EP2975688B1 - Système d'alimentation d'antenne et procédé de configuration d'une alimentation d'antenne - Google Patents

Système d'alimentation d'antenne et procédé de configuration d'une alimentation d'antenne Download PDF

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EP2975688B1
EP2975688B1 EP14306148.9A EP14306148A EP2975688B1 EP 2975688 B1 EP2975688 B1 EP 2975688B1 EP 14306148 A EP14306148 A EP 14306148A EP 2975688 B1 EP2975688 B1 EP 2975688B1
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Prior art keywords
signals
network
phase
afn
feed
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EP2975688A1 (fr
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Vijay Venkateswaran
Luc Dartois
Benoit Boyon
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Alcatel Lucent SAS
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Alcatel Lucent SAS
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    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q1/00—Details of, or arrangements associated with, antennas
    • H01Q1/12—Supports; Mounting means
    • H01Q1/22—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles
    • H01Q1/24—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles with receiving set
    • H01Q1/241—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles with receiving set used in mobile communications, e.g. GSM
    • H01Q1/246—Supports; Mounting means by structural association with other equipment or articles with receiving set used in mobile communications, e.g. GSM specially adapted for base stations
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q21/00—Antenna arrays or systems
    • H01Q21/0006—Particular feeding systems
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q25/00—Antennas or antenna systems providing at least two radiating patterns
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q3/00—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system
    • H01Q3/26—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q3/00—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system
    • H01Q3/26—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture
    • H01Q3/30—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
    • H01Q—ANTENNAS, i.e. RADIO AERIALS
    • H01Q3/00—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system
    • H01Q3/26—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture
    • H01Q3/30—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array
    • H01Q3/34—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array by electrical means
    • H01Q3/40—Arrangements for changing or varying the orientation or the shape of the directional pattern of the waves radiated from an antenna or antenna system varying the relative phase or relative amplitude of energisation between two or more active radiating elements; varying the distribution of energy across a radiating aperture varying the relative phase between the radiating elements of an array by electrical means with phasing matrix

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to an antenna feed and a method of configuring an antenna feed.
  • Antenna feeds are known.
  • a static transmitter of, for example, a wireless telecommunications network it is known to provide an array of antennas and utilise beamforming techniques.
  • a signal may be provided which is subjected to varying phase and amplitude to generate multiple signals, each of which is provided to one of the antennas in the array in order to perform adaptive beamforming, virtual sectorisation and spatial multiplexing within a given cell.
  • Such antenna arrays are typically referred to as active antenna arrays. These arrays significantly increase the coverage and capacity of a cellular network.
  • the introduction of multiple transceivers at the transmitter typically increases the cost of the radio frequency (RF) front-end of a cellular base station.
  • RF radio frequency
  • EP2698870A1 discloses an antenna feed and method for configuring it, the antenna feed comprising: a digital signal processor operable to receive an input broadband signal and to generate, in response to a requested tilt angle, a plurality N of output broadband signals, each having an associated phase and amplitude; a plurality N of transmission signal generators, each operable to receive one of the plurality N of output broadband signals and to generate a corresponding plurality N of first RF signals; a feed network operable to receive the plurality N of first RF signals and to generate a plurality P of second RF signals, each of the plurality P of second RF signals having an associated amplitude and phase, the plurality P of second RF signals being used to generate a plurality M of third RF signals, where P is no less than M, each third RF signal having an associated phase and amplitude for supplying to a corresponding antenna of a plurality M of antennas of the antenna array to transmit the transmission beam with the requested tilt angle.
  • an antenna feed for generating signals for an active antenna array including M antennas for transmitting transmission beams having selected tilt angles, the antenna feed comprising a digital beamformer operable to receive an input broadband signal and to generate a plurality N of output broadband signals, each having an associated phase and amplitude, a plurality N of transmission signal generators, each operable to receive one of the said plurality N of output broadband signals and to generate a corresponding plurality N of first RF signals, and a feed network having M output ports each of which is connected to a respective antenna of the active antenna array and wherein the feed network comprises a power split network comprising multiple power split stages each of which comprises a respective set of power splitters, each power splitter being operable to divide an RF signal received from the previous power split stage over at least two separate paths to provide split signals to the subsequent power split stage, the power split network being operable to receive the said plurality N of first RF signals and to generate a plurality P of second RF signals, each having an associated amplitude and an associated
  • the phase shift network can further comprise a fixed phase shifter to apply a predetermined phase shift to respective ones of the plurality P of second RF signals.
  • the fixed phase shifter can be positioned after the power split network.
  • the plurality P of second RF signals can be supplied to respective antennas of the plurality M of antennas of the said active antenna array to transmit a transmission beam with a requested beam tilt angle.
