CN116232389A

CN116232389A - Beam control device, equipment and method

Info

Publication number: CN116232389A
Application number: CN202111467887.1A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 杜明德; 王天祥
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-12-02
Filing date: 2021-12-02
Publication date: 2023-06-06
Also published as: WO2023098508A1

Abstract

The application provides a beam control device, equipment and a method. The device comprises: the first phase control module and the electric signal conversion module; the first phase control module is used for converting the first light beam into N second light beams, N is a positive integer greater than 1, the ith second light beam in the first light beam and the N second light beams comprise M optical signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent optical signals in the first light beam, and a second phase difference exists between the jth optical signal in the ith second light beam and the jth optical signal in the (i+1) th second light beam; the electric signal conversion module is used for converting N times M optical signals corresponding to the N second light beams into N times M electric signals, and the N times M electric signals are sent by N times M antenna arrays. The phase control of the optical beam is realized instead of each optical signal, the number of delay devices is reduced, and the cost and the volume of the phased array system are further reduced.

Description

Beam control device, equipment and method

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a beam control device, apparatus, and method.

Background

In some communication systems, such as the fifth generation mobile communication system (5th generation wireless system,5G), the network device needs to modulate the phased array by a phased array system based on a beamforming technology in the uplink transmission or downlink reception process, so that signals at some angles obtain constructive interference, and signals at other angles obtain destructive interference.

Currently, when a phased array system performs phase adjustment based on a delay device (such as a phase shifter or a delay line), the delay device in the phased array system corresponds to an antenna (array) one by one, and each antenna needs to have a corresponding delay device to perform phase adjustment on a signal to be transmitted by the antenna so as to realize beam forming.

However, with the continuous development of communication technology, the antenna scale is continuously increased to meet the high requirement on the communication quality, and in this case, the number of delay devices of the phased array system is increased, which results in higher cost and larger volume of the phased array system.

Disclosure of Invention

The beam control device, the device and the method provided by the embodiment of the application are used for improving the phase control capability of the phased array system, reducing the number of delay devices in the system, further reducing the cost of the phased array system and reducing the volume of the phased array system.

In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a beam control apparatus, including: the first phase control module and the electric signal conversion module; the first phase control module is used for converting a first light beam into N second light beams, N is a positive integer greater than 1, the ith second light beam in the first light beam and the N second light beams both comprise M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the first light beam, a second phase difference exists between the jth light signal in the ith second light beam and the jth light signal in the (i+1) th second light beam, i is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and j is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M; the electric signal conversion module is used for converting N times M optical signals corresponding to the N second light beams into N times M electric signals, and the N times M electric signals are sent by N times M antenna arrays.

According to the beam control device provided by the embodiment, the M optical signals with different phases in the first light beam can be converted into N times M optical signals with different phases corresponding to the N second light beams, the first phase control module is used for controlling the phases of the light beams instead of controlling each optical signal, and further, the electric signal conversion module is used for converting the N times M optical signals with different phases into electric signals and transmitting the electric signals through N times M antennas (antenna arrays or antenna array ports), so that beam forming is realized, and compared with the phase control of corresponding delay devices required to be set for each antenna, the number of the delay devices is effectively reduced, and the cost and the volume of a phased array system are further reduced.

In one possible implementation, the first phase control module includes an optical splitter and N first delay lines; the optical splitter is used for converting the first light beam into N third light beams, and the third light beams comprise M optical signals; the N delay lines are used for respectively carrying out phase control on the N third light beams to obtain N second light beams.

According to the beam control device provided by the embodiment, the process of converting the first light beam into N second light beams is realized based on the light beam splitter and N first delay lines, the first light beam is converted into N third light beams through the light beam splitter, and the N third light beams are subjected to phase control through the N first delay lines, so that the phase control capacity of the first phase control module for the first light beams is increased in multiple, compared with the phase control of one light signal through one delay line, the phase control capacity is improved, and the number of delay devices is reduced.

In one possible embodiment, the apparatus further comprises: n first wavelength division multiplexers; the N first wavelength division multiplexers are used for converting the N second light beams into N times M optical signals.

According to the beam control device provided by the embodiment, M optical signals in each second light beam can be obtained through the N first wavelength division multiplexers, so that the electric signal conversion module can conveniently convert photoelectric signals.

In one possible embodiment, the apparatus further comprises: a second phase control module and a second wavelength division multiplexer; the second phase control module is used for performing phase control on the M optical signals; the second wavelength division multiplexer synthesizes the M optical signals subjected to phase control into the first light beam, and then sends the first light beam to the first phase control unit.

According to the beam control device provided by the embodiment, the second phase control module is used for performing first-stage phase control on the M optical signals, and the second wavelength division multiplexer is used for synthesizing the M optical signals subjected to phase control into the first light beam and sending the first light beam to the first phase control module, so that the second phase control module is used for performing second-stage phase control based on the first light beam.

In one possible implementation, the second phase control module includes M second delay lines; the M second delay lines are used for respectively controlling the phases of the M optical signals.

According to the beam control device provided by the embodiment, the phase control is performed on the M optical signals based on the M second delay lines, so that a first phase difference exists between adjacent optical signals in the M optical signals.

In one possible embodiment, the apparatus further comprises: an optical signal conversion module; the optical signal conversion module is used for converting the baseband signal into the M optical signals, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals are different.

With the beam control device provided by this embodiment, the optical signal conversion module converts the baseband signal to the optical domain, so as to implement beam forming in the optical domain with abundant frequency domain resources.

In one possible embodiment, the optical signal conversion module includes M laser units.

According to the beam control device provided by the embodiment, the baseband signals are converted into M optical signals based on M different laser units, so that wavelengths among the M optical signals are different.

In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a beam control apparatus, including: the third phase control module and the optical signal conversion module; the optical signal conversion module is used for converting N times M electrical signals into N times M optical signals corresponding to N fourth light beams, wherein the N times M electrical signals are received through N times M antenna arrays; the third phase control module is configured to convert N fourth light beams into a fifth light beam, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, each of a p fourth light beam and the fifth light beam in the N fourth light beams includes M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the fifth light beam, a second phase difference exists between a q light signal in the p fourth light beam and a q light signal in the p+1th fourth light beam, p is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and q is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M.

In one possible embodiment, the third phase control module includes N third delay lines and a beam combiner; the N third delay lines are used for respectively controlling phases of the N fourth light beams to obtain N sixth light beams, no phase difference exists between an mth light signal in the kth sixth light beam and an mth light signal in the kth+1th sixth light beam, k is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and M is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M; the beam combiner is used for converting the N sixth light beams into the fifth light beams.

In one possible embodiment, the apparatus further comprises: n third wavelength division multiplexers; the N third wavelength division multiplexers are configured to convert the N by M optical signals into the N fourth optical beams.

In one possible embodiment, the apparatus further comprises: a fourth phase control module and a fourth wavelength division multiplexer; the fourth wavelength division multiplexer is used for converting the fifth light beam into M optical signals; the fourth phase control module is used for performing phase control on the M optical signals.

In one possible implementation, the fourth phase control module includes: m fourth delay lines; the M fourth delay lines are used for respectively controlling the phases of the M optical signals.

