CN220605913U

CN220605913U - Satellite communication system, vehicle-mounted communication system and vehicle

Info

Publication number: CN220605913U
Application number: CN202320732984.7U
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李童杰; 陈品辉; 谢均蓬; 范毅; 黄志国
Original assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Current assignee: Huawei Technologies Co Ltd
Priority date: 2023-03-30
Filing date: 2023-03-30
Publication date: 2024-03-15
Anticipated expiration: 2033-03-30

Abstract

A satellite communication system, an on-board communication system and a vehicle, the satellite communication system comprises an antenna group and a communication unit, wherein the antennas in the antenna group at least comprise a first antenna and a second antenna, and the working range of the first antenna is not overlapped with or partially overlapped with the working range of the second antenna. The satellite communication system can realize effective communication without antenna satellite-to-satellite, and is beneficial to improving satellite communication efficiency of a carrier.

Description

Satellite communication system, vehicle-mounted communication system and vehicle

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of satellite communications, and more particularly, to a satellite communications system, an on-board communications system, and a vehicle.

Background

The vehicle-mounted satellite emergency communication system is an emergency communication command system which mainly uses satellite communication and combines multi-network integration such as medium-short distance radio communication. The method realizes high-bandwidth data transmission based on the communication satellite, and has the outstanding advantages of high reliability, high deployment speed, good communication quality, no influence of natural conditions such as earthquake, flood and the like. When the satellite communication vehicle-mounted terminal is mounted on a common vehicle, a voice and short message communication function based on a satellite communication satellite can be provided for the vehicle.

Because of the high-speed motion of the low-orbit satellite, the ground station antenna needs to track continuously along with the motion of the satellite, so as to realize the automatic tracking and alignment of the ground station antenna to the used satellite (hereinafter referred to as antenna-to-satellite), thereby ensuring the continuity of communication in effective time. However, in the implementation process, the antenna-to-star processing process is complex.

In view of this, a satellite communication scheme for achieving effective communication without antenna-to-satellite has been desired to be developed.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a satellite communication system, an on-vehicle communication system and a carrier, wherein the satellite communication system can realize effective communication without antenna to the star, and is beneficial to improving the satellite communication efficiency of the carrier.

The vehicle referred to in the present application may include an on-road vehicle, a water vehicle, an air vehicle, an industrial device, an agricultural device, an entertainment device, or the like. For example, the vehicle may be a vehicle, which is a vehicle in broad concept, may be a vehicle (e.g., commercial vehicle, passenger vehicle, motorcycle, aerocar, train, etc.), an industrial vehicle (e.g., forklift, trailer, tractor, etc.), an engineering vehicle (e.g., excavator, earth mover, crane, etc.), an agricultural device (e.g., mower, harvester, etc.), an amusement device, a toy vehicle, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit the type of vehicle. For another example, the vehicle may be an aircraft, or a ship.

In a first aspect, a satellite communications system is provided, the system comprising an antenna group and a communications unit, wherein the antennas in the antenna group comprise at least a first antenna and a second antenna, the operating range of the first antenna being non-coincident or partially coincident with the operating range of the second antenna.

In the technical scheme, the at least two antennas can cover most directions of the carrier, so that the shielding of the satellite signals by the vehicle body is reduced; the satellite communication signals are received and/or transmitted by controlling the antenna with better directional gain, so that the antenna is not required to be used for satellite alignment, and the complexity of establishing the satellite communication relationship can be reduced; in addition, the scheme does not need to determine the signal strength to switch the antenna based on the communication between the antenna and the satellite, can reduce the time delay introduced by the communication, and is beneficial to improving the satellite communication efficiency.

In this application, the directional gain of an antenna refers to: the ratio of the power density of the signal generated by the actual antenna to the ideal radiating element is the same when the total radiated power is the same in a particular direction.

It will be appreciated that after the satellite communication system is deployed, the spherical gain of the corresponding frequency band for each antenna is fixed.

In some possible implementations, the information of the directional gain of the antenna may be pre-stored in the satellite communication system or may be pre-stored in the vehicle.

The operating range of an antenna may be understood as a range in which the antenna transmits or receives signals, and may include, for example, a range in which a directional gain of the antenna is greater than or equal to a preset gain.

For example, the antennas in the antenna group may be antennas that are separated for transmitting and receiving, and the first antenna may be used for receiving satellite communication signals or may be used for transmitting satellite communication signals, and the second antenna may be used for receiving satellite communication signals or may be used for transmitting satellite communication signals; alternatively, the antennas in the antenna group may be combined antennas for transmission and reception.

In a specific implementation, the antenna group and the communication unit may be an integrated device. Alternatively, the antenna group and the communication unit may be connected by a feeder line.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the antennas of the antenna group may be disposed at least one of: a roof rack, a spoiler, a roof area corresponding to a first row of seats of a vehicle, a roof area corresponding to a second row of seats of a vehicle, a windshield of a vehicle, a roof glass of a vehicle.

In the technical scheme, the antenna is arranged at the top of the carrier or in the glass, so that the working range of the antenna is prevented from being shielded by the vehicle body, the omnidirectional coverage of the working range of the antenna to the vehicle body is realized, and the satellite communication effect is improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first antenna is disposed on a top left side of the vehicle and the second antenna is disposed on a top right side of the vehicle.

Illustratively, the first antenna may be disposed on the left side luggage rack and the second antenna may be disposed on the right side luggage rack; alternatively, the first antenna may be disposed on the left side of the spoiler and the second antenna may be disposed on the right side of the spoiler; alternatively, the first antenna may be disposed on the left side of the roof area corresponding to the first row of seats, and the second antenna may be disposed on the right side of the roof area corresponding to the first row of seats. And so on.

In the above technical scheme, the first antenna and the second antenna are respectively arranged at the left side and the right side of the carrier, so that the working ranges of the two antennas can be utilized to the maximum extent, and the overlapping part of the working ranges of the two antennas is reduced as much as possible. And the antennas are symmetrically arranged on the carrier left and right, which is beneficial to improving the aesthetic feeling of the overall shape of the carrier.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first antenna is disposed on a top front side of the vehicle and the second antenna is disposed on a top rear side of the vehicle.

Illustratively, the first antenna is disposed at the front windshield and the second antenna is disposed at the rear windshield; alternatively, the first antenna is disposed in a roof region corresponding to a first row of seats of the vehicle, and the second antenna is disposed in a roof region corresponding to a second row of seats of the vehicle.

In the above technical scheme, the first antenna and the second antenna are respectively arranged at the front side and the rear side of the carrier, so that the working ranges of the two antennas can be utilized to the maximum extent, and the overlapping part of the working ranges of the two antennas is reduced as much as possible.

The communication unit is used for controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to antenna capability indication information, wherein the antenna capability indication information indicates the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the system further includes a communication unit configured to: and controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the antenna capacity indication information, wherein the antenna capacity indication information indicates the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the system is applied to a vehicle, and the communication unit controls the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to pose information of the vehicle and the antenna capability indication information.

Illustratively, the pose information of the vehicle indicates the geographic location and pose in which the vehicle is located. The geographic position of the carrier can be longitude and latitude of the position of the carrier, or can be information of other geographic positions; the pose of the vehicle may be used to determine the head orientation of the vehicle.

In the above technical solution, when the geographic position of the vehicle changes and/or the pose (such as the head orientation) of the vehicle changes, the same or different antennas can be selected to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the changed pose, which is helpful for ensuring the communication effect of the vehicle in different scenes.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the communication unit is configured to: and when the vehicle is positioned at a first place in a first pose and the directional gain of the first antenna is higher than that of the second antenna, controlling the first antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

For example, an azimuth or azimuth interval for the antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals may be determined based on the first pose and the first location, where a gain of the first antenna is higher than a gain of the second antenna.

