WO2022178887A1

WO2022178887A1 - Radio frequency circuit, channel switching method and communication apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2022178887A1
Application number: PCT/CN2021/078322
Authority: WO
Inventors: 尤羲鹤; 梅欢; 史坡; 邹俊浩
Original assignee: 华为技术有限公司
Priority date: 2021-02-27
Filing date: 2021-02-27
Publication date: 2022-09-01
Also published as: CN116601882A

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of beamforming, and discloses a radio frequency circuit, a channel switching method and a communication apparatus, which are used to improve the implementation flexibility of a radio frequency architecture of hybrid beamforming. The radio frequency circuit comprises: a first analog channel, a second analog channel, a first digital channel, a second digital channel and a switching circuit. The first analog channel and the second analog channel are used to perform analog beamforming; the first digital channel and the second digital channel are used to perform digital beamforming; in a first mode, the switching circuit is used to couple the first analog channel and the second analog channel to the first digital channel; and in a second mode, the switching circuit is used to couple the first analog channel to the first digital channel and couple the second analog channel to the second digital channel.

Description

Radio frequency circuit, channel switching method and communication device

technical field

The present application relates to the field of radio frequency technology, and in particular, to a radio frequency circuit, a channel switching method, and a communication device.

Background technique

Beamforming techniques include analog beamforming, digital beamforming, and hybrid beamforming. Analog beamforming refers to the control of the gain and phase of the antenna element in the analog domain; digital beamforming refers to the control of the antenna array and phase in the digital domain. Hybrid beamforming includes analog beamforming and digital beamforming.

Currently, the configuration between the digital channel for digital beamforming and the radio frequency channel for analog beamforming in hybrid beamforming is fixed, and the implementation of the radio frequency architecture is not flexible enough, which limits its application scenarios.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Embodiments of the present application provide a radio frequency circuit, a channel switching method, and a communication device, which are used to expand the implementation flexibility of a radio frequency architecture of hybrid beamforming. To achieve the above purpose, the embodiments of the present application adopt the following technical solutions.

A first aspect provides a radio frequency circuit, comprising: a first analog channel, a second analog channel, a first digital channel, a second digital channel, and a switching circuit; the first analog channel and the second analog channel are used in the analog domain Do phase adjustment to achieve analog beamforming, the first digital channel and the second digital channel are used for phase adjustment in the digital domain to achieve digital beamforming; in the first mode, the switching circuit is used to The analog channel is coupled to the first digital channel; wherein, the analog signal output by the first analog channel and the analog signal output by the second analog channel are combined to provide the first digital channel; or, the analog signal output by the first digital channel is divided The circuit is provided to the first analog channel and the second analog channel; in the second mode, the switching circuit is used to couple the first analog channel to the first digital channel, and to couple the second analog channel to the second digital channel; The analog signal output by an analog channel is provided to the first digital channel, and the analog signal output by the second analog channel is provided to the second digital channel; or, the analog signal output by the first digital channel is provided to the first analog channel, the first The analog signal output by the two digital channels is supplied to the second analog channel.

In the radio frequency circuit provided by the embodiment of the present application, the radio frequency circuit includes a first analog channel, a second analog channel, a first digital channel, a second digital channel, and a switching circuit. In the first mode, the switching circuit couples the first analog channel and the second analog channel to the first digital channel, the same digital baseband signal is transmitted through more antennas, and better communication quality can be obtained when transmitting or receiving signals ; In the second mode, the switching circuit couples the first analog channel to the first digital channel, couples the second analog channel to the second digital channel, and the two digital channels transmit independent digital baseband signals, which can be obtained through MIMO. data traffic, extending the implementation flexibility of the hybrid beamforming RF architecture.

In a possible implementation, the switching circuit includes a power divider and combiner and a double throw switch, the first digital channel is coupled to a combiner end of the power divider combiner, and the first branch end of the power divider combiner is coupled to to the first analog channel, the second shunt end of the power divider and combiner is coupled to the first end of the double throw switch, the second digital channel is coupled to the second end of the double throw switch, and the second analog channel is coupled to the double throw switch in the first mode, a double throw switch is used to couple the first terminal to the third terminal to couple the second shunt terminal of the power splitter to the second analog channel, so that the first analog The channel and the second analog channel are combined and coupled to the first digital channel through a power splitter combiner; in the second mode, a double throw switch is used to couple the second terminal to the third terminal to connect the second analog channel to the first digital channel. Two digital channels are coupled. This embodiment provides one possible structure of the switching circuit.