In one possible embodiment, the apparatus further comprises: an electrical signal conversion module; the electric signal conversion module is used for converting the M optical signals into baseband signals.

The advantages of the beam steering device according to the second aspect and the possible embodiments of the second aspect may be referred to the advantages of the first aspect and the possible embodiments of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a communication apparatus, including: the first aspect and various possible implementation manners of the first aspect are beam steering devices.

The advantages of the communication device provided by the third aspect and the possible embodiments of the third aspect may be referred to the advantages of the first aspect and the possible embodiments of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a fourth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, including: the first aspect and various possible implementation manners of the first aspect are beam steering devices.

The advantages of the communication device provided by the fourth aspect and the possible embodiments of the fourth aspect may be referred to the advantages of the first aspect and the possible embodiments of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a fifth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a beam control method, including: converting the first light beam into N second light beams, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1, each of the first light beam and an ith second light beam in the N second light beams comprises M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the first light beam, a second phase difference exists between an jth light signal in the ith second light beam and an jth light signal in the (i+1) th second light beam, i is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and j is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M; n by M optical signals corresponding to the N second light beams are converted into N by M electrical signals, and the N by M electrical signals are transmitted by N by M antenna arrays.

In one possible embodiment, the converting the first light beam into N second light beams includes: converting the first light beam into N third light beams, the third light beams comprising M optical signals; and respectively carrying out phase control on the N third light beams to obtain N second light beams.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the N second light beams are converted into the N by M optical signals.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: performing phase control on the M optical signals; synthesizing the M optical signals subjected to phase control into the first light beam; the first light beam is sent to the first phase control unit.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the baseband signal is converted into the M optical signals, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals are different.

The advantages of the fifth aspect and the beam control method provided by the possible embodiments of the fifth aspect may be referred to the advantages of the first aspect and the possible embodiments of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a sixth aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a beam control method, including: converting the N by M electrical signals into N by M optical signals corresponding to the N fourth optical beams, the N by M electrical signals being received via the N by M antenna arrays; the method comprises the steps of converting N fourth light beams into a fifth light beam, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1, the p fourth light beams in the N fourth light beams and the fifth light beam both comprise M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the fifth light beam, a second phase difference exists between the q fourth light signals in the p fourth light beam and the q fourth light signals in the p+1th fourth light beam, p is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and q is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M.

In one possible embodiment, the converting the N fourth light beams into the fifth light beam includes: respectively carrying out phase control on the N fourth light beams to obtain N sixth light beams, wherein no phase difference exists between an mth optical signal in the kth sixth light beam and an mth optical signal in the (k+1) sixth light beam; the N sixth light beams are converted into the fifth light beam.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the N by M optical signals are converted into the N third optical beams.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: converting the fifth light beam into M optical signals; the M optical signals are phase-controlled.

In one possible embodiment, the method further comprises: the M optical signals are converted into baseband signals.

The advantages of the beam control method according to the sixth aspect and the possible embodiments of the sixth aspect may be referred to the advantages of the first aspect and the possible embodiments of the first aspect, and are not described herein.

In a seventh aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a communication device, including a processor; the processor is coupled with the memory; the memory is used for storing instructions; the processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the method of the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect or in each of the possible implementations to be performed.

In an eighth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions that cause a computer to perform a method as in the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect, or each possible implementation manner.

In a ninth aspect, embodiments of the present application provide a computer program product comprising computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method as in the fifth aspect, the sixth aspect or in each of the possible implementations.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system to which embodiments of the present application apply;

fig. 2a is a schematic structural diagram of a phased array system 200a with an electronic architecture provided in the present application;

fig. 2b is a schematic structural diagram of a microwave photonic phased array system 200b provided in the present application;

fig. 2c is a schematic structural diagram of a microwave photonic phased array system 200c according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a microwave photonic phased array system 300 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4a is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 400a according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4b is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 400b according to an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 4c is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 400c according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 500 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 600 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7a is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 700a according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7b is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering device 700b according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 7c is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 700c according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 800 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 9 is a flow chart of a beam control method 900 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 10 is a flowchart of a beam control method 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 11 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device 1100 provided by an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the present application will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The communication method provided by the application can be applied to various communication systems, such as: long term evolution (Long Term Evolution, LTE) system, LTE frequency division duplex (frequency division duplex, FDD) system, LTE time division duplex (time division duplex, TDD), universal mobile telecommunications system (universal mobile telecommunication system, UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (worldwide interoperability for microwave access, wiMAX) communication system, future fifth generation (5th Generation,5G) mobile telecommunications system or new radio access technology (new radio access technology, NR) and three-way application scenario enhanced mobile bandwidth (enhanced mobile broadband, eMBB) of a 5G mobile telecommunications system, ultra-reliable, low latency communication (ultra reliable low latency communications, ul lc), and mass machine-like communication (massive machine type communications, mctc), device-to-device (D2D) communication system, satellite communication system, internet of things (internet of things, ioT), narrowband internet of things (narrow band internet of things, NB-IoT) system, global mobile communication system (global system for mobile communications, GSM), enhanced data rate GSM evolution system (enhanced data rate for GSM evolution, EDGE), wideband code division multiple access system (wideband code division multiple access, WCDMA), code division multiple access system (code division multiple access, CDMA 2000), time division synchronous code division multiple access system (time division multiple access-synchronization code division multiple access, TD-SCDMA-2000). The 5G mobile communication system may include a non-independent Networking (NSA) and/or an independent networking (SA), among others.

The communication method provided by the application can also be applied to future communication systems, such as a sixth generation mobile communication system and the like. The present application is not limited in this regard.

Fig. 1 is a schematic architecture diagram of a communication system to which an embodiment of the present application applies. As shown in fig. 1, the mobile communication system includes a core network device 110, a network device 120, and at least one terminal device (e.g., terminal device 130 and terminal device 140 in fig. 1). The terminal equipment is connected with the network equipment in a wireless mode, and the network equipment is connected with the core network equipment in a wireless or wired mode. The core network device and the network device may be separate physical devices, or may integrate the functions of the core network device and the logic functions of the network device on the same physical device, or may integrate the functions of a part of the core network device and the functions of a part of the network device on one physical device. The terminal device may be fixed in position or may be movable. Fig. 1 is only a schematic diagram, and other network devices may be further included in the communication system, for example, a wireless relay device and a wireless backhaul device may also be included, which are not shown in fig. 1. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the number of core network devices, and terminal devices included in the mobile communication system.

The network device is an access device that a terminal device accesses to the mobile communication system in a wireless manner, and may be a base station NodeB, an evolved base station eNodeB, a base station in an NR mobile communication system, a base station in a future mobile communication system, or an access node in a WiFi system, etc., where the embodiment of the present application does not limit a specific technology and a specific device configuration adopted by the network device.

The Terminal device may also be referred to as a Terminal, a User Equipment (UE), a Mobile Station (MS), a Mobile Terminal (MT), etc. The terminal device may be a mobile phone, a tablet (Pad), a computer with wireless transceiving function, a Virtual Reality (VR) terminal device, an augmented reality (augmented reality, AR) terminal device, a wireless terminal in industrial control (industrial control), a wireless terminal in unmanned driving (self driving), a wireless terminal in teleoperation (remote medical surgery), a wireless terminal in smart grid (smart grid), a wireless terminal in transportation security (transportation safety), a wireless terminal in smart city (smart city), a wireless terminal in smart home (smart home), etc.

