WO2013135017A1

WO2013135017A1 - Method and device for multi-channel link calibration of active antenna

Info

Publication number: WO2013135017A1
Application number: PCT/CN2012/077364
Authority: WO
Inventors: 雷红; 孔维刚; 王鹏; 白朝军
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2012-03-13
Filing date: 2012-06-21
Publication date: 2013-09-19
Also published as: CN102624472A; CN102624472B

Abstract

Disclosed are a method and device for the multi-channel link calibration of an active antenna. The method comprises: selecting a transmitting link of a channel to be calibrated from an active antenna system to transmit test data; receiving the test data, and outputting the test data to a feedback link of the active antenna system; acquiring the test data from the feedback link; and calibrating the transmitting link of multi-channel of the active antenna system according to the acquired test data.

Description

Method and device for calibrating active antenna multi-channel link

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of digital signal processing, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for multi-channel link calibration of active antennas in a communication system.

Background technique

In the mobile communication system, in order to expand the antenna coverage, the conventional antennas add different amplitude and phase values to the respective antenna elements through the phase shifting network, so that the signals transmitted from the respective vibrators have different amplitude phase differences. The energy of all the vibrators is superimposed to form a pattern of the antenna. Adjusting the relative amplitude phase between the oscillators can effectively change the field strength distribution of the antenna radiant energy.

The traditional electric adjustable antenna changes the amplitude phase weight of the antenna element through the mechanical phase shifting network, and the active antenna can complete the amplitude phase adjustment of the signal in the digital part, so the active antenna is more stable and flexible than the electronically adjustable antenna.

In an active antenna system, since each channel signal passes through a different physical link, there must be a large difference in the amplitude phase of each antenna when it reaches the antenna. Therefore, the active antenna must be calibrated for the amplitude phase of all the channels before the antenna is operated, so that the amplitude and phase of the signals are consistent when they reach each oscillator.

The existing technology is to achieve amplitude phase calibration between different channels by adding additional calibration channels or independent calibration antennas. This method can effectively perform transmission and reception calibration for each channel, but it requires an additional pair of transceiver chains. Road, not only increases the size and power consumption of the antenna, but also increases the hardware cost.

Summary of the invention

A technical problem to be solved by embodiments of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for implementing active antenna multi-channel link calibration to effectively reduce costs.

In order to solve the above technical problem, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for implementing multi-channel transmit link calibration of an active antenna system, including:

Selecting a transmit link of a channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to transmit test data; Receiving the test data, and outputting the test data to a feedback link of the active antenna system;

Collecting test data from the feedback link;

The multi-channel transmit link of the active antenna system is calibrated according to the test data collected.

The above method can also have the following characteristics:

The step of selecting the transmit link of the channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to transmit test data includes: selecting one of the transmit links of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to transmit test data; The steps of the test data to perform a calibration operation on the multi-channel transmit link of the active antenna system include:

After collecting the test data of all the channel transmit links to be calibrated, using one of the channel transmit links as the reference transmit link, estimating the relative amplitude phase difference between the other each channel transmit link and the reference transmit link. ;

The amplitude phase difference is configured to be calibrated by an amplitude phase adjustment module of the corresponding channel transmit link.

The above method can also have the following characteristics:

The step of selecting the transmit link of the channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to transmit test data includes: selecting a transmit link of the kth channel and the nth channel to send test data, where the nth channel and the kth channel are both Any of the N channels to be calibrated, the kth channel serves as a reference channel, and n is not equal to k;

The step of performing a calibration operation on the multi-channel transmit link of the active antenna system according to the collected test data includes:

When the test data of the kth channel is selected to transmit test data, the test signals coupled from the antenna of the kth channel are respectively received and collected, and the first phase delay Δ of the kth channel is calculated. Receiving and collecting a test signal coupled from the antenna of the nth channel, calculating a second phase delay Δ of the kth channel; when selecting a transmit link of the nth channel to transmit test data, respectively receiving and collecting k test signal path coupled to an antenna, a first n-channel calculation of phase delay Δ _2; Bian and receiving test signals from the antenna coupled to the first set of η passage, a second passage calculation η phase delay Δ _3; The relative amplitude phase difference Δ between the nth channel transmit link and the kth channel transmit link is calculated by:

The amplitude phase difference Δ is configured to the amplitude phase adjustment module of the nth channel transmit link for calibration.