  • the feed network can comprise multiple feed instances each operable to provide selected ones of the P signals to the plurality M of antennas to transmit multiple different transmission beams simultaneously. Respective ones of the multiple feed instances can be operable to simultaneously transmit the multiple different transmission beams with respective different beam tilt angles.
  • the digital beamformer can be an adaptive beamformer operable to weigh the plurality N of output broadband signals to provide a desired main lobe and side lobe distribution for a transmission beam.
  • a method of configuring an antenna feed for generating signals for an active antenna array including M antennas for transmitting transmission beams having selected tilt angles, the method comprising receiving an input broadband signal at a digital beamformer and generating a plurality N of output broadband signals, each having an associated phase and amplitude, receiving each of the said plurality N of output broadband signals at a transmission signal generator and generating a corresponding plurality N of first RF signals, receiving the said plurality N of first RF signals at a feed network having M output ports each of which is connected to a respective antenna of the active antenna array, the feed network comprising a power split network comprising multiple power split stages and a phase shift network comprising a variable phase shifter located between two stages of the power split network, the variable phase shifter being adapted to shift the phase of an input signal by a variable amount that can be selected or tuned, generating, using the variable phase shifter, a plurality P of second RF signals, each having an associated amplitude and an associated phase shift, wherein P
  • the method can further include applying a predetermined phase shift to respective ones of the plurality P of second RF signals using a fixed phase shifter of the phase shift network.
  • the method can further include positioning the fixed phase shifter after the power split network.
  • the method can further include supplying the plurality P of second RF signals to respective antennas of the plurality M of antennas of the said active antenna array, whereby to enable transmission of a transmission beam with a requested beam tilt angle.
  • an active antenna array that can be used to beam form signals to be transmitted for a telecommunications network
  • an arrangement in which fewer transceivers are utilized, and signals generated by those fewer number of transceivers are provided to an antenna array via an antenna feed network.
  • fewer transceivers than the number of antennas in the antenna array are provided.
  • the transceivers can be driven by a digital signal processor or digital beamformer which receives an input broadband signal to be transmitted by the antenna array with a requested tilt angle.
  • the tilt angle may be provided separately or as part of the broadband signal.
  • the digital beamformer receives the input broadband signal and generates a plurality of output broadband signals, each having an associated phase and amplitude. Multiple transmission signal generators, each operable to receive one of the plurality of output broadband signals can then be used to generate multiple corresponding first RF signals.
  • a feed network comprising a power split network is operable to receive the first RF signals and generate multiple second RF signals, each having an associated amplitude and an associated selected phase shift that can also be applied applied using a variable phase shifter of a phase shift network.
  • the feed network supplies respective ones of the second RF signals to respective antennas of a plurality of antennas of the active antenna array.
  • Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a general architecture for an antenna feed according to an example.
  • a digital input broadband signal 101 is provided to a digital beamformer (signal processor) 105.
  • the digital signal 101 is a broadband signal provided by a telecommunications network 103.
  • Also provided to the digital beamformer 105 is a desired tilt angle 107. It will be appreciated that the desired tilt angle may be encoded in the digital signal 101.
  • the digital beamformer 105 generates a plurality N of output broadband digital signals 109a-N, one for each of a plurality of transmission signal generators, such as transceivers, 111a-N.
  • Each broadband signal 109a-N can have a differing amplitude and/or phase shift, depending on the tilt angle 107.
  • Each transceiver 111a-N generates an RF signal RF1 to RFN thereby forming a plurality N of first RF signals which are provided to an antenna feed network 113.
  • the antenna feed network 113 generates a plurality P of second RF signals, RFO1-m, each of which is provided to an associated antenna 115a to 115M.
  • the number M of antennas exceeds the number N of transceivers.
  • a radiofrequency antenna feed network is used to connect a reduced number of transceivers with an increased number of antennas.
  • Different instantiations provide required beam patterns, sectorisation and sidelobe levels which are typically only seen with arrangements where a dedicated and separate transceiver chain is provided for each antenna within the antenna array.
  • FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of the antenna feed network of figure 1 according to an example.
  • the antenna feed network 201 feeds signals from each transceiver 111a-N to a set of antennas 115a-m.
  • the antenna feed network 201 can be broadly decomposed into multiple RF filter banks, depending on the primary function of each bank. More particularly, the antenna feed network 201 comprises a bank of power dividers 207 coupled with a bank of phase shifters 209. Each of the banks may be characterized into one or more multiple stages.
  • the bank of power dividers 207 can be characterized into 3 stages 207A, 207B, 207C. Stage 207A receives signals from the transceivers 111a-N and generates an increased number of RF signals.
  • stage 207B This increased number of RF signals is provided to stage 207B, which in turn generates an increased number of RF signals and provides these to stage 207C.