Network devices and terminal devices may be deployed on land, including indoors or outdoors, hand-held or vehicle-mounted; the device can be deployed on the water surface; but also on aerial planes, balloons and satellites. The embodiment of the application does not limit the application scene of the network equipment and the terminal equipment.

Communication between the network device and the terminal device and between the terminal device and the terminal device can be performed through a licensed spectrum (licensed spectrum), communication can be performed through an unlicensed spectrum (unlicensed spectrum), and communication can be performed through both the licensed spectrum and the unlicensed spectrum. Communication between the network device and the terminal device and between the terminal device and the terminal device may be performed through a frequency spectrum of 6G or less, communication may be performed through a frequency spectrum of 6G or more, and communication may be performed using a frequency spectrum of 6G or less and a frequency spectrum of 6G or more at the same time. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the spectrum resources used between the network device and the terminal device.

It should be understood that the present application is not limited to specific forms of network devices and terminal devices.

Beamforming designed in this application is described below:

beamforming, also known as beamforming or spatial filtering, is a signal processing technique that uses an array of sensors to directionally transmit and/or receive signals. By means of wave beam forming, signals of some angles can obtain constructive interference, and signals of other angles can obtain destructive interference. The phased array system is based on the beam forming technology, and the signals of the array elements of the array are properly phase shifted (or delayed) so that signals with certain angles obtain constructive interference, thereby obtaining the deflection of the beam.

Fig. 2a is a schematic structural diagram of a phased array system 200a with an electronic architecture provided in the present application. As shown in fig. 2a, the phased array system 200a includes W phase shifters, where W is a positive integer greater than 1, for example, the phase shifters 1 to W, where the phase shifters in the phased array system 200a generally operate in a centimeter, decimeter or millimeter wave range (for example, wavelength 1 to 200 mm), and after the phase shifters perform phase control on signals in the wavelength range, the phase-controlled signals are sent through W antennas respectively. On one hand, the working wavelength of the phase shifter is large, so that the physical size of the phase shifter is large, and a large physical space is occupied; on the other hand, the limited spectrum resources available to the phase shifter may not extend the phase control capability of the phase shifter in the frequency domain, resulting in a lower phase control (i.e., beam control) capability of the phased array system 200 a.

Fig. 2b is a schematic structural diagram of a microwave photonic phased array system 200b provided in the present application. The microwave photon phased array system utilizes the advantages of electromagnetic interference resistance, light weight, small volume, low loss, large bandwidth and the like of the microwave photon technology, and can replace the electronic technology with the first bandwidth to meet the requirements of radar and communication systems. Unlike beam forming implemented when a phased array system of an electronic architecture employs a phase shifter, the microwave photonic phased array system 200b implements delay (phase) control by means of W delay lines (also referred to as photon true delay lines or true delay lines) as shown in fig. 2b, for example delay lines 1 to W, which can implement beam forming by processing an optical signal at an optical wavelength (900 to 1800 nm). The microwave photonic phased array system 200b further includes W photodetectors for converting the phase-controlled optical signals into electrical signals, so that the electrical signals are transmitted through the W antennas, respectively.

Fig. 2c is a schematic structural diagram of a microwave photonic phased array system 200c according to an embodiment of the present application. As an example, referring to fig. 2c, M laser sources 210c in a microwave photonic phased array system 200c respectively emit optical signals of different wavelengths (e.g., λ ₁ ～λ _M ) Optical signals of different wavelengths (e.g. lambda ₁ ～λ _M ) By means of M delay lines 220c, optical signals (such as lambda ₁ ～λ _M ) Further, the optical signals of different wavelengths (e.g., lambda ₁ ～λ _M ) The light beam 1 is synthesized, the light beam 1 is transmitted to a far-end through one optical fiber or optical waveguide, the far-end wavelength division multiplexer 240c, the wavelength division multiplexer 240c divides the light beam 1 to obtain M optical signals, and the M optical detectors 250c detect the M optical signals, convert the M optical signals into M electrical signals, and transmit the M electrical signals through the antenna array 260 c.

As shown in connection with fig. 2a and 2b, the antennas (or antenna elements, antenna element ports, antenna arrays) are in one-to-one correspondence with delay devices (e.g. phase shifters or delay lines), i.e. each antenna needs to have a corresponding delay device (e.g. phase shifters or delay lines) for beam forming. However, with the continuous development of communication technology, the antenna scale is continuously increased to meet the high requirement on the communication quality, and then the number of delay devices (such as phase shifters or delay lines) of the phased array system is larger, which results in higher cost and larger volume of the phased array system.

Aiming at the technical problem, the beam control device and method provided by the embodiment of the application aim at the problem that the number of delay devices (such as phase shifters or delay lines) of the phased array system is large, in the beam control process, a first light beam (such as a light beam 1 in fig. 2 c) is converted into N second light beams, the N second light beams are subjected to phase control, after the second light beams are subjected to phase control, M optical signals with different phases in the first light beam can be converted into N times M optical signals with different phases, and the number of delay devices is effectively reduced by carrying out phase control on the light beams instead of carrying out phase control on each optical signal, so that the cost and volume of the phased array system are reduced.

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of a microwave photonic phased array system 300 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 3, the microwave photonic phased array system 300 includes: back-end microwave photon functional component 310, microwave photon based radio remote and beam shaping network 320, and opto-electronic hybrid integrated front-end 330.

Wherein the back-end microwave photon functional component 310 comprises: a digital signal processing (digital signal processing, DSP) module, an arbitrary waveform generator (arbitrary waveform generator, AWG) (e.g., a microwave photon AWG), a microwave photon up-conversion module, a microwave photon down-conversion module, a digital-to-digital conversion (ADC) module (e.g., a microwave photon ADC), and a circulator.

The optoelectronic hybrid integrated front end 330 includes: wavelength division multiplexing (wavelength division multiplexing, WDM) device, photoelectric signal conversion module, radio frequency amplification module, amplification and filtering module, circulator. Optionally, the optoelectronic hybrid integrated front end 330 may also include an antenna (antenna array, antenna array port). Among them, the wavelength division multiplexer may be used to implement the function of a Multiplexer (MUX) or a Demultiplexer (DEMUX).

The back-end microwave photon functional component 310 may be in remote communication with the microwave photon based rf remote and beam forming network 320 via rf remote to achieve physical separation from the antenna. Alternatively, the back-end microwave photon functional component 310 may be deployed at the surface equipment of the base station, and the microwave photon-based remote radio and beam shaping network 320 and the optoelectronic hybrid integrated front-end 330 may be deployed at the tower equipment with the base station.

In the microwave photonic phased array system 300 described above, the transmit chain is: the random waveform generator up-converts the data/baseband signal and the local oscillation signal generated by the photoelectric oscillator through electro-optic modulation by the microwave photon up-conversion module according to the clock control signal output by the digital signal processing module, filters the stray signal through the optical filter, and sends the stray signal to the light beam forming network through radio frequency optical extension. After the beam forming network completes the dynamic configuration between the transmit channels, the optical signals are sent to the corresponding optoelectric hybrid integrated front end 330. In the optoelectronic hybrid integrated front end 330, the phase of the optical signal is controlled by a delay line, and the outgoing frequency excitation signal is recovered after photoelectric conversion and is radiated by an antenna after radio frequency amplification.