The above method can also have the following characteristics:

Before the transmitting link of the channel to be calibrated in the selected active antenna system transmits test data, the method further includes

A synchronization command is sent to the digital to analog conversion module of each channel in the active antenna system.

The above method can also have the following characteristics:

Resets the phase of the digitally controlled oscillator in the transmit link of the selected channel.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method for multi-channel receive link calibration of an active antenna system, including:

Transmitting a reception band signal to a receiving link of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system; after receiving the collection command, collecting a reception band signal on a receiving link of each channel; receiving a chain according to each channel of the channel The receiving band data of the road, estimating the relative amplitude phase difference between the receiving links of each channel;

The receive link of the corresponding channel is calibrated according to the amplitude phase difference sent by the amplitude phase estimation module.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a multi-channel link calibration apparatus for an active antenna system, including: a first module, configured to: select a transmit link of a channel to be calibrated in an active antenna system to transmit test data;

a second module, configured to: receive the test data, and output the test data to a feedback link of the active antenna system; a third module, configured to: collect test data from the feedback link; and a fourth module, configured to: perform a multi-channel transmit link of the active antenna system according to the collected test data Calibration operation.

The above device can also have the following characteristics:

The first module is configured to: select one of the transmit links of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to send test data;

The fourth module includes:

a first unit, configured to: after the test data of all the channel transmit links to be calibrated collected by the third module, use one of the channel transmit links as a reference transmit link, and estimate other each channel transmit chain The relative amplitude phase difference between the road and the reference transmit link;

And a second unit, configured to: align the amplitude phase difference to an amplitude phase adjustment module of the corresponding channel transmit link for calibration.

The above device can also have the following characteristics:

The first module is configured to: select a transmit link of the kth channel and the nth channel to send test data, where the nth channel and the kth channel are any one of the N channels to be calibrated, the kth channel As a reference channel, and n is not equal to k;

The fourth module includes:

The first unit, which is set to:

_{Δ =} Δ. - Δ _{1 +} Δ ₂ - Δ and

2 And a second unit, configured to: configure the amplitude phase difference Δ to an amplitude phase adjustment module of the nth channel transmit link to perform calibration.

The above device can also have the following characteristics:

The first module is further configured to: send a synchronization command to the digital-to-analog conversion module of each channel in the active antenna system before transmitting the test data of the channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system, and reset the The digital control oscillator phase in the transmit link of the selected channel.

The above device may further comprise a fifth module,

The second module is further configured to: after receiving the received frequency band signal, transmit the received frequency band signal to a receiving link of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system;

The fifth module is configured to: after receiving the collection command, collect the received frequency band data on the receiving link of each channel, and send the collected received frequency band data to the fourth module;

The fourth module includes:

a third unit, configured to: estimate a relative amplitude phase difference between the receiving links of each channel according to the received band data of each channel receiving link, and output the amplitude phase difference to the fourth unit;

The fourth unit is configured to: calibrate the received amplitude phase difference to the amplitude phase adjustment module of the receiving link of the corresponding channel for calibration.

The above device can also have the following characteristics:

The second module includes a plurality of antenna ports and a common port, the respective antenna ports are respectively connected to the common port, and the antenna port is paired with an antenna interface of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system. A connection, the common port is connected to a feedback link in the active antenna system.

The above device can also have the following characteristics:

The second module further includes a signal source port, and the signal source port is configured to: connect to each of the antenna ports, and input a receiving frequency band signal.

An embodiment of the present invention further provides another active antenna system multi-channel link calibration apparatus, including: a power splitting and combining module, configured to: receive to each channel to be calibrated in an active antenna system The link transmits a reception band signal;

The collection module is configured to: after receiving the collection command, collect the received frequency band signals on the receiving links of the respective channels;

The amplitude phase estimation module is configured to: estimate a relative amplitude phase difference between the receiving links of each channel according to the received frequency band data of the receiving links of each channel;

The calibration control module is configured to: calibrate the receiving link of the corresponding channel according to the amplitude phase difference sent by the amplitude phase estimation module.

