CN102780522A - Antenna array as well as communication system and communication method based on antenna array - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses an antenna array as well as a communication system and a communication method based on the antenna array. The antenna array comprises two antenna array groups, wherein each antenna array group comprises three antenna arrays in an equilateral triangle positional relation, and space among the antenna arrays is less than one signal wavelength; and each antenna array in the two antenna array groups is polarized in a dual polarization manner, the antenna arrays in the same antenna array group are polarized in the same polarization manner, and the antenna arrays in different antenna array groups are polarized in an orthogonal polarization manner. By adopting the technical scheme provide by the invention, an MIMO (multiple input multiple output) technique and a smart antenna technique can be supported at the same time, and thus data transmission utilization ratio and system capacity of the communication system are improved.

Description

Antenna array, communication system and communication method based on the antenna array

technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular to an antenna array, a communication system and a communication method based on the antenna array.

Background technique

Existing smart antenna arrays are mainly divided into omnidirectional smart antenna arrays and directional smart antenna arrays. Directional smart antennas are widely used because of their advantages such as large single-array gain, sharper service beams, and easier sector-based networking. Applications. At the same time, in order to obtain a better shaping effect and try to ensure the correlation of the signals between the antenna elements, the distance between the antenna elements is generally controlled at about 1/2 the wavelength of the transmitted signal.

The MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Out-put) technology is the key technology of the long-term evolution (LTE) and backward systems. By using independent spatial channels, the capacity of the system can be improved to the greatest extent possible. Since the MIMO technology requires that there is no correlation between the signals of the antenna elements, the distance between the antenna elements should be as large as possible to ensure the independence of the signals of each antenna element.

The core of MIMO technology is space-time signal processing, that is, the combination of multiple time domains and space domains distributed in space is used for signal processing. Therefore, MIMO technology can be seen as an extension of smart antennas. Smart antennas are also commonly referred to as adaptive antennas, and are mainly used to complete spatial filtering and positioning. In essence, the smart antenna utilizes the positional relationship between the units in the antenna array, that is, the phase relationship of the signal, which is the essential difference between it and the traditional diversity technology.

Based on the above analysis, comparing the similarities and differences between the two technologies, it can be seen that the main obstacle to the coexistence of MIMO and smart antenna technology is the antenna structure: smart antennas require that the antenna spacing be 1/2 the signal wavelength; The spacing should be as large as possible and only used for MIMO systems. As MIMO technology is the development direction of future communication systems, the evolution of smart antenna systems to this technology should be considered. Antennas are part of the communication system, and antenna technology must obey the direction of system evolution and development. MIMO technology can greatly increase the capacity of wireless communication systems and effectively improve the performance of wireless communication systems, which is very suitable for the requirements of high-speed services in future mobile communication systems.

Contents of the invention

In view of this, an embodiment of the present invention provides an antenna array, a communication system based on the antenna array, and a communication method. By adopting the technical solution, MIMO technology and smart antenna technology can be supported at the same time, thereby improving the data transmission efficiency of the communication system and the system capacity.

Embodiments of the present invention are realized through the following technical solutions:

According to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention, an antenna array is provided, including:

Two antenna element groups, wherein each antenna element group includes three antenna elements forming an equilateral triangle position relationship, and the distance between the antenna elements is less than one signal wavelength;

Each antenna element in the two antenna element groups is polarized in a dual-polarization manner, and the antenna elements in the same antenna element group are polarized in the same polarization manner. The antenna elements in the tuple are polarized in an orthogonal polarization manner.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, a communication system is further provided, including the above-mentioned antenna array.

According to another aspect of the embodiments of the present invention, there is also provided a communication method applied to the above communication system, including:

Each antenna element in the first antenna element group included in the antenna array respectively receives signals after polarization processing using the first polarization mode; and

Each antenna element in the second antenna element group included in the antenna array respectively receives a signal after polarization processing using a second polarization method, and the second polarization method is different from the first polarization method For orthogonal polarization;

Each antenna element in the first antenna element group and each antenna element in the second antenna element group respectively transmit and receive the signal using a smart antenna technology.