Correspondingly, the receiving link is: the radar echo signals detected by the antenna are firstly subjected to radio frequency pretreatment (such as an amplifying and filtering module) for amplification and filtering, then the electric signals are modulated to an optical domain through a photoelectric signal conversion module, after the optical domain finishes corresponding phase control through a delay line, sub-array level wave beam synthesis is finished through a beam forming network, and then the sub-array level wave beam synthesis is transmitted back to the rear-end microwave photon functional component 310 through radio frequency optical remote. In the back-end microwave photon functional module 310, the detected high-frequency signal is down-converted to an intermediate frequency by a microwave photon down-conversion module, and the intermediate frequency signal is processed after optical filtering and photoelectric conversion, and the band-pass sampling can also be directly performed on the high-frequency signal by using an ADC technology. The sampled digital signals are sent to a data signal processing module to finish the related signal processing.

The beam control device and method provided in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 4a is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 400a according to an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 4a, the beam steering apparatus 400a includes a first phase control module 410a and an electrical signal conversion module 420a. The first phase control module 410a is configured to convert the first light beam into N second light beams, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, and the electrical signal conversion module 420a is configured to convert N by M optical signals corresponding to the N second light beams into N by M electrical signals, where M is a positive integer greater than 1, and the N by M electrical signals are transmitted by the N by M antenna arrays.

It should be noted that the first light beam includes M optical signals with different wavelengths, and a first phase difference exists between the M optical signals. For example, the phase shift matrix is satisfied between M optical signals (wavelengths λ1 to λm) of the first light beam: [0α … (M-1) α ], wherein α is the first phase difference.

Alternatively, the first light beam may be synthesized by M optical signals subjected to phase control. The phase control of the first light beam may be implemented by the beam control device 400a or a phase control module of another device in the present application, which is not limited in the present application.

The ith second light beam of the N second light beams includes M optical signals of different wavelengths, i being a positive integer greater than 0 and less than N, in other words, each of the N second light beams includes M optical signals of different wavelengths. In general, the M optical signals in the second optical beam and the M optical signals in the first optical beam have the same wavelength in a one-to-one correspondence, for example, let the wavelengths of the M optical signals in the first optical beam be λ1 and λ2 … … λm, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals in the second optical beam be λ1 and λ2 … … λm, respectively. That is, in the process of converting the first light beam into N second light beams by the first phase control module, the wavelength of the optical signal in the light beams is unchanged.

For example, N times M optical signals corresponding to N second light beams are expressed as

The corresponding wavelength can be expressed as +.>

Among the N second light beams, there is a second phase difference between the j-th light signal in the i-th second light beam and the j-th light signal in the i+1th second light beam, j being an integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M, that is, there is a second phase difference between the light signals corresponding to Sij and S (i+1) j.

Among the N second light beams, there is a first phase difference between the j-th light signal in the i-th second light beam and the j+1-th light signal in the i-th second light beam, that is, there is a first phase difference between the light signals corresponding to Sij and Si (j+1).

For example, N times M optical signals corresponding to N second optical beams should satisfy the following phase shift matrix (1):

wherein α is a first phase difference, and β is a second phase difference.

Therefore, the first phase control module can convert M optical signals with different phases in the first light beam into N times M optical signals with different phases corresponding to N second light beams, the first phase control module performs phase control on the light beams instead of performing phase control on each optical signal, and further, the electric signal conversion module 420a converts N times M optical signals with different phases into electric signals and sends the electric signals through N times M antennas (antenna arrays or antenna array ports), so that beam forming is achieved, and compared with the phase control of corresponding delay devices required to be set for each antenna, the number of the delay devices is effectively reduced, and cost and volume of the phased array system are further reduced.

Alternatively, the first phase control module 410a in fig. 4a may be disposed in the beam forming network in fig. 3, and the electrical signal conversion module 420a may be the optical-electrical signal conversion module 1 in fig. 3, for example.

Fig. 4b is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 400b according to an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 4b, the beam control apparatus 400b includes a first phase control module 410b and an electrical signal conversion module 420b, wherein the first phase control module 410b includes an optical beam splitter 411b and N first delay lines (412 b-1 to 412 b-N).

The beam splitter 411b is configured to convert the first light beam into N third light beams, and N first delay lines (412 b-1 to 412 b-N) are configured to perform phase control on the N third light beams, respectively, to obtain the N second light beams.

The electrical signal conversion module 420b is the same as the electrical signal conversion module 420a in the embodiment shown in fig. 4a, and will not be described here again.

The description of the first and second light beams is identical to that of the embodiment shown in fig. 4a, and will not be repeated here.

The third light beam includes M optical signals, which are optical signals of different wavelengths. In general, the M optical signals in the third optical beam and the M optical signals in the first optical beam have the same wavelength in a one-to-one correspondence, for example, let the wavelengths of the M optical signals in the first optical beam be λ1 and λ2 … … λm, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals in the third optical beam be λ1 and λ2 … … λm, respectively. That is, in the process of converting the first light beam into N third light beams by the light beam splitter 411b, the wavelength of the optical signal in the light beams is not changed.

For example, N times M optical signals corresponding to the N third beams are expressed as

The corresponding wavelength can be expressed as +.>

It should also be understood that the M optical signals in each third optical beam correspond one-to-one to the M optical signals in the first optical beam, and the decomposition has the same phase, i.e. there is a first phase difference between adjacent optical signals in the M optical signals of each third optical beam.

For example, the phase between the M optical signals of the first beam satisfies the phase shift matrix: [0α … (M-1) α ], wherein α is the first phase difference. Then the phases of the N times M optical signals corresponding to the N third beams should satisfy the following phase shift matrix (2):

it can be seen that the optical beam splitter 411b splits the first beam into multiple paths to obtain N third beams, where the wavelengths and phases of the M optical signals in the third beams are the same as those of the M optical signals in the first beam.

Further, each third light beam of the N third light beams is respectively input into each first delay line, and the N first delay lines may respectively perform phase control on the N third light beams based on the following phase shift matrix (3), so as to obtain N second light beams, so that the N second light beams satisfy the phase shift matrix (1).

In the embodiment shown in fig. 4b, the process of converting the first light beam into N second light beams is implemented based on the optical splitter 411b and N first delay lines, the first light beam is converted into N third light beams by the optical splitter 411b, and the N third light beams are phase-controlled by the N first delay lines, so that the phase control capability of the first phase control module for the first light beam is multiple increased.

Alternatively, the first phase control module 410b in fig. 4b may be disposed in the beam forming network in fig. 3, and the electrical signal conversion module 420a may be the optical-electrical signal conversion module 1 in fig. 3, for example.

Fig. 4c is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 400c according to an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 4c, the beam steering apparatus 400c includes a first phase control module 410c, N first wavelength division multiplexers (430 c-1, 430c-2 … c-N) and an electrical signal conversion module 420c. The first phase control module 410c is the same as 410b in the embodiment shown in fig. 4b, and the electrical signal conversion module 420c is the same as 420a and 420b in the embodiment shown in fig. 4a and 4b, and will not be described again here.