In summary, an embodiment of the present invention provides a device for implementing multi-channel link calibration of an active antenna. The device fully utilizes an existing hardware structure, and can perform multi-channel link calibration without requiring an additional transceiver calibration channel. The hardware cost and power consumption, and the calibration method applied to the device are simple and reliable, and the implementation is simple.

The method for realizing the multi-channel link calibration of the active antenna proposed by the embodiment of the present invention can fully utilize the existing hardware structure, and reduces the independent transceiver calibration channel or the calibration antenna compared with the traditional multi-channel calibration method, and can effectively Reduce PCB (printed circuit board) area and save costs. The method is simple and feasible, and effectively solves the problem of the existence of the active antenna in terms of cost, power consumption and volume. BRIEF abstract

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the basic architecture of an active antenna system;

2 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for implementing multi-channel link calibration of an active antenna system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flow chart of a method for implementing multi-channel transmit link calibration of an active antenna system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a schematic diagram of a system for implementing multi-channel transmit link calibration of an active antenna system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

5 is a flowchart of a method for implementing multi-channel transmit link calibration of an active antenna system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; 6 is a schematic diagram of mutual calibration of 2-channel data according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a system for implementing multi-channel receive link calibration of an active antenna system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

8 is a flow chart of a method for implementing multi-channel receive link calibration of an active antenna system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a hardware structural diagram of an active antenna multi-channel link calibration according to an application example of the present invention; FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram of a calibration tooling board according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Preferred embodiment of the invention

Figure 1 shows the basic architecture of an active antenna system, with a traditional RRU (Radio Remote

Unit, RF remote unit) The architecture is different. As shown in Figure 1, each oscillator of the active antenna corresponds to a physical transceiver channel. Take channel 0 as an example:

For transmitting signals, the digital processing module 11 processes data from the BBU (baseband processing unit) (which may be one channel of data, or N channels of data, corresponding to N channels), and internally adjusts the amplitude and phase of the data to generate N different data.

The digital processing module 11 sends the data of the channel 0 to the digital-to-analog conversion (DAC) module 12 to convert the digital signal into an analog signal, and then converts the intermediate frequency signal into a radio frequency signal through the analog transmission link module 13, and performs filtering by the duplexer 14. The antenna vibrator 15 is reached and launched into the air. The signals radiated by the individual antenna vibrators are superimposed in the far field to form a pattern.

For the received signal, the antenna element 15 receives the spatial signal, is filtered by the duplexer 14 to reach the analog receiving link 23, and then becomes the intermediate frequency signal through the analog receiving link 23, and is converted into a digital signal by the analog-to-digital conversion (ADC) module 22. It is sent to the digital processing module 11 for processing.

Since each vibrator of the active antenna corresponds to an independent physical channel, even if the signal corresponding to each vibrator has the same phase amplitude of the signal corresponding to the digital part, the amplitude phase of the signal after reaching the vibrator through different physical links It is also completely different, so the amplitude phase of the signal needs to be calibrated.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that, in the case of no conflict, the features in the embodiments and the embodiments in the present application may be arbitrarily combined with each other. The embodiment of the invention provides a method for multi-channel link calibration of an active antenna. By sharing a feedback link, the data of each transmission channel is collected for analysis, thereby achieving the purpose of transmitting link calibration. By transmitting the receiving band calibration signal, it is coupled to each receiving channel, and each receiving channel simultaneously receives data for analysis, thereby achieving the purpose of receiving link calibration.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for implementing multi-channel link calibration of an active antenna system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the apparatus of this embodiment includes:

a first module, configured to select a transmit link of a channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to transmit test data;

a second module, configured to receive the test data, and output the test data to a feedback link of the active antenna system;

a third module, configured to collect test data from the feedback link,

And a fourth module, configured to perform a calibration operation on the multi-channel transmit link of the active antenna system according to the test data collected by the set.