Through the antenna array provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the antenna array elements are divided into two antenna array element groups, and each antenna array element group includes three antenna array elements forming an equilateral triangle position relationship, and each antenna array element The distance between them is less than one signal wavelength to meet the requirements of smart antenna technology for the correlation of signals between antenna elements; and, each antenna element in the two antenna element groups uses the same polarization method for polarization , the antenna elements in different antenna element groups are polarized by orthogonal polarization, and thus polarized by orthogonal polarization between groups to meet the requirement of MIMO for no correlation between antenna element signals, Thus, MIMO technology and smart antenna technology can be supported.

Through the communication system and communication method realized by the antenna array based on the above-mentioned structure provided by the embodiment of the present invention, since the smart antenna can support MIMO technology and smart antenna technology, it combines the advantages of MIMO technology and smart antenna technology, and improves the communication system. High data transmission efficiency and system capacity, and adapt to the requirements of high-speed services in future mobile communication systems.

Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention, and constitute a part of the description, and are used together with the embodiments of the present invention to explain the present invention, and do not constitute a limitation to the present invention. In the attached picture:

FIG. 1 is a first structural schematic diagram of an antenna array provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a second structural schematic diagram of the antenna array provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram III of the antenna array provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic flow diagram of implementing communication based on the antenna array shown in FIG. 1 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a schematic flow diagram of implementing communication based on the antenna array shown in FIG. 3 according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to provide an implementation scheme supporting MIMO technology and smart antenna technology at the same time, an embodiment of the present invention provides an antenna array, a communication system based on the antenna array, and a communication method. The technical solution can support MIMO technology and smart antenna at the same time. technology, thereby improving the data transmission efficiency and system capacity of the communication system.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the preferred embodiments described here are only used to illustrate and explain the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention. And in the case of no conflict, the embodiments in the present application and the features in the embodiments can be combined with each other.

Embodiment one

Embodiment 1 of the present invention provides an antenna array, and the antenna array can support MIMO technology and smart antenna technology at the same time.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structural diagram of an antenna array provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in Figure 1, the antenna array includes a first antenna element group 101 and a second antenna element group 102, the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 have the same structure, that is, each antenna The element groups respectively include three antenna elements forming an equilateral triangle position relationship. Specifically, and the spacing between the antenna array elements is the spacing required by the smart antenna technology, that is, less than one signal wavelength, for example, preferably, the spacing can be selected to be greater than one-third of the signal wavelength and less than two-thirds of the signal wavelength, It needs to be determined according to the specific antenna array situation. If the spacing between antenna elements is too large, the correlation between signals will be reduced. If the spacing between antenna elements is too small, unnecessary lobes will be caused in the pattern. Preferably, The distance can be selected as 1/2 signal wavelength; the distance between the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group can be flexibly set according to actual needs, for example, it can be set to the distance required by the MIMO technology, that is The spacing is set to be equal to a set multiple of the signal wavelength, for example, the spacing is equal to 1 signal wavelength. Preferably, in order to reduce the area of the antenna array, the embodiment of the present invention can also set the distance between the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 to be greater than 1/2 signal wavelength and less than 1 signal wavelength , since the embodiment of the present invention realizes the uncorrelation of signals between the antenna element groups through the orthogonal polarization between the wire element groups, therefore, the signal between the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 When the spacing is greater than 1/2 signal wavelength and less than 1 signal wavelength, it can also meet the requirements of MIMO technology for signal irrelevance, and can reduce the wind resistance by reducing the lateral size of the antenna.