The second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal when the vehicle is at a first location in a first pose and the directional gain of the first antenna is lower than the directional gain of the second antenna.

When the carrier is in a running state, the change of the geographic position of the carrier can cause the change of the depression angle of the satellite, so that the gain of the antenna is changed; furthermore, the pose (e.g., head orientation) of the vehicle may often change while the vehicle is in a driving state, such as when the vehicle is driving from a sloping road to a flat road resulting in a head orientation change, or when the vehicle is turning resulting in a head orientation change. According to the technical scheme, the antenna with better directional gain can be switched to perform satellite communication according to the directional gain of the antenna, and the continuity and high quality of satellite communication can be guaranteed.

With reference to the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, when the vehicle is at the second location in the second pose and an azimuth corresponding to a directional gain of the first antenna exceeds a first boundary of a preset azimuth range, controlling to switch from the first antenna to the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal; the preset azimuth angle range comprises a first boundary and a second boundary, the first boundary indicates an azimuth angle corresponding to a position where the direction gain of the second antenna is larger than the direction gain of the first antenna by a preset gain threshold value, and the second boundary indicates an azimuth angle corresponding to a position where the direction gain of the first antenna is larger than the direction gain of the second antenna by the preset gain threshold value; the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to the preset gain threshold within the preset azimuth range.

As described above, the operating ranges of the different antennas have been estimated or determined in advance when the antenna arrangement is performed, and the gains (including horizontal plane gain and directional gain) of the different antennas when the vehicle is in different positions. In some possible implementations, if the difference between the directional gains of the first antenna and the second antenna is not large in some azimuth angle ranges, a buffer may be preset according to the gain of the antenna, that is, the preset azimuth angle range, where when the azimuth angle of the antenna is in the preset azimuth angle range, the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to the preset gain threshold.

The preset gain threshold may be 1dBi, or may be 0.5dBi, or may be other values, for example.

For example, when the vehicle travels to a first place in a first pose, the first antenna is used for receiving and/or transmitting satellite communication signals, and as the vehicle continues to travel, the azimuth angle or azimuth angle interval of the antenna for receiving and/or transmitting satellite communication signals changes, and gradually enters a preset azimuth angle range; or, the directional gain of the first antenna is gradually reduced, and the directional gain of the second antenna is gradually increased, so that the difference between the directional gains of the first antenna and the second antenna is smaller than or equal to the preset gain threshold value, and the first antenna is still controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals. As the vehicle continues to travel, when the vehicle travels to a second location in a second pose, an azimuth corresponding to a directional gain of the first antenna exceeds a first boundary; or, the directional gain of the second antenna is higher than that of the first antenna, and if the difference is higher than the preset gain threshold, the second antenna is switched to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

In the technical scheme, the antenna is controlled to be kept or switched through the preset azimuth angle range, so that the oscillation of antenna switching is avoided when the directional gain difference of two or more antennas is not large, and the communication quality is ensured.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the antenna capability indication information further indicates a signal strength of the antenna in the antenna group for communication with a satellite, and when the vehicle is at a third location in a third pose and a difference between a directional gain of the first antenna and a directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to a preset gain threshold, the communication unit controls the antenna in the first antenna or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit a satellite communication signal according to the directional gain of the antenna in the antenna group and the signal strength of the antenna in the antenna group for communication with the satellite, where the antenna in the first antenna or the second antenna has a higher strength for communication with the satellite.

In the technical scheme, the antenna for satellite communication is selected by combining the signal intensity of the antenna and the satellite communication, so that the accuracy of antenna selection is improved, and the quality of satellite communication is further ensured. When two or more antennas are suitable for transmitting and/or receiving satellite communication signals, the antenna with stronger signal strength is determined by combining the signal strength to communicate, so that the energy consumption required by satellite communication is saved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the antennas in the antenna group further include a third antenna, and at least a portion of an operating range of the third antenna is not coincident with both an operating range of the first antenna and an operating range of the second antenna; the communication unit is used for controlling at least one of the first antenna, the second antenna and the third antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the antenna capacity indication information.

In some possible implementations, the operating ranges of the first antenna, the second antenna, and the third antenna are all different. For example, the operating ranges of the first antenna, the second antenna, and the third antenna each cover 120 degrees (deg.).

In the technical scheme, the three antennas can realize the omnidirectional coverage of the working range of the antennas to the carrier, so that the shielding of the vehicle body is solved, and the carrier can realize better satellite communication effect no matter which direction the carrier faces.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the first antenna and the second antenna are disposed on a top rear side of the vehicle; the third antenna is disposed on a top front side of the vehicle.

In the technical scheme, the working ranges of the three antennas can be utilized to the maximum extent, and the omnidirectional coverage of the working ranges of the antennas on the carrier can be realized, so that the shielding of the vehicle body is solved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system is applied to a vehicle, and the communication unit is configured to: the antennas of the antenna group are controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals when the vehicle is in a first emergency state.

Illustratively, the first emergency state may include at least one of: a major natural disaster is trapped, located or driven to a ground communication system no-signal area. Among them, major natural disasters include earthquakes, tsunamis, etc.

In the above technical solution, when the vehicle is in an emergency state, the vehicle may be disconnected from the outside, so as to control all antennas in the antenna group to transmit and receive Wei Tongtong signals, which is helpful to improve the probability of recovering communication between the vehicle and the outside; after the communication between the carrier and the outside is restored, the long-time stable communication is ensured; thereby improving the timeliness of rescue and command and further guaranteeing the safety of drivers and passengers.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the communication unit is configured to: controlling all transmitting antennas in the antenna group to transmit the satellite communication signal, the satellite communication signal indicating at least one of: the satellite communication system is positioned at the current position and is used for asking for help.

In the technical scheme, when the carrier is in an emergency state, the antenna is controlled to only transmit satellite communication signals, so that energy consumption is saved; all the transmitting antennas are controlled to transmit satellite communication signals, so that the probability of receiving signals transmitted by the carrier from the outside is improved, and the success rate of rescue is further improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the communication unit is further configured to: upon receiving a signal transmitted by a satellite, the first antenna or the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

In some possible implementations, when the satellite transmitted signal is not received, controlling all the transmitting antennas in the antenna group to transmit Wei Tongtong signal; when receiving satellite transmission signals, the satellite communication signals are received and/or transmitted by the first antenna and the second antenna according to the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group.

In the technical scheme, after the communication relation is established with the satellite, one antenna which is more suitable for satellite communication is selected to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the directional gain of the antenna, so that the energy consumption required by satellite communication is reduced.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the system is applied to a vehicle, the vehicle being in a second emergency state, the communication unit being configured to: when the residual energy of the vehicle is higher than a preset energy threshold value, controlling the antennas in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals; or when the residual energy is lower than or equal to the preset energy threshold value, controlling the first antenna or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

The second emergency state may include at least one of: a major natural disaster is trapped, located or driven to a ground communication system no-signal area.

In some possible implementations, the second emergency state and the first emergency state may be the same emergency state, or may be different emergency states, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

For example, the remaining energy may be indicative of a range of the vehicle. The remaining energy may include a remaining power.

The preset energy threshold may be, for example, 10 kilowatt-hours, or may be 5 kilowatt-hours, or may be another value.

