CN113169762A

CN113169762A - Communication device and method

Info

Publication number: CN113169762A
Application number: CN202180001122.0A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 袁书田
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-04-19
Filing date: 2021-04-19
Publication date: 2021-07-23
Anticipated expiration: 2041-04-19
Also published as: WO2022222008A1; CN113169762B

Abstract

A communication device and a method are used for solving the problem that the communication distance between a reader and an electronic tag is short in passive communication. The reader sends an excitation signal, and the first duplexer of the electronic tag receives the excitation signal from the reader through the first antenna. The microwave exciter of the electronic tag is used for obtaining an excitation signal according to the excitation signal acquired from the first duplexer, wherein the excitation signal comprises a first signal, and the frequency of the excitation signal is different from that of the first signal. The electronic tag also comprises a modulation circuit connected with the maser, and the control circuit is used for controlling the modulation circuit to modulate the excitation signal according to the first information in the M pieces of first information to obtain a response signal and sending the response signal to the second device through the first antenna. In order to adapt to different requirements, M pieces of first information are predefined or configured in advance, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

Description

Communication device and method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of wireless communications technologies, and in particular, to a communication apparatus and method.

Background

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is a wireless communication technology that can identify a specific object and read and write related information by a wireless signal without establishing mechanical or optical contact with the specific object. The most basic RFID system consists of an electronic tag and a reader. In passive communication, the electronic tag may be a passive communication device, and the electronic tag transmits target information in the electronic tag to the reader based on energy from the reader.

In the RFID based on the electromagnetic backscattering coupling principle, a reader sends an excitation signal to an electronic tag, and the electronic tag can absorb part of energy in the excitation signal and supply power to an internal circuit of the electronic tag through the absorbed energy. Furthermore, the electronic tag can change the amplitude of a signal sent by the electronic tag to a reader by controlling the on-off of a load in an internal circuit according to target information in the electronic tag. Correspondingly, the reader determines the target information in the electronic tag according to the received signals with different amplitudes.

The frequency of a signal sent by the reader to the electronic tag is the same as the frequency of a signal received by the reader from the electronic tag, for the reader, the same frequency interference exists between a transmitted signal and a received signal, the reader cannot read target information from the electronic tag at a longer distance, and the communication distance between the reader and the electronic tag is shorter.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a communication device and a communication method, which are used for solving the problem that the communication distance between a reader and an electronic tag is short in passive communication.

In a first aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, which may be an electronic tag or a chip or an integrated circuit in an electronic tag.

In an alternative implementation, a communication device includes: a first duplexer for receiving an excitation signal from the second device through the first antenna; the maser is used for obtaining an excitation signal according to the excitation signal obtained from the first duplexer; the excitation signal comprises a first signal, and the frequency of the excitation signal is different from the frequency of the first signal; the modulation circuit is connected with the maser and is used for modulating the excitation signal under the control of the control circuit to obtain a response signal; the first duplexer is also used for sending a response signal to the second device through the first antenna; the control circuit is used for controlling the modulation circuit according to first information in the M pieces of first information, wherein the M pieces of first information are predefined or preconfigured, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

In the technical scheme, co-frequency interference does not exist between the frequencies of the excitation signal received by the communication device and the response signal sent by the communication device, and the communication device is suitable for relatively long-distance passive communication. And is suitable for the scene that the communication device is arranged on the strong reflection surface such as metal, liquid and the like. Furthermore, the frequency of the excitation signal received by the communication device and the frequency of the response signal sent by the communication device can both use an unlicensed frequency band, and can share the unlicensed frequency band with a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), bluetooth, and the like, that is, can share a radio frequency front end and an antenna with the WLAN, bluetooth, and the like, without a separate radio frequency front end and a separate antenna, which is beneficial to reducing the cost of the communication device. Furthermore, the energy of the excitation signal for exciting the maser, which is lower than that of the conventional RFID, may contribute to reduction of power consumption.

In an alternative implementation, the first information is characterized by a signal characteristic of the signal in the reply signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information, and the signal characteristic includes one or more of frequency, amplitude, and phase.

In the above technical solution, the first information corresponding to the signal may be characterized by one or more of a frequency, an amplitude, and a phase of the signal in the response signal, and one or more bits may be carried in the first information. In the case where a plurality of bits are carried in the first information, it is helpful to increase the rate of information transmission. And the accuracy of information transmission is improved under the condition that the first information is characterized by a plurality of signal characteristics at the same time.

In an alternative implementation, the excitation signal further includes a second signal, and the frequency of the second signal, the frequency of the excitation signal, and the frequency of the first signal are different in pairs; the modulation circuit comprises at least one or more of the following: a first filter for performing filtering processing on the excitation signal to obtain a first signal; the second filter is used for filtering the excitation signal to obtain a second signal; the amplitude attenuator group comprises K amplitude attenuators, the amplitude attenuators in the K amplitude attenuators are used for executing amplitude modulation, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 2; and the phase shifter group comprises N phase shifters, the phase shifters in the N phase shifters are used for performing phase modulation, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

In the above technical solution, by setting one or more of the first filter, the second filter, the amplitude attenuator bank, and the phase shifter bank in the modulation circuit of the communication device, the control circuit can control the modulation circuit to modulate one or more of the frequency, the amplitude, and the phase of the excitation signal according to the first information.

In an alternative implementation, the modulation circuit includes a second duplexer connected to the maser, the second duplexer including a first filter and a second filter; the control circuit is used for communicating the first filter with the first duplexer according to the first information, and the first duplexer is used for receiving a first signal obtained by filtering processing of the first filter; or the control circuit is used for communicating the second filter with the first duplexer according to the first information, and the first duplexer is used for receiving a second signal obtained by filtering processing through the second filter.

In the above technical solution, the first filter and the second filter are arranged in the modulation circuit of the communication device to separate the first signal and the second signal in the excitation signal, the control circuit communicates the first filter with the first duplexer according to the value of the first information, and then the first duplexer outputs the first signal through the first antenna, or communicates the second filter with the first duplexer, and then the first duplexer outputs the second signal through the first antenna, thereby realizing that the communication device represents the first information with different values through the frequency in the response signal.

In an alternative implementation, the modulation circuit includes a first filter coupled to the maser; the control circuit is used for communicating the first filter with the first duplexer according to the first information, and the first duplexer is used for receiving a first signal obtained by filtering processing of the first filter; or disconnect the first filter and the first duplexer.

In the above technical solution, the first filter is arranged in the modulation circuit of the communication device to separate the first signal from the excitation signal, and the control circuit connects the first filter to the first duplexer according to the value of the first information, so that the first duplexer outputs the first signal through the first antenna, or disconnects the first filter from the first duplexer, thereby realizing that the communication device represents the first information with different values through the amplitude in the response signal. Furthermore, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the first duplexer to output the first signal or not to output the first signal only according to each first information in the target information, so that the control mode is simpler, and the cost of the electronic tag is reduced. And the reader only needs to detect the amplitude of the response signal on each time domain resource, the demodulation mode is simple, and the cost of the reader is reduced.

In an alternative implementation, the modulation circuit comprises a first filter connected to the maser, an amplitude attenuator group comprising K amplitude attenuators, K being an integer greater than or equal to 2; and the control circuit is used for communicating the first filter, the first amplitude attenuator and the first duplexer according to the first information, the first amplitude attenuator is an amplitude attenuator corresponding to the first information in the K amplitude attenuators, and the first amplitude attenuator is used for performing amplitude modulation on a first signal obtained by filtering processing of the first filter to obtain a signal with first amplitude, and sending the signal with the first amplitude to the first duplexer.

In the above technical solution, a first filter and an amplitude attenuator group are arranged in a modulation circuit of a communication device, where the first filter is used to separate a first signal from an excitation signal, a control circuit may determine to communicate the first filter, the first amplitude attenuator, and a first duplexer according to a value of the first information, the first amplitude attenuator may perform amplitude modulation on the first information from the first filter to obtain a first signal with a first amplitude, then the first amplitude attenuator sends the signal with the first amplitude to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer outputs the signal with the first amplitude through a first antenna, so that the communication device represents the first information with different values through an amplitude in a response signal. Further, the amplitude attenuator group may include K amplitude attenuators, and the K amplitude attenuators may respectively modulate the amplitude of the first signal to obtain signals corresponding to K different amplitudes, and correspondingly, the signal in the response signal may have K amplitudes, and the K amplitudes may be used to represent the multi-bit first information, which is beneficial to improving the rate of information transmission.

In an optional implementation mode, the modulation circuit comprises a first filter connected with the maser and a phase shifter group, wherein the phase shifter group comprises N phase shifters, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2; and the control circuit is used for communicating the first filter, the first phase shifter and the first duplexer according to the first information, the first phase shifter is one of the N phase shifters corresponding to the first information, and is used for performing phase modulation on the first signal obtained by filtering processing of the first filter to obtain a signal with a first phase and sending the signal with the first phase to the first duplexer.

In the above technical solution, a first filter and a phase shifter group are arranged in a modulation circuit of a communication device, where the first filter is used to separate a first signal from an excitation signal, a control circuit may determine to communicate the first filter, the first phase shifter and a first duplexer according to a value of the first information, the first phase shifter may perform phase modulation on the first information from the first filter to obtain a signal with a first phase, and then the first phase shifter transmits the signal with the first phase to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer outputs the signal with the first phase through a first antenna, so that the communication device represents the first information with different values through a phase in a response signal. Furthermore, the phase shifter group may include N phase shifters, where the N phase shifters may respectively modulate the phase of the first signal to obtain signals corresponding to N different phases, and accordingly, the signal in the response signal may have N phases, where the N phases may be used to represent the multi-bit first information, which is beneficial to improving the rate of information transmission.

In an alternative implementation manner, the particle in the low energy level state in the maser is in the high energy level state under the excitation of the excitation signal, and two energy level transitions occur in the high energy level state, and the excitation signal is output, wherein the excitation signal includes a first signal and a second signal respectively corresponding to the two energy level transitions.

In the technical scheme, the maser can excite the particles in the low energy level state to the high energy level state according to the excitation signal, the state of the particles in the high energy level state is unstable, energy level transitions can occur twice to respectively obtain a first signal and a second signal, the frequencies of the first signal, the second signal and the excitation signal are different in pairs, the communication device can send a response signal to the second device based on the first signal and/or the second signal, the obtained response signal and the excitation signal have different frequencies, and co-frequency interference does not exist, so that the remote communication between the communication device and the second device is facilitated.

In a second aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, which may be a reader or a chip or an integrated circuit in a reader.

In an alternative implementation, a communication device includes: a stimulus circuit for generating a stimulus signal; the third duplexer is used for transmitting the excitation signal to the first device through the second antenna; a third duplexer for receiving the reply signal from the first device through the second antenna; the excitation signal has a frequency different from a frequency of a reply signal, the reply signal characterizing first information of M first information in the first device, the M first information being predefined or preconfigured, M being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

In the technical scheme, co-frequency interference does not exist between the frequencies of the excitation signal sent by the communication device and the received response signal, and the passive communication device is suitable for relatively long-distance passive communication. And is suitable for the scene that the first device is arranged on the strong reflection surface such as metal, liquid and the like. Furthermore, the frequency of the excitation signal sent by the communication device and the frequency of the received response signal can both use an unauthorized frequency band, and can share the unauthorized frequency band with WLAN, bluetooth and the like, that is, can share the radio frequency front end and the antenna with WLAN, bluetooth and the like, without the need of a separate built-in radio frequency front end and built-in antenna, which is beneficial to reducing the cost of the communication device. Furthermore, the energy of the excitation signal used to excite the maser in the first device, which is lower than that of the conventional RFID, may contribute to a reduction in power consumption.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, where the communication method may be performed by the communication apparatus in the first aspect or any optional implementation manner of the first aspect, and may be, for example, performed by an electronic tag or a chip in the electronic tag.

In an alternative implementation, a communication method includes: receiving an excitation signal from a second device; obtaining an excitation signal according to the excitation signal, wherein the excitation signal comprises a first signal, and the frequency of the excitation signal is different from that of the first signal; modulating the excitation signal according to first information in the M pieces of first information to obtain a response signal, wherein the M pieces of first information are predefined or configured in advance, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; and sending a response signal to the second device.

In an alternative implementation, the excitation signal further includes a second signal, and the frequency of the second signal, the frequency of the excitation signal, and the frequency of the first signal are different in pairs; the frequency of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the response signal is the frequency of the first signal, wherein the first information meets a first frequency condition; or, the frequency of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the response signal is the frequency of the second signal, wherein the first information meets the second frequency condition; the first frequency condition and the second frequency condition are predefined or preconfigured conditions, the first frequency condition being different from the second frequency condition.