Thus, the calibration of the multi-channel transmit link of the active antenna system can be achieved by the apparatus of the present embodiment.

In a preferred embodiment, the first module is configured to send test data to transmit links of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system one by one;

The fourth module includes:

a first unit, configured to, after the test data of all the channel transmit links to be calibrated collected by the third module, use a one-channel transmit link as a reference transmit link, and estimate other each channel transmit link and the The relative amplitude phase difference between the reference transmit links;

And a second unit, configured to align the amplitude phase difference to an amplitude phase adjustment module of the corresponding channel transmit link for calibration.

The first module, before selecting a transmit link of the channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system, is further configured to send a synchronization command to the digital-to-analog conversion module of each channel in the active antenna system, and the reset is selected. The digital control of the phase of the channel in the transmit chain.

In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus may further include a fifth module to implement calibration of the multi-channel receive link of the active antenna system, where The second module is further configured to: after receiving the received frequency band signal, transmit the received frequency band signal to a receiving link of each channel in the active antenna system to be calibrated;

The fifth module is configured to: after receiving the collection command, collect the received band data on the receiving link of each channel, and send the collected receiving band data to the fourth module;

The fourth module includes:

The third unit is configured to estimate a relative amplitude phase difference between the receiving links of each channel according to the received band data of each channel receiving link, and output the amplitude phase difference to the fourth unit;

The fourth unit is configured to perform calibration by arranging the received amplitude phase difference to an amplitude phase adjustment module of a receiving link of a corresponding channel.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for implementing multi-channel transmit link calibration of an active antenna system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, the method in this embodiment includes the following steps:

Step 1. Select a transmit link of the channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to send test data. Step 2. Receive the test data, and output the test data to a feedback link of the active antenna system.

Step 3. Collect test data from the feedback link;

Step 4. Perform a calibration operation on the multi-channel transmit link of the active antenna system according to the test data collected.

Thus, the method of the embodiment of the present invention does not need to add an additional calibration channel or a separate calibration antenna to achieve amplitude phase calibration between different channels, reduce the size and power consumption of the antenna, and save cost. 4 is a schematic diagram of a system for implementing multi-channel transmit link calibration of an active antenna system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the method includes:

The calibration control module is configured to select each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system one by one (this function can be implemented by the first module described above); configure the amplitude phase difference sent by the amplitude phase estimation module to the corresponding channel of the transmission link The amplitude phase adjustment module performs calibration (this function can be implemented by the second unit of the fourth module described above); a test signal generating module, configured to send a test signal to a transmit link of the channel selected by the calibration control module;

The power splitting and combining module (corresponding to the second module described above) is configured to receive a test signal transmitted by the transmitting link of each channel, and output the received test signal to a feedback link of the active antenna system;

a feedback collection module (corresponding to the third module described above) is configured to collect test data from the feedback link, and send the collected test data to the amplitude phase estimation module;

The amplitude phase estimation module (corresponding to the first unit of the fourth module described above) is configured to use the test data of the transmission link of each channel according to the collection, and use a one-channel transmission link as a reference transmission link to estimate other each A relative amplitude phase difference between the channel transmit link and the reference transmit link, the amplitude phase difference being output to the calibration control module.

A flowchart of a method for implementing multi-channel transmit link calibration of an active antenna system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention is shown in FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 4, the method in this embodiment includes the following steps:

Step 11: Select each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system one by one;

Before selecting the channel to be calibrated, it is necessary to synchronize the DAC modules of all channels; the calibration control module needs to send synchronization commands to the DAC modules of all channels in the active antenna system to be calibrated, and the DAC chips remain synchronized after receiving the synchronization command.

Select the transmit channel to be calibrated, and reset the NCO (Numerical Controlled Oscillator) phase in the transmit link to be calibrated to ensure that the NCO phase at the time of each transmit command is consistent.

Step 12: Start sending test data to the transmit link of the selected channel and close other transmit links.