The embodiment shown in fig. 4c differs from the embodiment shown in fig. 4b in that: in the beam control device 400c shown in fig. 4c, N first wavelength division multiplexers (430 c-1, 430c-2 … c-N) are further disposed between the first phase control module 410c and the electrical signal conversion module 420c.

The N first wavelength division multiplexers (430 c-1, 430c-2 … c-N) are used to convert the N second light beams into N by M optical signals. Illustratively, the N first wavelength division multiplexers (430 c-1, 430c-2 … c-N) are in one-to-one correspondence with the N second light beams, and one first wavelength division multiplexer (e.g., the first wavelength division multiplexer 430 c-1) decomposes the 1 st second light beam of the N second light beams to obtain M light signals of the 1 st second light beam, and so on, N times M light signals corresponding to the N second light beams may be obtained, so that the electrical signal conversion module 420c may perform conversion of the photoelectric signals based on the N times M light signals to obtain N times M electrical signals.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 4c, M optical signals in each second beam can be obtained through N first wavelength division multiplexers, so that the electrical signal conversion module can conveniently convert the optical signals.

Alternatively, the first phase control module 410c in fig. 4c may be disposed in the beam forming network in fig. 3, and the electrical signal conversion module 420c may be the optical-electrical signal conversion module 1 in fig. 3, for example.

Alternatively, the N first wavelength division multiplexers (430 c-1 to 430 c-N) in FIG. 4c may be, for example, the wavelength division multiplexers in FIG. 3. The N first wavelength division multiplexers (430 c-1 through 430 c-N) in fig. 4c are each used to implement the DEMUX function.

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 500 according to an embodiment of the present application.

As can be seen from the above embodiments, the beam control device in the present application includes at least a first phase control module and an electrical signal conversion module. Referring to fig. 5, the beam steering apparatus 500 includes a first phase control module 530 and an electrical signal conversion module 540.

On this basis, referring to fig. 5, the beam control apparatus 500 may further include: an optical signal conversion module 510 and/or a second phase control module 520.

The optical signal conversion module 510 is configured to convert the baseband signal into M optical signals, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals are different (e.g. λ1, λ2 … … λm)

The second phase control module 520 is configured to perform phase control on the M optical signals, so that a first phase difference exists between adjacent optical signals in the M optical signals, for example, the phase of the M optical signals is controlled based on the phase shift matrix (2), so that the M optical signals after phase control satisfy the phase shift matrix (2), and the M optical signals after phase control can be combined into the first light beam.

It is understood that when the beam steering apparatus does not include the optical signal conversion module 510 and/or the second phase control module 520, the processes performed by the same may be performed by other devices.

Alternatively, the first phase control module 530 in fig. 5 may be disposed in the beam forming network in fig. 3, and the electrical signal conversion module 540 may be the optical-electrical signal conversion module 1 in fig. 3, for example.

Alternatively, the second phase control module 520 in fig. 5 may be disposed in the back-end functional component 310 in fig. 3, for example, in a microwave photon up-conversion module.

Alternatively, the optical signal conversion module 510 in fig. 5 may be disposed in the back-end functional component 310 in fig. 3, for example, an arbitrary waveform generator in the back-end functional component 310.

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 600 according to an embodiment of the present application.

The beam control apparatus 600 shown in fig. 6 may be used in a beamforming process of a transmitting end or a beamforming process of a receiving end.

When the beam control apparatus 600 shown in fig. 6 is used in a beamforming process of a transmitting end, the beam control apparatus 600 includes an optical signal conversion module 610, M second delay lines 620, a second wavelength division multiplexer 630, an optical beam splitter 640, N first delay lines 650, N first wavelength division multiplexers 660, and an electrical signal conversion module 670. In some embodiments, beam steering apparatus 600 may further comprise an N by M antenna array 680.

The optical signal conversion module 610 may include, for example, M laser units, and the optical signal conversion module 610 may generate optical signals of M different wavelengths based on the baseband signals by the M laser units, respectively.

The M second delay lines 620 may be, for example, the second phase control module, and are used for performing phase control on the M optical signals, for example, performing phase control on the M optical signals based on the phase shift matrix (2), so that the M optical signals after phase control satisfy the phase shift matrix (2).

The second wavelength division multiplexer 630 is configured to combine the M optical signals after phase control into the first optical beam, and send the first optical beam to the optical beam splitter 640.

The beam splitter 640 is used to split the first beam into N third beams and input the N third beams into N first delay lines 650. The beam splitter 640 may input each third light beam into a corresponding first delay line, so that each first delay line performs phase control on the corresponding first delay line to obtain N second light beams.

Each first delay line inputs a second light beam to a corresponding first wavelength division multiplexer 660.

Each of the first wavelength division multiplexers 660 splits the input second light beam into M optical signals, and inputs the M optical signals to M photodetectors, respectively, and converts the M optical signals into M electrical signals by the M photodetectors. It should be appreciated that the electrical signal conversion module 670 includes N by M photodetectors.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 6, the M optical signals, the first optical beam, the second optical beam, the third optical beam, and the like are illustrated in the embodiments shown in fig. 4a to 4c and fig. 5, and are not described herein.

Alternatively, the optical signal conversion module 610 in fig. 6 may be disposed in the back-end functional component 310 in fig. 3, for example, an arbitrary waveform generator in the back-end functional component 310.

Optionally, M second delay lines 620 may be disposed at the back-end functional component 310 in fig. 3, for example, at the microwave photon up-conversion module.

Alternatively, the second wavelength division multiplexer 630 may be disposed in the back-end functional component 310 in fig. 3, for example, in a microwave photon up-conversion module.

Alternatively, the optical beam splitter 640 may be deployed in the beam shaping network of fig. 3.

Alternatively, N first delay lines 650 may be deployed in the beam shaping network of fig. 3.

Alternatively, the N first wavelength division multiplexers 660 may be the wavelength division multiplexers in fig. 3.

Alternatively, the electrical signal conversion module 670 may be the photoelectric signal conversion module 1 in fig. 3.

The above-described fig. 4a to 4c, fig. 5 and 6 are all described with respect to a beam control device applied to transmit-side beamforming. A beam steering apparatus applied to beamforming at a receiving end will be described with reference to fig. 7a to 7c, 8 and 6.

Fig. 7a is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 700a according to an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 7a, the beam steering apparatus 700a includes a third phase control module 710a and an optical signal conversion module 720a. The optical signal conversion module 720a is configured to convert N by M electrical signals into N by M optical signals corresponding to N fourth optical beams, where the N by M electrical signals are received through N by M antenna arrays; the third phase control module is used for converting the N fourth light beams into fifth light beams.

It should be noted that, the phases of the N times M electrical signals received by the N times M antenna array are different, and the phases of the N times M optical signals converted by the optical signal conversion module 720a are also different. Exemplary, N times M optical signals are represented as

The phases of the N by M optical signals should satisfy the aforementioned phase shift matrix (1).