In an optional implementation manner, the amplitude of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to first information in the reply signal is a first amplitude, where the first information meets a first amplitude condition, and the first amplitude condition is one of K amplitude conditions; the K amplitude conditions are predefined or preconfigured conditions, any two of the K amplitude conditions are different, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

In an optional implementation manner, a phase of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to first information in the reply signal is a first phase, where the first information meets a first phase condition, and the first phase condition is one of N phase conditions; the N phase conditions are predefined or preconfigured conditions, any two of the N phase conditions are different, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

In an alternative implementation, the excitation signal is input into a maser; the particles in the low energy level state in the maser are in a high energy level state under the excitation of an excitation signal, and two energy level transitions occur in the high energy level state to output the excitation signal, wherein the excitation signal comprises a first signal and a second signal which respectively correspond to the two energy level transitions.

In a fourth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication method, which may be performed by the communication apparatus in the second aspect or any optional implementation manner of the second aspect, and may be, for example, performed by a reader or a chip or an integrated circuit in the reader.

In an alternative implementation, a communication method includes: generating an excitation signal, and transmitting the excitation signal to the first device; receiving a response signal from the first device, the frequency of the excitation signal being different from the frequency of the response signal, the response signal characterizing a first information of M first information in the first device, the M first information being predefined or preconfigured, M being an integer greater than or equal to 1.

In an optional implementation manner, a frequency of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is a frequency of the first signal, where the first information meets a first frequency condition; or, the frequency of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the response signal is the frequency of the second signal, wherein the first information meets the second frequency condition; the first frequency condition and the second frequency condition are predefined or preconfigured conditions, the first frequency condition being different from the second frequency condition; the frequency of the first signal, the frequency of the second signal and the frequency of the excitation signal are different in pairs.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, where the communication apparatus has a function of performing a method in the third aspect or any one of the optional implementations of the third aspect, or has a function of performing a method in the fourth aspect or any one of the optional implementations of the fourth aspect, where the function may be implemented by hardware, or may be implemented by hardware executing corresponding software. The hardware or software includes one or more units or modules corresponding to the above functions.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer-readable storage medium for storing a computer program, which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method in the third aspect or any one of the third implementation manners described above, or perform the method in the fourth aspect or any one of the fourth implementation manners described above.

In a seventh aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a computer program product including instructions for storing a computer program, and when the computer program runs on a computer, causing the computer to execute the method in the third aspect or any one of the third implementation manners described above, or execute the method in the fourth aspect or any one of the fourth implementation manners described above.

In an eighth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a processing apparatus, which includes at least one processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface provides a program or an instruction for the at least one processor, and the at least one processor implements the method in the third aspect or any optional implementation manner of the third aspect through a logic circuit or executes the program or the instruction, so as to implement a device in which the processing apparatus is located to perform the method in the third aspect or any optional implementation manner of the fourth aspect. The processing means may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

In a ninth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication system, where the communication system may include the communication apparatus in the first aspect or any optional implementation manner of the first aspect, and the communication apparatus in the second aspect or any optional implementation manner of the second aspect.

For technical effects that can be achieved by any one of the third aspect to the ninth aspect, reference may be made to the description of the advantageous effects in the first aspect or the second aspect, and details are not repeated here.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system architecture provided in the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic view of a scenario in which a set of communication methods provided in the present application is applied;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag and a reader provided by the present application;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for frequency modulation provided in the present application;

fig. 5 is a signal diagram corresponding to a frequency modulation provided in the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for amplitude modulation provided by the present application;

fig. 7 is a signal diagram corresponding to amplitude modulation provided in the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another electronic tag suitable for amplitude modulation provided by the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a further set of signals corresponding to amplitude modulation provided herein;

fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for phase modulation provided in the present application;

FIG. 11 is a signal diagram illustrating a set of phase modulation responses provided herein;

fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for frequency and amplitude modulation provided by the present application;

fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for frequency and phase modulation provided by the present application;

fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for amplitude and phase modulation provided by the present application;

fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for frequency, amplitude and phase modulation provided by the present application;

fig. 16 is a flow chart illustrating a communication method provided herein;

fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip provided in the present application.

Detailed Description

The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating a passive communication system to which a communication method is applied. The passive communication system comprises a first device and a second device, wherein the first device is a passive communication device, when the second device needs to read target information from the first device, an excitation signal (namely a radio frequency signal) needs to be sent to the first device, the first device absorbs energy in the excitation signal, and sends a response signal to the second device by utilizing the absorbed energy, wherein the response signal can carry the target information.

In an alternative, the first device may be an electronic tag or a chip or an integrated circuit in an electronic tag. The second device may be a reader or a chip or integrated circuit in a reader. Illustratively, the spatial coupling of the radio frequency signal between the electronic tag and the reader is realized through a coupling element.

Electronic tags may also be referred to as radio frequency tags, transponders, and the like. The electronic tag is a miniature wireless transceiver, and mainly comprises a built-in electronic tag antenna, a coupling element and a chip. The chip has a storage space for allowing a reader to read or write tag information (i.e., the target information). After the electronic tag receives a radio-frequency signal sent by a reader through the electronic tag antenna, the coupling of the radio-frequency signal can be realized through the coupling element, and then energy can be provided for a chip of the electronic tag in a coupling channel and tag information stored in the chip can be fed back to the reader through the electronic tag antenna.

The reader is a device capable of acquiring and processing the tag information in the electronic tag, and can be a stand-alone device or embedded in other devices or systems. The reader may send a radio frequency signal to the electronic tag through the reader antenna to query or write information to the electronic tag. Illustratively, the reader is, for example, a smart phone, a tablet computer, a vehicle-mounted device, a notebook computer, an ultra-mobile personal computer (UMPC), a netbook, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or the like.

Based on the passive communication system, fig. 2 exemplarily shows a scene diagram to which the communication method provided by the present application is applicable. Fig. 2 (a) schematically illustrates a scenario in which a user handset reads target information in a WLAN electronic tag, where the WLAN electronic tag is a first device, and the user handset is a second device. Further, the WLAN electronic tag may be disposed on the WLAN device, where connection information (i.e. target information) of the WLAN device is stored in the WLAN electronic tag, and the user mobile phone may initiate a connection establishment request with the WLAN device based on the connection information. In an optional implementation manner, the user mobile phone sends an excitation signal to the WLAN electronic tag, and the WLAN electronic tag sends a response signal to the user mobile phone based on the excitation signal, where the response signal carries connection information. And after receiving the response signal, the user mobile phone acquires the connection information from the response signal and initiates a connection establishment request with the WLAN equipment according to the connection information.

Fig. 2 (b) shows an exemplary scene diagram of an Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system reading target information in a vehicle-mounted electronic tag, where the vehicle-mounted electronic tag is a first device, and the ETC system is a second device. Further, the vehicle-mounted electronic tag is disposed in the vehicle, vehicle identity information (i.e., target information) is stored in the vehicle-mounted electronic tag, and the ETC system can perform high-speed toll collection on the vehicle based on the vehicle identity information in the vehicle-mounted electronic tag. Illustratively, the on-board electronic tag is, for example, an on-board unit (OBU), and the ETC system is, for example, a Road Side Unit (RSU). In an optional implementation mode, the ETC system sends an excitation signal to the vehicle-mounted electronic tag, the vehicle-mounted electronic tag sends a response signal to the ETC system based on the excitation signal, and the response signal carries vehicle identity information. And after receiving the response signal, the ETC system determines the vehicle identity information from the response signal and carries out high-speed charging on the vehicle according to the vehicle identity information.

In the conventional passive communication, because the frequency of the excitation signal transmitted by the second device to the first device is the same as the frequency of the response signal received by the second device from the first device, and co-channel interference exists, the communication distance between the second device and the first device is short. Therefore, the communication device and the method for solving the problem of co-channel interference are provided, after the first device receives the excitation signal from the second device, the first device can process the excitation signal to obtain the response signal with the frequency different from that of the excitation signal, so that the frequency of the excitation signal sent to the first device by the second device is different from that of the response signal received by the second device from the first device, the problem of co-channel interference is solved, and the communication device and the communication method are beneficial to realizing the long-distance communication of the first device and the second device.

For convenience of description, the first device is taken as an electronic tag, and the second device is taken as a reader for illustration.

Fig. 3 (a) is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag exemplarily provided by the present application. The electronic tag includes a first antenna (i.e., an electronic tag antenna), a power circuit, a first duplexer, a microwave amplification by modulated emission (MASER), and a modulation circuit. Further, the power supply circuit and the control circuit are further included. The first antenna may be an antenna having both a receiving function and a transmitting function, or the first antenna may include an antenna having a receiving function and an antenna having a transmitting function.

Fig. 3 (b) is a schematic structural diagram of a reader exemplarily provided by the present application. The reader may include a second antenna (i.e., a reader antenna), a third duplexer, and an excitation circuit. Further, the device also comprises a demodulation circuit and a processing circuit. The second antenna may be an antenna having both a receiving function and a transmitting function, or the second antenna includes an antenna having a receiving function and an antenna having a transmitting function.

In one possible implementation, the excitation circuit in the reader may generate an excitation signal and transmit the excitation signal to the third duplexer. And the third duplexer receives the excitation signal and transmits the excitation signal to the electronic tag through the second antenna.

A first duplexer in the electronic tag can receive an excitation signal from a reader through a first antenna, filter the excitation signal and send the filtered excitation signal to a power circuit. The power supply circuit can supply power to the control circuit according to the energy of the excitation signal, so that the passive communication of the electronic tag is realized.

In addition, the first duplexer can also send the excitation signal after the filtering processing to the maser through the power circuit. The maser outputs an excitation signal based on an excitation signal, which may also be referred to as a pump signal for the maser. The excitation signal may include a first signal and a second signal, and the frequency of the excitation signal, the frequency of the first signal (which may be referred to as a first frequency), and the frequency of the second signal (which may be referred to as a second frequency) are different by two.

By way of example, a maser is a microwave amplifying device made using the stimulated emission principle of the radiation field, which is capable of producing monochromatic coherent microwave radiation with very low noise. The maser may receive an excitation signal from the first duplexer, the excitation signal corresponding to excitation energy (or referred to as pumping energy) that pumps the particles of the gain medium to a high energy level, and the particles at the high energy level may be unstable and may undergo two energy level transitions, wherein the two energy level transitions may correspond to a first signal at a first frequency and a second signal at a second frequency, respectively. Further, the sum of the first frequency and the second frequency is less than or equal to the frequency of the excitation signal.

The modulation circuit receives the excitation signal from the maser and modulates the excitation signal under the control of the control circuit. In this application, the signal modulation scheme may include one or more of a frequency-shift keying (FSK) modulation scheme, an Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) modulation scheme, and a phase-shift keying (PSK) modulation scheme. For convenience of description, the frequency shift keying modulation scheme may be referred to as frequency modulation, the amplitude shift keying modulation scheme may be referred to as amplitude modulation, and the phase shift keying modulation scheme may be referred to as phase modulation.

The modulation circuit transmits the modulated signal to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the modulated signal (i.e., the response signal) to the reader through the first antenna after performing the filtering process.

In the application, the control circuit can control the modulation circuit to modulate the excitation signal according to the target information. The target information may be stored in the control circuit, or the electronic tag further includes a storage circuit (not shown in fig. 3 (a)) for storing the target information, the storage circuit is connected to the control circuit, and the control circuit can obtain the target information from the storage circuit.

In a possible implementation manner, the target information may include first information of M predefined or preconfigured first information, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1. Wherein each first information may occupy one or more bits.

When the first information occupies one bit, the first information may be a value corresponding to the one bit, that is, 0 or 1. For example, the target information is 10011101, and the target information includes 8 pieces of first information, where the 8 pieces of first information are 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, respectively.

When the first information occupies a plurality of bits, the first information may be values corresponding to the plurality of bits. For example, the destination information is 10011101, the first information occupies two bits, and the destination information includes 4 pieces of first information, where the 4 pieces of first information are 10, 01, 11, and 01, respectively.

In one possible implementation manner, the control circuit controls the modulation circuit to modulate the excitation signal according to each of the M pieces of first information in turn to obtain the response signal. For example, for any one of the first information, the control circuit may modulate the excitation signal according to the first information to obtain a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal. In the reply signal, a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information has a signal characteristic corresponding to the first information. It should be understood that a signal characteristic of a signal in the response signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information may be used to characterize the first information, and specifically, may be used to indicate a value of a bit occupied by the first information. Wherein the signal characteristic may comprise one or more of amplitude, phase or frequency.