  • the bank of power dividers 207 generates P RF signals, where P is greater than N. That is, P>M>N according to an example.
  • Each of the P signals is provided to a bank of phase shifters 209, which provides interconnecting wires to reorder the sequence of the signals received from the bank of power dividers 207 and applies a required phase shift to each of those signals.
  • the bank of phase shifters 209 outputs P RF signals.
  • the bank of phase shifters 209 are fixed phase shifters according to an example. That is, the phase shifters 209 shift an input signal by a fixed amount.
  • a variable phase shifter can be provided.
  • the variable phase shifter can shift the phase of an input signal by a variable amount that can be selected or tuned as desired.
  • a variable phase shifter 211 can be considered as part of the phase shift network 209, but can be logically positioned in between two of the multiple power split stages of the power split network 207.
  • the variable phase shifter 211 is provided in a logical position between power split stages 207A and 207B. Other positions within the power dividers 207 are possible as will be appreciated.
  • the output of stage 207C is input to the phase shifters 209, which are not variable.
  • the output of the phase shifters 209 is input to the antennas 115a-m.
  • the antenna feed architecture as described with reference to figures 1 and 2 provides a simplified, reduced cost and reduced power consumption approach to provide adaptive beamforming of the transmission beam transmitted by the antenna array.
  • the phase shifts applied by the digital beamformer 105, the power division ratios applied by the bank of power dividers 207 and the interconnects and phase shifts applied by the bank of phase shifters 209 may be calculated in any number of different ways. An approach to generating these parameters according to an example is described below in more detail.
  • each transceiver 111a-N The amplitude and phase of the RF signal output by each transceiver 111a-N is different for different sectorisation tilt angles, and an antenna feed according to an example connects a reduced number of transceivers to an array with an increased number of antennas without the use of couplers.
  • the transceivers typically contain adaptive beamformers, and in combination with the feed network and the antenna array, generate the desired beam to satisfy the coverage as well as capacity requirements of most sectors, for example, macro cell wireless networks.
  • the feed network is primarily a fixed beam former with a variable phase shift component, and in combination with the transceivers and digital signal processor achieves adaptive beamforming.
  • the adaptive beamforming leads to sectorisation and enhanced coverage at a fraction of the complexity and cost of arrangements where a separate transceiver chain is provided for each antenna.
  • the power dividers 207 distribute the transceiver power amplifier outputs with the appropriate power ratios towards multiple antennas.
  • each bank of power dividers can be composed of multiple stages of Wilkinson power dividers and each stage of power dividers comprises at least N Wilkinson power dividers.
  • the power dividers used in an example are 3-port networks, with 1 input and 2 outputs. Each of these dividers are designed to be either a balanced divider (providing a 3dB ratio at each output) or an unbalanced divider.
  • each signal RF1 to RFN can be divided into 2 signals using a Wilkinson divider at stage 207A. This action is repeated subsequently at each stage such that the power divided signals output by the bank of power dividers and their power ratios enable the required beam patterns at different tilt angles.
  • phase shifters 209 (including variable phase shifter 211 which is logically positioned in between stages of power dividers 207) shift the phase of the power divided signals to achieve a desired beam shape.
  • Phase shifters 209 can be, for example, transmission lines, micro-strip lines or other phase shifting devices. The length of these lines is dictated by the phase shifts required, which in turn is estimated to achieve specific beam patterns.
  • the bank of phase shifters 209 can also contain an interconnecting matrix of wires. The function of the interconnecting matrix of wires is to ensure that the rest of the network has no requirement for any further crossovers or interconnects and to ensure that the overall number of crossovers and interconnects in the entire network is reduced to a minimum.
  • Figure 3 shows two graphs comparing the beam pattern performance for antenna feed networks designed with four transceivers with ( figure 3a ) and without ( figure 3b ) combiners.
  • an antenna feed network satisfies the spatial mask demands in existing 3GPP and LTE standards for a beam tilt range R ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ 1°, ⁇ , 11° ⁇ .
  • the setup in figure 3b without combiners fully satisfies the demands. This is true for all beamtilts in R ⁇ .
  • a low-complexity setup without combiners according to an example will always satisfy the required spatial mask in existing 3GPP and LTE standards for a beam tilt range R ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ 1°, ⁇ , 11° ⁇ .
  • Figure 4 is a schematic representation of a configuration of an antenna feed network based active antenna array showing an arrangement with combiners (left hand side of figure 4 ) and a low-complexity approach without combiners according to an example (right hand side of figure 4 ).
  • the arrangement according to an example does not have cable crossovers and does not have combiners, thus significantly reducing the implementation complexity of the overall setup and minimizing substrate loss due to combiners.
  • the arrangement depicted on the right hand side of figure 4 is an arrangement according to an example in which the number of transceivers is N pa .
