CN114629521A - Radio frequency front end module, method for controlling radio frequency front end module and electronic equipment - Google Patents
Radio frequency front end module, method for controlling radio frequency front end module and electronic equipment Download PDFInfo
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- H04B1/00—Details of transmission systems, not covered by a single one of groups H04B3/00 - H04B13/00; Details of transmission systems not characterised by the medium used for transmission
- H04B1/38—Transceivers, i.e. devices in which transmitter and receiver form a structural unit and in which at least one part is used for functions of transmitting and receiving
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- H—ELECTRICITY
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- H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
- H04B7/02—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas
- H04B7/04—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas
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- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
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- H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
- H04B7/02—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas
- H04B7/04—Diversity systems; Multi-antenna system, i.e. transmission or reception using multiple antennas using two or more spaced independent antennas
- H04B7/0413—MIMO systems
Abstract
The application provides a radio frequency front end module, a method for controlling the radio frequency front end module and electronic equipment. The radio frequency front end module includes: a radio frequency transceiver to process radio frequency signals; a plurality of radio frequency branches for transmitting radio frequency signals, each radio frequency branch including an internal antenna; the first external antenna interface is connected with a first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for receiving radio frequency signals through the external antenna after being connected with the external antenna; the first radio frequency branch is used for sending radio frequency signals through a first built-in antenna of the first radio frequency branch after the radio frequency signals are received, and other radio frequency branches except the first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches can be used for receiving the radio frequency signals sent by the first built-in antenna. According to the radio frequency front end, the internal radio frequency circuit corresponding to the external antenna interface is improved, so that the radio frequency front end can provide wireless signal coverage capability meeting the wireless communication quality requirement in the process of transmitting/receiving radio frequency signals by using the external antenna.
Description
Technical Field
The present application relates to the field of antenna technologies, and in particular, to a radio frequency front end module, a method for controlling the radio frequency front end module, and an electronic device.
Background
Some electronic devices (e.g., rf front-end modules) may enhance the coverage of wireless signals through an external antenna. However, the electronic device provided by the related art can only provide a limited external antenna interface due to limitations in design difficulty and the like.
Therefore, when the electronic device is used as a signal source of wireless signal coverage, the wireless signal coverage capability provided by the electronic device cannot meet the requirement.
Disclosure of Invention
In view of the above, the present application provides a radio frequency front end module and an electronic device to meet the requirement of wireless signal coverage capability.
In a first aspect, a radio frequency front end module is provided, including: a radio frequency transceiver for processing radio frequency signals; the radio frequency transceivers are connected with the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for transmitting the radio frequency signals, and each radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches comprises a built-in antenna; the first external antenna interface is connected with a first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for receiving the radio frequency signal through the external antenna after being connected with the external antenna; the first radio frequency branch is configured to send the radio frequency signal through a first internal antenna of the first radio frequency branch after receiving the radio frequency signal, and other radio frequency branches except the first radio frequency branch among the plurality of radio frequency branches may be configured to receive the radio frequency signal sent by the first internal antenna.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the first radio frequency branch further includes: the first end of the signal amplification module is connected with the first external antenna interface, the second end of the signal amplification module is connected with the first built-in antenna, and the signal amplification module is used for amplifying the radio-frequency signal received through the external antenna interface and sending the amplified radio-frequency signal to the first built-in antenna.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the radio frequency front end module further includes: and the second external antenna interface is connected with a second radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for transmitting/receiving the radio frequency signal through the external antenna after being connected with the external antenna.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the second radio frequency branch further includes: and two first ends of the switch unit are respectively connected with the second built-in antenna and the second external antenna interface of the second radio frequency branch, a second end of the switch unit is connected with the radio frequency transceiver, and the radio frequency transceiver controls the switch unit to switch between the second built-in antenna and the second external antenna interface according to the signal quality of the radio frequency signal received by the second built-in antenna and the radio frequency signal received by the second external antenna interface through the external antenna.