For example, based on the different signal modulation methods, the signal characteristics of the signals in the reply signal may be different:

(1) in the response signal obtained based on frequency modulation, the signal characteristics of the signal comprise frequency;

(2) in the response signal obtained based on the amplitude modulation, the signal characteristics of the signal comprise amplitude;

(3) in the response signal obtained based on the phase modulation, the signal characteristics of the signal comprise the phase;

(4) in the response signal obtained based on frequency and amplitude modulation, the signal characteristics of the signal comprise frequency and amplitude;

(5) in a response signal obtained based on frequency and phase modulation, signal characteristics of the signal comprise frequency and phase;

(6) in the response signal obtained based on frequency, phase and amplitude modulation, the signal characteristics of the signal include frequency, phase and amplitude.

And a third duplexer in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag through a second antenna and sends the response signal to a demodulation circuit, and the demodulation circuit determines the signal characteristics of the signal in the response signal on each time domain resource according to the received response signal. The processing circuit may determine, based on a signal characteristic of a signal in the response signal from the demodulation circuit on each time domain resource, first information corresponding to each time domain resource, and further determine M pieces of first information (i.e., target information).

In the following, the implementation of sending a response signal to a reader by an electronic tag based on the excitation of the reader in a passive communication system is explained in different cases based on different modulation schemes. It is stated in advance that the structures of the readers in the following different modulation modes can all refer to the schematic structural diagram of the reader exemplarily shown in fig. 3 (b), and are not described again below.

One, frequency modulation

Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for frequency modulation according to an example of the present application.

As shown in fig. 4 (a), the modulation circuit may include a second duplexer, the second duplexer is connected to the maser, the excitation signal output by the maser is transmitted to the second duplexer, and the second duplexer filters the excitation signal.

In one possible implementation, the second duplexer may further include a first filter and a second filter, which may be shown in fig. 4 (b). The first filter allows a signal of a first frequency band to pass through, the first frequency is included in the first frequency band, the second frequency is not included in the first frequency band, the first filter can filter out a second signal in the excitation signal, and then the first signal is output. The second filter allows a signal of a second frequency band, which is included in the second frequency band and the first frequency is not included in the second frequency band, to pass therethrough, and may filter out the first signal of the excitation signal and then output the second signal. In this manner, the second duplexer may separate the first signal and the second signal in the excitation signal.

In an alternative implementation, the second duplexer comprises one input for inputting the excitation signal from the maser to the first filter and the second filter simultaneously, and two outputs. One of the two output ends is used for outputting a first signal obtained by filtering the excitation signal by the first filter, and can be called as the output end of the first filter; the other output end is used for outputting a second signal obtained by filtering the excitation signal by a second filter, and can be referred to as the output end of the second filter.

In the electronic tag, the modulation circuit may further include a first switch, and the first switch is located in a transmission channel between the second duplexer and the first duplexer. Illustratively, the first switch is a single-pole double-throw switch, and an output end of the first switch is connected with an input end of the first duplexer. The operating state of the first switch may include an open state and a closed state, the closed state further including a closed state one and a closed state two. In a first closed state, the input end of the first switch is connected with the output end of the first filter, a first signal output by the first filter can be sent to the first duplexer through the first switch, and the first duplexer sends the first signal to the reader through the first antenna. In a second closed state, the input end of the first switch is connected with the output end of the second filter, a second signal output by the second filter can be sent to the first duplexer through the first switch, and the first duplexer sends the second signal to the reader through the first antenna. Illustratively, as shown in fig. 4 (a), the first switch is in a closed state one, and the input terminal of the first switch is connected to the output terminal of the first filter.

In this embodiment, the signal characteristic of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is specifically a frequency, and the frequency may be the first frequency or a second frequency, and the frequency may be used to represent the first information occupying one bit.

In an alternative mode, the control circuit may control the closed state of the first switch sequentially according to each piece of first information in the target information, and the modulation circuit may output a signal having a frequency corresponding to the first information. For example, a first frequency condition and a second frequency condition may be predefined or preconfigured, and when the first information meets the first frequency condition, the control circuit controls the first switch to be in a closed state one; when the first information accords with a second frequency condition, the control circuit controls the first switch to be in a closed state II, and the first frequency condition is different from the second frequency condition.

For example, the first frequency condition: the first information value is 1, and the second frequency condition is: the first information takes the value 0. The target information is 10011101, and the 8 pieces of first information included are 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, respectively. The control circuit controls the closed state of the first switch according to each first information in the target information in sequence, which is shown in table 1.

As in table 1:

the first information is 1, the first frequency condition is met, the control circuit controls the first switch to be in a first closed state, the first filter sends the output first signal to the first duplexer, the first duplexer sends the first signal to the reader through the first antenna, and the first information in the target information corresponds to the time domain resource 1.

The second first information is 0, the second first information meets a second frequency condition, the control circuit controls the first switch to be in a second closed state, the second filter sends the output second signal to the first duplexer, the first duplexer sends the second signal to the reader through the first antenna, and the second first information in the target information corresponds to the time domain resource 2.

The control circuit controls the closed state of the first switch according to the third to eighth first information in the target information, which is similar to the above two examples and is not repeated.

Therefore, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the first switch to be in the first closed state or the second closed state according to the first information to the eighth first information in the target information, and the electronic tag has the first frequency or the second frequency on the signals of the time domain resources corresponding to different first information in the response signals sent to the reader by the electronic tag.

For example, the response signal sent by the electronic tag to the reader may refer to a signal diagram corresponding to frequency modulation shown in fig. 5, where the response signal may occupy 8 time domain resources, and the frequency of the signal on each time domain resource is used to represent the first information corresponding to the time domain resource. For example, in the response signal, if the frequency of the signal on the time domain resource 1 is the first frequency, it indicates that the first information corresponding to the time domain resource 1 is 1; for another example, in the response signal, if the frequency of the signal on the time domain resource 2 is the second frequency, it indicates that the first information corresponding to the time domain resource 2 is 0.

TABLE 1

First information	Closed state of the first switch	Time domain resources	Characteristics of signals
				1	Closed state one	Time domain resource 1	First frequency
0	Closed state two	Time domain resource 2	Second frequency
				0	Closed state two	Time domain resource 3	Second frequency
1	Closed state one	Time domain resource 4	First frequency
				1	Closed state one	Time domain resource 5	First frequency
1	Closed state one	Time domain resource 6	First frequency
				0	Closed state two	Time domain resource 7	Second frequency
1	Closed state one	Time domain resource 8	First frequency

Correspondingly, the third duplexer in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag through the second antenna, and sends the response signal to the demodulation circuit after filtering the response signal. The demodulation circuit demodulates the response signal to obtain the frequency of the response signal on each time domain resource. The demodulation circuit sends the frequency of the response signal on each time domain resource to the processing circuit. The processing circuit determines first information corresponding to each time domain resource, and then target information is obtained.

Still by way of example in table 1 above, the third duplexer in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag in the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 8 through the second antenna, and the response signal can be seen in fig. 5. And the third duplexer performs filtering processing on the response signal and then sends the response signal to the demodulation circuit. The demodulation circuit determines that the frequencies corresponding to the response signal on the time domain resources 1 to 8 are a first frequency, a second frequency, a first frequency, a second frequency and a first frequency. Further, the processing circuit determines that the first information corresponding to the response signal on the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 8 is 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, respectively, and determines that the target information is 10011101.

In this embodiment of the application, when the electronic tag sends the response signal to the reader, the response signal has a frequency (i.e., a first frequency or a second frequency) corresponding to the first information on the time domain resource, and the reader may determine the first information corresponding to the time domain resource based on the frequency on the time domain resource. Furthermore, the first frequency, the second frequency and the frequency of the excitation signal are different in pairs, and co-frequency interference does not exist between the excitation signal sent by the reader and the response signal received by the reader. The anti-interference performance of passive communication is better in the application, communication of a longer distance between the reader and the electronic tag can be realized, and the electronic tag can work in a longer effective distance range.

Two, amplitude modulation

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for amplitude modulation according to an example of the present application.

In the electronic tag, the modulation circuit may include a first filter, the first filter may be connected to a maser, the maser may send the output excitation signal to the first filter, and the first filter may perform filtering processing on the excitation signal. For example, the first filter may filter the second signal in the excitation signal and output the first signal, wherein the first filter allows the signal in the first frequency band to pass, the first frequency is included in the first frequency band, and the second frequency is not included in the first frequency band. In an alternative implementation, the input end of the first filter is connected to the maser, and is configured to input the excitation signal from the maser into the first filter, and the output end of the first filter is configured to output the first signal obtained by filtering the excitation signal by the first filter.

In the electronic tag, the modulation circuit may further include a second switch, and the second switch is located in a transmission channel of the first filter and the first duplexer. Illustratively, the second switch is a single-pole single-throw switch, and an output terminal of the second switch is connected with an input terminal of the first duplexer. The operating state of the second switch may include an open state and a closed state. When the second switch is in a closed state, the input end of the second switch is connected with the output end of the first filter, the first filter can send the output first signal to the first duplexer through the second switch, and the first duplexer sends the first signal to the reader through the first antenna. When the second switch is in an off state, the input end of the second switch is disconnected with the output end of the first filter, and a communication link between the first filter and the first duplexer is disconnected. For example, in fig. 6, the second switch is in a closed state, and the input terminal of the second switch is connected to the output terminal of the first filter.

In this embodiment of the application, the signal characteristic of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is specifically an amplitude, and the amplitude may be an amplitude of the first signal or 0, and the amplitude may be used to represent the first information occupying one bit.

In an alternative mode, the control circuit may control the operating state of the second switch sequentially according to each first information in the target information, and the modulation circuit may output a signal having an amplitude corresponding to the first information. Illustratively, 2 amplitude conditions (denoted as amplitude condition 1 and amplitude condition 2) may be predefined or preconfigured, and the control circuit may control the second switch to be in the closed state when the first information satisfies the amplitude condition 1, and may control the second switch to be in the open state when the first information satisfies the amplitude condition 2. Amplitude condition 1 and amplitude condition 2 are different.

It can also be understood that the control circuit may determine a first amplitude condition that the first information in the target information meets, where the first amplitude condition may be amplitude condition 1 or amplitude condition 2, and the control circuit controls the operating state of the second switch according to the first amplitude condition, so that the amplitude of the signal output by the modulation circuit is a first amplitude corresponding to the first amplitude condition. Illustratively, the first amplitude is an amplitude of the first signal when the first amplitude condition is amplitude condition 1, and the first amplitude is 0 when the first amplitude condition is amplitude condition 2.

For example, amplitude condition 1: the first information value is 1, and the amplitude condition is 2: the first information takes the value 0. The target information is 10011101, and the 8 pieces of first information included are 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, respectively. The control circuit controls the operating state of the second switch according to each first information in the target information in turn, as shown in table 2.

As in table 2:

the first information is 1, the first amplitude condition which is met is amplitude condition 1, the control circuit controls the second switch to be in a closed state, the first filter sends the output first signal to the first duplexer, the first duplexer sends the first signal to the reader through the first antenna, and the first information in the target information corresponds to time domain resource 1.

The second first information is 0, the first amplitude condition which is met is amplitude condition 2, the control circuit controls the second switch to be in an off state, the first signal output by the first filter is not sent to the first duplexer, the first duplexer does not send the first signal to the reader through the first antenna, and the second first information in the target information corresponds to time domain resource 2.

The control circuit controls the working state of the second switch according to the third to eighth first information in the target information, which is similar to the above two examples and is not repeated.

Therefore, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the second switch to be in a closed state or an open state according to the first to eighth first information in the target information, so that the electronic tag has the amplitude of the first signal or the amplitude of the first signal is 0 on the signal of the time domain resource corresponding to different first information in the response signal sent to the reader by the electronic tag.

For example, the response signal sent by the electronic tag to the reader may refer to a signal diagram corresponding to amplitude modulation shown in fig. 7, where the response signal may occupy 8 time domain resources, and the amplitude of the signal on each time domain resource is used to represent the first information corresponding to the time domain resource. For example, in the response signal, if the amplitude of the signal on the time domain resource 1 is the amplitude of the first signal, it indicates that the first information corresponding to the time domain resource 1 is 1; for another example, in the response signal, if the amplitude of the signal on the time domain resource 2 is 0 (that is, the amplitude of the currently detected response signal is 0), it indicates that the first information corresponding to the time domain resource 2 is 0.

TABLE 2

First information	Closed state of the second switch	Time domain resources	Characteristics of signals
				1	Closed state	Time domain resource 1	Amplitude of the first signal
0	Off state	Time domain resource 2	0
				0	Off state	Time domain resource 3	0
1	Closed state	Time domain resource 4	Amplitude of the first signal
				1	Closed state	Time domain resource 5	Amplitude of the first signal
1	Closed state	Time domain resource 6	Amplitude of the first signal
				0	Off state	Time domain resource 7	0
1	Closed state	Time domain resource 8	Amplitude of the first signal

Correspondingly, a third duplexer in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag through a second antenna, the response signal is subjected to filtering processing and then sent to a demodulation circuit, and the demodulation circuit demodulates the response signal to obtain the amplitude of the response signal on each time domain resource. The demodulation circuit sends the amplitude of the response signal on each time domain resource to the processing circuit. The processing circuit determines first information corresponding to each time domain resource, and then target information is obtained.