In the technical scheme, when the carrier is in an emergency state, the carrier may be disconnected with the outside, and when the residual energy of the carrier is sufficient, all antennas in the antenna group are controlled to transmit and receive Wei Tongtong signal, so that the probability of communication recovery between the carrier and the outside is improved, and the timeliness of rescue and command is improved; when the residual energy of the carrier is insufficient, satellite communication signals are received and/or transmitted by selecting one of the first antenna and the second antenna according to the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group, so that the energy consumption required by satellite communication can be reduced, the saved energy consumption can be used for continuing driving and/or life maintenance (such as air conditioner heat preservation or temperature reduction and the like), and the safety of drivers and passengers can be improved.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementation manners of the first aspect, the communication unit includes a remote information unit and a satellite communication unit, where the remote information unit is configured to determine antenna switching control information according to the antenna capability indication information, where the antenna switching control information indicates that antenna switching is performed; the satellite communication unit is used for controlling the first antenna to be switched to the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the antenna switching control information; alternatively, control is switched by the second antenna to the first antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

Illustratively, the telematics unit obtains pose information for the vehicle and generates antenna switching control information based on the pose information and the antenna switching control information.

In some possible implementations, the telematics unit and the satellite communication unit are connected by wire, or by wireless.

In some possible implementations, the telematics unit is also used to convert satellite communication signals to vehicle-mounted communication signals.

Illustratively, the telematics unit may include a telematics Box (T-Box); the satellite communication unit may comprise a satellite communication box.

In the technical scheme, the communication unit is divided into the remote information unit and the satellite communication unit, which are respectively arranged, so that the satellite communication system is convenient to install and maintain.

With reference to the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the antennas in the antenna group are implemented using at least one of: circular polarized antennas, elliptical polarized antennas, linear polarized antennas.

In a second aspect, there is provided an on-board communication system comprising a ground communication system, a processing unit, and a satellite communication system in any one of the possible implementations of the first aspect, the ground communication system being configured to implement a first communication service; the processing unit is used for: and when the signal intensity of the ground communication system is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, controlling the satellite communication system to realize the first communication service.

The preset threshold may be-70 decibel milliwatts (decibel relative to one milliwatt, dBm), or may be-50 dBm, or may be other values, for example.

In some possible implementations, the preset threshold may be determined according to a specific type of communication traffic, different communication traffic corresponding to different preset thresholds. For example, if the first communication service is a normal call service, for example, a service for communicating with a normal user, the preset threshold may be-70 dBm; if the first communication service is a special Call service, for example, a service for requesting rescue (e.g., e-Call, b-Call), the preset threshold may be-50 dBm.

In the above technical solution, a method for switching a communication system is provided, where when the signal strength of a ground communication system is weak, the method can be flexibly switched to a satellite communication network to perform communication, which is beneficial to improving the communication quality. When the carrier is in an emergency state, for example, when rescue is needed, the communication success rate can be improved by the method for switching the communication system, so that the timeliness of rescue is improved, and the use experience and personal safety of a user are further improved.

With reference to the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the first communication service includes at least one of: emergency Call (e-Call), one-touch rescue (b-Call), intelligent customer service (i-Call), and short message.

In a third aspect, a method of communication is provided, the method being executable by a vehicle; alternatively, it may be executed by a computing platform of the vehicle; alternatively, it may be performed by a chip or a circuit for a vehicle, which is not particularly limited in this application.

The method may include: acquiring antenna capability indication information, wherein the antenna capability indication information indicates the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group; and controlling a first antenna and/or a second antenna in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the antenna capacity indication information, wherein the working range of the first antenna is not overlapped with or partially overlapped with the working range of the second antenna.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method is applied to a vehicle, the controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals includes: and controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the pose information of the vehicle and the antenna capacity indication information.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal includes: and when the vehicle is positioned at a first place in a first pose and the directional gain of the first antenna is higher than that of the second antenna, controlling the first antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal includes: when the carrier is positioned at a second place in a second pose and the azimuth angle corresponding to the directional gain of the first antenna exceeds a first boundary of a preset azimuth angle range, the first antenna is controlled to be switched to the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal; the preset azimuth angle range comprises a first boundary and a second boundary, the first boundary indicates an azimuth angle corresponding to a position where the direction gain of the second antenna is larger than the direction gain of the first antenna by a preset gain threshold value, and the second boundary indicates an azimuth angle corresponding to a position where the direction gain of the first antenna is larger than the direction gain of the second antenna by the preset gain threshold value; the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to the preset gain threshold within the preset azimuth range.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the antenna capability indication information further indicates a signal strength of the antennas in the antenna group for satellite communications, and the controlling the first antenna or the second antenna in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communications signals includes: when the vehicle is at a third location in a third pose and the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to a preset gain threshold, the first antenna or the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group and the signal intensity of the antennas in the antenna group and satellite communication.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal includes: when the signal intensity of the first antenna and the satellite communication is higher than that of the second antenna and the satellite communication, the first antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal; or when the signal intensity of the second antenna for communication with the satellite is higher than that of the first antenna for communication with the satellite, the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the antennas in the antenna group further include a third antenna, at least a portion of an operating range of the third antenna is not coincident with both an operating range of the first antenna and an operating range of the second antenna; the controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals comprises: and controlling at least one of the first antenna, the second antenna and the third antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the antenna capability indication information.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method is applied to a vehicle, the method further comprising: the antennas of the antenna group are controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals when the vehicle is in a first emergency state.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the controlling the antennas of the antenna group to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signals includes: controlling all transmitting antennas in the antenna group to transmit the satellite communication signal, the satellite communication signal indicating at least one of: the satellite communication system is positioned at the current position and is used for asking for help.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: upon receiving a signal transmitted by a satellite, the first antenna or the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method is applied to a vehicle that is in a second emergency state, the method further comprising: when the residual energy of the vehicle is higher than a preset energy threshold value, controlling the antennas in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals; or when the residual energy is lower than or equal to the preset energy threshold value, controlling the first antenna or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method further includes: determining antenna switching control information according to the antenna capability indication information, wherein the antenna switching control information indicates to perform antenna switching; controlling the satellite communication signal to be received and/or transmitted from the first antenna to the second antenna according to the antenna switching control information; alternatively, control is switched by the second antenna to the first antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

With reference to the third aspect, in some implementations of the third aspect, the antennas in the antenna group are implemented with at least one of: circular polarized antennas, elliptical polarized antennas, linear polarized antennas.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the method is applied to a vehicle, the vehicle including a satellite communication system and a terrestrial communication system for implementing the first communication service, the antenna group being included in the satellite communication system, the method further comprising: and when the signal intensity of the ground communication system is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, controlling the satellite communication system to realize the first communication service.

With reference to the third aspect, in certain implementations of the third aspect, the first communication service includes at least one of: e-Call, b-Call, i-Call, SMS.