In a second aspect, a method of controlling a radio frequency front end module is provided, the radio frequency front end module comprising: a radio frequency transceiver for processing radio frequency signals; the radio frequency transceivers are connected with the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for transmitting the radio frequency signals, and each radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches comprises a built-in antenna; the first external antenna interface is connected with a first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches; the method comprises the following steps: receiving the radio frequency signal through a first external antenna connected with the first external antenna interface; transmitting the radio frequency signal through a first built-in antenna of the first radio frequency branch; and controlling other radio frequency branches except the first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches to receive the radio frequency signal sent by the first built-in antenna.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the first radio frequency branch further includes: a first end of the signal amplification module is connected with the first external antenna interface, and a second end of the signal amplification module is connected with the first built-in antenna; before transmitting the radio frequency signal through the first internal antenna of the first radio frequency branch, the method further comprises: controlling the signal amplification module to amplify the radio-frequency signal acquired through the external antenna interface; and sending the radio frequency signal amplified by the signal amplification module to the first built-in antenna.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the radio frequency front end module further includes: a second external antenna interface connected to a second radio frequency branch of the plurality of radio frequency branches; the method further comprises the following steps: and after the second external antenna interface is connected with an external antenna, the radio-frequency signal is transmitted/received through the external antenna.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the second radio frequency branch further includes: two first ends of the switch unit are respectively connected with the second built-in antenna of the second radio frequency branch and the second external antenna interface, and a second end of the switch unit is connected with the radio frequency transceiver; the method further comprises the following steps: and controlling the switch unit to switch between the second built-in antenna and the second external antenna interface according to the signal quality of the radio-frequency signal received by the second built-in antenna and the signal quality of the radio-frequency signal received by the second external antenna interface through the external antenna.
In a third aspect, an electronic device is provided, which includes the rf front-end module as described in the first aspect.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the electronic device is a customer premises equipment CPE.
The radio frequency front end module provided by the embodiment of the application enables the limited external antenna to have multi-MIMO capability meeting communication requirements through the improvement of the radio frequency circuit structure connected with the external antenna, thereby enhancing the signal coverage capability of the radio frequency front end when the radio frequency front end is used as a signal source for providing wireless signal coverage.
Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency front end module according to an embodiment of the present application.
Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency front end module according to another embodiment of the present application.
Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an rf front-end module according to an embodiment of the present application.
Detailed Description
The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present application, and not all of the embodiments.
In the initial stage of wireless communication system construction, the wireless network is generally covered in a manner that an outdoor base station gives consideration to indoor coverage. The wireless communication system may refer to any communication system, such as a fifth generation (5G) system or a New Radio (NR), a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system, an LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) system, an LTE Time Division Duplex (TDD), and the like. The technical scheme provided by the application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as a sixth generation mobile communication system, a satellite communication system and the like.
The mode of taking account of indoor coverage by adopting the outdoor base station has the advantages of fast network construction, low investment cost and the like. However, in the scheme of considering indoor coverage by the outdoor base station, the signal coverage quality is limited by many factors. For example, the building materials and building structures of buildings that are required to provide wireless network coverage can affect communication quality. For a single building that is single-story, small in area, and the building material is easily penetrated by wireless signals, an outdoor base station may provide sufficient indoor coverage capability. For large buildings, the outdoor base station generally cannot meet the requirement of deep coverage of the indoor wireless network.
As another example, the indoor coverage quality of the wireless network is affected by different requirements of the communication capacity and the communication frequency. For the convenience of understanding, the relationship between the wireless communication parameters and the indoor coverage quality of the wireless network is briefly described by taking the communication frequency as an example. The radio signal has a propagation characteristic that the higher the frequency, the higher the propagation loss. The propagation losses may include, for example, losses of spatial propagation and penetration losses through building materials.
Table 1 shows test data of the penetration loss of the radio signal of different frequency bands to the building material. As can be seen from table 1, the path loss at the communication frequency of 2.6GHz of the wireless signal is about 4.5dB higher than that at the communication frequency of 1.8GHz at the same distance. The path loss of the wireless signal at the communication frequency of 3.5GHz is about 2.5dB higher than that at the communication frequency of 2.6 GHz.
TABLE 1
It can be understood that, in the process of propagation of a wireless signal, the higher the propagation loss, the poorer the wireless signal coverage capability. In order to meet the requirements on the coverage depth and the coverage quality of wireless signals and reduce the cost of network deployment, a radio frequency front-end module matched with a base station can be added in an area needing to strengthen the coverage.
The type of the rf front-end module is not particularly limited as long as the rf front-end module can provide high-quality wireless signal coverage. In some embodiments, the radio frequency front end module may receive/transmit radio frequency signals. The radio frequency signal may refer to, for example, a cellular network signal (e.g., a 4G/5G signal) or a WIFI signal.