  • This can provide a starting point for an N pa - 1 transceiver setup that can be used in combination with a set of non-uniform power amplifiers (PAs) and phase shifters.
  • PAs non-uniform power amplifiers
  • FIG. 5 is a schematic representation of a hybrid phase shifter arrangement according to such an example.
  • a set of passive phase shifters 501 that apply a fixed phase shift to an input signal are connected to the central PAs 503 to achieve enhanced beamforming while operating with further reduced number of transceivers (transceivers 1 to 3).
  • output signal 506 from transceiver 2 is divided into 2 branches 505, 507 that are applied with variable phase shifts using variable phase shift components 509, 511.
  • components 509, 511 can be provided by a single variable phase shift component.
  • the output (513, 515) of components 509, 511 is used with two PAs 517, 519 respectively.
  • An alternative arrangement according to an example is to place the power dividers after the central PA, and subsequently use a high power PA (say 20 W). Note that such a setup improves the power efficiency of the overall system, since it is reasonably easier to design a high power PA with higher efficiency than a set of low-power PAs.
  • non-uniform PAs provides an additional degree of freedom to optimize the overall antenna feed network- digital beamformer (AFN-DBF) arrangement; initially the amplitude and phase could be tapered during the AFN design phase as well as amplitude and phase tapering at the DBF.
  • the introduction of non-uniform PAs provides an additional degree of freedom with non-uniform PAs in the design phase.
  • This approach can be generalized to using PAs with non-uniform output power, non-uniform antenna elements with non-uniform spacing between each other, and antenna elements with non-uniform gain response. All these techniques will further enhance the beam pattern performance while operating at reduced complexity.
  • a hybrid AFN with passive phase shifter and N pa - 1 transceivers can perform close to that of an optimal AFN arrangement with N pa transceivers.
  • the AFN intended for LTE can be embedded with MIMO and multi-beam capability. Multiple beams are realized using multiple antenna array columns, where each column is connected to an AFN and subsequently to a set of transceivers.
  • figure 6 is a schematic representation of a multiple beam arrangement according to an example.
  • multiple AFN's W 1 and W 2 are jointly designed and provide signals to multiple antenna arrays 601, 603 to achieve desired beam tilts for the multiple antenna array.
  • more than two AFNs and antenna arrays may be used.
  • the objective is to jointly design the phase shifter, specified by the variable phase shifter matrix ⁇ as well as the DBF weights ⁇ ( ⁇ 1 ) and ⁇ ( ⁇ 2 ).
  • the DBFs are N pa ⁇ 1 vectors and the AFNs are N t ⁇ N pa matrices.
  • the phase shifter ⁇ is a N pa ⁇ N pa -1 matrix, where the passive phase shift values are embedded inside. Note that in an example there is only one phase shifter for a 2 x 2 MIMO setup with 2 AFNs.
  • ⁇ 0 does not correspond to the phase shift constraints as required by the macro-array setup, such as a diagonal matrix with only phase shifts and the phase shift matrix is approximated or re-designed to account for these constraints and denoted as ⁇ .
  • the LS estimate is replaced by interior point algorithms as the original AFN and DBF design.
  • Annex A More details on a methodology used for arriving at a particular antenna feed design can be found at Annex A, which considers a single dimensional feeder network.
  • a two dimensional network can be composed of two-feeder networks that are connected by a phase shift matrix. This network can be designed to satisfy two spectral masks ⁇ 1 and ⁇ 2 . Accordingly, two digital beamformers, ⁇ 1 and ⁇ 2 , can be used to simultaneously obtain two different beams using the matrix and W 1 , W 2 .
  • Figure 7 is a pair of graphs illustrating the performance of an arrangement such as depicted in figure 6 . More particularly, figure 7a illustrates beam pattern performance of a 3 x 12 hybrid AFN setup with combiners, and figure 7b illustrates a beam pattern performance of 3 x 12 hybrid AFN setup according to an example without combiners.
  • the number of transceivers used in an antenna feed can be reduced, thereby reducing the overall cost in an active antenna array (AAA) setup while making sure that the performance of the AAA setup is close to that expected in a modular AAA solution.
  • AAA active antenna array
  • An RF feeder network operates in combination with a digital beamformer (DBF) to achieve joint RF-digital beamforming.
  • APN antenna feeder network
  • the RF feeder network is typically a fixed beamformer, and is used in combination with an adaptive DBF to provide a joint digital and RF beamforming focusing signals towards various sectors within a given macro-cell.
  • the DBF can be implemented in an FPGA, where the DBF weights can be modified for each beamtilt.