Still by way of example in table 2, the second antenna in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag in the time domain resources 1 to 8, and the response signal can be seen in fig. 7. And the third duplexer performs filtering processing on the response signal and then sends the response signal to the demodulation circuit. The demodulation circuit determines that the amplitudes of the response signal corresponding to the time domain resources 1 to 8 are the amplitude of the first signal, 0, the amplitude of the first signal, 0 and the amplitude of the first signal. Further, the processing circuit determines that the first information corresponding to the response signal on the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 8 is 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, and further determines that the target information is 10011101.

The application provides another structural schematic diagram of an electronic tag suitable for amplitude modulation. In the electronic tag, a first filter as shown in fig. 6 may be replaced with a second filter. In the implementation mode, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the second switch to be in a closed state, and the input end of the second switch is connected with the output end of the second filter, so that the electronic tag sends a response signal to the reader. Further, in the time domain resource corresponding to the first information being 1, the amplitude of the response signal is the amplitude of the second signal, and in the time domain resource corresponding to the first information being 0, the amplitude of the response signal is 0.

In the embodiment of the application, when the electronic tag sends the response signal to the reader, the response signal has an amplitude corresponding to the first information on each time domain resource, and the reader can determine the first information corresponding to the time domain resource based on the amplitude of the response signal on each time domain resource. Further, the frequency of the response signal (i.e., the first frequency or the second frequency) is different from the frequency of the excitation signal, and no co-channel interference exists between the two. The anti-interference performance of passive communication is better in the application, and communication between the reader and the electronic tag at a longer distance can be realized.

Furthermore, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the second switch to be in an open state or a closed state only according to each first information in the target information, the control mode is simple, and the cost of the electronic tag is reduced. And the reader only needs to detect the amplitude of the response signal on each time domain resource, the demodulation mode is simple, and the cost of the reader is reduced.

In addition, the application also provides a structural schematic diagram of the electronic tag suitable for amplitude modulation. Referring to fig. 8, in the electronic tag, the modulation circuit may include a first filter, the first filter is connected to the maser, the excitation signal output by the maser is sent to the first filter, and the first filter may filter the excitation signal. For example, the first filter may filter the second signal in the excitation signal and output the first signal, wherein the first filter allows the signal in the first frequency band to pass, the first frequency is included in the first frequency band, and the second frequency is not included in the first frequency band.

In an alternative implementation, the input of the first filter is connected to the output of the maser. The input end of the first filter is used for inputting the excitation signal from the maser into the first filter, and the output end of the first filter is used for outputting a first signal obtained by filtering the excitation signal by the first filter.

In the electronic tag, the modulation circuit may further include an amplitude attenuator group located in a transmission path of the first filter and the first duplexer. The amplitude attenuator group comprises K amplitude attenuators, and K is greater than or equal to 2. Taking any one of the K amplitude attenuators as an example, when the input end of the amplitude attenuator is communicated with the output end of the first filter, the first signal output by the first filter can be sent to the amplitude attenuator. The amplitude attenuator may perform amplitude modulation on the first signal to obtain an amplitude-modulated signal. When the output end of the amplitude attenuator is communicated with the input end of the first duplexer, the amplitude-modulated signal output by the amplitude attenuator can be sent to the first duplexer. The first duplexer may transmit the amplitude-modulated signal to the reader through the first antenna.

Further, any two amplitude attenuators of the K amplitude attenuators perform amplitude modulation on the first signal, and the obtained modulated signals have different amplitudes. The K amplitude attenuators may be respectively represented as amplitude attenuator 1, amplitude attenuator 2, … …, amplitude attenuator K, … …, and amplitude attenuator K, and the amplitudes obtained by amplitude modulating the first signal by the K amplitude attenuators may be respectively represented as amplitude 1, amplitude 2, … …, amplitude K, … …, and amplitude K, where K is less than or equal to K and greater than or equal to 1.

In an alternative implementation, the modulation circuit may further include a third switch and a fourth switch. A third switch is located between the first filter and the set of amplitude attenuators, the third switch being operable to communicate the communication link between the first filter and one of the set of amplitude attenuators. The fourth switch is located between the amplitude attenuator group and the first duplexer, and the fourth switch may be used to connect a communication link between a certain amplitude attenuator in the amplitude attenuator group and the first duplexer.

In an alternative implementation, the third switch is a single-pole multi-throw switch, and an input terminal of the third switch is connected to an output terminal of the first filter. The operation states of the third switch may include an open state and a closed state, and the closed state of the third switch may further include K closed states corresponding to the K amplitude attenuators in a one-to-one correspondence, which may be respectively represented as a closed state a1, a closed state a2, … …, a closed state Ak, … …, and a closed state Ak.

In an alternative implementation, the fourth switch is a single-pole multi-throw switch, and an output terminal of the fourth switch may be connected to an input terminal of the first duplexer. The operation states of the fourth switch may include an open state and a closed state, and the closed state of the fourth switch may further include K closed states corresponding to the K amplitude attenuators one to one, which may be respectively represented as a closed state B1, a closed state B2, … …, a closed state Bk, … …, and a closed state Bk.

As in fig. 8, the third switch is in a closed state a2, the fourth switch is in a closed state B2, the output of the first filter is in communication with the input of the amplitude attenuator 2, and the output of the amplitude attenuator 2 is in communication with the input of the first duplexer. The amplitude attenuator 2 is configured to receive the first signal from the first filter, perform amplitude modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal with an amplitude of 2, and then send the signal with the amplitude of 2 to the first duplexer.

In this embodiment of the present application, the signal characteristic of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is specifically a signal amplitude, the signal amplitude may be any one of K amplitudes, and the signal amplitude may be used to characterize the first information occupying one or more bits.

In an alternative, the control circuit may control the closed states of the third switch and the fourth switch sequentially according to each first information in the target information, and the modulation circuit may output a signal having an amplitude corresponding to the first information.

In an alternative, K amplitude conditions (denoted as amplitude condition 1 to amplitude condition K) may be predefined or preconfigured, and any two of the K amplitude conditions are different. The amplitude conditions 1 to K correspond to the above-described amplitude attenuators 1 to K, respectively. When the first information meets the amplitude condition k, the control circuit can control the third switch to be in a closed state Ak and the fourth switch to be in a closed state Bk, so that the first filter, the amplitude attenuator k and the first duplexer are communicated in sequence. The amplitude attenuator k receives the first signal from the first filter, performs amplitude modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal with amplitude k, and sends the signal with amplitude k to the first duplexer.

In the following, the description will be divided into two cases based on the number of amplitude attenuators in the amplitude attenuator group.

In case one, the set of amplitude attenuators may comprise two amplitude attenuators.

Illustratively, the amplitude attenuator group includes an amplitude attenuator 1 and an amplitude attenuator 2, wherein the amplitude attenuator 1 and the amplitude attenuator 2 can output a signal having an amplitude of 1 and a signal having an amplitude of 2, respectively.

In this embodiment of the present application, the signal characteristic of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is specifically a signal amplitude, where the signal amplitude may be amplitude 1 or amplitude 2, and the signal amplitude may be used to represent the first information occupying one bit.

The control circuit can determine a first amplitude condition met by first information in the target information, and then control the closed states of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first amplitude condition, so that the first filter, the first amplitude attenuator corresponding to the first amplitude condition and the first duplexer are sequentially communicated, and the first amplitude attenuator performs amplitude modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal with a first amplitude corresponding to the first amplitude attenuator.

Illustratively, the first amplitude condition may be an amplitude condition 1 corresponding to an amplitude attenuator 1, or an amplitude condition 2 corresponding to an amplitude attenuator 2. Illustratively, when the first amplitude condition is amplitude condition 1, the first amplitude is amplitude 1; when the first amplitude condition is amplitude condition 2, the first amplitude is amplitude 2.

For example, amplitude condition 1: the first information value is 1, and the amplitude condition is 2: the first information takes the value 0. The target information is 10011101, and the 8 pieces of first information included are 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, respectively. The control circuit controls the closing states of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first information in turn, as shown in table 3.

As in table 3:

the first information is 1, the first amplitude condition which is met is amplitude condition 1, the control circuit controls the third switch to be in a closed state A1, the fourth switch to be in a closed state B1, and the first filter, the amplitude attenuator 1 and the first duplexer are communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is amplitude-modulated by the amplitude attenuator 1 to obtain a signal with amplitude 1, the amplitude attenuator 1 transmits the signal with amplitude 1 to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the signal with amplitude 1 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the first information corresponds to the time domain resource 1.

The second first information is 0, the first amplitude condition which is met is amplitude condition 2, the control circuit controls the third switch to be in a closed state A2, the fourth switch to be in a closed state B2, and the first filter, the amplitude attenuator 2 and the first duplexer are communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is amplitude-modulated by the amplitude attenuator 2 to obtain a signal with amplitude 2, the amplitude attenuator 2 transmits the signal with amplitude 2 to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the signal with amplitude 2 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the second first information corresponds to the time domain resource 2.

The control circuit controls the on-state of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the third first information to the eighth first information in the target information, which is similar to the two examples and is not repeated.

Therefore, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the closing states of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first information to the eighth first information in the target information, so that the electronic tag sends signals (namely response signals) with different amplitudes to the reader on time domain resources corresponding to different first information.

For example, the reply signal sent by the electronic tag to the reader may refer to a signal diagram shown in (a) in fig. 9, where the reply signal occupies 8 time domain resources, and the reply signal has respective amplitudes on each time domain resource, and the different amplitudes correspond to different first information. For example, in time domain resource 1, the amplitude of the response signal is amplitude 1, which corresponds to the first information being 1; the amplitude of the reply signal in time domain resource 2 is amplitude 2, corresponding to the first information being 0.

TABLE 3

First information	Closed state of third switch	Closed state of the fourth switch	Time domain resources	Characteristics of signals
					1	Closed state A1	Closed state B1	Time domain resource 1	Amplitude 1
0	Closed state A2	Closed state B2	Time domain resource 2	Amplitude 2
					0	Closed state A2	Closed state B2	Time domain resource 3	Amplitude 2
1	Closed state A1	Closed state B1	Time domain resource 4	Amplitude 1
					1	Closed state A1	Closed state B1	Time domain resource 5	Amplitude 1
1	Closed state A1	Closed state B1	Time domain resource 6	Amplitude 1
					0	Closed state A2	Closed state B2	Time domain resource 7	Amplitude 2
1	Closed state A1	Closed state B1	Time domain resource 8	Amplitude 1

Correspondingly, a third duplexer in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag through the second antenna, and sends the response signal to a demodulation circuit after filtering the response signal, and the demodulation circuit determines the amplitude of the response signal on each time domain resource. The demodulation circuit sends the amplitude of the response signal on each time domain resource to the processing circuit. The processing circuit determines first information corresponding to each time domain resource, and then target information is obtained.

Still taking the example of table 3, the third duplexer in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag in the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 8 through the second antenna, and the response signal can be shown in (a) in fig. 9. And the third duplexer performs filtering processing on the response signal and then sends the response signal to the demodulation circuit. The demodulation circuit determines that the corresponding amplitudes of the response signal on the time domain resources 1 to 8 are amplitude 1, amplitude 2, amplitude 1, amplitude 2 and amplitude 1. The processing circuit determines that the first information corresponding to the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 8 is 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, respectively, and further determines that the target information is 10011101.

In case two, the amplitude attenuator group may comprise a plurality of amplitude attenuators.

Illustratively, the amplitude attenuator group includes an amplitude attenuator 1, an amplitude attenuator 2, an amplitude attenuator 3, and an amplitude attenuator 4, wherein the amplitude attenuator 1, the amplitude attenuator 2, the amplitude attenuator 3, and the amplitude attenuator 4 can output a signal having an amplitude of 1, a signal having an amplitude of 2, a signal having an amplitude of 3, and a signal having an amplitude of 4, respectively.

In this embodiment of the present application, the signal characteristic of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is specifically a signal amplitude, and the signal amplitude may be any one of amplitude 1 to amplitude 4, and the signal amplitude may be used to represent the first information occupying two bits.