Alternatively, the optical signals having the first phase difference between every two of the N by M optical signals may be used as one fourth optical beam, to obtain N fourth optical beams. For example, Q11, Q12 … … Q1M are the 1 st fourth light beam, Q21, Q22 … … Q2M are the 2 nd fourth light beam … …, and QN1, QN2 … … QNM are the nth fourth light beam.

Based on this, the p-th fourth light beam of the N fourth light beams includes M different wavelength optical signals. A second phase difference exists between the Q-th optical signal in the p-th fourth optical beam and the Q-th optical signal in the p+1-th fourth optical beam, for example, a second phase difference exists between Qpq and Q (p+1) Q, a first phase difference exists between the Q-th optical signal in the p-th fourth optical beam and the q+1-th optical signal in the p-th fourth optical beam, for example, a first phase difference exists between Qpq and Qp (q+1), p is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and Q is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M.

The fifth light beam comprises M light signals of different wavelengths, and a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the fifth light beam, for example, the M light signals of the fifth light beam satisfy a phase shift matrix [0α … (M-1) α ].

Therefore, the third phase control module can convert N times M optical signals with different phases corresponding to the N fourth light beams into M optical signals with different phases in the fifth light beam, and the third phase control module can control the phases of the light beams instead of each optical signal, so that the number of delay devices is effectively reduced, and the cost and the volume of the phased array system are further reduced.

Alternatively, the third phase control module 710a may be deployed in the beam shaping network of fig. 3, for example.

Alternatively, the optical signal conversion module 720a may be, for example, the optical-electrical signal conversion module 2 in fig. 3.

Fig. 7b is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 700b according to an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 7b, the beam control apparatus 700b includes a third phase control module 710b and an optical signal conversion module 720b, wherein the third phase control module 710b includes a beam combiner 711b and N third delay lines (712 b-1 to 712 b-N).

The N third delay lines (712 b-1 to 712 b-N) are used for respectively carrying out phase control on the N fourth light beams to obtain N sixth light beams; the beam combiner 711b is configured to convert the N sixth light beams into fifth light beams.

The optical signal conversion module 720b is the same as the optical signal conversion module 720a in the embodiment shown in fig. 7a, and will not be described here again.

The descriptions of the fourth and fifth light beams are identical to those of the embodiment shown in fig. 7a, and are not repeated here.

It should be noted that N times M optical signals corresponding to N sixth beams may be expressed as

In the N sixth light beams, there is no phase difference between the mth light signal in the kth sixth light beam and the mth light signal in the k+1th sixth light beam, k is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and M is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M. For example, there is no phase difference between Hkm and H (k+1) m. That is, the phases of the N times M optical signals corresponding to the N sixth optical beams should satisfy the aforementioned phase shift matrix (2).

As mentioned above, the M optical signals of the fifth beam satisfy the phase shift matrix [0α … (M-1) α ].

It can be seen that the beam combiner 711b combines the N sixth light beams from multiple inputs into one output, so as to obtain a fifth light beam, where the wavelengths and phases of the M optical signals in the fifth light beam are the same as those of the M optical signals in each sixth light beam.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7b, the process of converting the fourth light beam into N fifth light beams is implemented based on the beam combiner 711b and N third delay lines, the fourth light beam is converted into N fifth light beams by the beam combiner 711b, and the N sixth light beams are phase-controlled by the N third delay lines, so that the phase control capability of the third phase control module for the fourth light beam shows multiple increase, compared with the phase control for one optical signal by one delay line, the phase control capability is improved, and the number of delay devices is reduced.

Alternatively, the third phase control module 710b may be deployed in the beam shaping network of fig. 3, for example.

Alternatively, the optical signal conversion module 670 may be, for example, the optical-electrical signal conversion module 2 in fig. 3.

Fig. 7c is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 700c according to an embodiment of the present application.

Referring to fig. 7c, the beam control apparatus 700c includes a third phase control module 710c, N third wavelength division multiplexers (730 c-1 to 730 c-N), and an optical signal conversion module 720c. The third phase control module 710c is the same as 710b in the embodiment shown in fig. 7b, and the optical signal conversion module 720c is the same as 720a and 720b in the embodiments shown in fig. 7a and 7b, and will not be described again here.

The embodiment shown in fig. 7c differs from the embodiment shown in fig. 7b in that: in the beam control device 700c shown in fig. 7c, N third wavelength division multiplexers (730 c-1 to 730 c-N) are further disposed between the third phase control module 710c and the optical signal conversion module 720 c.

The N third wavelength division multiplexers (730 c-1 through 730 c-N) are configured to convert the N by M optical signals into N fourth optical beams. Illustratively, N third wavelength division multiplexers (730 c-1 through 730 c-N) are in one-to-one correspondence with N fourth light beams, one third wavelength division multiplexer (e.g., third wavelength division multiplexer 730 c-1) converts the 1 st group M of optical signals into the 1 st fourth light beam, and so on, to obtain N fourth light beams.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 7c, N fourth light beams may be obtained by using N third wavelength division multiplexers, so that the third phase control module 710c may perform phase control on each fourth light beam, and avoid performing phase control on each optical signal.

Alternatively, the third phase control module 710c may be deployed in the beam shaping network of fig. 3, for example.

Alternatively, the N third wavelength division multiplexers (730 c-1 through 730 c-N) may be, for example, the wavelength division multiplexers in FIG. 3. The third wavelength division multiplexer is used for realizing the function of the MUX.

Alternatively, the optical signal conversion module 720c may be, for example, the optical-electrical signal conversion module 2 in fig. 3.

Fig. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of a beam steering apparatus 800 according to an embodiment of the present application.

As can be seen from the above embodiments, the beam control device at least includes a third phase control module and an optical signal conversion module. Referring to fig. 8, the beam steering apparatus 800 includes a third phase control module 830 and an optical signal conversion module 840.

On this basis, referring to fig. 5, the beam control apparatus 800 may further include: an electrical signal conversion module 810 and/or a fourth phase control module 820.

The fourth phase control module 820 is configured to perform phase control on M optical signals in the fifth optical beam, so that no phase difference exists between adjacent optical signals in the M optical signals.

The electrical signal conversion module 810 is used for converting M optical signals without a phase difference into baseband signals.

It is understood that when the beam steering apparatus 800 does not include the electrical signal conversion module 810 and/or the fourth phase control module 820, the processes performed by the same may be performed by other devices.

When the beam control apparatus 600 shown in fig. 6 is used in a beamforming process of a receiving end, the beam control apparatus 600 includes an optical signal conversion module 670, N third wavelength division multiplexers 660, N third delay lines 650, a beam combiner 640, a fourth wavelength division multiplexer 630, M fourth delay lines 620, and an electrical signal conversion module 610. In some embodiments, beam steering apparatus 600 may further comprise an N by M antenna array 680.

The N by M antenna array 680 is configured to receive N by M electrical signals.

The optical signal conversion module 670 includes M laser units, and is configured to convert N by M electrical signals into N by M optical signals corresponding to N fourth optical beams, and send the N by M optical signals to N third wavelength division multiplexers 660, respectively.

Each of the third wavelength division multiplexers 660 synthesizes the received M optical signals into a fourth optical beam and transmits the synthesized fourth optical beam to N third delay lines 650.

Each of the N third delay lines 650 performs phase control on the input fourth light beam to obtain a sixth light beam, and each of the N third delay lines inputs the sixth light beam into the beam combiner 640.