In a possible implementation, the switching circuit further includes a matching circuit for grounding, and the fourth terminal of the double-throw switch is coupled to the matching circuit; in the first mode, the double-throw switch is further used to couple the second terminal to the fourth terminal to couple the second digital channel to the matching circuit; in the second mode, the double throw switch is also used to couple the first terminal to the fourth terminal to connect the second split terminal of the power splitter coupled to the matching circuit. The function of the matching circuit is to solve the problem of large noise outside the passband of the system, so as to ensure the signal quality.

In a possible implementation, the power divider/combiner is a reconfigurable power divider/combiner; in the first mode, the reconfigurable power divider/combiner works in a power divider/combiner state to combine the circuits The terminal is coupled with the first branch terminal and the second branch terminal; in the second mode, the reconfigurable power divider and combiner works in a switch state to couple the first branch terminal to the combiner terminal and disconnect the Open the coupling between the second branch terminal and the combiner terminal. This embodiment provides another possible structure of the switching circuit.

In a possible implementation manner, the analog signal is a millimeter wave signal, an intermediate frequency signal or an analog baseband signal. Switching circuits can be placed in different locations in the RF circuit to transmit different analog signals.

In a possible implementation manner, it further includes a processor that controls the switching circuit to switch to the first mode when at least one of the following conditions is met: the reference signal received power RSRP of the received signal is less than the first RSRP threshold, the received signal The signal-to-noise ratio SNR is less than the first SNR threshold, or the transmit power control TPC of the transmitted signal is greater than the first TPC threshold. That is to say, when the signal quality is poor, multiple analog channels are coupled to one digital channel, and the same digital baseband signal is transmitted through more antennas, so that better communication quality can be obtained when transmitting or receiving signals.

In a possible implementation manner, a processor is further included, and when at least one of the following conditions is satisfied, the switching circuit is controlled to switch to the second mode: the RSRP of the received signal is greater than the second RSRP threshold, and the SNR of the received signal is greater than the second The SNR threshold, or the TPC of the transmitted signal is less than the second TPC threshold. That is to say, when the signal quality is good, connect one analog channel to one digital channel, at this time in MIMO mode, and the two digital channels transmit independent digital baseband signals, which can obtain larger data flow, or can close one of the digital channels. One digital channel and one analog channel to reduce power consumption.

In a second aspect, a channel switching method is provided, the method comprising: in a first mode, controlling a switching circuit to combine and couple a first analog channel and a second analog channel to a first digital channel; wherein the first The analog signal output by the analog channel and the analog signal output by the second analog channel are combined and provided to the first digital channel; or, the analog signal output by the first digital channel is branched and provided to the first digital channel an analog channel and the second analog channel. In the second mode, the control switching circuit couples the first analog channel to the first digital channel, and couples the second analog channel to the second digital channel; wherein the analog signal output by the first analog channel is provided to the The first digital channel, the analog signal output by the second analog channel is provided to the second digital channel; or, the analog signal output by the first digital channel is provided to the first analog channel, the first digital channel The analog signals output by the two digital channels are provided to the second analog channel; wherein, the first analog channel and the second analog channel are used for phase adjustment in the analog domain to realize analog beamforming, and the first digital channel and the second digital channel are used for phase adjustment in the analog domain. Channels are used for phase adjustment in the digital domain for digital beamforming.

In a possible implementation, controlling the switching circuit to combine the first analog channel and the second analog channel to the first digital channel includes: coupling the first end of the double-throw switch in the switching circuit to the double-throw switch The third end of the power divider and combiner is used to couple the second branch end of the power divider to the second analog channel; the control switching circuit couples the first analog channel to the first digital channel and the second analog channel to the second digital channel The channel includes: coupling the second terminal of the double throw switch in the switching circuit to the third terminal to couple the second analog channel to the second digital channel. The first digital channel is coupled to the combining end of the power divider and combiner, the first branch end of the power divider combiner is coupled to the first analog channel, and the power divider and combiner The second shunt terminal of the rectifier is coupled to the first terminal of the double throw switch, the second digital channel is coupled to the second terminal of the double throw switch, and the second analog channel is coupled to the double throw switch the third end.