  • An optimal Joint DBF-AFN design provides optimal beam-pattern performance, where in an example optimality is specified by signal energy or effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) from the antenna arrays along the specified sector. This can ensure that UEs present in a specific sector will be able to clearly receive signals with improved SNR values. Side lobe levels outside the specified sector can be suppressed, and this can ensure that signal energy from a base station is not wasted or radiated towards any other sector. This ensures that the interference levels observed at user equipment present in other sectors or neighboring sectors is minimised.
  • EIRP effective isotropic radiated power
  • the RF-AFN can be implemented using microwave components such as power dividers (Wilkinson dividers), micro-strip lines, suspended strip lines, and so on.
  • the output of PAs (and transceivers) can be divided into an increasing number of branches using a bank of power dividers. Subsequently, these power divided branches can be shifted by a bank of phase shifters to achieve beamforming.
  • a variable phase shift device can be used to apply a selected phase shift before, after or between power divider stages.
  • the power dividers can be either balanced or unbalanced power dividers, and the phase shifts can be implemented either using micro-strip lines or suspended di-electrics/suspended striplines and subsequently connected to the antennas.
  • An antenna feed according to an example minimises the number of cross-overs of the signal paths between PAs and antennas, thus reducing the implementation complexity, and the feed network can be optimized by balancing some or all of the dividers to minimize loss. A remaining set of unbalanced power dividers can be used to account for desired optimal beam pattern performance.
  • a multi-beam multi-column AFN can be provided. Multiple columns of either similar or different AFNs can be used with multiple transceivers in each column to realize a 4x4 MIMO or 2x2 MIMO for example, as required in LTE, thereby improving capacity/coverage.
  • Such an arrangement provides MIMO, spatial multiplexing and space-time coding with multiple columns of AFN, while providing spatial/vertical sectorization within a single AFN column.
  • Such a 2-dimensional multi-input multi-beam (MIMB) system can improve interference levels as well as overall capacity.
  • An AFN according to an example will lead to optimal beam pattern performance whenever it is used independently to realize individual beams for a specific downtilt or is used jointly to realize multi-user or MIMO beamforming.
  • a hybrid phase shifted AFN can be provided according to an example.
  • One of the active transceivers and the DBF can be replaced by one or more passive mechanical or electromechanical phase shifters. Such configurations can be decided in a deployment phase.
  • An optimal AFN plus a variable passive phase shifter can be used for optimal beamforming with reduced AAA.
  • Such an approach of passive phase shifters and reduced AAA is referred to as hybrid-AFN.
  • the hybrid-AFN arrangement can also be designed for use with PAs having non-uniform power output levels.
  • the AFN can have a PA radiating at a higher power compared to other PAs. In this case, signals from this PA can be divided with a Wilkinson divider and subsequently followed by a variable hybrid phase shifter.
  • the optimal hybrid phase AFN can be designed for arbitrary N pa and N h , with a performance as noted above.
  • the number of power divider stages containing 3-port Wilkinson dividers is limited by ⁇ log 2 N t / N pa ⁇ , where ⁇ . ⁇ specifies the ceil function.
  • the substrate losses are also limited by this factor.
  • the propose AFN design does not contain any cross-over wires, thus reducing the complexity.
  • the optimal AFN connections, balanced and unbalanced power divider weights, phase shifts, and DBF phase shifts as well as amplitude weights can be estimated using a constrained interior point algorithm.
  • the interior point algorithm to estimate beamformer weights please refer to the Appendix of Annex A.
  • the optimisation technique includes a specific set of constraints to limit the EIRP within the main sectors, to limit the interference and power levels along the undesired sectors, and to taper the power levels of signals at PA inputs.
  • the optimisation constraints are represented either as linear equalities or inequalities and interior point convex optimization methods are used to reach the optimal solution. Alternatively, these values can also be designed using stochastic gradient descent algorithms.
  • the algorithms designing RF-AFN and DBF always account for antenna spacing, type of antennas, frequency band of operation, grating lobe and side lobe requirements, beamtilt range required, desired number of transceiver, and so on to achieve optimal beamforming.
  • the algorithm can be applied for any combination of number of transceivers and number of antennas; and the solution will always converge to an optimal beam pattern performance.
  • the approach can be generalized to using PAs with non-uniform output power, antenna elements with non-uniform spacing between each other and antenna elements with non-uniform gain response. All these techniques will further enhance the beam pattern performance while operating at reduced complexity.
  • N t ⁇ 1 vector x ⁇ ( t ) denoting the RF signal radiated from the antenna array at time t.
  • the DBF vector u ( ⁇ d ) is usually designed ⁇ d .
  • x ⁇ t RF x k
  • ⁇ is the spacing between adjacent antennas
  • A is the wavelength in meters
  • g ( ⁇ i ) is the antenna characteristic.
  • the 3GPP transmission standard allows antenna characteristic g ( ⁇ i ) with a 3-dB beamwidth of either 65° or 110°.