The beam combiner 640 combines the received N sixth light beams into a fifth light beam and transmits the fifth light beam to the fourth wavelength division multiplexer 630.

The fourth wavelength division multiplexer 630 converts the fifth light beam into M optical signals, or may be expressed as that the fourth wavelength division multiplexer 630 decomposes to obtain M optical signals in the fifth light beam, and then, the obtained M optical signals are input to M fourth delay lines 620, respectively.

Each fourth delay line performs phase control on the received optical signals so that there is no phase difference between the M optical signals.

The electrical signal conversion module 610 converts M optical signals sent by the M fourth delay lines into M electrical signals. Alternatively, the electrical signal conversion module 610 may convert the M electrical signal data processing units obtained.

In the embodiment shown in fig. 6, the M optical signals, the fourth optical beam, the fifth optical beam, the sixth optical beam, etc. are illustrated in the embodiments shown in fig. 7a to 7c and fig. 8, and are not described herein.

Alternatively, the electrical signal conversion module 610 in fig. 6 may be disposed between the back-end functional component 310 in fig. 3, for example, a digital-to-analog conversion module and a microwave photon down-conversion module in the back-end functional component 310.

Optionally, M fourth delay lines 620 may be disposed, for example, in the back-end functional component 310 in fig. 3, for example, in a microwave photon up-conversion module.

Optionally, the fourth wavelength division multiplexer 630 may be disposed, for example, in the back-end functional component 310 in fig. 3, for example, in a microwave photon up-conversion module. The fourth wavelength division multiplexer 630 may be used, for example, to implement the functionality of a DEMUX

Alternatively, the optical combiner 640 may be deployed in the beam shaping network of fig. 3, for example.

Optionally, N third delay lines 650 may be deployed in the beam shaping network of fig. 3, for example.

Optionally, the N third wavelength division multiplexers 660 may be, for example, wavelength division multiplexers in fig. 3. The third wavelength division multiplexer is used for realizing the function of the MUX.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart of a beam control method 900 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in connection with fig. 9, the method 900 includes:

s910, converting the first light beam into N second light beams, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1, each of the first light beam and an ith second light beam in the N second light beams comprises M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the first light beam, a second phase difference exists between an jth light signal in the ith second light beam and an jth light signal in the (i+1) th second light beam, i is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and j is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M;

s920, converting the N times M optical signals corresponding to the N second light beams into N times M electrical signals, wherein the N times M electrical signals are transmitted by N times M antenna arrays.

In some embodiments, the converting the first light beam into N second light beams includes: converting the first light beam into N third light beams, the third light beams comprising M optical signals; and respectively carrying out phase control on the N third light beams to obtain N second light beams.

In some embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: the N second light beams are converted into the N by M optical signals.

In some embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: performing phase control on the M optical signals; synthesizing the M optical signals subjected to phase control into the first light beam; the first light beam is sent to the first phase control unit.

In some embodiments, the method 900 further comprises: the baseband signal is converted into the M optical signals, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals are different.

The method 900 in the embodiment shown in fig. 9 may be applied to any of the beam control devices applied to the transmitting end shown in fig. 4a to 4c, fig. 5 and fig. 6, and the technical scheme and the beneficial effects thereof are similar, and are not repeated here.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a beam control method 1000 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in connection with fig. 10, the method 1000 includes:

s1010, converting the N multiplied M electric signals into N multiplied M optical signals corresponding to N fourth light beams, wherein the N multiplied M electric signals are received through N multiplied M antenna arrays;

s1020, converting N fourth light beams into fifth light beams, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1, the p fourth light beams and the fifth light beams in the N fourth light beams comprise M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the fifth light beams, a second phase difference exists between the q fourth light signals in the p fourth light beams and the q fourth light signals in the p+1th fourth light beams, p is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and q is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M.

In some embodiments, the converting the N fourth light beams into a fifth light beam includes: respectively carrying out phase control on the N fourth light beams to obtain N sixth light beams, wherein no phase difference exists between an mth optical signal in the kth sixth light beam and an mth optical signal in the (k+1) sixth light beam; the N sixth light beams are converted into the fifth light beam.

In some embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises: the N by M optical signals are converted into the N third optical beams.

In some embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises: converting the fifth light beam into M optical signals; the M optical signals are phase-controlled.

In some embodiments, the method 1000 further comprises: the M optical signals are converted into baseband signals.

The method 1000 in the embodiment shown in fig. 10 may be applied to any of the beam control devices applied to the receiving end shown in fig. 7a to 7c, fig. 8 and fig. 6, and the technical scheme and the beneficial effects thereof are similar, and are not repeated here.

Fig. 11 is another schematic block diagram of a communication device 1100 provided by an embodiment of the present application. As shown in fig. 11, the apparatus 1100 may include: a processor 1110, a transceiver 1120, and a memory 1130. Wherein the processor 1110, the transceiver 1120 and the memory 1130 are in communication with each other through an internal connection path, the memory 1130 is configured to store instructions, and the processor 1110 is configured to execute the instructions stored in the memory 1130 to control the transceiver 1120 to transmit signals and/or receive signals.

It should be appreciated that the communications apparatus 1100 can correspond to a network device. The memory 1130 may optionally include read-only memory and random access memory, and provide instructions and data to the processor. A portion of the memory may also include non-volatile random access memory. The memory 1130 may be a separate device or may be integrated into the processor 1110. The processor 1110 may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory 1130 and when the processor 1110 executes the instructions stored in the memory, the processor 1110 is configured to perform the steps and/or processes of the method embodiments described above.

Wherein the transceiver 1120 may include a transmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 1120 may further include antennas, the number of which may be one or more. The processor 1110 and memory 1130 and transceiver 1120 may be devices integrated on different chips. For example, the processor 1110 and the memory 1130 may be integrated in a baseband chip and the transceiver 1120 may be integrated in a radio frequency chip. The processor 1110 and the memory 1130 may also be devices integrated on the same chip as the transceiver 1120. The present application is not limited in this regard.

Alternatively, the communication apparatus 1100 is a component configured in a network device, such as a chip, a chip system, or the like.

The transceiver 1120 may also be a communication interface, such as an input/output interface, a circuit, etc. The transceiver 1120 may be integrated in the same chip as both the processor 1110 and the memory 1120, such as in a baseband chip.

The application also provides a processing device, which comprises at least one processor, wherein the at least one processor is used for executing the computer program stored in the memory, so that the processing device executes the method executed by the terminal device or the method executed by the network device in the embodiment of the method.

The embodiment of the application also provides a processing device, which comprises a processor and a memory. The memory is used for storing a computer program, and the processor is used for calling and running the computer program from the memory so that the processing device executes the method in the method embodiment.

It should be understood that the processing means described above may be one or more chips. For example, the processing device may be a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA), an application specific integrated chip (application specific integrated circuit, ASIC), a system on chip (SoC), a central processing unit (central processor unit, CPU), a network processor (network processor, NP), a digital signal processing circuit (digital signal processor, DSP), a microcontroller (micro controller unit, MCU), a programmable controller (programmable logic device, PLD) or other integrated chip.