The rf front-end module may be a device capable of independently providing signal coverage, or may be a module in an electronic device capable of providing signal coverage. For example, the rf front-end module may be a Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), and the rf front-end module may also be one of the CPEs.
The electronic device mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be any intelligent terminal device. For example, the electronic device may include a personal computer, a tablet computer, a smart phone, and the like. In some embodiments, the intelligent end device may also be used as a CPE. For example, the intelligent terminal device can be used as a signal source to provide wireless network signal coverage to the outside.
For example, the receiving/transmitting of the rf signal by the rf front-end module may mean that the rf front-end module receives a first rf signal, converts the first rf signal into a second rf signal, and then transmits the second rf signal. The first radio frequency signal and the second radio frequency signal may be the same signal or different signals. For example, the first radio frequency signal may be a 5G signal and the second radio frequency signal may be a WIFI signal. By converting the first radio frequency signal (e.g. 4G/5G signal) into the second radio frequency signal (e.g. WIFI signal), the radio frequency front end module can support multiple or multiple terminal devices to access the internet at the same time. That is, the radio frequency front end module may provide wireless network access for the terminal device, thereby enhancing the coverage capability of the wireless base station.
Although the radio frequency front end module may be used to provide deep coverage in conjunction with a base station of a wireless communication system. However, the rf front-end module provided by the related art cannot provide sufficient through-wall capability, and the signal coverage capability provided by the rf front-end module still cannot meet the requirement of the wireless communication system for deep signal coverage. Especially for 5G communication systems, 5G communication systems use a higher spectral range in order to obtain better spectral resources. As can be seen from table 1, the higher the frequency of communication, the lower the wall penetration capability of the wireless signal. Therefore, the existing rf front-end module cannot provide signal coverage capability meeting the requirement of 5G communication.
In order to obtain better signal coverage quality (for example, to overcome the loss caused by wall penetration), an interface for externally connecting an antenna can be added to the radio frequency front end module. The coverage quality of wireless signals is improved by adding an external antenna on the radio frequency front-end module. However, due to the requirements of product size, product beauty, etc., many rf front-end modules do not have external antenna characteristics planned. Even if the rf front-end module can provide an interface of an external antenna, due to the influence of factors such as size and design difficulty, the current rf front-end generally provides only two external antenna interfaces. Therefore, the radio frequency front end can only provide the capability of 2x2MIMO at most when using the external antenna.
For a wireless communication system, the stronger the MIMO capability that the rf front end can provide, the higher the communication rate, the better the communication quality. Therefore, the rf front-end module provided by the related art cannot meet the actual requirement. In view of the above, the present application provides a radio frequency front end module to meet the requirement of the radio frequency front end module in terms of wireless signal coverage capability.
Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency front end module according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 1, the rf front-end module may include an rf transceiver 110, a plurality of rf branches (e.g., a first rf branch 121 to an nth rf branch 12N), and an external antenna interface 130. Each module is described separately below.
The radio frequency transceiver 110 may be used to process radio frequency signals. For example, the radio frequency transceiver 110 may control the reception and transmission processes of radio frequency signals. The radio frequency signal may be any wireless communication signal. For example, the radio frequency signal may be a network signal based on an LTE system or an NR system. As another example, the radio frequency signal may be a WIFI signal. The radio frequency signal may comprise a plurality of different sub-signals. Each sub-signal may correspond to a different signal type. For example, the radio frequency signal may comprise three sub-signals. As an example, the first sub-signal may be a WIFI signal, the second sub-signal may be a TDD signal, and the third sub-signal may be an FDD signal. As another example, the radio frequency signal may be a network signal based on an LTE system. For example, the first sub-signal may comprise a frequency band 38, the second sub-signal may comprise a frequency band 39, and the third sub-signal may comprise a frequency band 40.
A plurality of radio frequency branches may be used to transmit radio frequency signals. It should be understood that the number of the radio frequency branches may be set according to actual communication requirements, and the number of the radio frequency branches is not limited in the present application. For example, the plurality of rf branches may include 10 rf branches, and for example, the plurality of rf branches may include 20 rf branches.
