JP2634340B2 - Control circuit - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control circuit, and more particularly to a control circuit incorporated in a transmission / reception module for a phased array antenna used in a radar device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 3 (a) is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional control circuit having a function of setting, for example, two kinds of transmission phases at the time of transmission. 2
Denotes a reception phase memory, 3a denotes a first transmission phase memory, and 3b denotes a second transmission phase memory. Reference numeral 4 denotes a transmission phase switching reference signal transmitted from the outside of the transmission / reception module to the control device. Reference numeral 6 denotes transmission phase data of the first transmission phase memory 3a and the second transmission phase memory 3b based on the reference signal 4. , A transmission / reception switching reference signal transmitted from the outside of the transmission / reception module to the control circuit, and a transmission / reception phase reference signal based on the transmission / reception switching reference signal. Is a transmission / reception phase setting circuit which is an output of the transmission / reception phase setting circuit 7 and is transmitted to a phase shifter in a transmission / reception module (not shown) at a subsequent stage. 9
Controls the operation (ON) of various RF devices in the transmission / reception module based on the transmission / reception switching reference signal 11
/ OFF or switching of a switch) to generate a drive signal 10 for switching between transmission and reception.

FIG. 3B is an example of a timing chart of the transmission phase switching reference signal 4, the transmission / reception switching reference signal 11, and the transmission / reception phase setting signal 8.

Next, the operation will be described. Transmission / reception switching circuit 9 based on transmission / reception switching reference signal 11
Then, during the transmission period, the RF signal of the transmission system is turned on, the RF device of the reception system is turned off, and a drive signal 10 for switching a switch or the like to the transmission side is generated, and the transmission / reception module is set to the transmission state. On the other hand, in the reception period, the transmission system RF device is turned off, the reception system RF device is turned on, a switch or the like is switched to the reception side, and the transmission / reception module is set in the reception state.

Further, in the transmission / reception phase switching circuit 7, based on the transmission / reception switching reference signal 11, the reception phase set value read from the reception phase memory 2 in the reception period is transferred to a phase shifter in a transmission / reception module (not shown) at the subsequent stage. During the transmission period, the transmission phase transmitted from the transmission phase setting circuit 6 is transmitted to a subsequent phase shifter (not shown). At this time, the transmission phase setting circuit 6 switches the transmission phase between the value from the first transmission phase memory 3a and the value from the second transmission phase memory 3b based on the transmission phase switching reference signal 4, and transmits the signal at the subsequent stage. The signal is sent to the reception phase setting circuit 7. Therefore, the transmission / reception phase setting signal 8 can set two types of transmission phases during the transmission period.

[0006]

Since the conventional control circuit is constructed as described above, a signal for switching the transmission / reception phase and a signal for switching the two types of transmission phases must be sent to the transmission / reception module. In addition, the processing on the sending side was complicated. Further, there is a problem that it may cause a failure to reduce the number of pins of the interface connector of the transmission / reception module.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. A signal for switching a transmission / reception phase and a signal for switching a transmission phase are combined into one type of signal, and an interface process is performed. And a control circuit capable of reducing the number of pins of an interface connector.

[0008]

A control circuit according to the present invention uses a single reference signal obtained by dividing a transmission period by providing a short reception period between transmission periods of a transmission / reception switching signal and switching transmission / reception. And selection switching of a plurality of transmission phases.

Further, switching signal detecting means for monitoring the length of the receiving period and detecting a received signal having a length different from the normal receiving period is provided, and the transmission phase is changed by the output of the detecting means. Things.

[0010]

According to the present invention, switching of transmission / reception and selection switching of a plurality of transmission phases are performed by using a single reference signal obtained by dividing a transmission period by providing a short reception period between transmission periods of a transmission / reception switching signal. The signal interface between the transmitting / receiving module and the outside can be simplified.

Further, switching signal detecting means for monitoring the length of the reception period and detecting a reception signal having a length different from the normal reception period is provided, and the transmission phase is changed by the output of the detection means. Therefore, the phase can be reliably set without external control.

[0012]

1 is a block diagram of a control circuit according to an embodiment of the present invention. The same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 denote the same or corresponding parts, and 41 designates a conventional transmission / reception switching signal transmission section divided into a plurality of sections. The transmission / reception switching signal 5 is a self-synchronizing circuit for synchronizing the transmission phase based on the transmission / reception switching signal 41, and synchronizes by detecting the length of the reception time. Reference numeral 61 denotes a transmission phase setting circuit that switches and sets the transmission phase according to the transmission / reception switching signal 41 and the synchronization signal from the self-synchronization circuit 5. FIG. 1B is a timing chart of the transmission / reception switching reference signal 41 and the transmission / reception phase setting signal 8.

