RU2806190C1 - Method of adjusting antennas of radio relay stations according to maximum level of received signal - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: radio communications.

SUBSTANCE: method for aligning antenna systems when laying routes for radio relay stations, and can be used in organizing communication channels between mobile and stationary communication systems. The method includes determining the location of its antenna, its elevation above sea level using the GLONASS satellite navigation system, and, in the absence of a GLONASS signal, determining the location of both the radio relay stations using a map, and the elevation of its antenna above the sea level using a barometric altimeter, making decisions by radio relay stations about the master-slave relations, orienting station antennas in the direction of each other, zeroing the relative angle, fixing the position of the antenna of the slave radio relay station in a horizontal position, emitting a test signal by the slave station, adjusting the antenna by the master station in the horizontal plane to the maximum signal level of the slave station, updating the exact angle when a more powerful signal is found with the antenna fixed in this horizontal position, adjusting the master station to the maximum power level of the received signal in the vertical plane using the same algorithm as when adjusting in the horizontal plane, carrying out the described adjustment by the slave station with fixation the position of the antenna of the leading station, with a change in the position in the horizontal and vertical plane of the antenna of the slave station, signalling both stations about the completion of the adjustment.

EFFECT: reduced time for aligning antennas in the horizontal and the vertical planes based on the maximum level of the received signal, which, in turn, will directly affect the quality of communication organized by the radio relay route and the speed of its deployment.

1 cl, 2 dwg

Description

The invention relates to the field of radio communications, in particular to a method for aligning antenna systems when laying routes for radio relay stations, and can be used in organizing communication channels between mobile and stationary communication systems.

There is a known method for rough alignment of antennas of radio relay stations, [Patent RU No. 2340987, IPC H01Q 3/20, publ. 05/10/2008], based on the fact that the antennas are oriented using a household GPS receiver with an integrated barometric altimeter. According to this method, the location and height of the first point are first determined and the data is entered into the device’s memory, then the location and height of the second point are determined and, using the function of searching for the return path along the device’s arrow, the antenna is oriented in azimuth in the horizontal plane.

The disadvantage of this method is the error in the orientation of the antennas in the horizontal plane. This error occurs when using the function of searching for the return path using the arrow of the device (GPS receiver): to determine the direction, the device must be in a straight line. The longer and more linear the path traveled during the measurement process, the higher the accuracy of determination. The antennas of radio relay stations are stationary (when organizing radio relay routes), therefore, to determine the direction of the return path, it is necessary to simulate movement with a GPS receiver, which inevitably leads to errors when orienting the antennas in the horizontal plane.

The closest to the proposed method is the method for aligning antennas of radio relay stations, presented in RU 2432648 C1 IPC H01Q 3/18, pub. 10/27/2011.

The method for aligning antennas of radio relay stations includes determining the location and altitude for each antenna using the GLONASS satellite navigation system and the magnitude of the magnetic declination, then using a compass, determining the magnetic azimuth of the zero position of the antenna, which coincides with the magnetic azimuth of the vehicle axis, and calculating the value of the absolute azimuth of the zero position of the antenna. By solving the inverse geodetic problem, the absolute azimuth of the antenna to the target is determined and the angle of rotation of the antenna in the horizontal plane is calculated, which is equal to the sum of the absolute azimuth of the zero position of the antenna and the absolute azimuth of the antenna to the target. The antenna is oriented in the vertical plane by calculating the elevation angle.

The disadvantage of the known system is the reduction in the accuracy of the adjustment as a result of reference to the magnetic azimuth of the vehicle axis, the reduction in the accuracy of the adjustment as a result of the use of calculations based only on the GLONASS system, the low accuracy of the adjustment in the vertical plane associated with the error in calculating the elevation angle, as well as the reliance on the known location of both radio relay stations. The accuracy of the GLONASS system ranges from 45 to 3 meters, depending on the coverage of the satellites, and accordingly, the accuracy of antenna tuning in the horizontal plane depends on this. According to the performance characteristics of the navigation equipment of consumers of the global navigation satellite systems GLONASS and GPS for individual use Orion [https:/vooruzhenie.rf/armament/orion/], the maximum error of location coordinates for determining navigation parameters with a probability of 0.95 is 10 meters, the maximum error for determining coordinates height of navigation parameters with probability 0.95 is 15 meters.

The technical result of the invention is to increase the accuracy of alignment of antennas of radio relay stations, ensure the configuration of radio relay stations in various geographical conditions and increase the speed of deployment of mobile radio relay stations by automating the alignment process.