Further, in order to better meet the requirements of smart antenna technology for the correlation of signals between antenna elements and the requirement of MIMO for no correlation between antenna element signals, in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, FIG. 1 provides In the antenna array of , each antenna element in the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 is polarized in a dual-polarization manner, and the antenna elements in the same antenna element group use Polarization is performed in the same polarization mode to ensure that the signals transmitted by the antenna elements of the same polarization have the same phase and amplitude, so as to realize beamforming of signal transmission. The antenna elements in different antenna element groups are polarized in an orthogonal polarization manner. Wherein, the dual polarization mode may include positive 45 degree polarization mode, negative 45 degree polarization mode, etc. The polarization is carried out by using negative 45 degree polarization.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic structural diagram of another antenna array provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention. On the basis of the antenna array shown in FIG. 1, the antenna array, as shown in FIG. The array element group 102 corresponds to and is connected to the second directional coupling unit 104 , and the polarization calibration unit 105 is respectively connected to the first directional coupling unit 103 and the second directional coupling unit 104 .

in:

The first directional coupling unit 103 and the second directional coupling unit 104 are mainly used to perform directional coupling processing on the signal of the corresponding antenna array group to be input, that is, to adjust the amplitude and phase of the signal so that the input corresponding antenna array group The working mode of the signals of each antenna array element in the antenna is the same polarization, so as to achieve the purpose of correlating the transmitted signals and form the effect of beamforming;

The polarization calibration unit 105 is mainly used to further calibrate the signals processed by the first directional coupling unit 103 and the second directional coupling unit 104, so that the working mode of the signal input to the first antenna element group 101 is the same as that of the input The working modes of the signals to the second antenna element group 102 are mutually orthogonal polarization modes.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic structural diagram of another antenna array provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in Figure 3, on the basis of the antenna array shown in Figure 2, the antenna array, as shown in Figure 3, further includes a signal serial-to-parallel conversion unit 106, and the signal serial-to-parallel conversion unit 106 is respectively connected to the first orientation The radio frequency signal port of the coupling unit 103 and the radio frequency signal port of the second directional coupling unit 104 are connected, and are mainly used for converting serial signals into parallel signals.

Similarly, in order to better meet the requirements of smart antenna technology for the correlation of signals between antenna elements and the requirement of MIMO for no correlation between antenna element signals, the antenna arrays provided in Figure 2 and Figure 3 , the working mode of the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 is the same as that of the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 in Fig. 1, that is, the first antenna element group Each antenna element in 101 and the second antenna element group 102 is polarized in a dual-polarization manner, and the antenna elements in the same antenna element group are polarized in the same polarization manner. Different antenna elements The antenna elements in the array element group are polarized in an orthogonal polarization manner.

According to the antenna array of any one of the above structures provided in Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the advantages of the dual-polarization smart antenna and the array element grouping in the single antenna are combined, and the signal irrelevance between the antenna element groups is realized through dual polarization. In the method of simply using the spatial distance to realize signal uncorrelation, it can also be applicable to the future development trend of LTE after the dual-polarization technology is introduced into LTE in the future.

Moreover, since the antenna array provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention is composed of three antenna elements in an equilateral triangle position relationship, compared with the existing smart antenna tile design, the horizontal size occupied by the antenna array is reduced. On the basis of realizing the integration of smart antenna and MIMO technology, it also achieves the purpose of facilitating construction and reducing wind resistance, has little impact on the existing network, and can be deployed in a single base station during deployment.

The above-mentioned antenna array provided by Embodiment 1 of the present invention may be included in an existing mobile communication system, for example, included in a base station device, so as to improve data transmission efficiency and system capacity of the communication system.

Embodiment two

Embodiment 2 of the present invention provides a communication method based on the antenna array provided in Embodiment 1.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic flowchart of a communication method implemented based on the antenna array provided in the first embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the communication method implemented based on the antenna array shown in Figure 1 mainly includes the following steps:

Step 401 , each antenna element in the first antenna element group 101 included in the antenna array respectively receives a signal after polarization processing in a first polarization mode.

Step 402 , each antenna element in the second antenna element group 102 included in the antenna array respectively receives the signal after polarization processing in the second polarization mode.

In the above step 401 and step 402, the first polarization mode and the second polarization mode are orthogonal polarization modes, for example, the first polarization mode is a positive 45 degree polarization mode, then the second polarization mode can be negative 45 degree polarization mode. Moreover, the above steps 401 and 402 are not strictly executed in order, and are usually executed simultaneously.