In a fourth aspect, a communication apparatus is provided, the apparatus comprising an acquisition unit and a processing unit, wherein the acquisition unit is configured to: acquiring antenna capability indication information, wherein the antenna capability indication information indicates the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group; the processing unit is used for: and controlling a first antenna and/or a second antenna in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the antenna capacity indication information, wherein the working range of the first antenna is not overlapped with or partially overlapped with the working range of the second antenna.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the apparatus is applied to a vehicle, and the processing unit is configured to: and controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the pose information of the vehicle and the antenna capacity indication information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is configured to: and when the vehicle is positioned at a first place in a first pose and the directional gain of the first antenna is higher than that of the second antenna, controlling the first antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to: when the carrier is positioned at a second place in a second pose and the azimuth angle corresponding to the directional gain of the first antenna exceeds a first boundary of a preset azimuth angle range, the first antenna is controlled to be switched to the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal; the preset azimuth angle range comprises a first boundary and a second boundary, the first boundary indicates an azimuth angle corresponding to a position where the direction gain of the second antenna is larger than the direction gain of the first antenna by a preset gain threshold value, and the second boundary indicates an azimuth angle corresponding to a position where the direction gain of the first antenna is larger than the direction gain of the second antenna by the preset gain threshold value; the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to the preset gain threshold within the preset azimuth range.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the antenna capability indication information further indicates a signal strength of the antennas in the antenna group for communication with the satellite, and the processing unit is further configured to: when the vehicle is at a third location in a third pose and the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to a preset gain threshold, the first antenna or the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group and the signal intensity of the antennas in the antenna group and satellite communication.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is configured to: when the signal intensity of the first antenna and the satellite communication is higher than that of the second antenna and the satellite communication, the first antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal; or when the signal intensity of the second antenna for communication with the satellite is higher than that of the first antenna for communication with the satellite, the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the antenna capability indication information further indicates a signal strength of the antennas in the antenna group for communication with the satellite, and the processing unit is configured to: when the vehicle is at a third location in a third pose and the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to a preset gain threshold, the first antenna or the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group and the signal intensity of the antennas in the antenna group and satellite communication.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the antennas in the antenna group further include a third antenna, at least a portion of an operating range of the third antenna is not coincident with both an operating range of the first antenna and an operating range of the second antenna; the processing unit is used for: and controlling at least one of the first antenna, the second antenna and the third antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the antenna capability indication information.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the apparatus is applied to a vehicle, and the processing unit is further configured to: the antennas of the antenna group are controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals when the vehicle is in a first emergency state.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is configured to: controlling all transmitting antennas in the antenna group to transmit the satellite communication signal, the satellite communication signal indicating at least one of: the satellite communication system is positioned at the current position and is used for asking for help.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to: upon receiving a signal transmitted by a satellite, the first antenna or the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the apparatus is applied to a vehicle, the vehicle being in a second emergency state, the processing unit being further configured to: when the residual energy of the vehicle is higher than a preset energy threshold value, controlling the antennas in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals; or when the residual energy is lower than or equal to the preset energy threshold value, controlling the first antenna or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the processing unit is further configured to: determining antenna switching control information according to the antenna capability indication information, wherein the antenna switching control information indicates to perform antenna switching; controlling the satellite communication signal to be received and/or transmitted from the first antenna to the second antenna according to the antenna switching control information; alternatively, control is switched by the second antenna to the first antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the antennas in the antenna group are implemented using at least one of: circular polarized antennas, elliptical polarized antennas, linear polarized antennas.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in certain implementations of the fourth aspect, the apparatus is applied to a vehicle, the vehicle including a satellite communication system and a terrestrial communication system, the terrestrial communication system being configured to implement the first communication service, the antenna group being included in the satellite communication system, the processing unit being further configured to: and when the signal intensity of the ground communication system is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, controlling the satellite communication system to realize the first communication service.

With reference to the fourth aspect, in some implementations of the fourth aspect, the first communication service includes at least one of: e-Call, b-Call, i-Call, SMS.

In a fifth aspect, there is provided a communication apparatus comprising: a memory for storing a computer program; a processor for executing the computer program stored in the memory to cause the apparatus to perform the method as in any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

In a sixth aspect, there is provided a vehicle comprising an apparatus as in any one of the possible implementations of the fourth or fifth aspects; alternatively, the vehicle comprises a system as in any one of the possible implementations of the first or second aspect.

In some possible implementations, the vehicle is a vehicle.

In a seventh aspect, a computer program product is provided, said computer program product comprising: computer program code which, when run on a computer, causes the computer to perform the method of any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

It should be noted that the above-mentioned computer program code may be stored in whole or in part on a first storage medium, where the first storage medium may be packaged together with the processor or may be packaged separately from the processor.

In an eighth aspect, a computer readable medium is provided, which stores instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to implement a method according to any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

In a ninth aspect, a chip is provided, the chip comprising circuitry for performing the method of any one of the possible implementations of the third aspect.

Drawings

FIG. 1 is a functional schematic block diagram of a vehicle provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a satellite communication system provided by an embodiment of the present application;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of an antenna arrangement position and an operating range of each antenna according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a further schematic diagram of an antenna arrangement position provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic diagram of antenna directional gain provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic flow chart diagram of a communication method according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

In the description of the embodiments of the present application, unless otherwise indicated, "/" means or, for example, a/B may represent a or B; "and/or" herein is an association relationship describing an association object, and means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist together, and B exists alone. In the present application, "at least one" means one or more, and "a plurality" means two or more. "at least one of" or the like means any combination of these items, including any combination of single item(s) or plural items(s). For example, at least one (one) of a, b, or c may represent: a, b, c, a-b, a-c, b-c, or a-b-c, wherein a, b, c may be single or plural.

In the embodiment of the present application, prefix words such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish different description objects, and there is no limitation on the location, order, priority, number, content, or the like of the described objects. The use of ordinal words and the like in the embodiments of the present application to distinguish between the prefix words describing the object does not impose limitations on the described object, and statements of the described object are to be read in light of the claims or the description of the context of the embodiments and should not be construed as unnecessary limitations due to the use of such prefix words.

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

Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram illustration of a vehicle 100 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The vehicle 100 may include a perception system 120 and a computing platform 150, wherein the perception system 120 may include one or more sensors that sense information regarding the environment surrounding the vehicle 100. For example, the perception system 120 may include a positioning system, which may be a global positioning system (global positioning system, GPS), a beidou system or other positioning system, an inertial measurement unit (inertial measurement unit, IMU). As another example, the perception system 120 may also include one or more of a lidar, millimeter wave radar, ultrasonic radar, and camera device.

Some or all of the functions of the vehicle 100 may be controlled by the computing platform 150. Computing platform 150 may include one or more processors, such as processors 151 through 15n (n is a positive integer), which is a circuit with instruction processing capability, and in one implementation, may be a circuit with instruction fetch and execute capability, such as a central processing unit (central processing unit, CPU), microprocessor, graphics processor (graphics processing unit, GPU) (which may be understood as a microprocessor), or digital instruction processor (digital signal processor, DSP), etc.; in another implementation, the processor may perform functions by way of a logical relationship of hardware circuitry that is fixed or reconfigurable, e.g., a hardware circuit implemented as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a programmable logic device (programmable logic device, PLD), e.g., a field programmable gate array (field programmable gate array, FPGA). In the reconfigurable hardware circuit, the processor loads the configuration document, and the process of implementing the configuration of the hardware circuit may be understood as a process of loading instructions by the processor to implement the functions of some or all of the above units. Furthermore, a hardware circuit designed for artificial intelligence may be used, which may be understood as an ASIC, such as a neural network processing unit (neural network processing unit, NPU), tensor processing unit (tensor processing unit, TPU), deep learning processing unit (deep learning processing unit, DPU), etc. In addition, computing platform 150 may also include a memory for storing instructions that some or all of processors 151 through 15n may call and execute to implement corresponding functions.

In this embodiment of the present application, the sensing system 120 may be configured to obtain pose information of the vehicle 100, and the computing platform 150 may control the antenna to switch according to the pose information of the vehicle 100 and the directional gain of the antenna in the antenna group, so as to achieve effective communication without antenna alignment.

Fig. 2 shows a satellite communication system provided in an embodiment of the present application, and as shown in fig. 2, the satellite communication system 200 includes an antenna group 210 and a communication unit 220. The satellite communication system may be applied in a vehicle. Illustratively, the communication unit 220 may include one or more processors in the computing platform 150 shown in fig. 1.