Step 13: receiving test data transmitted by a transmission link of each channel, and outputting the received test signal to a feedback link of the active antenna system;

Step 14: Collect test data from the feedback link;

After a fixed delay tl, the feedback data collection module begins to collect the calibration data from the feedback link.

Switch to the next channel, go to step 12, and collect the data of the next channel until all the transmissions The data of the link is collected.

Step 15: Estimate the relative amplitude phase difference between the transmission links of each channel according to the test data of the transmission links of each channel.

The amplitude phase estimation module estimates the relative amplitude phase difference between the channels based on the respective channel data of the set.

Step 16: calibrate the transmit link of the corresponding channel according to the amplitude phase difference; the calibration control module configures the estimated amplitude phase difference of each channel to the amplitude phase adjustment module of each channel.

After the calibration is completed, the initial settings are restored and the feedback channel is released for DPD (Digital Pre-Distortion). The method for implementing active antenna multi-channel transmit link calibration in the second embodiment of the present invention is mainly performed by two-two-channel transmit links, and the principle is as follows: one channel is selected as a reference channel, and the other channels are respectively associated with the reference channel. The transmit link is calibrated and includes the following steps:

Step 21: Select the kth channel as the transmission link of the reference channel to send test data, receive and collect the test signal coupled from the antenna of the kth channel, and calculate the first phase delay Δ of the kth channel. Step 22: Select the kth channel as the transmission link of the reference channel to send test data, receive and collect the test signal coupled from the antenna of the nth channel, and calculate the second phase delay Δ of the kth channel; Step 23 Selecting a transmit link of the nth channel to transmit test data, where η is any one of the channels to be calibrated, and η is not equal to k, and receiving and summing the test signals coupled from the antenna of the kth channel, calculating The first phase delay of the nth channel is Δ ₂ ; Step 24, selecting the transmit link of the nth channel to transmit test data, receiving and collecting the test signal coupled from the antenna of the nth channel, and calculating the second phase of the nth channel Delay Δ ₃ ; Step 25, calculating the relative amplitude phase difference Δ between the nth channel transmit link and the kth channel transmit link by:

Step 26: Configuring the amplitude phase difference Δ to the amplitude phase adjustment module of the nth channel transmit link to perform calibration.

6 is a schematic diagram of mutually calibrating 2-channel data according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention, and Embodiment 1 The method described differs in that the calibration accuracy of the first embodiment depends on the phase difference of the feeders of the power splitting network 124 that each antenna coupling port reaches the feedback. This error can be eliminated in the embodiment of the invention. The present embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

Link 101: Phase delay introduced by channel 0 to the antenna port, labeled 6·. ;

Link 102: the phase delay introduced by channel 1 to the antenna port, labeled θ _χ ;

Link 103: Phase delay introduced by antenna 0 coupled back to the feedback link, labeled Θ _Ί ; Link 104: Phase delay introduced by antenna 1 coupled back to the feedback link, labeled 6>₃; Link 105: 2 The spatial phase delay between the root antennas, labeled 6> ₄ , requires the following steps to calibrate the transmit link:

Step 31: Channel 0 sends calibration data, and the switch module is switched (for example, the power split combination module 124 in FIG. 7 can be replaced with a multiple-selected switch module), and the feedback channel collects data along the link 103, and the calculation is performed. The phase delay is Δ. . = θ ₀ + θ ₄ + θ ₂ ; Step 32: Channel 0 sends calibration data, switches, and the feedback channel collects data along link 104, and the calculated transmission and reception phase delay is Δ. , =θ ₀ + θ ₄ + θ ₃ ; Step 33: Channel 1 sends calibration data, switches, and the feedback channel collects data along link 103, and calculates the transmission and reception phase delay as Δ. =θ _λ +θ _Λ + θ ₂ ; Step 34: Channel 1 sends calibration data, switches, and the feedback channel collects data along link 104, and calculates the transmit and receive phase delay as + + ; Step 35: Calculate channel 0 and The phase error between channel 1 is: Α = θ - ₌ ^Δ ο- ^Δ π ^+Δ οι- ^Δ ιο _ο