Illustratively, the first amplitude condition may be an amplitude condition 1 corresponding to an amplitude attenuator 1, or an amplitude condition 2 corresponding to an amplitude attenuator 2, or an amplitude condition 3 corresponding to an amplitude attenuator 3, or an amplitude condition 4 corresponding to an amplitude attenuator 4. Illustratively, when the first amplitude condition is amplitude condition 1, the first amplitude is amplitude 1; when the first amplitude condition is amplitude condition 2, the first amplitude is amplitude 2; when the first amplitude condition is amplitude condition 3, the first amplitude is amplitude 3; when the first amplitude condition is amplitude condition 4, the first amplitude is amplitude 4.

For example, amplitude condition 1: the first information value is 11, and the amplitude condition 2: the first information value is 10, and the amplitude condition is 3: the first information value is 01, and the amplitude condition 4: the first information takes the value 00. The target information is 10011101, and the 4 pieces of first information included are 10, 01, 11, and 01, respectively. The control circuit controls the closing states of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first information in turn, as shown in table 4.

As in table 4:

the first piece of first information is 10, the first amplitude condition which is met is amplitude condition 2, the control circuit controls the third switch to be in a closed state A2, the fourth switch to be in a closed state B2, and the first filter, the amplitude attenuator 2 and the first duplexer are communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is amplitude-modulated by the amplitude attenuator 2 to obtain a signal with amplitude 2, the amplitude attenuator 2 transmits the signal with amplitude 2 to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the signal with amplitude 2 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the first information corresponds to the time domain resource 1.

The second first information is 01, the first amplitude condition which is met is amplitude condition 3, the control circuit controls the third switch to be in a closed state A3, the fourth switch to be in a closed state B3, and the first filter, the amplitude attenuator 3 and the first duplexer are communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is amplitude-modulated by the amplitude attenuator 3 to obtain a signal with amplitude 3, the amplitude attenuator 3 transmits the signal with amplitude 3 to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the signal with amplitude 3 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the second first information corresponds to the time domain resource 2.

The control circuit controls the closing states of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the third first information and the fourth first information in the target information, which is similar to the two examples and is not repeated.

Therefore, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the closing states of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first information to the fourth first information in the target information, so that the electronic tag sends signals (namely response signals) with different amplitudes to the reader on time domain resources corresponding to different first information.

For example, the reply signal sent by the electronic tag to the reader may refer to the signal diagram shown in (b) in fig. 9, where the reply signal occupies 4 time domain resources, and the reply signal has respective amplitudes corresponding to the time domain resources, and the amplitudes are used to indicate the first information. For example, in time domain resource 1, the amplitude of the reply signal is amplitude 2, which corresponds to the first information being 10; the amplitude 3 of the reply signal in time domain resource 2 corresponds to the first information being 01.

TABLE 4

First information	Closed state of third switch	Closed state of the fourth switch	Time domain resources	Characteristics of signals
					10	Closed state A2	Closed state B2	Time domain resource 1	Amplitude 2
01	Closed state A3	Closed state B3	Time domain resource 2	Amplitude 3
					11	Closed state A1	Closed state B1	Time domain resource 3	Amplitude 1
01	Closed state A3	Closed state B3	Time domain resource 4	Amplitude 3

Still taking the example of table 4, the second antenna in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag in the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 4, and the response signal can be shown in (b) in fig. 9. The second antenna sends the response signal to the third duplexer, and the third duplexer sends the response signal to the demodulation circuit after filtering the response signal. The demodulation circuit determines that the corresponding amplitudes of the response signal in the time domain resources 1 to 4 are amplitude 2, amplitude 3, amplitude 1 and amplitude 3 respectively. Further, the processing circuit determines that the first information corresponding to the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 4 is 10, 01, 11, and 01, and further determines that the target information is 10011101.

The above embodiments have only been described by way of example in which the amplitude attenuator bank comprises 4 amplitude attenuators. Of course, in the present application, the amplitude attenuator group may further include 8 amplitude attenuators, so that 8 amplitude conditions may be corresponded, and 8 signals with different amplitudes may be output, which may be used to indicate the first information occupying 3 bits; or the amplitude attenuator group may further comprise 16 amplitude attenuators, so that 16 amplitude conditions may be corresponded, and 16 signals with different amplitudes may be output, which may be used to indicate the first information occupying 4 bits; or the amplitude attenuator group may further include more amplitude attenuators so that more amplitude conditions may be corresponded, and more signals having different amplitudes may be output, usable to indicate the first information occupying more bits. For specific implementation, reference may be made to the implementation manner in which the amplitude attenuator group includes 4 amplitude attenuators, which is not described in detail.

It is further noted that the control circuit may control the third switch to communicate the communication link between the first filter and the amplitude attenuator and the fourth switch to communicate the communication link between the amplitude attenuator and the first duplexer. Of course, the control circuit may also control the third switch to be in an open state and/or the fourth switch to be in an open state, so that the first filter cannot send the first signal to the amplitude attenuator, i.e. the first duplexer cannot receive the signal after amplitude modulation from the amplitude attenuator. On the corresponding time domain resource, the reader may consider that the amplitude of the signal of the response signal on the time domain resource is 0.

Of course, in the structural schematic diagram of the electronic tag adapted to amplitude modulation exemplarily shown in fig. 8, the first filter may also be replaced by a second filter, and accordingly, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the closing states of the third switch and the fourth switch respectively to implement modulation of the amplitude of the second signal. The electronic tag may output a signal having an amplitude corresponding to the first information at the second frequency.

In the embodiment of the application, when the electronic tag sends the response signal to the reader, the response signal has an amplitude corresponding to the first information on each time domain resource, and the reader can determine the first information corresponding to the time domain resource based on the amplitude of the response signal on each time domain resource. Further, the frequency of the response signal (the first frequency or the second frequency) is different from the frequency of the excitation signal, and co-channel interference does not exist between the two. The anti-interference performance of passive communication is better in the application, and communication between the reader and the electronic tag at a longer distance can be realized. When the electronic tag sends a response signal to the reader, the corresponding first information on each time domain resource can occupy a plurality of bits, which can help to improve the transmission rate of the electronic tag sending the target information to the reader. The modulation and demodulation mode can be suitable for a high-speed transmission scene.

Three, phase modulation

Fig. 10 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for phase modulation according to an example of the present application.

In the electronic tag, the modulation circuit may include a first filter, the first filter may be connected to a maser, the maser may send the output excitation signal to the first filter, and the first filter may perform filtering processing on the excitation signal. For example, the first filter may filter the second signal in the excitation signal to output the first signal, wherein the first frequency is included in the first frequency band, and the second frequency is not included in the first frequency band.

In the electronic tag, the modulation circuit may further include a phase shifter group, and the phase shifter group is located in the transmission path of the first filter and the first duplexer. The phase shifter group comprises N phase shifters, wherein N is greater than or equal to 2. Taking any one of the N phase shifters as an example, when the input terminal of the phase shifter is connected to the output terminal of the first filter, the first signal output by the first filter may be transmitted to the phase shifter. The phase shifter may perform phase modulation on the first signal to obtain a phase-modulated signal. When the output end of the phase shifter is communicated with the input end of the first duplexer, the phase-modulated signal output by the phase shifter can be sent to the first duplexer. The first duplexer may transmit the phase-modulated signal to the reader through the first antenna.

Further, any two phase shifters of the N phase shifters perform phase modulation on the first signal, and the phases of the obtained modulated signals are different. The N phase shifters may be respectively denoted as phase shifter 1, phase shifter 2, … …, phase shifter N, … …, and phase shifter N, and the N phases obtained by phase modulating the first signal by the N phase shifters may be respectively denoted as phase 1, phase 2, … …, phase N, … …, and phase N, where N is less than or equal to N and greater than or equal to 1.

In an alternative implementation, the modulation circuit may further include a fifth switch and a sixth switch. A fifth switch is positioned between the first filter and the phase shifter bank, the fifth switch operable to communicate a communication link between the first filter and a phase shifter of the phase shifter bank. The sixth switch is disposed between the phase shifter group and the first duplexer, and the sixth switch is operable to communicate a communication link between a phase shifter of the phase shifter group and the first duplexer.

Illustratively, the fifth switch is a single-pole-multiple-throw switch, and an input of the fifth switch may be connected to the output of the first filter. In an alternative implementation, the operation state of the fifth switch may include an open state and a closed state, and the closed state of the fifth switch further may include N closed states corresponding to the N phase shifters in a one-to-one correspondence, which may be represented as a closed state C1, a closed state C2, … …, a closed state Cn, … …, and a closed state Cn.

Illustratively, the sixth switch is a single-pole multi-throw switch, and an output terminal of the sixth switch may be connected to an input terminal of the first duplexer. In an alternative implementation, the operation state of the sixth switch may include an open state and a closed state, and the closed state of the sixth switch further may include N closed states corresponding to the N phase shifters in a one-to-one correspondence, which may be represented as a closed state D1, a closed state D2, … …, a closed state Dn, … …, and a closed state Dn.

As shown in fig. 10, the fifth switch is in a closed state C2, the sixth switch is in a closed state D2, the output of the first filter is connected to the input of the phase shifter 2, and the output of the phase shifter 2 is connected to the input of the first duplexer. The phase shifter 2 is configured to receive the first signal from the first filter, perform phase modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal with a phase 2, and then send the signal with the phase 2 to the first duplexer.

In this embodiment, the signal characteristic of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is specifically a signal phase, the signal phase may be any one of N phases, and the signal phase may be used to represent the first information occupying one or more bits.

In an alternative mode, the control circuit may control the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch sequentially according to each first information in the target information, and the modulation circuit may output a signal of a phase corresponding to the first information.

In an alternative, N phase conditions (denoted as phase condition 1 through phase condition N) may be predefined or preconfigured, where any two of the N phase conditions are different. The phase condition 1 to the phase condition N correspond to the phase shifters 1 to N, respectively. When the first information meets the phase condition n, the control circuit can control the fifth switch to be in a closed state Cn and the sixth switch to be in a closed state Dn, so that the first filter, the phase shifter n and the first duplexer are sequentially communicated. The phase shifter n receives the first signal from the first filter, performs phase modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal with a phase n corresponding to the phase shifter n, and the phase shifter n transmits the signal with the phase n to the first duplexer.

In the following, the explanation is divided into two cases based on the number of phase shifters in the phase shifter group.

In case one, the phase shifter group may include two phase shifters.

Illustratively, the phase shifter group includes a phase shifter 1 and a phase shifter 2, wherein the phase shifter 1 and the phase shifter 2 may output a signal having a phase 1 and a signal having a phase 2, respectively.

In this embodiment, the signal characteristic of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is specifically a signal phase, where the signal phase may be phase 1 or phase 2, and the phase may be used to represent the first information occupying one bit.

The control circuit can determine a first phase condition met by first information in the target information, and then control the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first phase condition, so that the first filter, the first phase shifter corresponding to the first phase condition and the first duplexer are sequentially communicated, and the first phase shifter performs phase modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal of a first phase corresponding to the first phase shifter.

Illustratively, the first phase condition may be phase condition 1 corresponding to phase shifter 1 or phase condition 2 corresponding to phase shifter 2. Illustratively, when the first phase condition is phase condition 1, the first phase is phase 1; when the first phase condition is the phase condition 2, the first phase is the phase 2.

For example, phase condition 1: the first information value is 1, and the phase condition 2: the first information takes the value 0. The target information is 10011101, and the 8 pieces of first information included are 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, respectively. The control circuit controls the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first information in turn, as shown in table 5.

As in table 5:

the first information is 1, the first phase condition which is met is phase condition 1, the control circuit controls the fifth switch to be in a closed state C1, the sixth switch to be in a closed state D1, and the first filter, the phase shifter 1 and the first duplexer are communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is phase-modulated by the phase shifter 1 to obtain a signal with phase 1, the phase shifter 1 transmits the signal with phase 1 to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the signal with phase 1 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the first information corresponds to the time domain resource 1.

The second first information is 0, the first phase condition which is met is phase condition 2, the control circuit controls the fifth switch to be in a closed state C2, the sixth switch to be in a closed state D2, and the first filter, the phase shifter 2 and the first duplexer are communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is phase-modulated by the phase shifter 2 to obtain a signal with phase 2, the phase shifter 2 transmits the signal with phase 2 to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the signal with phase 2 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the second first information corresponds to the time domain resource 2.

The control circuit controls the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the third first information to the eighth first information in the target information, which is similar to the two examples and is not repeated.

Therefore, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the values of the first information to the eighth first information in the target information, so that the electronic tag sends signals (namely response signals) with different phases to the reader on time domain resources corresponding to different first information.

For example, the reply signal sent by the electronic tag to the reader may refer to a signal diagram shown in (a) in fig. 11, where the reply signal occupies 8 time domain resources, and the reply signal corresponds to respective phases on each time domain resource, and different phases correspond to different first information. For example, in time domain resource 1, the phase of the response signal is phase 1, which corresponds to the first information being 1; the phase of the reply signal in time domain resource 2 is phase 2, corresponding to the first information being 0.