  • the performance of the modular AAA setup depends on the channel capacity, as well as the adaptive sectorization of the beamformer u ( ⁇ d ). This performance requirement is specified by the operational constraints and is referred to in this paper as a spectral mask ⁇ ⁇ d .
  • the constraints that make up ⁇ ⁇ d are explained in Sec. I-C.
  • the spectral mask includes information regarding the gain and directivity along ⁇ d as well as the SLLs.
  • a well known approach to estimate u ( ⁇ d ) in (2) is u 0 ⁇ A d ⁇ ⁇ ⁇ d using the least-squares approach [10].
  • that approach would not lead to optimal solutions that consider microwave component design, would not account for the linear range of PA operation and might not always satisfy the required SLLs.
  • the modular AAA architecture is not among the main contributions of this paper, however it will serve as our reference design for performance comparisons.
  • Our aim is to jointly design the optimal AFN matrix W and DBFvector ⁇ ( ⁇ d ) to satisfy the desired set of spectral masks ( ⁇ ⁇ d ).
  • the fixed AFN and adaptive ⁇ ( ⁇ d ) must be designed to satisfy the spectral masks corresponding to all beamtilts i.e. ⁇ ⁇ d , ⁇ ⁇ d ⁇ R ⁇ .
  • the optimization of the cost function (3) includes the following constraints:
  • the objectives are to (1) design the AFN and DBF weights to constrain the beampattern satisfying the spectral mask ⁇ ⁇ d , as well as to restrict the dynamic range of PA output and (2) translate the designed AFN weights to a microwave feeder circuit that provides the desired beam pattern while minimizing the insertion loss.
  • Lemma characterizes the necessary conditions for optimal AFN weights in the beamtilt range .
  • the modular AA response u ( ⁇ d ) can be approximated as u ( ⁇ d ) ⁇ W ⁇ ( ⁇ d ), if ⁇ N trx +1 ⁇ 0. For this reason, the AFN design focussing on performance close to modular AAA is obtained by choosing N trx leading to ⁇ N trx +1 ⁇ 0.
  • N trx for the required range of via Lemma 1 is the first step in the AFN design. Once we have established the minimum N trx for the desired SLL, the next step is the design of AFN and DBF weights accounting for the constraints and satisfying the spatial mask ⁇ ⁇ d . The focus of this sub-section is the AFN design while accounting for main lobe energy, PA range, SLL, etc. We start with the cost function supplied in (3) and propose an interior-point algorithm to jointly estimate W and ⁇ ( ⁇ d ).
  • MVDR Capon minimum-variance distortionless response
  • the objective is to design the weights of u ( ⁇ d ) such that the convolution of u ( ⁇ d ) with the antenna array response A ( ⁇ ) provides a mainlobe steered towards the desired sector, while minimizing the overall variance of signal radiated from the antenna towards other sectors.
  • the above cost function can be recast as a convex optimization problem [11] and solved numerically to obtain the optimal solution. The solution is obtained using the well known interior point algorithm [11]; note that similar techniques to estimate modular AAA weights u ( ⁇ d ) have been proposed in [12], [13]. For details, see Appendix.
  • the adaptive DBF weights are estimated for each beamtilt ⁇ d .
  • the DBF ⁇ ( ⁇ d ) is a function of the AFN W, which in turn is a function of the array response a ( ⁇ d ).
  • H ⁇ A ⁇ W can be seen as the beamspace [8] array response for a given W and the mask of spatial requirements ⁇ ( ⁇ d ).
  • the PAs are usually limited by their ability to operate in a linear mode for only a limited range of input gain and amplitudes (typically with amplitude variation between 0 dB to 2 dB), and the DBF weights should comply with these output levels.
  • Section II provides some important directions on the design of this AFN, however, they it does not consider the RF limitations and loss due to microwave components used for the implementation of such networks. These constraints as well as the design objectives vary for different scenarios and it is not possible to directly apply the results of Sec. II to design the RF feeder network. This section proposes design changes for specific architectures and factorizes the AFN using a combination of microwave components.
  • the DBF-AFN arrangement can be seen as two-stage beamforming towards a specific sector.
  • the first stage i.e. DBF is an adaptive transformation for each beamtilt with a straightforward implementation (say using FPGA as in our experimental setup).
  • the second stage i.e. AFN is made up of microwave components, and its implementation is not trivial, especially when the objectives are to minimize the overall loss and provide distinct beampatterns towards different sectors.
  • the AFN is comprised of a combination of commonly used microwave elements such as power dividers (Wilkinson dividers or WDs), phase shifters (micro-strip lines) and hybrid DCs [17, Ch. 7].
  • Typical implementations of coupler/divider elements result in loss of 0.1-0.2 dB.