0 ¹ 2

Switch the channel, repeat steps 31~35, calculate the relative phase error between all channels, and compensate the incoming link, that is, complete the channel calibration.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus for implementing multi-channel receive link calibration of an active antenna system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the apparatus of this embodiment includes:

The power splitting and combining module is further configured to: after receiving the received frequency band signal, transmit the received frequency band signal to a receiving link of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system; The collection module on each channel (corresponding to the fifth module described above) is configured to collect the reception band data on the receiving link of each channel and receive the collected reception band data after receiving the collection command. Giving the amplitude phase estimation module;

The amplitude phase estimation module (corresponding to the third unit of the fourth module) is further configured to estimate a relative amplitude phase difference between the receiving links of each channel according to the received band data of the received links of each channel. Outputting the amplitude phase difference to the calibration control module;

The calibration control module is further configured to calibrate the receiving link of the channel corresponding to the amplitude phase difference configuration sent by the amplitude phase estimation module, that is, to configure the amplitude phase difference to the amplitude phase adjustment module of each channel receiving link.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method for implementing multi-channel receive link calibration of an active antenna system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 8, the method in this embodiment includes the following steps:

Step 41: Send a receiving frequency band signal to a receiving link of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system;

The receive band signal is input to the data source module 130 in Fig. 9, and is sent to the receive link of each channel through the power splitting and combining module.

The receive band signal can be a single tone signal or a wideband signal, which is also test data (the frequency of the test data is in the receive band).

Step 42: After receiving the collection command, collecting the receiving frequency band signal on the receiving link of each channel;

After the calibration control module sends the receive link parameter command, all the collection modules on the receive link simultaneously collect the coupled data on the receive link.

Step 43: Estimating a relative amplitude phase difference between the receiving links of the respective channels according to the received band data of the receiving links of each channel collected by the 釆;

Step 44: Calibrate the receiving link of the corresponding channel according to the amplitude phase difference sent by the amplitude phase estimation module; The calibration control module configures the estimated amplitude phase difference of each channel to the amplitude phase adjustment module of each channel to complete the amplitude phase calibration.

FIG. 9 is a hardware structural diagram of an active antenna multi-channel link calibration according to an application example of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 9, the following modules are included:

A TSG (Test Data Source) module 101 can be used to generate a data source for calibrating the phase of the channel, which can be a tone signal or a band limited signal.

The multiplexer 102, which is used to select the next module, is normal link data or test data for calibration.

The DUC (Digital Up Converter) module 103 is set to upconvert the signal, change the rate of the digital signal, and increase the sampling rate of the signal.

The TX ADJ (Downlink Amplitude Phase Adjustment) module 104 can be configured to perform amplitude phase adjustment on the transmitted digital signal.

The CFR (Predang) / DPD (Digital Pre Distortion) module 105 is set to handle digital signals to improve amplifier efficiency.

The DAC (Digital to Analog Conversion) module 106 is used to convert a digital signal into a module signal, and usually internal signal interpolation and spectrum shifting are also performed internally.

MOD (Modulator) 107, set to modulate the IF signal into a RF signal.

The power amplifier 108 amplifies the signal power.

The duplexer 109 is set to isolate the signal of the transceiver channel.

The antenna element 110 radiates a signal to be transmitted into the air.

The low noise amplifier 118 is set to amplify the received weak small signal.

DEMOD (demodulator) 117, is set to demodulate the radio frequency signal into an intermediate frequency signal.

An ADC (Analog to Digital Conversion) module 116, configured to convert an analog signal to a digital signal.

The data collection signal module 115 is configured to collect data of the receiving link and to adjust the amplitude phase of the receiving link.

The RX ADJ (Uplink Amplitude Phase Adjustment) module 114 is configured to adjust the amplitude phase of the received link data. A DDC (Digital Downconversion) module 113 is provided to perform extraction and frequency shifting on the digital signal. The serial to parallel conversion module 112 is configured to split the serial multi-channel data into parallel multi-channel data for the downlink. The uplink is used to combine parallel multi-channel data into serial multi-channel data.

The switch array module 123 is configured to select one of the N signals and output the signal to the electronic switch module 126.