Each of the plurality of radio frequency branches may include a built-in antenna. For example, as shown in fig. 1, the first rf branch 121 may include a first built-in antenna 121-1, the second rf branch 122 may include a second built-in antenna 122-1, and the nth rf branch 12N may include an nth built-in antenna 12N-1. The internal antennas of the other radio frequency branches may be used for receiving/transmitting radio frequency signals in addition to the first internal antenna 121-1. In some embodiments, a radio frequency signal herein may be understood as information conveyed in the form of radio waves. In some embodiments, the internal antenna is reciprocal, i.e., the same secondary antenna can be used as both a transmit antenna and a receive antenna.
The plurality of rf branches may include a first rf branch 121. The first rf branch 121 may be connected to the first external antenna interface 130. When the first rf branch 121 is connected to the external antenna through the first external antenna interface 130, the first rf branch 121 may receive an rf signal through the external antenna. It should be understood that the internal antenna and the external antenna mentioned in the embodiments of the present application may be used for receiving or transmitting signals. The shapes of the built-in antenna and the external antenna can be designed according to actual requirements, and the specific implementation shapes of the built-in antenna and the external antenna are not limited by the application.
The first rf branch 121 may be configured to transmit the rf signal through the first internal antenna of the first rf branch after receiving the rf signal. The other rf branches except the first rf branch among the plurality of rf branches may be used to receive the rf signal transmitted by the first built-in antenna 121-1. In some embodiments, the other rf branches of the plurality of rf branches except the first rf branch may receive the rf signal transmitted by the first internal antenna 121-1 by using the internal antenna on the rf branch. As an example, after the first rf branch 121 receives an rf signal through the external antenna, the received rf signal may be transmitted through the first internal antenna 121-1. The internal antenna 122-1 of the second rf branch 122 to the internal antenna 12N-1 of the nth rf branch 12N may receive the rf signal transmitted by the first internal antenna 121-1.
The first external antenna interface 130 may be an interface conforming to any antenna interface standard. The first external antenna interface 130 may include any number of antenna interfaces. The specific implementation form of the external antenna interface 130 and the number of the included antenna interfaces are not limited in the present application. The first external antenna interface 130 may be connected to an external antenna to obtain a radio frequency signal received by the external antenna. The external antenna can be any antenna, and the specific form of the external antenna is not limited by the application.
It can be understood that the external antenna is usually used when the internal antenna cannot normally receive the rf signal. The first radio frequency branch transmits the radio frequency signals received by the external antenna to the internal antennas of other radio frequency branches, so that the internal antennas in the radio frequency branches can be fully utilized. In other words, through the secondary reception of the radio frequency signal, the radio frequency signal received by the external antenna can have multiple MIMO capability and multiple endec combining capability, thereby meeting the requirement of the wireless communication system for the wireless signal coverage capability.
For example, the rf front end module may be placed indoors. Due to through-wall loss, the built-in antenna provided by the rf front-end module may not be able to receive rf signals. At this time, the radio frequency front end module can be connected with the external antenna, and the external antenna is placed outdoors. The length, the size and the like of the external antenna can be selected randomly according to needs. When the external antenna positioned outdoors receives signals, the external antenna is not interfered by the wall of a building any more, so that the problem that the radio-frequency signals cannot be received due to wall penetration loss can be solved. Correspondingly, through setting up external antenna, can promote the wireless signal reception's of radio frequency front end module ability, further promote the wireless signal coverage ability of radio frequency front end module.
The radio frequency front-end module provided by the embodiment of the application has small modification on the radio frequency branch corresponding to the built-in antenna. Therefore, when the radio frequency front-end module provided by the embodiment of the application does not use the external antenna, the radio frequency branch corresponding to the internal antenna still has good signal coverage capability. That is, the rf front-end module provided by the present application does not affect the use of the internal antenna of the rf front-end module. In addition, the radio frequency front end module provided by the embodiment of the application is simple in design and implementation and low in implementation cost.
In some embodiments, the first rf branch 121 may further include a signal amplification module. The first end of the signal amplification module can be connected with the first external antenna interface and is used for amplifying the first radio-frequency signal received by the external antenna interface. The second end of the signal amplification module may be connected to the first internal antenna 121-1, and is configured to send the amplified first radio frequency signal to the first internal antenna 121-1. The signal amplification module can be realized in various ways, and the specific implementation manner of the signal amplification module is not limited in the application. As one example, the signal amplification module may use a power amplifier. By adding a signal amplification module to the first rf branch 121, the first rf signal received by the first rf branch 121 can be amplified, so as to further enhance the signal coverage capability of the rf front-end module.
Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency front end module according to another embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 2, the RF front-end module may include an RF transceiver 210, a plurality of RF branches 221-22N, a first external antenna interface 231 and a second external antenna interface 232.
The radio frequency transceiver 210 may be used to process radio frequency signals. For example, the radio frequency transceiver 210 may receive/transmit radio frequency signals.
The plurality of radio frequency branches may include a first radio frequency branch 221. The first rf branch 221 may be connected to the first external antenna interface 231, so as to receive the rf signal through the first external antenna when the first external antenna interface 231 is connected to the first external antenna.
The first external antenna interface 231 may be any type of external antenna interface. The first external antenna connected to the first external antenna interface 231 may be an antenna of any shape, material, or size. The first external antenna can be placed at any position.
The first rf branch 221 may include a first built-in antenna 221-1 and a signal amplification module 221-2. The signal amplification module 221-2 may be connected to the first external antenna interface 231 and the first internal antenna 221-1. The first rf branch 221 may amplify the received rf signal through the signal amplifying module 221-2 after receiving the rf signal through the first external antenna interface 231, and then transmit the amplified rf signal through the first internal antenna 221-1.
The signal amplification module 221-2 may be implemented in various ways, and the specific implementation manner of the signal amplification module 221-2 is not limited in this application. As one example, the signal amplification module 221-2 may use a power amplifier. By adding the signal amplification module to the first rf branch 221, the rf signal received by the first rf branch 221 can be amplified, so as to further enhance the signal coverage capability of the rf front-end module.
The other radio frequency branches except the first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches can be used for receiving the radio frequency signals amplified by the first radio frequency branch, so that the first external antenna can have multi-MIMO capability.
The plurality of radio frequency branches may further include a second radio frequency branch 222. In some embodiments, the second rf branch 222 may be connected with a second external antenna interface 232. After the second external antenna interface 232 is connected to the external antenna, the radio frequency signal can be received/transmitted through the external antenna. By arranging the second external antenna interface, the transmission link of the radio frequency signal can obtain high gain of the external antenna so as to enhance the coverage capability of the transmission signal.
In some embodiments, the second rf branch may include a second built-in antenna 222-1 and a switching unit 222-3. Two first terminals of the switching unit 222-3 may be connected to the second internal antenna 222-1 and the second external antenna interface 232 of the second rf branch 222, respectively. A second terminal of the switching unit 222-3 may be connected with the radio frequency transceiver 210. The rf transceiver 210 may control the switch unit 222-3 to switch between the second internal antenna 222-1 and the second external antenna interface 232 according to the signal quality of the rf signal received by the second internal antenna 222-1 and the rf signal received by the second external antenna interface 232 through the external antenna. In other words, the switch unit 222-3 may determine which antenna to use as the antenna for receiving/transmitting the radio frequency signal according to the quality of the signal received by the currently operating antenna (e.g., the second built-in antenna 222-1 or the external antenna connected to the second external antenna interface 232), thereby ensuring that stable signal coverage is provided.
In some embodiments, the radio frequency signals received by the second internal antenna 222-1 may include radio frequency signals transmitted by the first internal antenna 221-1. The switching unit 222-3 may determine which antenna to use as an antenna for receiving the radio frequency signal according to the signal quality of the radio frequency signal received by the second built-in antenna 222-1 and transmitted by the first built-in antenna 221-1 and the signal quality of the radio frequency signal received through the second external antenna interface 232.
The switching unit 222-3 may be any component that can perform a switching function. For example, the switch unit 222-3 may be a logic three-pole switch. The conversion of the receiving/transmitting antenna of the second rf branch between the second built-in antenna 222-1 and the external antenna 232 (the external antenna is connected to the second external antenna interface to transmit the received rf signal to the second rf branch or transmit the rf signal transmitted by the second rf branch) can be realized by the logic three-pole switch.
The switching timing can be determined according to various conditions. For example, whether to convert from receiving/transmitting the rf signal by the second built-in antenna 222-1 to receiving/transmitting the rf signal by the external antenna may be determined according to the signal quality of the received rf signal. As an example, the second rf branch 222 currently uses the second built-in antenna 222-1 as an antenna for receiving/transmitting rf signals. If the rf transceiver determines that the signal quality provided by the second internal antenna 222-1 is poor and cannot meet the communication requirement, the rf transceiver switches the antenna through the switch unit to receive/transmit the rf signal using the external antenna.