  • most critical in the AFN is the insertion/return loss. The insertion loss occurs due to the amplitude and phase mismatch of the incoming signals at each combiner and depending on the beamtilt range of the AFN, these loss can increase to 3 dB or more.
  • the AFN has to be designed to account for a specific cellular arrangement.
  • the range of beamtilt between adjacent sectors is small ( ⁇ 20°) and the distance between the mobile user and base station is typically large.
  • the emphasis is to design macro-AFN to achieve a pointed beam, focusing on minimizing the overall loss.
  • the beamtilt range is large (60° - 90°) and the emphasis is on increasing the angular coverage of the AAA setup.
  • the focus is more towards fixed 3-4 beams covering wide angular region.
  • the joint design problem ⁇ W , ⁇ ( ⁇ d ) ⁇ can be reclassified depending on the type of cellular architecture as
  • the number of RF chains are limited to 2 or 3 and the number of antennas are limited to 4-6 (typically as an horizontal arrangement).
  • Each beam has a wider 3-dB beamwidth (nearly 15° and the focus is more on improving angular coverage (unlike D1 where the focus is on minimizing loss).
  • the requirements and overall setup make this design fundamentally different from that of D1.
  • the two derived AFNs prove benefits in designing through a generic approach. Especially in the case of a macro-cell base station antenna we could show that the loss in the combiner stages of the AFN caused by the digital phase shift at the AFN input ports to achieve the beam tilt are kept to a minimum, which is essential for such applications where the amount of radiated power easily reaches 100W and more, and where combiner loss in the AFN not only result in reduced radiated power, but also an increasing challenge for thermal management, if the power that needs to be dissipated within the AFN.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
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Claims (8)

  1. Alimentation d'antenne pour la génération de signaux d'un réseau d'antennes actives comportant M antennes (115a-115M) pour la transmission de faisceaux de transmission présentant des angles d'inclinaison choisis, l'alimentation d'antenne comprenant :
    un générateur numérique de faisceau (105) opérable pour recevoir un signal d'entrée à large bande et pour générer une pluralité N de signaux de sortie à large bande, chacun présentant une phase et une amplitude associées ;
    une pluralité N de générateurs de signaux de transmission (111a-111n), chacun étant opérable pour recevoir l'un de ladite pluralité N de signaux de sortie à large bande et pour générer une pluralité N correspondante de premiers signaux RF ; et
    un premier réseau d'alimentation (113, 201) présentant M ports de sortie, chacun étant configuré pour être connecté à une antenne respective du réseau d'antennes actives et selon lequel le réseau d'alimentation comprend :
    un réseau de division de puissance comprenant de multiples étages de division de puissance (201-A, 201B, 201C), chacun comprenant un ensemble respectif de diviseurs de puissance, chaque diviseur de puissance étant opérable pour diviser un signal RF reçu en provenance de l'étage de division de puissance précédent via au moins deux chemins séparés afin de fournir des signaux divisés à l'étage de division de puissance suivant, le réseau de division de puissance étant opérable pour recevoir ladite pluralité N de des premiers signaux RF et pour générer une pluralité P de deuxièmes signaux RF, chacun présentant une amplitude et un déphasage associés appliqués via un déphaseur variable (211) d'un réseau de déphasage (209) du réseau d'alimentation (113, 201) et selon lequel P>M>N, et selon lequel :
    le déphaseur variable est situé entre deux étages de division de puissance du réseau de division de puissance et est adapté pour produire lesdits déphasages associés et est configuré pour changer la phase du signal d'entrée d'une valeur variable pouvant être choisie ou filtrée ; et
    le réseau de déphasage est opérable pour fournir des signaux respectifs de la pluralité P de deuxièmes signaux RF aux signaux respectifs de la pluralité M de ports de sortie du réseau d'alimentation (113, 201).
  2. Alimentation d'antenne selon la revendication 1, selon lequel le réseau de déphasage comprend un déphaseur fixe (209) configuré pour appliquer un déphasage prédéterminé aux signaux respectifs de la pluralité P des deuxièmes signaux RF.
  3. Alimentation d'antenne selon la revendication 2, selon lequel le déphaseur fixe est situé logiquement après le réseau de division de puissance.
  4. Alimentation d'antenne selon l'une quelconque des revendications précédentes, selon lequel le réseau d'alimentation est opérable pour fournir, via les ports de sortie de ce dernier, la pluralité P des deuxièmes signaux RF aux antennes respectives de la pluralité M d'antennes dudit réseau d'antennes actives, afin de transmettre un faisceau de transmission présentant un angle d'inclinaison demandé de faisceau.
  5. Alimentation d'antenne selon la revendication 1, selon lequel le générateur numérique de faisceau est un générateur de faisceau adaptatif opérable pour pondérer la pluralité N de signaux de sortie à large bande afin de fournir une distribution souhaitée de lobe principal et de lobe latéral d'un faisceau de transmission.