The 2 electronic switch module 126 is configured to select feedback data from the switch array module 123 or calibration data from the electronic switch module 125.

The electronic switch module 125, which is a bidirectional switch, is arranged to select one of the electronic switch module 126 and the module 130 to be connected to the power split combination module 124. When used for transmitting calibration, the switch is connected to the electronic switch module 126, and the signal flows from the power splitting module 124 through the electronic switch module 125 to the electronic switch module 126; when used for receiving calibration, the signal flow direction Instead, the slave module 130 passes through the electronic switch module 125, flows into the power split combiner module 124, and transmits it.

The power splitting and combining module 124 is configured to combine the multiple signals into one signal when the signal is forwardly transmitted (the signal flow direction is 121 and 122 to 124), or the signal is reversely transmitted (the signal flow direction is 124 to 121 and 122) Decomposes one signal into multiple signals.

DEMOD (Demodulator) 127, set to demodulate the RF signal to an IF signal.

The ADC module 128 is configured to convert the analog signal of the feedback link to a digital signal.

The data collection module 129 is set to collect feedback links.

The DUC module 103, the TX-ADJ module 104, the CFR/DPD module 105, the DAC module 106, the MOD 107, the power amplifier 108, etc. constitute a transmission link of the channel 0 of the active antenna system;

The DDC module 113, the RX ADJ module 114, the ADC module 116, the DEMOD 117, the low noise amplifier 118, etc. constitute a receiving link of the channel 0 of the active antenna system;

The switch array module 123, the electronic switch module 126, the DEMOD 127, and the ADC module 128 form a feedback link for the active antenna system;

The dotted frame portion in FIG. 9 corresponds to the above-mentioned power splitting and combining module, and the power splitting and combining module of this embodiment includes: an electronic switch module 125, a power splitting network 124, lines 121 and 122, and respectively A coupling device connected to the antenna elements of each channel connected to the lines 121 and 122. The coupling device is configured to couple the signal of the antenna element into the power split circuit module, and then transmit the signal to the feedback link, or the input signal of the power split combination module, and send the signal to each antenna element.

In a preferred embodiment, the power splitting module may be a calibration fixture board 501 as shown in FIG. 10, including: a plurality of antenna ports (such as ports 21 to 28 in FIG. 10) and a common port ( As shown in port 10 of Figure 10, the respective antenna ports are respectively connected to the common port, and the common port can be connected to a feedback link in the active antenna system. The power splitting module may further include a signal source port (such as port 11 in FIG. 10), and the signal source port is connected to the respective antenna port for inputting a receiving frequency band signal.

The circulator can be used inside the calibration tooling board to switch using port 10 or port 11 for calibration.

The antenna port may be connected one-to-one with the antenna interfaces of the respective channels to be calibrated in the active antenna system. As shown in FIG. 10, the X in the antenna socket board 502 represents the socket of the eight vibrators of the antenna, and the calibration tooling 21 to 28 in the board 501 represent corresponding 8 plugs, and the port 10 is used to connect the calibration port of the board (one input of the electronic switch module 126 of FIG. 9) for transmitting calibration, and the port 11 is used for sum signal. The source connection is used to receive the calibration. When the calibration is performed, the antenna vibrator on the antenna socket board 502 is unplugged, and the calibration tool board 501 module is fastened to the antenna socket board 502 for connection, and then calibrated according to the method described in the first embodiment. After the calibration is completed, the calibration parameters are written to the board flash (flash) for curing. The calibration tooling plate 501 can be removed after the calibration is completed, so that the calibration tooling plate of this embodiment can further reduce the volume of the single plate and can be off-line calibrated with respect to the first embodiment.

The present invention has been described in detail by way of specific embodiments thereof, and the description of the above embodiments is provided to enable those skilled in the art to make or use the invention. The various modifications of these embodiments are readily apparent to those skilled in the art Understand. The invention is not limited to being effective only for active antenna multi-channel systems, and for smart antennas, array antennas, the method is equally effective. The invention is not limited to these examples, or some aspects thereof.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all or a portion of the above steps may be performed by a program to instruct the associated hardware, such as a read only memory, a magnetic disk, or an optical disk. Optionally, all or part of the steps of the above embodiments may also be used. One or more integrated circuits are implemented. Correspondingly, each module/unit in the foregoing embodiment may be implemented in the form of hardware, or may be implemented in the form of a software function module. The invention is not limited to any specific form of combination of hardware and software.