In a possible implementation, the method further includes: in the first mode, coupling the second terminal of the double-throw switch to the fourth terminal of the double-throw switch, so as to couple the second digital channel to the switching circuit for a grounded matching circuit; in a second mode, the first terminal of the double throw switch is coupled to the fourth terminal to couple the second shunt terminal of the power splitter combiner to the matching circuit. Wherein, the fourth terminal of the double throw switch is coupled to the matching circuit.

In a possible implementation manner, the power splitter/combiner is a reconfigurable power splitter/combiner; the method further includes: in the first mode, controlling the reconfigurable power splitter/combiner to work in a power split/combiner state , to couple the combining terminal with the first branching terminal and the second branching terminal; in the second mode, the reconfigurable power divider/combiner is controlled to work in the switching state to couple the first branching terminal to the The combining terminal is disconnected from the coupling between the second branch terminal and the combining terminal.

In a possible implementation manner, the analog signal is a millimeter wave signal, an intermediate frequency signal or an analog baseband signal.

In a possible implementation manner, when at least one of the following conditions is satisfied, the switching circuit is controlled to switch to the first mode: the reference signal received power RSRP of the received signal is less than the first RSRP threshold, and the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the received signal is less than The first SNR threshold, or the transmit power control TPC of the transmitted signal is greater than the first TPC threshold.

In a possible implementation manner, when at least one of the following conditions is met, the control switching circuit switches to the second mode: the RSRP of the received signal is greater than the second RSRP threshold, the SNR of the received signal is greater than the second SNR threshold, or the transmission The TPC of the signal is less than the second TPC threshold.

In a third aspect, there is provided a communication device comprising a digital baseband processor and a radio frequency circuit as in the first aspect and any embodiments thereof, the digital baseband processor being coupled to a first digital channel and a second digital channel of the radio frequency circuit.

In a fourth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a first analog channel, a second analog channel, and a switching circuit, the first analog channel and the second analog channel being coupled to the switching circuit.

In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, including a first digital channel, a second digital channel, and a switching circuit, the first digital channel and the second digital channel being coupled to the switching circuit.

In a sixth aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, and instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and the instructions are executed on the processor of the communication device, so that the communication device can execute the second aspect and any one of the above-mentioned second aspects. The method described in the embodiment.

In a seventh aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising instructions, the instructions running on a processor of a communication device, such that the communication device can perform the method of the second aspect and any one of the embodiments thereof.

In an eighth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising a processor for storing instructions, the instructions running on the processor can cause the communication device to execute the above-mentioned second aspect and any one of the embodiments thereof. method. Optionally, the apparatus may include a memory, coupled to the processor, for storing the instructions.

Regarding the specific solutions and technical effects of the second to eighth aspects, refer to the technical effects of the first aspect and any of its embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

Description of drawings

1 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a transmitter and a receiver of an analog beamforming according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a transmitter and a receiver of digital beamforming according to an embodiment of the present application;

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a transmitting end and a receiving end of a hybrid beamforming according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram 1 of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 5 is a second structural schematic diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a third schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 7 is a fourth schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 8 is a fifth structural schematic diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a sixth schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a seventh schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 11 is an eighth schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

12 is a schematic structural diagram 9 of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram ten of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 14 is an eleventh schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 15 is a schematic structural diagram 12 of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a schematic structural diagram thirteen of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 17 is a fourteenth schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 18 is a fifteenth schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

19 is a sixteenth schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 20 is a schematic structural diagram seventeen of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 21 is an eighteenth schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 22 is a schematic structural diagram nineteen of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 23 is a schematic structural diagram 20 of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 24 is a twenty-first schematic structural diagram of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 25 is a schematic structural diagram twenty-two of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 26 is a schematic structural diagram twenty-three of a radio frequency circuit of a communication device according to an embodiment of the application;

FIG. 27 is a schematic flowchart of a channel switching method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 28 is a schematic structural diagram of a communication apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed ways

Beamforming, derived from adaptive antennas. When the receiving end performs signal processing, the desired ideal signal can be formed by weighting and synthesizing the multi-channel signals received by the multi-antenna array elements. The receiving pattern is equivalent to forming a beam in a specific direction. The omnidirectional receive pattern is converted into a lobe pattern with nulls and maximum pointing. The same principle also applies to the transmitting end. By adjusting the gain and phase of the antenna array element, a specific transmitting pattern can be formed. As mentioned earlier, beamforming techniques include analog beamforming, digital beamforming, and hybrid beamforming.