Step 403 , each antenna element in the first antenna element group 101 and each antenna element in the second antenna element group 102 respectively transmit and receive signals using the smart antenna technology.

So far, the communication process implemented based on the antenna array shown in FIG. 1 ends.

Through the process corresponding to FIG. 4 , the signals received by the antenna elements in the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 are co-polarized signals, and the maximum correlation of the signals can be achieved within each antenna element group. To meet the requirements of smart antenna technology, the signals received by each antenna element in the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 are orthogonally polarized signals, and the maximum signal can be achieved between each antenna element group Irrelevant to meet the requirements of MIMO technology. Therefore, the communication process realized through this process can combine the advantages of the smart antenna technology and the MIMO technology, and improve the data transmission efficiency and system capacity of the communication system.

Further, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the signals respectively received by the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 are parallel signals converted from serial signals.

In order to better understand the communication method provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the specific signal processing process of the communication method provided by the second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the antenna array shown in FIG. 3 .

FIG. 5 shows another schematic flowchart of a communication method implemented based on the antenna array provided in the first embodiment. As shown in Figure 5, the communication method implemented based on the antenna array shown in Figure 3 mainly includes the following steps:

Step 501 , the signal serial-to-parallel conversion unit 106 converts the serial signal into two sets of parallel signals, and inputs them to the first directional coupling unit 103 and the second directional coupling unit 104 respectively through radio frequency signal ports.

In this step 501, after the signal serial-to-parallel conversion unit 106 converts the serial signal into two sets of parallel signals, one set of parallel signals is input to the first directional coupling unit 103, and another set of parallel signals is input to the second directional coupling unit 103. Unit 104, so that the technical solution provided by the present invention can be applied to the fusion technology of OFDM (orthogonal frequency division multiplexing) and MIMO, and can make parallel signal transmission on orthogonal sub-channels.

In step 502 , the first directional coupling unit 103 and the second directional coupling unit 104 respectively process the input signals, and input the processed signals to the polarization calibration unit 105 .

In step 502, the first directional coupling unit 103 and the second directional coupling unit 104 respectively process the input signals, even if the signals input to the same antenna element group meet the requirements of co-polarization, the specific processing process has been implemented in the above It is explained in the example and will not be repeated here.

Step 503, the polarization calibration unit 105 processes the signals provided by the first directional coupling unit 103 and the second directional coupling unit 104, and sends the processed signals to the first antenna array through the first directional coupling unit 103 respectively The element group 101 is sent to the second antenna element group 102 through the second directional coupling unit 104 .

In this step 503, the polarization calibration unit 105 processes the signals provided by the first directional coupling unit 103 and the second directional coupling unit 104, mainly to make the working mode of the signal input to the first antenna element group 101 the same as the input The working modes of the signals to the second antenna element group 102 are mutually orthogonal polarization modes. Specifically, the polarization calibration unit 105 can be realized by using an existing polarization calibrator. For example, the polarization calibrator ensures the orthogonal polarization of the signals between the antenna element groups through adaptive adjustment, so as to meet the requirements of the MIMO technology. Requirements for signal uncorrelation.

In step 504, the first antenna element group 101 and the second antenna element group 102 respectively transmit the received signals using smart antenna technology.

In this step 504, the three antenna elements in each antenna element group form several adaptive beams through an adaptive network and adaptively adjust weight values so as to meet the working requirements of traditional smart antennas.

At this point, the process ends.

In the process corresponding to Figure 5, the signals transmitted by the relatively independent two antenna element groups are: two sets of parallel signals converted from a series of serial signals, in the state of orthogonal polarization directions, forming multiple input and multiple output The antenna working mode can effectively overcome the fading effect of the wireless mobile communication channel.