Specifically, the antennas in the antenna group 210 include at least a first antenna 211 and a second antenna 212, where the operating range of the first antenna 211 is not coincident with or partially coincident with the operating range of the second antenna 212; the communication unit 220 is configured to control the first antenna 211 and/or the second antenna 212 to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals (or satellite communication) according to antenna capability indication information, where the antenna capability indication information indicates a directional gain of antennas in the antenna group.

It should be noted that, although some high-orbit satellites can cover a wide range, the directional gain of the antenna in the depression angle range of the high-orbit satellites is closely related to the communication quality and the communication effect. Thus, in some implementations, the communication unit 220 may control the first antenna 211 and/or the second antenna 212 to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals based on directional gains of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212, where the vehicle is located, and the head orientation of the vehicle. Wherein, the position of the carrier can be used for determining the depression angle of the high orbit satellite (hereinafter referred to as depression angle); further, the communication unit 220 determines the directional gain of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 under the depression angle according to the head direction of the vehicle, and further controls the first antenna 211 and/or the second antenna 212 to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the directional gain.

Optionally, the direction gain information of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 under different angles of depression may be pre-stored in the vehicle, or in the cloud server, after the communication unit 220 determines the angle of depression, the gain of the antenna may be obtained according to the query of the angle of depression.

Optionally, the communication unit 220 includes a satellite communication unit 221 and a remote information unit 222, where the remote information unit 222 determines antenna switching control information according to the antenna capability indication information, and the antenna switching control information indicates to perform antenna switching; the satellite communication unit 221 is configured to control switching from the first antenna 211 to the second antenna 212 to receive and/or satellite communication signals according to the antenna switching control information; alternatively, control is switched by the second antenna 212 to the first antenna 211 to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

Alternatively, the satellite communication unit 221 and the telematics unit 222 can be connected by wire or can be connected by wireless. The satellite communication unit 221 and the telematics unit 222 can communicate using at least one of the following protocols: ethernet, controller area network (controller area network, CAN), wireless fidelity (wireless fidelity, wi-Fi), star flash, bit Torrent (BT), RS232, RS485.

Illustratively, the telematics unit 222 obtains pose information of the vehicle from the perception system, and determines directional gains of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 based on the pose information; further, the directional gain determination of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 selects an antenna for receiving and/or transmitting satellite communication signals. The telematics unit 222 transmits information of the determined antenna (i.e., antenna switching control information) to the satellite communication unit 221 so that the satellite communication unit 221 controls the antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals. If the antenna indicated by the information of the antenna received at the satellite communication unit 221 is the antenna currently used for satellite communication, the satellite communication unit 221 does not perform antenna switching; if the antenna indicated by the information of the antenna received by the satellite communication unit 221 is not the antenna currently used for satellite communication, the satellite communication unit 221 controls switching to the antenna to perform satellite communication.

Alternatively, the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 may be separate antennas, for example, the first antenna 211 is a receiving antenna or a transmitting antenna, and the second antenna is a receiving antenna or a transmitting antenna; alternatively, the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 may be both transmitting and receiving antennas (hereinafter, simply referred to as transmitting and receiving antennas).

Illustratively, the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 are transmitting antennas, and the communication unit 220 may select to transmit the satellite communication signal according to the directional gains of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212; alternatively, if the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 are both receiving antennas, the communication unit 220 may select to receive the satellite communication signal according to the directional gains of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212; alternatively, if the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 are both transmitting/receiving antennas, the communication unit 220 may selectively perform reception and/or transmission of the satellite communication signal according to the directional gains of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212.

Alternatively, if the antenna is a separate antenna, a low noise amplifier (low noise amplifier, LNA) may be provided on the receiving antenna, and a Power Amplifier (PA) may be provided on the transmitting antenna. If the antenna is a transmitting/receiving antenna, an LNA and a PA may be provided to the antenna.

In some possible implementations, the operating ranges of the two or more antennas do not overlap or partially overlap, including at least one of: the transmission ranges of the two or more transmission antennas are not overlapped or partially overlapped; the receiving ranges of the two or more receiving antennas are not overlapped or partially overlapped; the receiving ranges of the two or more receiving and transmitting antennas are not overlapped or partially overlapped; the transmission ranges of the two or more transmitting and receiving antennas are not overlapped or partially overlapped.

Alternatively, the first antenna 211 may be disposed on the left side of the vehicle and the second antenna 212 may be disposed on the right side of the vehicle; alternatively, the first antenna 211 may be provided on the front side of the vehicle, and the second antenna 212 may be provided on the rear side of the vehicle.

As shown in (a) of fig. 3, taking an example in which the vehicle is the vehicle 300, the first antenna 211 is the antenna 310, and the second antenna 212 is the antenna 320, the antennas 310 and 320 may be disposed at the top left side and the top right side of the vehicle 300, respectively. And the transmission and/or reception range of antenna 310 is shown at 311 and the transmission and/or reception range of antenna 320 is shown at 321, with the transmission and/or reception ranges of the two partially overlapping.

As shown in (b) of fig. 3, taking an example in which the vehicle is the vehicle 300, the first antenna 211 is the antenna 330, and the second antenna 212 is the antenna 340, the antennas 330 and 340 may be disposed on a top front side and a top rear side of the vehicle 300, respectively, wherein the top front side is a side close to a vehicle head and the top rear side is a side close to a vehicle tail. And the transmission and/or reception range of the antenna 330 is shown as 331, and the transmission and/or reception range of the antenna 340 is shown as 341, and the transmission and/or reception ranges of the two are partially overlapped.

Optionally, the antenna group 210 further includes a third antenna, at least a portion of the operating range of the third antenna is not coincident with the operating range of the first antenna 211 and the operating range of the second antenna 212; the communication unit 220 is configured to control at least one of the first antenna 211, the second antenna 212, and the third antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the antenna capability indication information.

In some possible implementations, the first antenna 211, the second antenna 212 are disposed on the rear side of the vehicle, the third antenna is disposed on the front side of the vehicle, or the first antenna 211, the second antenna 212, the third antenna may be disposed at other locations of the vehicle.

As shown in (c) of fig. 3, taking an example in which the vehicle is the vehicle 300, the first antenna 211 is the antenna 350, the second antenna 212 is the antenna 360, and the third antenna is the antenna 370, the antennas 350 and 360 may be disposed at the top rear side of the vehicle 300 and dispersed at the left and right sides, respectively; the antenna 370 may be disposed on the top front side of the vehicle 300. And the transmission and/or reception range of the antenna 350 is shown as 351, the transmission and/or reception range of the antenna 360 is shown as 361, the transmission and/or reception range of the antenna 370 is shown as 371, and the transmission and/or reception range of the antenna 370 does not overlap with the transmission and/or reception ranges of the antenna 350 and the antenna 360.

In some possible implementations, the antenna group 210 may be disposed on top of the vehicle. As shown in fig. 4, the antenna group 210 may be disposed at least one of: a roof rack 401, a spoiler, a roof area 402 corresponding to a first row of seats of the vehicle, a roof area 403 corresponding to a second row of seats of the vehicle, a rear windshield 404 of the vehicle, a front windshield 405 of the vehicle, and a roof glass of the vehicle.

Alternatively, the antenna group 210 and the communication unit 220 may be an integrated device. Alternatively, the antenna group 210 and the communication unit 220 may be connected by a feeder line.