TABLE 5

Correspondingly, a third duplexer in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag through the second antenna, and sends the response signal to a demodulation circuit after filtering the response signal, and the demodulation circuit determines the phase of the response signal on each time domain resource. The demodulation circuit sends the phase of the response signal on each time domain resource to the processing circuit. The processing circuit determines first information corresponding to each time domain resource, and then target information is obtained.

Still by way of example in table 5, the second antenna in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag in the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 8, and the response signal can be seen as shown in (a) in fig. 11. The second antenna sends the response signal to the third duplexer, and the third duplexer sends the response signal to the demodulation circuit after filtering the response signal. The demodulation circuit determines that the corresponding phases of the response signal on the time domain resources 1 to 8 are phase 1, phase 2, phase 1, phase 2 and phase 1. The processing circuit determines that the first information corresponding to the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 8 is 1, 0, 1, 0, and 1, respectively, and further determines that the target information is 10011101.

In case two, the phase shifter group may include a plurality of phase shifters.

Illustratively, the phase shifter group includes a phase shifter 1, a phase shifter 2, a phase shifter 3, and a phase shifter 4, wherein the phase shifter 1, the phase shifter 2, the phase shifter 3, and the phase shifter 4 may output a signal having a phase 1, a signal having a phase 2, a signal having a phase 3, and a signal having a phase 4, respectively.

In this embodiment of the present application, the signal characteristic of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is specifically a signal phase, the signal phase may be any one of phase 1 to phase 4, and the signal phase may be used to represent the first information occupying two bits.

Illustratively, the first phase condition may be phase condition 1 corresponding to phase shifter 1, or phase condition 2 corresponding to phase shifter 2, or phase condition 3 corresponding to phase shifter 3, or phase condition 4 corresponding to phase shifter 4. Illustratively, when the first phase condition is phase condition 1, the first phase is phase 1; when the first phase condition is phase condition 2, the first phase is phase 2; when the first phase condition is phase condition 3, the first phase is phase 3; when the first phase condition is the phase condition 4, the first phase is the phase 4.

For example, phase condition 1: the first information value is 11, and the phase condition 2: the first information value is 10, and the phase condition 3: the first information value is 01, and the phase condition 4: the first information takes the value 00. The target information is 10011101, and the 4 pieces of first information included are 10, 01, 11, and 01, respectively. The control circuit controls the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first information in turn, as shown in table 6.

As in table 6:

the first information is 10, the first phase condition that is met is phase condition 2, the fifth switch is controlled to be in a closed state C2, the sixth switch is controlled to be in a closed state D2, and the first filter, the phase shifter 2 and the first duplexer are communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is phase-modulated by the phase shifter 2 to obtain a signal with phase 2, the phase shifter 2 transmits the signal with phase 2 to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the signal with phase 2 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the first information corresponds to the time domain resource 1.

The second first information is 01, the first phase condition which is met is the phase condition 3, the fifth switch is controlled to be in the closed state C3, the sixth switch is controlled to be in the closed state D3, and the first filter, the phase shifter 3 and the first duplexer are communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is phase-modulated by the phase shifter 3 to obtain a signal with a phase 3, the phase shifter 3 transmits the signal with the phase 3 to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer transmits the signal with the phase 3 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the second first information corresponds to the time domain resource 2.

The control circuit controls the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the third first information and the fourth first information in the target information, which is similar to the two examples and is not repeated.

Therefore, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first information to the fourth first information in the target information, so that the electronic tag sends signals (namely response signals) with different phases to the reader on time domain resources corresponding to different first information.

For example, the reply signal sent by the electronic tag to the reader may refer to a signal diagram shown in (b) in fig. 11, where the reply signal occupies 4 time domain resources, and the reply signal corresponds to a respective phase on each time domain resource, and the phase is used to indicate the first information. For example, in time domain resource 1, the phase of the response signal is phase 2, which corresponds to the first information being 10; the phase 3 of the reply signal in time domain resource 2 corresponds to the first information being 01.

TABLE 6

First information	Closed state of fifth switch	Closed state of sixth switch	Time domain resources	Answer signal
					10	Closed state C2	Closed state D2	Time domain resource 1	Phase 2
01	Closed state C3	Closed state D3	Time domain resource 2	Phase 3
					11	Closed state C1	Closed state D1	Time domain resource 3	Phase 1
01	Closed state C3	Closed state D3	Time domain resource 4	Phase 3

Still by way of example in table 6, the second antenna in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag in the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 4, and the response signal can be seen as shown in (b) in fig. 11. The second antenna sends the response signal to the third duplexer, and the third duplexer sends the response signal to the demodulation circuit after filtering the response signal. The demodulation circuit determines that the corresponding phases of the response signal in the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 4 are phase 2, phase 3, phase 1 and phase 3. Further, the processing circuit determines that the first information corresponding to the time domain resource 1 to the time domain resource 4 is 10, 01, 11, and 01, and further determines that the target information is 10011101.

The above embodiment only exemplifies that the phase shifter group includes 4 phase shifters. Of course, in the present application, the phase shifter group may further include 8 phase shifters, so that 8 phase conditions may be corresponded to, and 8 signals having different phases may be output, which may be used to indicate the first information occupying 3 bits; or the phase shifter group may further include 16 phase shifters so that 16 phase conditions may be corresponded, and 16 signals having different phases may be output, which may be used to indicate the first information occupying 4 bits; or the phase shifter group may further include more phase shifters so that more phase conditions may be corresponded and more signals having different phases may be output, which may be used to indicate that more bits of the first information are occupied. For specific implementation, reference may be made to the implementation manner in which the phase shifter group includes 4 phase shifters, which is not described in detail.

In addition, the application provides another implementation mode of sending the response signal to the reader based on phase modulation. The first information occupies two bits as illustrated. The phase shifter group comprises a phase shifter 1, a phase shifter 2, a phase shifter 3 and a phase shifter 4, wherein the phase shifter 1, the phase shifter 2, the phase shifter 3 and the phase shifter 4 can respectively output a signal with a phase 1, a signal with a phase 2, a signal with a phase 3 and a signal with a phase 4.

Further, the phase shifter group includes a reference phase shifter, and the phase of the signal output by the reference phase shifter is a reference phase, and exemplarily, the reference phase shifter is a phase shifter 1, and the reference phase is a phase 1. Then the other phase shifters in the phase shifter group correspond to respective phase differences, for example, the phase of the signal output by the phase shifter 2 is phase 2, and the phase difference corresponding to the phase shifter 2 is (phase 2-phase 1); the phase of the signal output by the phase shifter 3 is phase 3, and the phase difference corresponding to the phase shifter 3 is (phase 3-phase 1); the phase of the signal output from the phase shifter 4 is phase 4, and the phase difference corresponding to the phase shifter 4 is (phase 4-phase 1). It should be understood here that the phase shifter 1 may also correspond to a phase difference of 0 from the reference phase shifter. The phase difference corresponding to each phase shifter may be used to indicate first information, where the first information occupies two bits.

In this implementation manner, the third duplexer in the reader receives the response signal from the electronic tag through the second antenna, performs filtering processing on the response signal, and then sends the response signal to the demodulation circuit, and the demodulation circuit determines the phase of the response signal on each time domain resource. Further, the demodulation circuit may send the phase of the response signal on each time domain resource to the processing circuit, and the processing circuit determines the phase difference of the response signal on each time domain resource according to the reference phase and the phase of the response signal on each time domain resource, and then determines the first information corresponding to each time domain resource, thereby obtaining the target information. In the mode, the accurate phase difference can be determined, and the accuracy of determining the first information is improved.

Another schematic structure diagram suitable for phase modulation electronic tags is provided in the present application. In the electronic tag, a first filter as shown in fig. 10 may be replaced with a second filter. In this implementation manner, the control circuit in the electronic tag controls the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch, respectively, so as to implement modulation of the phase of the second signal. The electronic tag may output a signal having a second frequency and a phase corresponding to the first information.

In the embodiment of the application, when the electronic tag sends the response signal to the reader, the response signal has a phase corresponding to the first information on each time domain resource, and the reader can determine the first information corresponding to the time domain resource based on the phase of the response signal on each time domain resource. Further, the frequency of the response signal (the first frequency or the second frequency) is different from the frequency of the excitation signal, and co-channel interference does not exist between the two. The anti-interference performance of passive communication is better in the application, and communication between the reader and the electronic tag at a longer distance can be realized. When the electronic tag sends a response signal to the reader, the first information corresponding to each time domain resource can occupy a plurality of bits, which can help to improve the transmission rate of the electronic tag sending the target information to the reader. The modulation and demodulation mode can be suitable for a high-speed transmission scene.

In the present application, the excitation signal may be modulated by combining the above multiple modulation modes to obtain the response signal, so as to improve the accuracy of demodulating the target information and/or the transmission rate between the target information and the response signal by the reader, as illustrated in the following four examples.

Example 1, frequency modulation and amplitude modulation.

Fig. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for frequency modulation and amplitude modulation of an excitation signal provided by the present application.

The modulation circuit may include a second duplexer coupled to the maser, the second duplexer operable to frequency modulate the excitation signal from the maser. Illustratively, the second duplexer includes a first filter and a second filter, wherein the first filter filters the excitation signal obtained from the maser and outputs the first signal, and the second filter filters the excitation signal obtained from the maser and outputs the second signal.

The modulation circuit may further include an amplitude attenuator bank in which an amplitude attenuator performs amplitude modulation on the first signal from the second duplexer (or the first filter) or performs amplitude modulation on the second signal from the second duplexer (or the second filter).

The modulation circuit can further comprise a first switch, a third switch and a fourth switch, the control circuit can respectively control the closing states of the first switch, the third switch and the fourth switch according to first information in the target information, and then the modulation circuit can perform frequency modulation and amplitude modulation on the excitation signal.

For example, the control circuit may obtain the signal with the first frequency or the signal with the second frequency by controlling a closed state of the first switch. Further, the amplitude attenuator group comprises an amplitude attenuator 1 and an amplitude attenuator 2, which correspond to the amplitude 1 and the amplitude 2, respectively, and the control circuit can obtain a signal with the amplitude 1 or a signal with the amplitude 2 by controlling the closed states of the third switch and the fourth switch. Thus, the control circuit can obtain four combinations by controlling the closed states of the first switch, the third switch and the fourth switch: amplitude 1 and first frequency; amplitude 2 and first frequency; amplitude 1 and a second frequency; amplitude 2 and second frequency, and thus may indicate the first information occupying 2 bits.

In the embodiment of the present application, the signal characteristics of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal may include a signal amplitude and a signal frequency. The signal amplitude and the signal frequency may be used to jointly characterize the first information occupying a plurality of bits.

In one example, the control circuit may determine that first information in the target information meets a first frequency condition and a first amplitude condition, control a closed state of the first switch according to the first frequency condition, and control a closed state of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first amplitude condition, so that the first filter, the first amplitude attenuator, and the first duplexer are sequentially connected, and the first amplitude attenuator performs amplitude modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal having a first amplitude and a first frequency.

In another example, the control circuit may determine that the first information in the target information meets a second frequency condition and a first amplitude condition, control a closed state of the first switch according to the second frequency condition, and control a closed state of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first amplitude condition, so that the second filter, the first amplitude attenuator, and the first duplexer are sequentially connected, and the first amplitude attenuator performs amplitude modulation on the second signal to obtain a signal with the first amplitude and the second frequency.

For example, the first frequency condition: the first information takes the value of 11 or 10, and the second frequency condition is: the value of the first information is 01 or 00; amplitude condition 1: the value of the first information is 11 or 01, and the amplitude condition 2: the first information takes the value 10 or 00. The target information is 10011101, and the 4 pieces of first information included are 10, 01, 11, and 01, respectively.

The first information is 10, the first frequency condition is met, the first amplitude condition which is met is amplitude condition 2, the control circuit controls the first switch to be in a first closed state, controls the third switch to be in a first closed state A2, and controls the fourth switch to be in a second closed state B2, so that the first filter, the amplitude attenuator 2 and the first duplexer are sequentially communicated. The first signal output by the first filter is amplitude-modulated by the amplitude attenuator 2 to obtain a signal with amplitude 2, and the signal is sent to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer sends the signal with the first frequency and amplitude 2 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the first information corresponds to the time domain resource 1.