The above-mentioned technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention can be applied to scenes such as CBD (Central Business District, central business district), residential quarters, universities, etc., and can also be applied to scenes with complex geography and floor environments. Traditional 2/3G signals are affected by geography and floors. The complexity of the environment has a great influence, mainly due to the multipath effect caused by the reflection of the floor signal, or the coverage blind spot caused by the slope of the terrain. The technical solution provided according to the embodiment of the present invention can make full use of the multipath effect caused by the complex environment, and the multipath interference becomes Diversity gain can effectively improve the problem of signal deterioration.

Through the antenna array provided by the embodiment of the present invention, the antenna array elements are divided into two antenna array element groups, and each antenna array element group includes three antenna array elements forming an equilateral triangle position relationship, and each antenna array element The spacing between them is the spacing required by smart antenna technology (less than one signal wavelength), to meet the requirements of smart antenna technology for the correlation of signals between antenna elements; and, each antenna element in the two antenna element groups The same polarization method is used for polarization, and the antenna elements in different antenna element groups are polarized by orthogonal polarization, so that the polarization is carried out through the orthogonal polarization method between groups to meet the requirements of MIMO for antenna elements. There is no correlation requirement between signals, so that MIMO technology and smart antenna technology can be supported.

Through the communication system and communication method realized by the antenna array based on the above-mentioned structure provided by the embodiment of the present invention, since the smart antenna can support MIMO technology and smart antenna technology, it combines the advantages of MIMO technology and smart antenna technology, and improves the communication system. High data transmission efficiency and system capacity, and adapt to the requirements of high-speed services in future mobile communication systems.

While preferred embodiments of the present application have been described, additional changes and modifications to these embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art once the basic inventive concept is appreciated. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be construed to cover the preferred embodiment and all changes and modifications which fall within the scope of the application.

Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various changes and modifications to the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the present invention fall within the scope of the claims of the present invention and equivalent technologies thereof, the present invention also intends to include these modifications and variations.

Claims (10)

1. an aerial array is characterized in that, comprising:

Two antenna array tuples, wherein, each bay group comprises that respectively three bays constituting equilateral triangle shaped position relation and the spacing between each bay are less than a signal wavelength;

Each bay in said two antenna array tuples adopts the dual polarization mode to polarize respectively; And the bay in the same antenna array tuple adopts identical polarization mode to polarize, and the bay in the different antenna element group adopts the orthogonal polarization mode to polarize.

2. aerial array as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, the spacing between said two antenna array tuples is greater than 1/2 signal wavelength and less than 1 signal wavelength.

3. aerial array as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, the spacing in each antenna array tuple between each bay is 1/2 signal wavelength.

4. aerial array as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, said dual polarization mode comprises:

Positive 45 degree polarization modes, negative 45 degree polarization modes.

5. aerial array as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, also comprises:

Corresponding with each antenna array tuple respectively directional couple unit, each directional couple unit respectively with pairing antenna array tuple in each bay have annexation; And

The polarization alignment unit that has annexation respectively with said directional couple unit.

6. aerial array as claimed in claim 5 is characterized in that, also comprises:

There are the train of signal and the converting unit of annexation respectively with the radiofrequency signal port of said directional couple unit, are used for converting serial signal into parallel signal.

7. a communication system is characterized in that, comprises each described aerial array of claim 1 to 6.

8. a communication means is applied to the described communication system of claim 7, it is characterized in that, comprising:

Each bay in the first antenna array tuple that aerial array comprises receives respectively and adopts first polarization mode signal after handling that polarizes; And

Each bay in the second antenna array tuple that said aerial array comprises receives respectively and adopts second polarization mode signal after handling that polarizes, and said second polarization mode and said first polarization mode are the orthogonal polarization mode;

The said signal that each bay in the said first antenna array tuple and each bay in the said second antenna array tuple adopt the intelligent antenna technology emission to receive respectively.

9. method as claimed in claim 8 is characterized in that, said first polarization mode is positive 45 degree polarization modes, and said second polarization mode is negative 45 degree polarization modes.

10. method as claimed in claim 8 is characterized in that, the parallel signal of said signal for being converted to by serial signal.

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