In a specific implementation, the antennas in the antenna group 210 may be implemented by at least one of the following antennas: circular polarized antennas, elliptical polarized antennas, linear polarized antennas. From a material division, the antennas in antenna group 210 may include, but are not limited to: metal antennas, ceramic antennas, printed circuit board (printed circuit board, PCB) antennas, glass printed antennas, flexible circuit board (flexible printed circuit, FPC) antennas.

It should be noted that more antennas may be included in the antenna group 210, which is not specifically limited in the embodiments of the present application.

A specific implementation of controlling the first antenna 211 and/or the second antenna 212 of the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to directional gain of the antennas of the antenna group 210 is illustrated below in connection with fig. 5. Fig. 5 (a) and (b) show the horizontal gain of the vehicle antenna at a depression angle of 65 ° and a depression angle of 70 °, respectively, where antenna 1 is one example of the first antenna 211 and antenna 2 is one example of the second antenna 212.

In some possible implementations, the horizontal plane gains shown in (a) and (b) in fig. 5 are gains of the antenna parallel to the vehicle chassis plane determined from the spherical gain of the antenna.

As can be seen from fig. 5 (a), the directional gain of the antenna 1 is higher than the directional gain of the antenna 2 in the range of azimuth angles of 0 ° to 90 ° and 285 ° to 360 ° (positions corresponding to 0 °), i.e., the portion indicated by a in the figure; the directional gain of the antenna 1 is lower than the directional gain of the antenna 2 in the range of azimuth angles from 90 ° to 285 °, i.e., the portion other than the portion indicated by a in the figure.

As can be seen from fig. 5 (b), the directional gain of the antenna 3 is higher than the directional gains of the antennas 1 and 2 in the range of 15 ° to 135 ° in azimuth; the directional gain of the antenna 2 is higher than that of the antennas 1 and 3 in the range of 135-270 degrees of azimuth angle; the directional gain of the antenna 1 is higher than the directional gains of the antennas 2 and 3 in the range of 270 ° to 360 ° in azimuth angle.

Illustratively, the vehicle is located at point a, and from the positional information of point a, a depression angle between the vehicle and the satellite can be determined, for example, the depression angle is 65 °. The horizontal plane gains of the vehicle's antenna 1 and antenna 2 as shown in (a) of fig. 5 can be determined according to the depression angle. Further, the directional gain of the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 corresponding to the satellite is determined according to the head orientation of the vehicle. Where the portion of the antenna corresponding to the satellite is understood to be the portion of the signal that can be received by the satellite or that can receive the signal transmitted by the satellite.

In some possible implementations, when the directional gain of the antenna 1 is higher than the directional gain of the antenna 2, the antenna 1 is controlled to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal; when the directional gain of the antenna 1 is lower than the directional gain of the antenna 2, controlling the antenna 2 to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal; when the difference between the directional gain of the antenna 1 and the directional gain of the antenna 2 is less than or equal to a preset gain threshold, the antenna may not be switched; or, whether to switch the antenna can be determined according to a preset azimuth angle range.

In an example, assuming that the satellite is a geosynchronous satellite, and the projection P point of the geosynchronous satellite on earth is located in region R, the depression angle between the vehicle and the satellite may be determined to be 65 ° according to the longitude of point a and the longitude of the location of the satellite; the arrangement position of the antennas 1 and 2 on the vehicle is as shown in (b) of fig. 3, if the head of the vehicle is facing forward south and the vehicle is traveling on a flat road as shown in (c) of fig. 5, the portions of the antennas 1 and 2 having the azimuth angles of 285 ° to 75 ° are determined to be the portions corresponding to satellites, and according to (a) of fig. 5, the antennas 1 are controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals because the directional gain of the portions of the antennas 1 is higher than the directional gain of the antennas 2; if the vehicle is traveling toward south and the vehicle is traveling on a slope with a slope angle θ, as shown in (d) of fig. 5, determining that the portions of the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 with azimuth angles of 60 ° to 120 ° and 240 ° to 300 ° correspond to satellites, and controlling at least one of the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to (a) of fig. 5, since the directional gain of the portion of the antenna 1 is not significantly different from the directional gain of the antenna 2 (e.g., is less than a preset gain threshold); if the head of the vehicle is facing north and the vehicle is traveling on a level road as shown in (e) of fig. 5, the portions of the antennas 1 and 2 having azimuth angles of 105 ° to 255 ° are determined as portions corresponding to satellites, and according to (a) of fig. 5, since the directional gain of the portion of the antennas 2 is higher than the directional gain of the antennas 1, the antennas 2 are controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

Since the gain of each antenna will vary with the angle of depression, the gain of the antenna will be different when the vehicle is in different positions.

Illustratively, the vehicle is located at point B, and from the positional information of point B, a depression angle between the vehicle and the satellite, for example, a depression angle of 70 ° can be determined. The horizontal plane gains of the vehicle's antenna 1, antenna 2, and antenna 3 as shown in (b) of fig. 5 can be determined according to the depression angle. The arrangement positions of the antennas 1, 2, and 3 on the vehicle are as shown in (c) of fig. 3, that is, the antennas 1 and 2 are respectively disposed at the top rear side of the vehicle and dispersed at the left and right sides; the antenna 3 is arranged on the top front side of the vehicle. If the head of the vehicle is oriented toward the south, the portions of the antennas 1, 2, 3 having the azimuth angles of 285 ° to 75 ° are determined to be the portions corresponding to the satellites according to the head orientation of the vehicle, and at least one of the antennas 1, 3 is controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals due to the fact that the directional gain of the antennas 1, 3 is higher than the directional gain of the antenna 2 according to (b) in fig. 5.

In some possible implementations, during the driving of the vehicle, whether to perform the antenna switching may also be determined according to a relationship between the azimuth angles corresponding to the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 for receiving and/or transmitting the satellite communication signal portion and the preset azimuth angle range. As shown in fig. 5 (f), at a depression angle of 65 °, as shown at b, the difference between the directional gains of the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 is less than or equal to a preset threshold value in the interval of the azimuth angle of 75 ° to 105 ° (hereinafter, simply referred to as a preset azimuth angle range) including the boundary 1 and the boundary 2.

Illustratively, when the antenna 1 is controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals, as the vehicle moves, the azimuth angle corresponding to the portion of the antenna for receiving and/or transmitting satellite communication signals gradually enters the preset azimuth angle range, so that the difference between the directional gains of the antenna 1 and the antenna 2 is less than or equal to the preset gain threshold, and then the antenna 1 is still controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals. As the vehicle continues to travel, the azimuth angle corresponding to the antenna for receiving and/or transmitting satellite communication signals gradually exceeds the boundary 1 of the preset azimuth angle range, so that the directional gain of the antenna 2 is higher than the directional gain of the antenna 1, and if the difference value of the directional gain and the directional gain is higher than the preset gain threshold, the antenna 2 is switched to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

In some possible implementations, the antenna capability indication information further includes a signal strength of the antenna for communication with the satellite, and the communication unit 220 may further control the first antenna 211 or the second antenna 212 to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to a directional gain of the antenna in the antenna group and the signal strength of the antenna for communication with the satellite.

For example, when the gains of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 are not greatly different, satellite communication signals with stronger signal strengths may be selected from the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 according to the signal strengths of the first antenna 211 and the second antenna 212 for satellite communication.

In some possible implementations, the communication unit 220 may also control all antennas in the antenna group 210 to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals when the vehicle is in the first emergency state. Further, upon receiving a signal transmitted from a satellite, the communication unit 220 controls the first antenna 211 or the second antenna 212 to receive and/or transmit a satellite communication signal.