The second first information is 01, the second frequency condition is met, the first amplitude condition which is met is amplitude condition 1, the control circuit controls the first switch to be in the closed state II, controls the third switch to be in the closed state A1 and controls the fourth switch to be in the closed state B1, and therefore the second filter, the amplitude attenuator 1 and the first duplexer are sequentially communicated. The second signal output by the second filter is amplitude modulated by the amplitude attenuator 1 to obtain a signal with amplitude 1, and the signal is sent to the first duplexer, and the first duplexer sends the signal with the second frequency and amplitude 1 to the reader through the first antenna, wherein the second first information corresponds to the time domain resource 2.

The control circuit controls the closed states of the first switch, the third switch and the fourth switch on the time domain resource corresponding to the third first information and the fourth first information, which can refer to the above description.

Furthermore, when a plurality of amplitude attenuators, for example 4 amplitude attenuators, are included in the set of amplitude attenuators, this corresponds to 4 amplitudes. The control circuit can realize any combination of the 4 amplitude attenuators and the two filters in the second duplexer by controlling the closing states of the first switch, the third switch and the fourth switch, and can be used for representing 8 pieces of first information, so that the first information occupying 3 bits can be indicated.

It should be noted that, although fig. 12 shows that the second duplexer is connected to the maser and the amplitude attenuator group is further connected to the second duplexer, that is, the modulation circuit performs frequency modulation on the excitation signal first and then performs amplitude modulation, the present application is also applicable to a method of performing amplitude modulation first and then performing frequency modulation. Further, in fig. 12, the first switch and the third switch may be combined into one switch, and the control circuit may control the input terminal of the one switch to communicate with the output terminal of the first filter or communicate with the output terminal of the second filter, and control the output terminal of the one switch to communicate with one amplitude attenuator in the amplitude attenuator group, so as to implement frequency modulation and amplitude modulation on the excitation signal.

By the method, the electronic tag can send the first information which can occupy a plurality of bits to the reader on one time domain resource, so that the communication speed between the electronic tag and the reader is improved. In addition, when the reader demodulates the first information, the reader needs to determine the first information on the time domain resource according to the frequency and the amplitude of the signal on the time domain resource in the response signal, which is beneficial to improving the demodulation accuracy.

Example 2, frequency modulation and phase modulation.

Fig. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for frequency modulation and phase modulation of an excitation signal provided by the present application.

The modulation circuit may further include a phase shifter bank in which the phase shifter performs phase modulation on the first signal from the second duplexer (or the first filter) or performs phase modulation on the second signal from the second duplexer (or the second filter).

The modulation circuit can further comprise a first switch, a fifth switch and a sixth switch, the control circuit can respectively control the closing states of the first switch, the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to first information in the target information, and then the modulation circuit can perform frequency modulation and phase modulation on the excitation signal.

In this embodiment, the signal characteristics of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal may include a signal phase and a signal frequency. The signal phase and the signal frequency may be used to collectively characterize the first information occupying a plurality of bits.

In one example, the control circuit may determine that first information in the target information meets a first frequency condition and a first phase condition, control a closing state of the first switch according to the first frequency condition, and control closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first phase condition, so that the first filter, the first phase shifter, and the first duplexer are sequentially connected, and the first phase shifter performs phase modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal having a first phase and a first frequency.

In another example, the control circuit may determine that the first information in the target information meets a second frequency condition and a first phase condition, control a closed state of the first switch according to the second frequency condition, and control closed states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first phase condition, so that the second filter, the first phase shifter, and the first duplexer are sequentially connected, and the first phase shifter performs phase modulation on the second signal to obtain a signal having the first phase and the second frequency.

It should be noted that, although fig. 13 shows that the second duplexer is connected to the maser, and the phase shifter group is further connected to the second duplexer, that is, the modulation circuit performs frequency modulation on the excitation signal first and then performs phase modulation, the present application is also applicable to a method of performing phase modulation first and then performing frequency modulation. Further, in fig. 13, the first switch and the fifth switch may be combined into a switch, and the control circuit may control the input terminal of the switch to communicate with the output terminal of the first filter or the output terminal of the second filter, and control the output terminal of the switch to communicate with one phase shifter in the phase shifter group, so as to implement frequency modulation and phase modulation on the excitation signal.

By the method, the electronic tag can send the first information which can occupy a plurality of bits to the reader on one time domain resource, so that the communication speed between the electronic tag and the reader is improved. In addition, when the reader demodulates the first information, the reader needs to determine the first information on the time domain resource according to the frequency and the phase of the signal on the time domain resource in the response signal, which is beneficial to improving the demodulation accuracy.

Example 3, phase modulation and amplitude modulation.

Fig. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for phase modulation and amplitude modulation of an excitation signal provided by the present application.

The modulation circuit may include a first filter that filters the excitation signal obtained from the maser and outputs a first signal.

An amplitude attenuator bank may also be included in the modulation circuit, where an amplitude attenuator in the amplitude attenuator bank amplitude modulates the first signal from the first filter.

The modulation circuit may further include a phase shifter group in which the phase shifter phase-modulates the signal after amplitude modulation from the amplitude attenuator.

The modulation circuit may further include a third switch, a fourth switch, a fifth switch, and a sixth switch, and the control circuit may control the closed states of the third switch, the fourth switch, the fifth switch, and the sixth switch according to the first information in the target information, so that the modulation circuit may perform amplitude modulation and phase modulation on the excitation signal (here, the first signal).

In this embodiment, the signal characteristics of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal may include a signal phase and a signal amplitude. The signal phase and the signal amplitude can be used to jointly characterize the first information occupying two bits.

The control circuit may determine a first amplitude condition and a first phase condition that first information in the target information meets, then control a closing state of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first amplitude condition, and control a closing state of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first phase condition, so that the first filter, the first amplitude attenuator, the first phase shifter, and the first duplexer are sequentially connected, the first phase shifter performs phase modulation on the first signal to obtain a signal of a first phase corresponding to the first phase shifter, the first amplitude attenuator performs amplitude modulation on a signal from the first phase shifter to obtain a signal of a first amplitude corresponding to the first amplitude attenuator, and the first duplexer outputs a signal having the first amplitude and the first phase.

It should be noted that, although the amplitude attenuator bank is connected to the first filter and the phase shifter bank is further connected to the amplitude attenuator bank as shown in fig. 14, that is, the modulation circuit performs amplitude modulation and then phase modulation on the first signal, the present application is also applicable to a method of performing phase modulation and then amplitude modulation. Further, in fig. 14, the fourth switch and the fifth switch may be combined into a switch, and the control circuit may control an input terminal of the switch to communicate with one amplitude attenuator in the amplitude attenuator group and an output terminal of the switch to communicate with one phase shifter in the phase shifter group, so as to implement amplitude modulation and phase modulation on the first signal. Further, the first filter in fig. 14 may be replaced by a second filter, so that the modulation circuit performs amplitude modulation and phase modulation on the second signal.

By the method, the electronic tag can send the first information which can occupy a plurality of bits to the reader on one time domain resource, so that the communication speed between the electronic tag and the reader is improved. In addition, when the reader demodulates the first information, the reader needs to determine the first information on the time domain resource according to the phase and the amplitude of the signal on the time domain resource in the response signal, which is beneficial to improving the accuracy of demodulation.

Example 4, frequency modulation, phase modulation and amplitude modulation.

Fig. 15 is a schematic structural diagram of an electronic tag suitable for frequency modulation, phase modulation and amplitude modulation of an excitation signal provided by the present application.

The modulation circuit may include a second duplexer, the second duplexer operable to frequency modulate the excitation signal from the maser. For example, the second duplexer may include a first filter that filters the excitation signal obtained from the maser and outputs the first signal, and a second filter that filters the excitation signal obtained from the maser and outputs the second signal.

The modulation circuit can further comprise a first switch, a third switch, a fourth switch, a fifth switch and a sixth switch, the control circuit can respectively control the closing states of the first switch, the third switch, the fourth switch, the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to first information in the target information, and then the modulation circuit can perform frequency modulation, amplitude modulation and phase modulation on the excitation signal.

For example, the control circuit may derive the signal having the first frequency or derive the signal having the second frequency by controlling a closed state of the first switch. Further, the amplitude attenuator group comprises an amplitude attenuator 1 and an amplitude attenuator 2, which correspond to the amplitude 1 and the amplitude 2, respectively, and the control circuit can obtain a signal with the amplitude 1 or obtain a signal with the amplitude 2 by controlling the closed states of the third switch and the fourth switch. The phase shifter group comprises a phase shifter 1 and a phase shifter 2 which respectively correspond to the phase 1 and the phase 2, and the control circuit can obtain a signal with the phase 1 or the phase 2 by controlling the closing states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch.

Thus, the control circuit obtains eight combinations by controlling the closed states of the first switch, the third switch, the fourth switch, the fifth switch and the sixth switch: phase 1, amplitude 1 and first frequency; phase 1, amplitude 2 and first frequency; phase 1, amplitude 1 and second frequency; phase 1, amplitude 2, and second frequency; phase 2, amplitude 1 and first frequency; phase 2, amplitude 2 and first frequency; phase 2, amplitude 1 and second frequency; phase 2, amplitude 2 and second frequency. And may indicate the first information occupying 3 bits.

In the embodiment of the present application, the signal characteristics of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal may include a signal phase, a signal frequency, and a signal amplitude. The signal phase, signal frequency, and signal amplitude may be used to collectively characterize the first information occupying a plurality of bits.

In one example, the control circuit may determine a first frequency condition, a first amplitude condition, and a first phase condition that are met by first information in the target information, control a closed state of the first switch according to the first frequency condition, control closed states of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first amplitude condition, and control closed states of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first phase condition, so that the first filter, the first amplitude attenuator, the first phase shifter, and the first duplexer are sequentially connected. The first amplitude attenuator amplitude-modulates the first signal to obtain a signal of a first amplitude corresponding to the first amplitude attenuator, and the first phase shifter phase-modulates the signal from the first amplitude attenuator to obtain a signal of a first phase corresponding to the first phase shifter. As such, the signal output by the first duplexer has a first frequency, a first phase, and a first amplitude.

In yet another example, the control circuit may determine a second frequency condition, a first amplitude condition, and a first phase condition that the first information in the target information meets, and then control a closed state of the first switch according to the second frequency condition, control a closed state of the third switch and the fourth switch according to the first amplitude condition, and control a closed state of the fifth switch and the sixth switch according to the first phase condition, so that the second filter, the first amplitude attenuator, the first phase shifter, and the first duplexer are sequentially connected. The first amplitude attenuator amplitude-modulates the second signal to obtain a first amplitude signal corresponding to the first amplitude attenuator, and the first phase shifter phase-modulates the signal from the first amplitude attenuator to obtain a first phase signal corresponding to the first phase shifter. Thus, the signal output in the first duplexer has the second frequency, the first phase and the first amplitude.

It should be noted that, although fig. 15 shows that the second duplexer is connected to the maser, the amplitude attenuator bank is further connected to the second duplexer, the phase shifter bank is connected to the amplitude attenuator bank, and the modulation circuit performs frequency modulation, amplitude modulation, and phase modulation on the excitation signal, the present application is also applicable to a modulation order of frequency modulation, phase modulation, amplitude modulation, or other modulation orders. Further, in fig. 15, the first switch and the third switch may be combined into one switch, and the fourth switch and the fifth switch may be combined into one switch, so as to realize frequency modulation, amplitude modulation and phase modulation of the excitation signal.

By the method, the electronic tag can send the first information which can occupy a plurality of bits to the reader on one time domain resource, so that the communication speed between the electronic tag and the reader is improved. In addition, when the reader demodulates the first information, the reader needs to determine the first information on the time domain resource according to the frequency, the amplitude and the phase of the signal on the time domain resource in the response signal, which is beneficial to further improving the accuracy of demodulation.

Based on the same inventive concept, the present application provides a communication method, in which the first device may be an electronic tag, or a chip or an integrated circuit in the electronic tag, and the second device may be a reader, or a chip or an integrated circuit in the reader.

Referring to the flow chart diagram exemplarily shown in fig. 16, a communication method provided by the present application is explained:

at step 1601, the second device generates an excitation signal. It is explained that the second device may actively generate an excitation signal for triggering the first device to send the target information to the second device when the target information in the first device needs to be read.

At step 1602, the second device sends an excitation signal to the first device.

In step 1603, the first device obtains an excitation signal according to the excitation signal, where the excitation signal includes a first signal and a second signal, and a frequency of the excitation signal, a frequency of the first signal (i.e., a first frequency), and a frequency of the second signal (i.e., a second frequency) are different in pairs. Illustratively, a maser is included in the first device. And the first device inputs the excitation signal acquired from the second device into the maser, the particles in the maser in the low energy level state are in the high energy level state under the excitation of the excitation signal, and two energy level transitions occur in the high energy level state, and the excitation signal is output and comprises a first signal and a second signal which respectively correspond to the two energy level transitions.

And 1604, modulating the excitation signal by the first device according to the first information in the target information to obtain a response signal.