The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and of course, the present invention may be embodied in various other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Corresponding changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY An embodiment of the present invention provides an apparatus for implementing multi-channel link calibration of an active antenna. The apparatus fully utilizes an existing hardware structure, and can perform multi-channel link calibration without reducing an additional transmission and reception calibration channel. The hardware cost and power consumption, and the calibration method applied to the device are simple and reliable, and the implementation is simple. The method for realizing the multi-channel link calibration of the active antenna proposed by the embodiment of the present invention can fully utilize the existing hardware structure, and reduces the independent transceiver calibration channel or the calibration antenna compared with the traditional multi-channel calibration method, and can effectively Reduce PCB (printed circuit board) area and save costs. The method is simple and feasible, and effectively solves the problem of the existence of the active antenna in terms of cost, power consumption and volume.

Claims

Claim

1. A method for calibrating a multi-channel transmit link of an active antenna system, comprising:

Selecting a transmit link of a channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to transmit test data;

Receiving the test data, and outputting the test data to a feedback link of the active antenna system;

Collecting test data from the feedback link;

2. The method of claim 1 wherein

3. The method of claim 1, wherein

When the test data of the kth channel is selected to transmit test data, the test signals coupled from the antenna of the kth channel are respectively received and collected, and the first phase delay Δ of the kth channel is calculated. ; receiving and collecting from a test signal coupled to the antenna of the nth channel, calculating a second phase delay Δ of the kth channel; when the transmit link of the nth channel is selected to transmit test data, respectively receiving and summing the antenna coupled from the kth channel the test signal, a first n-channel calculation of phase delay Δ _2; and a receiving antenna coupled to preclude current test signal from the first η passage, a second passage calculation η phase delay Δ _3; calculation by the following formula η The relative amplitude phase difference Δ between the channel transmit link and the kth channel transmit link:

The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein before the transmitting link of the channel to be calibrated in the selected active antenna system transmits test data, the method further includes

6. A method for multi-channel receive link calibration of an active antenna system, comprising:

7. A multi-channel link calibration device for an active antenna system, comprising:

a first module, configured to: select a transmit link of a channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system to transmit test data;

a second module, configured to: receive the test data, and output the test data to the a feedback link of the active antenna system;

a third module, configured to: collect test data from the feedback link; and a fourth module, configured to: perform a multi-channel transmit link of the active antenna system according to the collected test data Calibration operation.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein:

The fourth module includes:

9. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein:

The fourth module includes:

The first unit, which is set to:

When the test data of the kth channel is selected to transmit test data, the test signals coupled from the antenna of the kth channel are respectively received and collected, and the first phase delay Δ of the kth channel is calculated. Receiving and collecting a test signal coupled from the antenna of the nth channel, calculating a second phase delay Δ of the kth channel; when selecting a transmit link of the nth channel to transmit test data, respectively receiving and collecting k test signal path coupled to an antenna, a first n-channel calculation of phase delay Δ _2; Bian and receiving test signals from the antenna coupled to the first set of η passage, a second passage calculation η phase delay Δ _3; The relative amplitude phase difference Δ between the nth channel transmit link and the kth channel transmit link is calculated by: 2

And a second unit, configured to: configure the amplitude phase difference Δ to an amplitude phase adjustment module of the nth channel transmit link to perform calibration.

10. Apparatus according to any of claims 7-9, wherein:

11. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising a fifth module,

The fourth module includes:

12. Apparatus according to claim 10 wherein:

13. Apparatus according to claim 12 wherein:

14. An active antenna system multi-channel link calibration apparatus, comprising: a power splitting and combining module, configured to: send a receiving frequency band signal to a receiving link of each channel to be calibrated in the active antenna system;