In some possible implementations, when the vehicle is in the second emergency state and the remaining energy of the vehicle is above the preset energy threshold, the communication unit 220 controls the antennas in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals; when the vehicle is in the second emergency state and the remaining energy is less than or equal to the preset energy threshold, the communication unit 220 controls the first antenna 211 or the second antenna 212 to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

For example, the first emergency state or the second emergency state may include at least one of: a major natural disaster is trapped, located or driven to a ground communication system no-signal area. Among them, major natural disasters include earthquakes, tsunamis, etc. The second emergency state may be the same emergency state as the first emergency state, or may be a different emergency state.

In some possible implementations, the vehicle includes, in addition to the satellite communication system 200 described above, a terrestrial communication system for implementing the first communication service and a processing unit; when the signal intensity of the ground communication system is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, the processing unit controls the first communication service to be realized through the satellite communication system.

The preset threshold may be-70 dBm, or may be-50 dBm, or may be other values, for example.

Illustratively, the first communication service includes at least one of: e-Call, b-Call, i-Call, SMS.

Fig. 6 shows a schematic flow chart of a communication method provided in an embodiment of the present application, which may be applied in the vehicle shown in fig. 1, or which may be performed by the system shown in fig. 2. The method 600 is described below as being performed by a computing platform of a vehicle, the method 600 may include:

s601, acquiring antenna capability indication information, wherein the antenna capability indication information indicates the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group.

For example, a specific method for obtaining the antenna capability indication information may refer to the description in the foregoing embodiments, which is not described herein.

S602, according to the antenna capacity indication information, controlling a first antenna and/or a second antenna in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals, wherein the working range of the first antenna is not overlapped or partially overlapped with the working range of the second antenna.

Illustratively, the antenna group may include the antenna group 210 of the above embodiment, the first antenna may include the first antenna 211 of the above embodiment, and the second antenna may include the second antenna 212 of the above embodiment.

For example, the specific method for controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the antenna capability indication information may refer to the description in the foregoing embodiment, which is not repeated herein.

In some possible implementations, the method 600 may further include other steps performed by the communication unit 220 in the above-described embodiments; alternatively, the steps performed by the processing unit in the above embodiments may be included.

According to the communication method provided by the embodiment of the application, the at least two antennas can cover most directions of the carrier, so that the shielding of the satellite signals by the vehicle body is reduced; by controlling the antenna with better directional gain to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals, the antenna is not required to perform satellite-to-satellite communication, and the complexity of establishing the satellite communication relationship can be reduced.

The method provided by the embodiments of the present application is described in detail above in connection with fig. 1 to 6. The apparatus provided in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 7 and 8. It should be understood that the descriptions of the apparatus embodiments and the descriptions of the method embodiments correspond to each other, and thus, descriptions of details not described may be referred to the above method embodiments, which are not repeated herein for brevity.

Fig. 7 shows a schematic block diagram of a communication device 2000 provided in an embodiment of the present application, the device 2000 comprising an acquisition unit 2010 and a processing unit 2020.

The apparatus 2000 may include means for performing the method of fig. 6. And, each unit in the apparatus 2000 is respectively for implementing the corresponding flow of the method embodiment in fig. 6.

Wherein, when the apparatus 2000 is used to perform the method 600 in fig. 6, the acquiring unit 2010 may be used to perform S601 in the method 600, and the processing unit 2020 may be used to perform S602 in the method 600.

Specifically, the acquisition unit 2010 is configured to: acquiring antenna capability indication information, wherein the antenna capability indication information indicates the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group; the processing unit 2020 is configured to: and controlling a first antenna and/or a second antenna in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the antenna capacity indication information, wherein the working range of the first antenna is not overlapped with or partially overlapped with the working range of the second antenna.

Optionally, the apparatus 2000 is applied to a vehicle, and the processing unit 2020 is configured to: and controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to the pose information of the vehicle and the directional gains of the antennas in the antenna group.

Optionally, the processing unit 2020 is configured to: and when the vehicle is positioned at a first place in a first pose and the directional gain of the first antenna is higher than that of the second antenna, controlling the first antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

Optionally, the processing unit 2020 is further configured to: when the carrier is positioned at a second place in a second pose and the azimuth angle corresponding to the directional gain of the first antenna exceeds a first boundary of a preset azimuth angle range, the first antenna is controlled to be switched to the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal; the preset azimuth angle range comprises a first boundary and a second boundary, the first boundary indicates an azimuth angle corresponding to a position where the direction gain of the second antenna is larger than the direction gain of the first antenna by a preset gain threshold value, and the second boundary indicates an azimuth angle corresponding to a position where the direction gain of the first antenna is larger than the direction gain of the second antenna by the preset gain threshold value; the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is less than or equal to the preset gain threshold within the preset azimuth range.

Illustratively, the first boundary may include boundary 1 in the above-described embodiments, and the second boundary may include boundary 2 in the above-described embodiments.

Optionally, the antenna capability indication information further indicates a signal strength of the antennas in the antenna group for communication with a satellite, and the processing unit 2020 is configured to: when the vehicle is at a third location in a third pose and the difference between the directional gain of the first antenna and the directional gain of the second antenna is smaller than or equal to a preset gain threshold, according to the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group and the signal intensity of the antennas in the antenna group and satellite communication, controlling the antenna with higher signal intensity in the first antenna or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

Optionally, the antennas in the antenna group further include a third antenna, at least a portion of an operating range of the third antenna is not coincident with both the operating range of the first antenna and the operating range of the second antenna; the processing unit 2020 is configured to: and controlling at least one of the first antenna, the second antenna and the third antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the antenna capability indication information.

Optionally, the apparatus 2000 is applied to a vehicle, and the processing unit 2020 is further configured to: the antennas of the antenna group are controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals when the vehicle is in a first emergency state.

Optionally, the processing unit 2020 is configured to: controlling all transmitting antennas in the antenna group to transmit the satellite communication signal, the satellite communication signal indicating at least one of: the satellite communication system is positioned at the current position and is used for asking for help.

Optionally, the processing unit 2020 is further configured to: upon receiving a signal transmitted by a satellite, the first antenna or the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals.

Optionally, the apparatus 2000 is applied to a vehicle, the vehicle is in a second emergency state, and the processing unit 2020 is further configured to: when the residual energy of the vehicle is higher than a preset energy threshold value, controlling the antennas in the antenna group to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals; alternatively, the first antenna or the second antenna is controlled to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals when the remaining reserve is less than or equal to the preset energy threshold.

Optionally, the processing unit 2020 is further configured to: determining antenna switching control information according to the antenna capability indication information, wherein the antenna switching control information indicates to perform antenna switching; controlling the satellite communication signal to be received and/or transmitted from the first antenna to the second antenna according to the antenna switching control information; alternatively, control is switched by the second antenna to the first antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal.

Optionally, the antennas in the antenna group are implemented by at least one of the following antennas: circular polarized antennas, elliptical polarized antennas, linear polarized antennas.

Optionally, the apparatus 2020 is applied to a vehicle, the vehicle comprising a satellite communication system and a terrestrial communication system, the terrestrial communication system being for implementing the first communication service, the antenna set being comprised in the satellite communication system, the processing unit 2020 further being for: and when the signal intensity of the ground communication system is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, controlling the satellite communication system to realize the first communication service.

Optionally, the first communication service includes at least one of: e-Call, b-Call, i-Call, SMS.