In implementation, the steps of the above method may be performed by integrated logic circuits of hardware in a processor or by instructions in the form of software. The steps of a method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in a hardware processor for execution, or in a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor for execution. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, etc. as well known in the art. The storage medium is located in a memory, and the processor reads the information in the memory and, in combination with its hardware, performs the steps of the above method. To avoid repetition, a detailed description is not provided herein.

It will be appreciated that the memory in embodiments of the present application may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The nonvolatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may be random access memory (random access memory, RAM) which acts as an external cache. By way of example, and not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as Static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct memory bus RAM (DR RAM). It should be noted that the memory of the systems and methods described herein is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory.

According to the method provided by the embodiment of the application, the application further provides a computer program product, which comprises: computer program code means for causing a computer to perform the method as executed in the embodiment or in each of the possible implementations shown in fig. 9 or 10 when the computer program code means are run on the computer.

According to the method provided in the embodiments of the present application, there is further provided a computer readable storage medium storing a program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method performed in the embodiment or in the possible implementations shown in fig. 9 or 10.

The network device in the embodiment of the present application includes a device in which the beam control apparatus in any of the foregoing embodiments is disposed.

The foregoing is merely 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 think about changes or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and the changes and substitutions are intended to 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

1. A beam steering apparatus, comprising: the first phase control module and the electric signal conversion module;

the first phase control module is configured to convert a first light beam into N second light beams, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, each of the first light beam and an ith second light beam in the N second light beams includes M optical signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent optical signals in the first light beam, a second phase difference exists between a jth optical signal in the ith second light beam and a jth optical signal in the (i+1) th second light beam, i is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and j is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M;

the electric signal conversion module is used for converting N times M optical signals corresponding to the N second light beams into N times M electric signals, and the N times M electric signals are sent by N times M antenna arrays.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first phase control module comprises an optical splitter and N first delay lines;

the optical splitter is used for converting the first light beam into N third light beams, and the third light beams comprise M optical signals;

The N delay lines are used for respectively carrying out phase control on the N third light beams to obtain N second light beams.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the apparatus further comprises: n first wavelength division multiplexers;

the N first wavelength division multiplexers are configured to convert the N second light beams into the N by M optical signals.

4. A device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising: a second phase control module and a second wavelength division multiplexer;

the second phase control module is used for performing phase control on the M optical signals;

the second wavelength division multiplexer synthesizes the M optical signals subjected to phase control into the first light beam, and then sends the first light beam to the first phase control unit.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second phase control module comprises M second delay lines;

the M second delay lines are used for respectively controlling the phases of the M optical signals.

6. The apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising: an optical signal conversion module;

the optical signal conversion module is used for converting a baseband signal into the M optical signals, and the wavelengths of the M optical signals are different.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the optical signal conversion module comprises M laser units.

8. A beam steering apparatus, comprising: the third phase control module and the optical signal conversion module;

the optical signal conversion module is used for converting N times M electrical signals into N times M optical signals corresponding to N fourth light beams, and the N times M electrical signals are received through N times M antenna arrays;

the third phase control module is configured to convert N fourth light beams into a fifth light beam, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, each of a p fourth light beam and the fifth light beam in the N fourth light beams includes M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the fifth light beam, a second phase difference exists between a q light signal in the p fourth light beam and a q light signal in the p+1th fourth light beam, p is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and q is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the third phase control module comprises N third delay lines and a beam combiner;

The N third delay lines are used for respectively controlling phases of the N fourth light beams to obtain N sixth light beams, no phase difference exists between an mth light signal in the kth sixth light beam and an mth light signal in the kth+1th sixth light beam, k is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and M is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M;

the beam combiner is configured to convert the N sixth light beams into the fifth light beam.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the apparatus further comprises: n third wavelength division multiplexers;

the N third wavelength division multiplexers are configured to convert the N by M optical signals into the N fourth optical beams.

11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 10, further comprising: a fourth phase control module and a fourth wavelength division multiplexer;

the fourth wavelength division multiplexer is used for converting the fifth light beam into M optical signals;

the fourth phase control module is used for performing phase control on the M optical signals.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the fourth phase control module comprises: m fourth delay lines;

The M fourth delay lines are used for respectively controlling the phases of the M optical signals.

13. The apparatus according to any one of claims 8 to 12, further comprising: an electrical signal conversion module;

the electric signal conversion module is used for converting the M optical signals into baseband signals.

14. A communication device, comprising: the beam steering apparatus of any one of claims 1 to 7.

15. A communication device, comprising: the beam steering apparatus of any one of claims 8 to 13.

16. A method of beam steering comprising:

converting the first light beam into N second light beams, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1, each of the first light beam and an ith second light beam in the N second light beams comprises M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the first light beam, a second phase difference exists between an jth light signal in the ith second light beam and an jth light signal in the (i+1) th second light beam, i is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and j is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M;

And converting N times M optical signals corresponding to the N second light beams into N times M electric signals, wherein the N times M electric signals are transmitted by N times M antenna arrays.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein converting the first beam of light into N second beams of light comprises:

converting the first light beam into N third light beams, the third light beams comprising M optical signals;

and respectively carrying out phase control on the N third light beams to obtain N second light beams.

18. The method according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the N second light beams are converted into the N by M optical signals.

19. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 18, further comprising:

performing phase control on the M optical signals;

synthesizing the M optical signals subjected to phase control into the first light beam;

the first light beam is sent to the first phase control unit.

20. The method according to any one of claims 16 to 19, further comprising:

and converting the baseband signal into the M optical signals, wherein the wavelengths of the M optical signals are different.

21. A method of beam steering comprising:

converting the N multiplied M electrical signals into N multiplied M optical signals corresponding to the N fourth light beams, wherein the N multiplied M electrical signals are received through N multiplied M antenna arrays;

the method comprises the steps of converting N fourth light beams into a fifth light beam, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1, the p fourth light beams in the N fourth light beams and the fifth light beam both comprise M light signals with different wavelengths, M is a positive integer greater than 1, a first phase difference exists between adjacent light signals in the fifth light beam, a second phase difference exists between the q light signals in the p fourth light beam and the q light signals in the p+1th fourth light beam, p is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to N, and q is a positive integer greater than 0 and less than or equal to M.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein converting the N fourth light beams into a fifth light beam comprises:

respectively carrying out phase control on the N fourth light beams to obtain N sixth light beams, wherein no phase difference exists between an mth optical signal in the kth sixth light beam and an mth optical signal in the (k+1) th sixth light beam;

the N sixth light beams are converted into the fifth light beam.

23. The method according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that the method further comprises:

the N by M optical signals are converted into the N third optical beams.

24. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 23, further comprising:

converting the fifth light beam into M optical signals;

and performing phase control on the M optical signals.

25. The method according to any one of claims 21 to 24, further comprising:

the M optical signals are converted into baseband signals.

26. A communication device comprising a processor;

the processor is coupled with the memory;

the memory is used for storing instructions;

the processor is configured to execute the instructions to cause the method of any one of claims 16-20 or claims 21-25 to be performed.

27. A computer readable storage medium storing computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 16-20 or 21-25.

28. A computer program product comprising computer program instructions for causing a computer to perform the method of any one of claims 16-20 or claims 21-25.