  6. Procédé de configuration d'une alimentation d'antenne pour la génération de signaux d'un réseau d'antennes actives comportant M antennes pour la transmission de faisceaux de transmission présentant des angles d'inclinaison choisis, le procédé comprenant :
    la réception d'un signal d'entrée à large bande au niveau d'un générateur numérique de faisceau et la génération d'une pluralité N de signaux de sortie à large bande, chacun présentant une phase et une amplitude associées ;
    la réception de chaque signal de ladite pluralité N de signaux de sortie à large bande au niveau d'un générateur de signal de transmission respectif et la génération d'une pluralité N correspondante de premiers signaux RF ;
    la réception de ladite pluralité N des premiers signaux RF au niveau d'un réseau d'alimentation (113, 201) présentant M ports de sortie, chacun étant connecté à une antenne respective du réseau d'antennes actives, le réseau d'alimentation comprenant un réseau de division de puissance comprenant de multiples étages de division de puissance (201A, 201B, 201C), chacun comprenant un ensemble respectif de diviseurs de puissance, chaque diviseur de puissance étant opérable pour diviser un signal RF reçu en provenance de l'étage de division de puissance précédent via au moins deux chemins séparés afin de fournir des signaux divisés à l'étage de division de puissance suivant, le réseau de division de puissance étant opérable pour recevoir ladite pluralité N de des premiers signaux RF et pour générer une pluralité P de deuxièmes signaux RF, chacun présentant une amplitude et un déphasage associés et un réseau de déphasage du réseau d'alimentation (113, 201) au réseau d'antennes actives et selon lequel le réseau de déphasage (209) comprend un déphaseur variable (211) pour produire lesdits déphasages associés, le déphaseur variable étant situé entre deux étages du réseau de division de puissance et étant adapté à produire lesdits déphasages associés et pour effectuer le changement de phase d'un signal d'entrée d'une valeur variable pouvant être choisie ou filtrée ;
    la génération, par le biais du déphaseur variable, d'une pluralité P de deuxièmes signaux RF, chacun présentant une amplitude et un déphasage associés selon la valeur variable, selon lequel P>M>N ; et
    la fourniture de signaux respectifs de la pluralité P des deuxièmes signaux RF en provenance du réseau de déphasage aux ports respectifs des ports M de sortie du réseau d'alimentation.
  7. Procédé selon la revendication 6, comportant en outre l'application d'un déphasage prédéterminé aux signaux respectifs de la pluralité P des deuxièmes signaux RF mettant en oeuvre un déphaseur fixe du réseau de déphasage.
  8. Procédé selon l'une quelconque des revendications 6 ou 7, comportant en outre la fourniture de la pluralité P des deuxièmes signaux RF aux antennes respectives de la pluralité M d'antennes dudit réseau d'antennes actives, afin d'effectuer la transmission d'un faisceau de transmission présentant un angle d'inclinaison demandé de faisceau.
EP14306148.9A 2014-07-15 2014-07-15 Système d'alimentation d'antenne et procédé de configuration d'une alimentation d'antenne Active EP2975688B1 (fr)

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WO2019218352A1 (fr) * 2018-05-18 2019-11-21 京信通信系统（中国）有限公司 Antenne
TWI686008B (zh) * 2018-11-28 2020-02-21 銳鋒工業股份有限公司 複合式天線
RU2697194C1 (ru) * 2019-02-12 2019-08-13 Федеральное государственное унитарное предприятие "Ростовский-на-Дону научно-исследовательский институт радиосвязи" (ФГУП "РНИИРС") Способ построения активной фазированной антенной решётки
RU2699555C1 (ru) * 2019-02-12 2019-09-06 Федеральное государственное унитарное предприятие "Ростовский-на-Дону научно-исследовательский институт радиосвязи" (ФГУП "РНИИРС") Способ построения антенной решётки
DE112020001411T5 (de) * 2019-04-25 2021-12-23 Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd. Antennenmodul und Kommunikationsvorrichtung
RU194683U1 (ru) * 2019-05-21 2019-12-19 Федеральное государственное автономное образовательное учреждение высшего образования "Национальный исследовательский технологический университет "МИСиС" Устройство цифрового диаграммообразования с частотным сканированием
RU2717258C1 (ru) * 2019-07-19 2020-03-19 Федеральное государственное унитарное предприятие "Ростовский-на-Дону научно-исследовательский институт радиосвязи" (ФГУП "РНИИРС") Способ построения активной фазированной антенной решетки
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CN112615158B (zh) * 2020-12-01 2022-01-28 厦门大学 超宽带扫描稀疏阵列天线的综合方法及装置
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