Illustratively, the acquisition unit 2010 and the processing unit 2020 may be disposed in the vehicle 100 shown in fig. 1, and more specifically, the acquisition unit 2010 and the processing unit 2020 may be disposed in the computing platform 150 shown in fig. 1. By way of example, processing unit 2010 may include communication unit 220 shown in fig. 2.

It should be understood that the division of the units in the above apparatus is only a division of a logic function, and may be fully or partially integrated into one physical entity or may be physically separated. Furthermore, units in the apparatus may be implemented in the form of processor-invoked software; the device comprises, for example, a processor, which is connected to a memory, in which instructions are stored, the processor calling the instructions stored in the memory to implement any of the above methods or to implement the functions of the units of the device, wherein the processor is, for example, a general-purpose processor, such as a CPU or a microprocessor, and the memory is an internal memory of the device or an external memory of the device. Alternatively, the units in the apparatus may be implemented in the form of hardware circuits, and the functions of some or all of the units may be implemented by the design of hardware circuits, which may be understood as one or more processors; for example, in one implementation, the hardware circuit is an ASIC, and the functions of some or all of the above units are implemented by designing the logic relationships of the elements in the circuit; for another example, in another implementation, the hardware circuit may be implemented by a PLD, for example, an FPGA, which may include a large number of logic gates, and the connection relationship between the logic gates is configured by a configuration file, so as to implement the functions of some or all of the above units. All units of the above device may be realized in the form of processor calling software, or in the form of hardware circuits, or in part in the form of processor calling software, and in the rest in the form of hardware circuits.

Each unit in the above apparatus may be one or more processors (or processing circuits) configured to implement the above methods, for example: CPU, GPU, NPU, TPU, DPU, microprocessor, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or a combination of at least two of these processor forms.

Furthermore, the units in the above apparatus may be integrated together in whole or in part, or may be implemented independently. In one implementation, these units are integrated together and implemented in the form of a system-on-a-chip (SOC). The SOC may include at least one processor for implementing any of the methods above or for implementing the functions of the units of the apparatus, where the at least one processor may be of different types, including, for example, a CPU and an FPGA, a CPU and an artificial intelligence processor, a CPU and a GPU, and the like.

In a specific implementation, the operations performed by the acquiring unit 2010 and the processing unit 2020 may be performed by one processor or may be performed by a different processor. May be included in a particular implementation, the one or more processors described above may be processors disposed in computing platform 150 shown in fig. 1; alternatively, the device 2000 may be a chip disposed in the vehicle 100.

Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application. The communication apparatus 2100 illustrated in fig. 8 may include: a processor 2110, a transceiver 2120, and a memory 2130. The processor 2110, the transceiver 2120, and the memory 2130 are connected through an internal connection path, the memory 2130 is used for storing instructions, and the processor 2110 is used for executing the instructions stored in the memory 2130, so as to implement the communication method in each embodiment. Alternatively, the memory 2130 may be coupled to the processor 2110 through an interface or may be integrated with the processor 2110.

It should be noted that the transceiver 2120 may include, but is not limited to, a transceiver device such as an input/output interface (i/o interface) to enable communication between the device 2100 and other devices or communication networks.

The memory 2130 may be a Read Only Memory (ROM), a static storage device, a dynamic storage device or a random access memory (random access memory, RAM).

The transceiver 2120 enables communication between the apparatus 2100 and other devices or communication networks using a transceiving apparatus such as, but not limited to, a transceiver to receive/transmit data/information for implementing the communication method in the above-described embodiments.

In a particular implementation, the apparatus 2100 may be disposed in the computing platform 150 shown in FIG. 1.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a vehicle comprising the satellite communication system 200 described above, or the vehicle comprising the apparatus 2000 described above, or the apparatus 2100 described above.

In some possible implementations, the vehicle may be a vehicle.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer program product comprising computer program code for causing a computer to carry out the methods of the embodiments of the present application when the computer program code is run on a computer.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions that, when executed on a computer, cause the computer to implement the methods of the above embodiments of the present application.

The embodiment of the application also provides a chip comprising a circuit for executing the method in each embodiment of the application.

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 method disclosed in connection with the embodiments of the present application may be embodied directly in hardware processor execution or in a combination of hardware and software modules in a processor. The software modules may be located in a random access memory, flash memory, read only memory, programmable read only memory, or power-on 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 clear to those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, specific working procedures of the above-described systems, apparatuses and units may refer to corresponding procedures in the foregoing method embodiments, and are not repeated herein.

In the various embodiments of the application, where no special description or logic conflict exists, the terms and/or descriptions between the various embodiments are consistent and may reference each other, and features of different embodiments may be combined to form new embodiments based on their inherent logic relationships.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices, and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the apparatus embodiments described above are merely illustrative, e.g., the division of the units is merely a logical function division, and there may be additional divisions when actually implemented, e.g., multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be omitted or not performed. Alternatively, the coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed with each other may be an indirect coupling or communication connection via some interfaces, devices or units, which may be in electrical, mechanical or other form.

The units described as separate units may or may not be physically separate, and units shown 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 may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution of this embodiment.

In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated in one processing unit, or each unit may exist alone physically, or two or more units may be integrated in one unit.

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 satellite communication system comprising an antenna group, wherein,

the antennas in the antenna group at least comprise a first antenna and a second antenna, and the working range of the first antenna is not overlapped or partially overlapped with the working range of the second antenna.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the antennas in the antenna group are disposed at least one of: a luggage rack, a spoiler, a roof area corresponding to a first row of seats of the vehicle, a roof area corresponding to a second row of seats of the vehicle, a windshield of the vehicle, and a sky screen of the vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first antenna is disposed on a top left side of a vehicle and the second antenna is disposed on a top right side of the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the first antenna is disposed on a top front side of a vehicle and the second antenna is disposed on a top rear side of the vehicle.

5. The system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the system further comprises a communication unit for: and controlling the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit satellite communication signals according to antenna capacity indication information, wherein the antenna capacity indication information indicates the directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the communication unit controls the first antenna and/or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to pose information of a vehicle and the antenna capability indication information.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the antennas in the antenna group further comprise a third antenna, at least a portion of the operating range of the third antenna not coinciding with both the operating range of the first antenna and the operating range of the second antenna.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the first antenna and the second antenna are disposed on a top rear side of a vehicle; the third antenna is disposed on a top front side of the vehicle.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the communication unit is further configured to control at least one of the first antenna, the second antenna, and the third antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the antenna capability indication information.

10. The system according to claim 5, wherein the antenna capability indication information further indicates a signal strength of the antennas in the antenna group for communication with a satellite, and the communication unit controls the first antenna or the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to a directional gain of the antennas in the antenna group and the signal strength of the antennas in the antenna group for communication with the satellite.

11. The system of claim 5, wherein the communication unit comprises a telematics unit and a satellite communication unit, wherein,

the remote information unit is used for determining antenna switching control information according to the antenna capacity indication information, and the antenna switching control information indicates antenna switching;

the satellite communication unit is used for controlling the first antenna to be switched to the second antenna to receive and/or transmit the satellite communication signal according to the antenna switching control information; alternatively, the satellite communication signals are controlled to be received and/or transmitted by the second antenna switching to the first antenna.

12. A vehicle-mounted communication system, characterized by comprising a terrestrial communication system for implementing a first communication service, a processing unit, and a satellite communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 11;

the processing unit is used for: and when the signal intensity of the ground communication system is smaller than or equal to a preset threshold value, controlling the satellite communication system to realize the first communication service.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the first communication service comprises at least one of: emergency Call e-Call, one-key telephone rescue b-Call, intelligent customer service i-Call, short message.

14. A vehicle comprising a system according to any one of claims 1 to 13.