First, the analog beamforming will be described with reference to FIG. 1 . As shown in FIG. 1 , the transmitting end includes a plurality of transmitting antennas 101 , a plurality of transmitting elements (Tx elements) 102 corresponding to the plurality of transmitting antennas 101 one-to-one, a power splitter (power splitter) 103, a radio frequency transmission chain (RF Tx chain) 104 and a first digital baseband processor 105.

The receiving end includes a plurality of receiving antennas 111, a plurality of receiving elements (Rx elements) 112 corresponding to the plurality of receiving antennas 111 one-to-one, a combiner (power combiner) 113, a radio frequency receiving chain (RF Rx chain) 114 and the first Two digital baseband processors 115 .

Each transmit component 102 or receive component 112 includes an amplifier (or low noise amplifier), an analog phase shifter. The amplifier (or low noise amplifier) realizes the amplification function of radio frequency signals, such as millimeter wave signals, and the analog phase shifter is used to adjust the phase of the analog signal. The number of transmitting components 102 or receiving components 112 also represents the number of radio frequency channels, that is, one transmitting component 102 or receiving component 112 corresponds to one radio frequency channel.

A power splitter (power splitter) 103 implements a power splitting function, and a power combiner (power combiner) 113 implements a combining function. The radio frequency transmit chain 104 or the radio frequency receive chain 114 implements functions such as signal mixing, amplification, filtering, and the like. The first digital baseband processor 105 and the second digital baseband processor 115 are used for signal processing in the digital domain. For example, the first digital baseband processor 105 is used for modulation of the transmitted signal in the digital domain, and the second digital baseband processor 115 for demodulation of the received signal in the digital domain.

The power divider 103 at the transmitting end and the transmitting component 102 control the gain and phase of the antenna array elements in the analog domain of the transmitting end, so as to realize the analog beamforming function at the transmitting end. Similarly, the combiner 113 and the receiving component 112 at the receiving end control the gain and phase of the antenna array elements in the analog domain of the receiving end, so as to realize the analog beamforming function at the receiving end.

The digital beamforming will be described below with reference to FIG. 2 . As shown in FIG. 2 , the transmitting end includes a plurality of transmitting antennas 201, a first digital baseband processor 207, and a plurality of transmitting components 202, a plurality of radio frequency transmission chains 203, a plurality of A digital to analog converter (DAC) 204, a plurality of digital up converters (DUC) 205, and a plurality of digital phase shifters 206, the digital phase shifters 206 are used to adjust the phase of the digital signal make adjustments.

The receiving end includes a plurality of receiving antennas 211, a second digital baseband processor 217, and a plurality of receiving components 212, a plurality of radio frequency receiving chains 213, a plurality of analog-to-digital converters ( analog to digital converter, ADC) 214, a plurality of digital down converters (digital down conversion, DDC) 215 and a plurality of digital phase shifters 216, the digital phase shifters 216 are used to adjust the phase of the digital signal.

DAC 204 is used to implement digital to analog conversion. ADC 214 is used to implement analog-to-digital conversion. The DUC 205 is used for upward shifting of a small range of frequencies in the digital domain. The DDC 215 is used to move down a small range of frequencies in the digital domain.

Compared with FIG. 1 , the transmitting component 202 or the receiving component 212 does not include an analog phase shifter, a combiner, and a power divider, and the digital phase shifter 206 at the transmitting end controls the phase of the antenna array elements in the digital domain of the transmitting end to achieve The digital beamforming function at the transmitting end is implemented, and the digital phase shifter 216 at the receiving end controls the phase of the antenna array elements in the digital domain of the receiving end, thereby realizing the digital beamforming function at the receiving end. The functional contents of other structures are described with reference to FIG. 1 .

Hybrid beamforming is a combination of analog beamforming and digital beamforming, including partial connection hybrid beamforming and full connection hybrid beamforming. Partial connection hybrid beamforming is also called "subarray hybrid beamforming", where one subarray corresponds to one RF link.

The partial connection hybrid beamforming will be described below with reference to FIG. 3 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the transmitting end includes a plurality of radio frequency transmit chains 304 and a first digital baseband processor 308 , each radio frequency transmit chain 304 is coupled to an antenna sub-array through a power divider 303 , and each antenna sub-array includes Multiple groups of transmitting components 302 and transmitting antennas 301.

