patch structures Construction
Patch antenna
printed board technology, instead
of a dipole a patch above a ground
plane creates the electrical field lines
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Dipole versus Patch structures High CPR
Cross polar ratio (+/- 45 polarization)
Cross polar ratio describes the correlation between two orthogonal
polarizations measured in the farfield (accurate +/- 45)
Ratio between the co-polar and the cross-polar signal
(identical compared to opposite polarization)
CPR
orthogonal polarizations
high cross polar ratio
excellent diversity
performance
Excellent cross-polar ratio (CPR)
values for the complete sector,
performed by a complete new
dipole element (patent pending)
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Dipole versus Patch structures High CPR
recommended values: main direction >20 dB
sector +/- 60 degree >10 dB
DT -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Ti l t 2 18,6 22,4 22,9 22,5 22,7 23,3 24,8 27,3 32,4 60,9 28,9 21,4 16,4
Ti l t 4 20,3 22,7 21,6 21,1 21,2 21,9 23,4 25,7 30,1 45,3 30 21,7 16,7
Ti l t 6 24,9 24,5 21,8 20,7 20,9 21,6 23 25,2 29,1 37,6 30 22 17,1
Ti l t 8 31,6 24,8 21,5 20,6 20,8 21,8 23,3 25,6 29,2 32,3 26,8 20,6 16,1
Ti l t 10 32,5 23,1 20,6 20,2 20,8 22,1 23,9 26,3 29 28,3 23,5 18,8 14,7
Ti l t 12 26,2 21,6 19,9 20 20,8 22,3 24,3 26,5 28 25,6 21,4 17,3 13,6
Antenna 739 638 : Xpol A-Panel 824-960 65 15.5 dBi 2- 12 T
Antenna 742 212 : Xpol F-Panel 1710-2170 65 18 dBi 0- 8 T
DT -60 -50 -40 -30 -20 -10 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Ti l t 0 17,7 22,4 24,1 23 21,9 21,4 21,3 21,7 22 21,6 19,3 16,2 13,3
Ti l t 2 13,1 15,7 17,9 19,9 21,4 22,4 23,3 24,5 26,2 28,6 27,1 22,2 18,4
Ti l t 4 10,9 13,1 15,1 17,1 19,3 21,5 23,7 26,3 29,6 35,3 33,3 26,6 22,1
Ti l t 6 10,6 12,5 14 15,5 17,3 19,2 21,2 23,4 26 28,6 28,4 25,7 23
Ti l t 8 13,8 15,2 16,4 18 20 22,5 25,3 28,6 32,3 35,4 34 30,2 24,5
measured CPR values of Kathrein antennas :
Since they have no seperate structures for plus and minus system,
good CPR values are often hard to achieve with patch structures
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
High isolation
required because both terminations of a Xpol antenna
are used for Rx and Tx
Dipole versus Patch structures High isolation
-45 +45
Isolation
(Decoupling)
Due to patented decoupling elements Kathrein antennas
provide an isolation of > 30 dB between
- the different polarizations
- the frequency bands
Examples :
742 212 (1710-2170 MHz / variable downtilt)
739 638 ( 824-960 MHz / variable downtilt)
Decoupling elements usually not usable on PCB
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Low intermodulation products
> -150 dBc for 3rd order products at 2 x 20 W (43 dBm)
Dipole versus Patch structures Low intermodulation
research on intermodulation
since 15 years
100 % final test during
production for UMTS and
Dualband antennas
(AQL test for all Xpol
antennas)
Often Intermodulation problems with PCBs due to:
bad PCB material
glue between patch radiator and substrate
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Low internal losses (gain optimized dipole design)
The low loss cable harness enables to reduce the
antenna height by about 20% compared to
printed circuit harnesses
(bigger cross-section of the cable inner conductor
compared to the printed board strip line)
Dipole versus Patch structures Low internal losses
Cable
feeding
Strip line feeding
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Dipole versus Patch structures Low internal losses
Compari son of l engths
900 MHz 900 MHz 1900 MHz
739 632 739 623 741 794
65/15dBi/6DT 65/17dBi 65/18dBi
length 1296mm length 1936mm length 1302mm
Huber&Suhner 1309.41.0033 Racal 1730 Dezibel DB932DD65
65/15dBi/6DT 65 16.5dBi 65/18dBi
length 1655mm (+27%) length 2340mm (+21%) length 1829 mm (+40%)
Smaller length is smaller windload
Higher internal losses have to be compensated by additional
stacking of radiators
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Constant electrical performance under environmental conditions
Dipole versus Patch structures Environment
Kathrein antennas :
Rain, snow, ice do not
significantly effect the
electrical parameters
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Due to the slim structure of dipoles and small surface (e.g. compared to
patches), the created additional capacitance is relatively low
Dipole versus Patch structures Environment
Patch design
dipole design
Rain, snow or ice create a load on the radiating elements; this additional
capacitance depends on the surface area of the radiators
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Dipole versus Patch structures Summary
Dipole technique provides:
Excellent Cross Polar Ratio over azimuth
High isolation with special elements
Low intermodulation products
Low internal losses
Constant electrical performance even under bad weather
Conclusion:
PCBs are no badtechnology
but should be used where
appropriate
Kathrein Indoor Panel with PCB feeding
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Kathrein Kretzschmar 01/03
Dipole versus Patch structures Manufacturers
KATHREIN
40%
Allen Group
(Decibel)
13%
Others
31%
Allgon
16%
Mobile Communication Base Station Antennas
Market shares - World
(Bear Stearns 2001)
Top 3 Manufacturers (70% of the market) use dipole technology!