Next, the operation will be described. In the control circuit 1 configured as described above, based on the transmission / reception switching reference signal 41, the transmission / reception switching circuit 9 turns on the transmission RF device and turns off the reception RF device during the transmission period. , A drive signal 10 for switching a switch or the like to the transmission side, and the transmission / reception module is set to the transmission state. On the other hand, during the reception period, the transmitting RF device is turned off.
FF is performed, the receiving RF device is turned on, a switch or the like is switched to the receiving side, and the transmitting / receiving module is set to the receiving state.

However, in the present embodiment, during the reception period of the transmission / reception switching reference signal 41, there is a portion where the pulse is inverted for a predetermined period. continuing the above length, so as to set the next transmission period to the second transmission phase, and sends the trigger signal T to the transmitting phase setting circuit 6 1.
In the transmission phase setting circuit 61, to accommodate transmission period after receiving the trigger signal T, a first transmission phase in order,
Set the second transmission phase.

In the transmission / reception phase setting circuit 7, based on the transmission / reception switching reference signal 41, the reception phase setting value read from the reception phase memory 2 during the reception period is transmitted to a phase shifter in a transmission / reception module (not shown) at the subsequent stage. During the transmission period, the transmission phase transmitted from the transmission phase setting circuit 61 having the first transmission phase and the second transmission phase switched as described above as inputs is transmitted to a subsequent phase shifter (not shown). .

In the above-mentioned reception period, the transmission / reception switching reference signal 41 is inverted for a short period, so that the transmission / reception phase setting circuit 7 switches from the transmission state to the reception state, and a short reception phase appears at the output. Can be easily processed by a subsequent circuit by using the timing of the transmission / reception switching reference signal 41 or the like, and there is no problem in operation.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the transmission / reception switching reference signal 41 is provided with a portion in which the pulse is inverted for a short period during the transmission period, and the self-synchronization circuit 5 detects the short pulse inversion period. As a result, a trigger signal T is issued to the transmission phase setting circuit 61 to switch between the first transmission phase memory 3a and the second transmission phase memory 3b. Can be switched, interface processing can be facilitated, and the number of pins of the interface connector can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the case where two types of transmission phases are set has been described. However, the number of transmission phases is not limited to this, and three types may be used. The second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. This embodiment is, as shown in FIG.
The c newly added, configured to accommodate the transmission phase switching circuit 6 2 to 3 kinds of the phase setting, in which to use a transmission reception switching reference signal 42 as shown in FIG. 3 (b).

With such a configuration, the self-synchronization circuit 5 constantly monitors the reception period as in the case of setting two types of transmission phases, and when the inversion pulse for a certain time or more is detected, the trigger signal T is generated. issued at transmission phase setting circuit 6 2,
The first transmission phase, the second transmission phase,
The first transmission phase memory 3 so that the third transmission phase is output.
a, second transmission phase memory 3b, third transmission phase memory 3c
By switching and outputting, control using more transmission phase values can be performed.

[0020]

As described above, according to the control circuit of the present invention, a short reference period is provided by providing a short reception period between the transmission periods of the transmission / reception switching signal, and the transmission is performed using a single reference signal. Since reception switching and selection switching of a plurality of transmission phases are performed, signals at the interface between the transmission / reception module and the outside can be reduced, and the number of interface terminals of the transmission / reception module can be reduced. As a result, There is an effect that the size of the device can be reduced.

Further, switching signal detection means for monitoring the length of the reception period and detecting a reception signal having a length different from the normal reception period is provided, and the transmission phase is changed by the output of the detection means. Therefore, there is an effect that the phase can be reliably set even if the number of set transmission phases increases.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control circuit according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a conventional control circuit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 the control circuit 2 receives the phase memory 3a first transmission phase memory 3b second transmission phase memory 3c third transmission phase memory 4 and 41, 42 transmits the phase switching reference signal 5 self-synchronous circuit (switching signal detecting means) 6 and 61, 62 Transmission phase setting circuit 7 Transmission / reception phase setting circuit 8 Transmission / reception phase setting signal 9 Transmission / reception switching circuit 10 Transmission / reception switching signal 11 Transmission phase switching reference signal

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A transmission phase setting means for selecting and outputting one of a plurality of transmission phases according to a first reference signal; receiving the output of the transmission phase setting means and a reception phase; A control device having transmission / reception phase setting means for switching and outputting the selected transmission phase and the reception phase, wherein the transmission phase setting means outputs during a transmission period instead of the first and second reference signals. A control circuit for controlling the transmission phase setting means and the transmission / reception phase setting means using a single reference signal including a signal component for switching between the transmission phase setting means and the transmission phase setting means. 2. The switching signal according to claim 1, wherein the single reference signal has a short reception period during the transmission period, and detects the short reception period and outputs a switching request signal to an output of the transmission phase setting means. 2. The control circuit according to claim 1, further comprising detecting means for switching the plurality of transmission phases using the switching request signal.