The receiving end includes a plurality of radio frequency receiving chains 314 and a second digital baseband processor 318, each radio frequency receiving chain 314 is coupled to an antenna sub-array through a combiner 313, and each antenna sub-array includes a plurality of groups of receiving components 312 and Receive antenna 311 .

The power divider 303 at the transmitting end and the analog phase shifter in the transmitting component 302 implement the analog beamforming function at the transmitting end. The combiner 313 at the receiving end and the analog phase shifter in the receiving component 312 implement the analog beamforming function at the receiving end. The digital phase shifter 307 at the transmitting end implements the digital beamforming function at the transmitting end, and the digital phase shifter 311 at the receiving end implements the digital beamforming function at the receiving end. The functional contents of other structures are described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 .

The difference between analog beamforming, digital beamforming, and partially connected hybrid beamforming mainly lies in the relationship between the number of digital channels and the number of RF channels (number of antennas), as shown in Table 1:

Table 1

At present, terminal devices (such as mobile phones) usually use partial connection hybrid beamforming. For example, the number of digital channels can be 1 or 2, and the number of radio frequency channels (the number of antennas) can be 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, etc.

Combining the radio frequency circuits of the transmitting end and the receiving end together can obtain the radio frequency circuit in the communication device as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. RF transmit/receive chain 404, DAC/ADC 405, DUC/DDC 406, digital phase shifter 407 and digital baseband processor 408.

The transmit/receive antenna 401 may refer to the foregoing descriptions of the transmit antenna and the receive antenna, the transmit/receive component 402 may refer to the foregoing descriptions of the transmit and receive components, and the power divider/combiner 403 may refer to the foregoing descriptions of the combiner and the receiver. For the description of the power divider, the radio frequency transmit/receive link 404 can refer to the foregoing description about the radio frequency transmit chain and the radio frequency receive chain, the DAC/ADC 405 can refer to the foregoing description about the radio frequency transmit chain and the radio frequency receive chain, DUC The /DDC 406 can refer to the previous description about DUC and DDC, the digital phase shifter 407 can refer to the previous description about the digital phase shifter, and the digital baseband processor 408 can refer to the previous description about the digital baseband processor, which will not be repeated here. .

As shown in Figure 4, taking the number of digital channels as 2 and the number of radio frequency channels (the number of antennas) as 8 as an example, the communication device may have two digital channels, and each digital channel may be coupled with four radio frequency channels. In the embodiment, the two digital channels can be independently controlled, which is relatively flexible. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5, the terminal device may have one digital channel, but in the RF transmit/receive chain 404, one digital channel is coupled to two RF channels through the power divider 4041. In this embodiment, due to the Only one digital channel is required, so the power consumption of the digital channel is lower. However, because the configuration of the digital channel and the RF channel is fixed, the advantages of the above two configurations cannot be obtained through a set of RF circuits at present.

To this end, as shown in FIG. 6 , an embodiment of the present application provides a radio frequency circuit, including: a first analog channel 601 , a second analog channel 602 , a first digital channel 603 , a second digital channel 604 , a switching circuit 605 and Digital baseband processor 606 . The radio frequency circuit may also include a plurality of first transmit/receive antennas 607 coupled to the first analog channel 601 , and a plurality of second transmit/receive antennas 608 coupled to the second analog channel 602 . Digital baseband processor 606 is coupled to first digital channel 603 and second digital channel 604 , and first analog channel 601 , second analog channel 602 , first digital channel 603 and second digital channel 604 are coupled to switching circuit 605 .