The specified technical result is achieved by determining for each antenna the location, height, magnetic declination and determining the angle of rotation of the antenna in the horizontal plane. According to the invention, the initial determination of the coordinates of the location of your radio relay station antenna and altitude above sea level is carried out using the GLONASS satellite system, or, in the absence of a signal from the GLONASS satellite system, the location of your radio relay station is determined using a map, then the altitude of your radio relay station is determined using a barometric altimeter antenna above sea level, then using a compass, the true direction to the north is determined, then the direction of the station’s antennas is aligned with the magnetic meridian, then, based on the data obtained, the radio relay station’s antenna is oriented in the direction of another station. Orientation occurs on the basis of calculating the magnetic azimuth (Am) - the angle measured from the northern direction of the magnetic meridian to a given point; also on the basis of the magnetic azimuth, the stations independently decide on the role of a leader or a slave, if Am<180, then the station is a slave, if Am>180 is the leading one, while the relative direction angle at both stations is assumed to be zero. Next, the antennas are roughly adjusted in the horizontal plane, based on the master/slave role, the antenna of the slave radio relay station remains stationary and emits a test signal, and the master radio relay station rotates the antenna in the horizontal plane in a sector of ±10° with a step of 1° from the relative angle , while the leading radio relay station measures the power level of the test signal from the leading station and remembers the maximum signal power level. After the leading station has passed the full sector, the leading station rotates its antenna to the exact horizontal angle (Tur), corresponding to the maximum signal level, then the leading radio relay station measures the signal strength by rotating the antenna 0.5° to the left and right of the exact horizontal angle, at When a higher power level is found, the maximum signal level value and the precise angle value are updated and the antenna is fixed in this horizontal position. After this, the tuning procedure is carried out in the vertical plane, namely, the leading station rotates the antenna in the vertical plane in a sector of ±5° with a step of 0.5° from the relative angle in the vertical plane, while the leading radio relay station measures the power level of the test signal from the leading station and remembers the maximum signal power level, after the leading station has passed the full sector, the leading station turns its antenna to the exact vertical angle (Tuv) corresponding to the maximum signal level, then the leading radio relay station measures the signal power 0.25° higher and Below the precise angle, when a higher power level is found, the maximum signal level value and the precise angle value are updated and the antenna is fixed in this vertical position. Next, the described algorithm is performed by the slave station, after which both stations signal the end of fine tuning; the tuning diagram is shown in Figure 1.

The proposed method for aligning antennas of radio relay stations according to the maximum level of the received signal, in contrast to those currently used, can significantly reduce the time for aligning antennas in the horizontal and vertical plane based on the maximum signal level, which in turn will directly affect the quality of the radio relay route and the speed of its deployment.

The method can be implemented, for example, using a device, the block diagram of which is shown in Figure 2, where it is indicated: 1 - GLONASS location determination unit, 2 - source data generation unit; 3 - parameter calculation block; 4 - master/slave decision block; 5 - unit for measuring the power of the received (test) signal, 6 - adjustment unit; 7 - test signal generation unit, 8 - antenna drive control unit.

The device operates as follows: the initial data determined using the GLONASS system is entered into the initial data generation unit; in the absence of a signal from the GLONASS system, map, compass, and barometric altimeter data are entered into the initial data generation unit. Next, the signal enters the parameter calculation unit, which can be implemented in software on a single-chip computer, where the direction to another antenna is calculated and a control signal is generated for the antenna drive control unit to establish the direction to another station. Then the calculation results are sent to the decision-making block to determine the master or slave antenna. If the station is a slave, then from the decision-making block the signal goes to the tuning block, from where a control signal is received to fix the antenna in the current position, as well as to the test signal generation block to generate a test signal, which then goes to the transceiver device of the radio relay station. If the station is the leading one, then the signal from the decision-making unit enters the tuning unit to generate a control signal for the antenna drive control unit, then, depending on the control signal, the antenna drive control unit rotates the antenna in a given sector, while measuring the power of the incoming test signal in the unit for measuring the power of the received (test) signal and storing its value, issuing a command to remember the current angle as the exact angle to the tuning unit, from the tuning unit the antenna control signal enters the antenna drive control unit until the full cycle is completed rotation in specified sectors in the horizontal plane, then a signal is received from the tuning unit to rotate the antenna in a sector 0.5° to the left and right of the exact horizontal angle value, then the antenna is adjusted in the vertical plane according to the described algorithm. Next, when tuning is carried out in both planes, a signal is received from the decision-making block about a change in the master/slave role, the algorithm continues until each radio relay station completes a tuning cycle in the horizontal and vertical planes in the role of a master and slave station, then tuning stops, and the tuning unit signals its completion.

Claims (1)

A method for adjusting antennas of radio relay stations according to the maximum level of the received signal, based on determining for each antenna the location and height of the antenna above sea level using the GLONASS satellite navigation system, and using a magnetic declination compass and the angle of rotation of the antenna in the horizontal plane relative to the magnetic meridian, characterized in that , that determining the location of your antenna, its height above sea level in the presence of a signal is carried out using the GLONASS satellite navigation system, and in the absence of a GLONASS signal, determining the location of both radio relay stations is carried out using a map, the height of your antenna above sea level is measured using a barometric altimeter , then, depending on the value of the magnetic azimuth, both radio relay stations independently decide on the role of the master and slave, the antennas of the stations are oriented in the direction of each other, the relative angle is taken equal to zero, then, based on the data received, the antenna of the slave radio relay station remains motionless and emits a test signal, at this time the master station rotates the antenna in the horizontal plane in a sector of ±10° with a step of 1° from the relative angle, while measuring and remembering the maximum level of the received signal from the slave station and the angle of rotation of the antenna, then, after the leading station has passed the full sector, the leading radio relay station rotates its antenna to the exact angle corresponding to the maximum signal power level, then measures the received signal power level when rotating the antenna 0.5° to the left and right of the already obtained exact horizontal angle, when finding higher power level, the value of the maximum power and the exact horizontal angle is updated and the antenna is fixed in this horizontal position, after which the same procedure is carried out for adjusting the master station according to the maximum power level of the received signal in the vertical plane, namely, the master station rotates the antenna in the vertical plane in sector ±5° with a step of 0.5° from the relative angle in the vertical plane, while measuring and remembering the maximum level of the received signal from the slave station and the angle of rotation of the antenna, then, after the leading station has passed the full sector, the leading radio relay station turns its antenna to the exact vertical angle corresponding to the maximum signal power level, then measures the received signal power level by rotating the antenna 0.25° above and below the already obtained exact vertical angle, when a higher power level is found, the value of the maximum power and the exact vertical angle is updated and the antenna is fixed in this vertical position, then the slave station also performs the same adjustment of its antenna, while now the antenna of the master station remains stationary, and the antenna of the slave station changes its position in the horizontal and vertical plane, after which both stations signal the end of the adjustment.

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