Illustratively, the target information includes M pieces of first information in a sequential order. The first device may modulate the excitation signal in sequence according to M pieces of first information to obtain a response signal for carrying the target information, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

For one first information of the M pieces of first information, the first device may modulate the excitation signal in one or more modulation modes of frequency modulation, phase modulation, and amplitude modulation according to the first information to obtain a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the response signal. Wherein the signal has a signal characteristic corresponding to the first information, the signal characteristic corresponding to the modulation mode and may include one or more of frequency, phase, and amplitude.

In an optional manner, a frequency of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is a frequency of the first signal, where the first information meets a first frequency condition; or, the frequency of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the response signal is the frequency of the second signal, wherein the first information meets the second frequency condition; the first frequency condition and the second frequency condition are predefined or preconfigured conditions, the first frequency condition being different from the second frequency condition.

In an optional manner, the amplitude of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is a first amplitude, where the first information meets a first amplitude condition, and the first amplitude condition is one of K amplitude conditions; the K amplitude conditions are predefined or preconfigured conditions, any two of the K amplitude conditions are different, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

In an optional manner, a phase of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is a first phase, where the first information meets a first phase condition, and the first phase condition is one of N phase conditions; the N phase conditions are predefined or preconfigured conditions, any two of the N phase conditions are different, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

The first device may sequentially modulate the M first information to obtain signals on the time domain resources corresponding to the first information in the response signal, and sequentially transmit the signals to the second device, where it can also be understood that the signals on the time domain resources corresponding to the M first information form the response signal transmitted by the first device to the second device.

In step 1605, the first device sends a response signal to the second device.

In step 1606, the second device may determine the first information corresponding to the time domain resource according to the signal characteristics of the signal in the response signal and on the time domain resource, so as to obtain the target information composed of M pieces of first information.

The implementation manners not described in detail in the above step 1601 to the above step 1606 can be referred to the description in the related embodiment of fig. 3 to fig. 15, and are not described again here.

As described above, co-frequency interference does not exist between the frequency of the excitation signal transmitted by the reader to the electronic tag and the frequency of the response signal received from the electronic tag, and the passive communication method is applicable to relatively long-distance passive communication. And the method is suitable for the scenes that the electronic tag is arranged on strong reflection surfaces such as metal and liquid. Furthermore, the frequency of the excitation signal sent by the reader and the frequency of the received response signal from the electronic tag can both use an unauthorized frequency band, and further can share the unauthorized frequency band with WLAN, bluetooth and the like, that is, can share the radio frequency front end and the antenna with WLAN, bluetooth and the like, without the need of arranging a separate radio frequency front end and a separate antenna, which is beneficial to reducing the cost of the reader and the electronic tag. Furthermore, the energy of the excitation signal used to excite the maser in the present application, which is lower than that of the conventional RFID, may help to reduce power consumption.

Fig. 17 is a schematic structural diagram of a chip according to an embodiment of the present application. The chip 1700 includes one or more processors 1701 and interface circuits 1702. Optionally, the chip 1700 may further include a bus 1703. Wherein:

the processor 1701 may be an integrated circuit chip having signal processing capabilities. In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by instructions in the form of hardware, integrated logic circuits, or software in the processor 1701. The processor 1701 may be a general purpose processor, a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware components. The methods, steps disclosed in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented or performed. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor or the like.

The interface circuit 1702 may be used for transmission or reception of data, instructions, or information, and the processor 1701 may perform processing using the data, instructions, or other information received by the interface circuit 1702, and may transmit processing completion information through the interface circuit 1702.

Optionally, the chip further comprises a memory, which may include read only memory and random access memory, and provides operating instructions and data to the processor. The portion of memory may also include non-volatile random access memory (NVRAM).

Optionally, the memory stores executable software modules or data structures, and the processor may perform corresponding operations by calling the operation instructions stored in the memory (the operation instructions may be stored in an operating system).

Alternatively, the chip may be used in a communication device (such as an electronic tag or a reader) related to the embodiments of the present application. Optionally, the interface circuit 1702 may be used to output the results of the execution by the processor 1701. For the data transmission method provided in one or more embodiments of the present application, reference may be made to the foregoing embodiments, and details are not repeated here.

It should be noted that the functions of the processor 1701 and the interface circuit 1702 may be implemented by hardware design, software design, or a combination of hardware and software, which is not limited herein.

Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication system, which includes the first device and the second device in the above embodiments.

Based on the above embodiments, the present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, in which a computer program is stored, and when the computer program runs on a computer, the computer is caused to execute the communication method provided by the above embodiments. Storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. Taking this as an example but not limiting: a computer-readable medium may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed by a computer.

Based on the above embodiments, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to execute the communication method provided by the above embodiments.

Based on the above embodiments, an embodiment of the present application further provides a processing apparatus, which includes at least one processor and a communication interface, where the communication interface provides a program or an instruction for the at least one processor, and the at least one processor implements the program or the instruction through a logic circuit or executes the program or the instruction to implement a device where the processing apparatus is located to perform the communication method provided in the above embodiments. The processing means may be a chip or an integrated circuit.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products according to the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flow diagrams and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made in the present application without departing from the scope of the application. Thus, if such modifications and variations of the present application fall within the scope of the claims of the present application and their equivalents, the present application is intended to include such modifications and variations as well.

Claims

1. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a first duplexer for receiving an excitation signal from the second device through the first antenna;

the maser is used for obtaining an excitation signal according to the excitation signal obtained from the first duplexer; the excitation signal comprises a first signal, and the frequency of the excitation signal is different from the frequency of the first signal;

the modulation circuit is connected with the maser and is used for modulating the excitation signal under the control of the control circuit to obtain a response signal;

the first duplexer is further configured to send the response signal to the second apparatus through the first antenna;

the control circuit is configured to control the modulation circuit according to first information of M pieces of first information, where the M pieces of first information are predefined or preconfigured, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a signal characteristic of a signal in the reply signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information characterizes the first information, the signal characteristic comprising one or more of a frequency, an amplitude, and a phase.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the excitation signal further comprises a second signal, the frequency of the excitation signal, the frequency of the first signal being different pairwise;

the modulation circuit at least comprises any one or more of the following items:

a first filter for performing filtering processing on the excitation signal to obtain the first signal;

a second filter for performing filtering processing on the excitation signal to obtain the second signal;

an amplitude attenuator group, wherein the amplitude attenuator group comprises K amplitude attenuators, the amplitude attenuators in the K amplitude attenuators are used for executing amplitude modulation, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 2;

the phase shifter group comprises N phase shifters, wherein the phase shifters in the N phase shifters are used for executing phase modulation, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

4. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the modulation circuit comprises a second duplexer coupled to the maser, the second duplexer comprising a first filter and a second filter;

the control circuit is configured to communicate a first filter with the first duplexer according to the first information, and the first duplexer is configured to receive a first signal obtained by filtering through the first filter; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the control circuit is configured to communicate a second filter with the first duplexer according to the first information, and the first duplexer is configured to receive a second signal obtained by filtering the second signal with the second filter.

5. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the modulation circuit comprises a first filter coupled to the maser;

the control circuit is configured to communicate the first filter with the first duplexer according to the first information, and the first duplexer is configured to receive a first signal obtained by filtering through the first filter; or disconnecting the first filter and the first duplexer.

6. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the modulation circuit comprises a first filter connected to the maser, a set of amplitude attenuators comprising K amplitude attenuators, K being an integer greater than or equal to 2;

the control circuit is configured to communicate the first filter, a first amplitude attenuator and the first duplexer according to the first information, where the first amplitude attenuator is an amplitude attenuator corresponding to the first information in the K amplitude attenuators, and the first amplitude attenuator is configured to perform amplitude modulation on a first signal obtained by filtering processing performed by the first filter.

7. The apparatus of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the modulation circuit comprises a first filter coupled to the maser, a bank of phase shifters including N phase shifters, N being an integer greater than or equal to 2;

the control circuit is configured to communicate the first filter, a first phase shifter and the first duplexer according to the first information, where the first phase shifter is a phase shifter corresponding to the first information among the N phase shifters, and the first phase shifter is configured to perform phase modulation on a first signal obtained by filtering processing by the first filter.

8. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the particle in the low energy state in the maser is in the high energy state under excitation of the excitation signal, and two energy level transitions occur in the high energy state, and the excitation signal is output, and the excitation signal includes a first signal and a second signal corresponding to the two energy level transitions, respectively.

9. A communications apparatus, comprising:

a stimulus circuit for generating a stimulus signal;

the third duplexer is used for transmitting the excitation signal to the first device through the second antenna;

the third duplexer is further used for receiving a response signal from the first device through the second antenna;

the frequency of the excitation signal and the frequency of the reply signal are different, the reply signal characterizes first information of M first information in the first device, the M first information is predefined or preconfigured, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein a signal characteristic of a signal in the reply signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information characterizes the first information, the signal characteristic comprising one or more of frequency, amplitude, and phase.

11. A method of communication, comprising:

receiving an excitation signal from a second device;

obtaining an excitation signal according to the excitation signal, wherein the excitation signal comprises a first signal, and the frequency of the excitation signal is different from that of the first signal;

modulating the excitation signal according to first information in M pieces of first information to obtain a response signal, wherein the M pieces of first information are predefined or preconfigured, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

transmitting the reply signal to the second device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first information is characterized by a signal characteristic of a signal in the reply signal on a time domain resource to which the first information corresponds, the signal characteristic comprising one or more of frequency, amplitude, and phase.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the excitation signal further comprises a second signal, the frequency of the excitation signal, the frequency of the first signal being different pairwise;

the frequency of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the response signal is the frequency of the first signal, wherein the first information meets a first frequency condition; alternatively, the first and second electrodes may be,

the frequency of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the response signal is the frequency of the second signal, wherein the first information meets a second frequency condition;

the first and second frequency conditions are predefined or preconfigured conditions, the first frequency condition being different from the second frequency condition.

14. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein the amplitude of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is a first amplitude, wherein the first information satisfies a first amplitude condition, and the first amplitude condition is one of K amplitude conditions;

the K amplitude conditions are predefined or preconfigured conditions, any two amplitude conditions of the K amplitude conditions are different, and K is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

15. The method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the phase of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is a first phase, wherein the first information meets a first phase condition, and the first phase condition is one of N phase conditions;

the N phase conditions are predefined or preconfigured conditions, any two of the N phase conditions are different, and N is an integer greater than or equal to 2.

16. The method of any of claims 11 to 15, wherein said deriving an excitation signal from said excitation signal comprises:

inputting the excitation signal into a maser;

and the particles in the low energy level state in the maser are in a high energy level state under the excitation of the excitation signal, and perform energy level transition twice in the high energy level state to output the excitation signal, wherein the excitation signal comprises a first signal and a second signal respectively corresponding to the energy level transition twice.

17. A method of communication, comprising:

generating an excitation signal, and transmitting the excitation signal to a first device;

receiving a response signal from the first device, wherein the frequency of the excitation signal is different from the frequency of the response signal, and the response signal characterizes first information of M first information in the first device, wherein the M first information is predefined or preconfigured, and M is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the first information is characterized by a signal characteristic of a signal in the reply signal on a time domain resource to which the first information corresponds, the signal characteristic comprising one or more of frequency, amplitude, and phase.

19. The method of claim 17 or 18,

the frequency of a signal on a time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the response signal is the frequency of a second signal, wherein the first information meets a second frequency condition;

the first and second frequency conditions are predefined or preconfigured conditions, the first frequency condition being different from the second frequency condition;

the frequency of the first signal, the frequency of the second signal, and the frequency of the excitation signal are different in pairs.

20. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein the amplitude of the signal in the reply signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information is a first amplitude, wherein the first information satisfies a first amplitude condition, and the first amplitude condition is one of K amplitude conditions;

21. The method according to any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein the phase of the signal on the time domain resource corresponding to the first information in the reply signal is a first phase, wherein the first information satisfies a first phase condition, and the first phase condition is one of N phase conditions;

22. A communications apparatus, comprising means for performing the method of any of claims 11 to 16, or any of claims 17 to 21.

23. A processing apparatus comprising at least one processor and a communication interface, the communication interface providing programs or instructions for the at least one processor, the at least one processor implementing the programs or instructions by logic circuits or executing a device on which the processing apparatus is located to perform the method of any one of claims 11 to 16 or any one of claims 17 to 21.

24. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a communication apparatus, carry out the method of any of claims 11 to 16, or any of claims 17 to 21.

25. A computer program product comprising a computer program or instructions which, when executed by a communication device, implements the method of any of claims 11 to 16, or any of claims 17 to 21.

26. A communication system, characterized in that it comprises a communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and a communication device according to claim 9 or 10.