As can be seen from the foregoing description, the rf front-end module generally provides only two external antenna interfaces due to layout difficulties and aesthetic considerations. Through setting up the second radio frequency branch road in many radio frequency branch roads and external antenna interface connection, can make full use of two external antenna interfaces, under the prerequisite that does not influence the design degree of difficulty and pleasing to the eye, provide high-quality signal coverage ability. Because the length, the shape, the placement position and the like of the external antenna can be selected at will according to the requirements of users, the external antenna is used as a receiving/transmitting antenna of the radio frequency front-end module, so that the arrangement mode of the radio frequency front-end module can be more flexible to adapt to various different signal coverage scene requirements.
The second rf branch 222 connected to the second external antenna interface 232 may multiplex rf branches corresponding to the internal antenna provided by the rf front-end module. In other words, the internal circuit of the second external antenna interface 232 in this embodiment may be improved on the rf circuit corresponding to the original internal antenna of the rf front-end module. Therefore, the original circuit of the radio frequency front end module can be fully utilized, and the design difficulty and the implementation cost are reduced.
In some embodiments, some or all of the plurality of rf branches may include an rf module thereon. The radio frequency module may be used to pre-process the signal. In some embodiments, the radio frequency module may screen the signal. For example, the radio frequency signal may comprise a plurality of sub-signals. The plurality of sub-signals may correspond to different signals, respectively. As one example, the plurality of sub-signals may include a plurality of TDD signals and/or a plurality of FDD signals. As another example, the plurality of sub-signals may correspond to signals of different frequency bands. For example, the plurality of sub-signals may correspond to a high frequency signal, an intermediate frequency signal, and a low frequency signal, respectively. The radio frequency module on the radio frequency branch can select a required sub-signal from a plurality of sub-signals corresponding to the radio frequency signal. For example, the plurality of radio frequency branches includes the second radio frequency branch 222. The second rf branch includes a second rf module 222-4. The plurality of sub-signals correspond to signals of three frequency bands, i.e., high, medium, and low, and the second rf module 222-4 may select a high frequency signal from the plurality of sub-signals. The selection may be implemented, for example, by a filter.
The plurality of radio frequency branches including the branch of the radio frequency module may be configured to select different sub-signals. For example, the plurality of radio frequency branches may include a second radio frequency branch 222 and a third radio frequency branch 223. The second rf branch 222 may include a second rf module 222-4. The second radio frequency module 222-4 may include a second filter. The third rf branch 223 may include a third rf module 223-4. The third rf module 223-4 may include a third filter. The second filter and the third filter may be used to select radio frequency signals of the same or different communication frequency bands. As an example, for an LTE system, a second filter may be used to select band 38 radio frequency signals and a third filter may be used to select band 41 radio frequency signals.
It should be understood that the radio frequency branches except the first radio frequency branch among the plurality of radio frequency branches may be used to transmit the same radio frequency sub-signal, and may also be used to transmit different radio frequency sub-signals, so as to meet various requirements of wireless signal coverage.
The radio frequency front end provided by the embodiment of the application can enable the external antenna to provide multi-MIMO capability and multi-ENDC capability through simple modification of the radio frequency branch corresponding to the external antenna interface. Therefore, the radio frequency front end module provided by the embodiment is simple in design and implementation and low in implementation cost.
In some embodiments, the radio frequency front end module may be one of the electronic devices. In other embodiments, the radio frequency front end module may be the electronic device itself. For example, the radio frequency front end module may be a CPE.
The present application also provides an electronic device, which may include the radio frequency front end module described above. In some embodiments, the electronic device provided by the present application may further include an external antenna. The external antenna may include one or more external antennas, and the number and types of external antennas provided by the electronic device are not limited in the present application. By providing the external antenna matched with the electronic equipment, the coverage requirement of a wireless communication system on wireless signals in various environments and occasions can be met.
The apparatus embodiment of the present application is described in detail above with reference to fig. 1 to 2, and the method embodiment of the present application is described in detail below with reference to fig. 3. It is to be understood that the description of the apparatus embodiments corresponds to the description of the method embodiments and therefore reference may be made to the preceding apparatus embodiments for parts which are not described in detail.
Fig. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an rf front-end module according to an embodiment of the present application. The method of fig. 3 may be performed by a radio frequency front end module. The rf front-end module generally includes a control module to control the transceiving of rf signals. Therefore, the control method of the radio frequency front end module provided by the present application can be executed by the control module of the radio frequency front end module.
The control module may refer to, for example, a baseband processor. The baseband processor may manage the transmission of signals, for example, the reception/transmission process of radio frequency signals. In some embodiments, the baseband processor may also be used to manage signal generation, modulation, encoding, and the like. In some embodiments, the baseband processor may be located on the same circuit board as a Central Processing Unit (CPU) of the device. The baseband processor may be integrated in the central processor or may be comprised of a separate radio electronics component.
The radio frequency front end module may include a radio frequency transceiver, a plurality of radio frequency branches, and a first external antenna interface. A radio frequency transceiver may be used to process radio frequency signals. The plurality of radio frequency branches may be connected with a radio frequency transceiver to transmit radio frequency signals. Each of the plurality of rf branches may include an internal antenna. The first external antenna interface can be connected with a first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches so as to receive radio frequency signals through the external antenna after being connected with the external antenna.
As shown in fig. 3, the method may include steps S310 to S330.
In step S310, a radio frequency signal is received through a first external antenna connected to the first external antenna interface.
The radio frequency signal may be any type of radio frequency signal. For example, the radio frequency signal may be a cellular mobile network signal. As another example, the radio frequency signal may be a WIFI signal. The radio frequency signal may be composed of a plurality of sub-signals. The plurality of sub-signals may be any type of signal. For example, the plurality of sub-signals may be signals of different frequency bands. For another example, the plurality of sub-signals may be a TDD signal, an FDD signal, and a WIFI signal, respectively.
The first external antenna may be any type of antenna. After the first external antenna interface is connected with the first external antenna, the radio-frequency signal can be received through the first external antenna.
In step S320, a radio frequency signal is transmitted through the first built-in antenna of the first radio frequency branch. The first internal antenna may be any type, size and shape of antenna.
In step S330, other rf branches except the first rf branch among the plurality of rf branches are controlled to receive the rf signal transmitted by the first internal antenna. After the first radio frequency branch sends a radio frequency signal through the first built-in antenna, other radio frequency branches except the first radio frequency branch can receive the radio frequency signal sent by the first built-in antenna of the first radio frequency branch through the built-in antenna on the branch, so that when an external antenna is used, the radio frequency front-end module can have multi-MIMO capability. Accordingly, the radio frequency front end module can provide better radio frequency signal coverage capability.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the first radio frequency branch further includes: a first end of the signal amplification module is connected with the first external antenna interface, and a second end of the signal amplification module is connected with the first built-in antenna; before transmitting the radio frequency signal through the first internal antenna of the first radio frequency branch, the method further comprises: controlling the signal amplification module to amplify the radio-frequency signal acquired through the external antenna interface; and sending the radio frequency signal amplified by the signal amplification module to the first built-in antenna.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the radio frequency front end module further includes: the second external antenna interface is connected with a second radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches; the method further comprises the following steps: and after the second external antenna interface is connected with an external antenna, the radio-frequency signal is transmitted/received through the external antenna.
Optionally, in some embodiments, the second radio frequency branch further includes: two first ends of the switch unit are respectively connected with the second built-in antenna of the second radio frequency branch and the second external antenna interface, and a second end of the switch unit is connected with the radio frequency transceiver; the method further comprises the following steps: and controlling the switch unit to switch between the second built-in antenna and the second external antenna interface according to the signal quality of the radio-frequency signal received by the second built-in antenna and the radio-frequency signal received by the second external antenna interface through an external antenna.
In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus and method may be implemented in other ways. For example, the above-described apparatus embodiments are merely illustrative, and for example, the division of the units is only one type of logical functional division, and other divisions may be realized in practice, for example, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted, or not executed. On the other hand, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be an indirect coupling or communication connection through some interfaces, devices or units, and may be in an electrical, mechanical or other form.
The units described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and parts displayed as units may or may not be physical units, may be located in one place, or may be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of the embodiment. In addition, functional units in the embodiments of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units are integrated into one unit.
In the above embodiments, the implementation may be wholly or partially realized by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, it may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When loaded and executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored on a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website, computer, server, or data center to another website, computer, server, or data center via wire (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer readable storage medium may be any available medium that can be read by a computer or a data storage device including one or more available media integrated servers, data centers, and the like. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a Digital Versatile Disk (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium (e.g., a Solid State Disk (SSD)), among others.
The above description is only for the specific embodiments of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive of the changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and shall be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.
Claims (10)
1. A radio frequency front end module, comprising:
a radio frequency transceiver for processing radio frequency signals;
the radio frequency transceivers are connected with the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for transmitting the radio frequency signals, and each radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches comprises a built-in antenna;
the first external antenna interface is connected with a first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for receiving the radio frequency signal through the external antenna after being connected with the external antenna;
the first radio frequency branch is configured to send the radio frequency signal through a first internal antenna of the first radio frequency branch after receiving the radio frequency signal, and other radio frequency branches except the first radio frequency branch among the plurality of radio frequency branches may be configured to receive the radio frequency signal sent by the first internal antenna.
2. The rf front-end module of claim 1, wherein the first rf branch further comprises:
the first end of the signal amplification module is connected with the first external antenna interface, the second end of the signal amplification module is connected with the first built-in antenna, and the signal amplification module is used for amplifying the radio-frequency signal received through the external antenna interface and sending the amplified radio-frequency signal to the first built-in antenna.
3. The radio frequency front end module of claim 1, further comprising:
and the second external antenna interface is connected with a second radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for transmitting/receiving the radio frequency signal through the external antenna after being connected with the external antenna.
4. The RF front-end module of claim 3, wherein the second RF branch further comprises:
and two first ends of the switch unit are respectively connected with the second built-in antenna and the second external antenna interface of the second radio frequency branch, a second end of the switch unit is connected with the radio frequency transceiver, and the radio frequency transceiver controls the switch unit to switch between the second built-in antenna and the second external antenna interface according to the signal quality of the radio frequency signal received by the second built-in antenna and the radio frequency signal received by the second external antenna interface through the external antenna.
5. A method of controlling a radio frequency front end module, the radio frequency front end module comprising:
a radio frequency transceiver for processing radio frequency signals;
the radio frequency transceivers are connected with the plurality of radio frequency branches and used for transmitting the radio frequency signals, and each radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches comprises a built-in antenna;
the first external antenna interface is connected with a first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches;
the method comprises the following steps:
receiving the radio frequency signal through a first external antenna connected with the first external antenna interface;
transmitting the radio frequency signal through a first built-in antenna of the first radio frequency branch;
and controlling other radio frequency branches except the first radio frequency branch in the plurality of radio frequency branches to receive the radio frequency signal sent by the first built-in antenna.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the first rf branch further comprises a signal amplification module, a first end of the signal amplification module is connected to the first external antenna interface, and a second end of the signal amplification module is connected to the first internal antenna;
before transmitting the radio frequency signal through the first internal antenna of the first radio frequency branch, the method further comprises:
controlling the signal amplification module to amplify the radio-frequency signal acquired through the external antenna interface;
and sending the radio frequency signal amplified by the signal amplification module to the first built-in antenna.
7. The method of claim 5, wherein the RF front-end module further comprises a second external antenna interface, the second external antenna interface being connected to a second RF branch of the plurality of RF branches;
the method further comprises the following steps:
and after the second external antenna interface is connected with an external antenna, the radio-frequency signal is transmitted/received through the external antenna.
8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the second rf branch further includes a switch unit, two first ends of the switch unit are respectively connected to the second internal antenna and the second external antenna interface of the second rf branch, and a second end of the switch unit is connected to the rf transceiver;
the method further comprises the following steps:
and controlling the switch unit to switch between the second built-in antenna and the second external antenna interface according to the signal quality of the radio-frequency signal received by the second built-in antenna and the signal quality of the radio-frequency signal received by the second external antenna interface through the external antenna.
9. An electronic device, characterized in that the electronic device comprises a radio frequency front end module as claimed in any of claims 1-4.
10. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the electronic device is a Customer Premises Equipment (CPE).
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| CN111600616A (en) * | 2020-07-10 | 2020-08-28 | 锐石创芯（深圳）科技有限公司 | Radio frequency front end architecture, antenna device and communication terminal |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
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| CN111600616A (en) * | 2020-07-10 | 2020-08-28 | 锐石创芯（深圳）科技有限公司 | Radio frequency front end architecture, antenna device and communication terminal |
| WO2022007821A1 (en) * | 2020-07-10 | 2022-01-13 | 锐石创芯（深圳）科技有限公司 | Radio-frequency front-end architecture, antenna device, and communication terminal |
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