It should be noted that although two digital channels and two analog channels are used as an example for description in the embodiments of the present application, it is not intended to be limited to this, and it can also be applied to the case of multiple digital channels and multiple analog channels.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the first analog channel 601 includes a plurality of coupled first transmit/receive components 6011 and a first power divider/combiner 6012; the plurality of first transmit/receive components 6011 are further coupled to a plurality of first transmit components, respectively /Receive Antenna 607. The second analog channel 602 at least includes a plurality of coupled second transmit/receive components 6021 and a second power splitter combiner 6022 , and the plurality of second transmit/receive components 6021 are further coupled to a plurality of second transmit/receive antennas 608 respectively. As mentioned above, one transmit/receive component corresponds to one radio frequency channel, so it can be considered that the radio frequency channel includes the transmit/receive component, an analog channel includes a power divider and combiner, and the transmit/receive components of multiple radio frequency channels , the phase adjustment can be done in the analog domain (for example, the gain and phase of the antenna element are controlled) to realize analog beamforming, that is, the first analog channel 601 and the second analog channel 602 can respectively simulate beams through multiple radio frequency channels take shape.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the first digital channel 603 includes at least a coupled first digital phase shifter 6031, a first DUC/DDC 6032, and a first DAC/ADC 6033; the first digital phase shifter 6031 is coupled to the digital baseband processor 606. The second digital channel 604 at least includes a coupled second digital phase shifter 6041 , a second DUC/DDC 6042 , and a second DAC/ADC 6043 ; the second digital phase shifter 6041 is coupled to the digital baseband processor 606 . As mentioned above, the digital phase shifter performs phase adjustment in the digital domain (for example, controls the phase of the antenna element), the first digital phase shifter 6031 and the second digital phase shifter 6041 can realize the digital beamforming function, That is, the first digital channel 603 and the second digital channel 604 can control the phase of the antenna array elements in the digital domain to realize digital beamforming. Optionally, a digital phase shifter, DUC/DDC, DAC/ADC can be integrated in an analog baseband processor for conversion between analog baseband signals and digital baseband signals. The digital baseband processor 606 is used to perform digital baseband signal processing, which may include digital logic circuits, and may also include necessary software for running the digital baseband processing, including but not limited to modulation, demodulation, channel coding, channel decoding, or physical layer communication processing, etc.

The ellipses in FIG. 7 indicate that other devices can also be coupled. The device in which the analog channel and the digital channel in FIG. 7 can also be coupled will be described below with reference to FIG. 8 to FIG. 10 . As shown in FIG. 8 , the first digital channel 603 may further include a first intermediate frequency circuit 6034 and a first millimeter wave circuit 6035 coupled with the first DAC/ADC 6033 . The second digital channel 604 may also include a second intermediate frequency circuit 6044 and a second millimeter wave circuit 6045 coupled with the second DAC/ADC 6043. At this time, the analog signal transmitted by the switching circuit 605 is a millimeter wave signal. The intermediate frequency circuit (the first intermediate frequency circuit 6034 and the second intermediate frequency circuit 6044) can be integrated in the radio frequency chip, and the millimeter wave circuit (the first millimeter wave circuit 6035 and the second millimeter wave circuit 6045) can be integrated in the millimeter wave chip, optional Yes, the switching circuit 605 , the first analog channel 601 , the second analog channel 602 , the first transmit/receive antenna 607 , and the second transmit/receive antenna 608 may also be integrated in the millimeter wave chip.

Among them, the intermediate frequency circuit is used for spectrum shifting, filtering and amplification between the analog baseband signal and the intermediate frequency signal, and the millimeter wave circuit is used for spectrum shifting, filtering and amplification between the intermediate frequency signal and the millimeter wave signal. For example, when transmitting a signal, the analog baseband processor converts the digital baseband signal from the digital baseband processor to obtain an analog baseband signal; the intermediate frequency circuit performs the first mixing to move the spectrum of the analog baseband signal to the intermediate frequency band , obtain the intermediate frequency signal; the millimeter wave circuit performs the second mixing to move the spectrum of the intermediate frequency signal to the millimeter wave frequency band to obtain the millimeter wave signal; the power divider distributes the millimeter wave signal to each transmit/receive component, and the transmit/receive component After signal amplification and phase shifting, the radio frequency signal is radiated into the space through the antenna. When receiving a signal, the transmitting/receiving component amplifies and phase-shifts the signal to obtain a millimeter-wave signal; the millimeter-wave circuit performs the first mixing to move the spectrum of the millimeter-wave signal to the intermediate frequency band to obtain an intermediate frequency signal; the intermediate frequency circuit performs the first frequency mixing. The secondary mixing moves the spectrum of the intermediate frequency signal to the low frequency band to obtain an analog baseband signal, and the analog baseband processor converts the analog baseband signal through digital-to-analog conversion to obtain a digital baseband signal. output to the digital baseband processor.

As shown in FIG. 9 , the first digital channel 603 may further include a first intermediate frequency circuit 6034 coupled with the first DAC/ADC 6033, and the second digital channel 604 may further include a second IF circuit 6034 coupled with the second DAC/ADC 6043 IF circuit 6044. The first analog channel 601 may further include a first millimeter-wave circuit 6013 coupled with the first power splitter/combiner 6012 , and the second analog channel 602 may further include a second millimeter wave circuit coupled with the second power splitter/combiner 6022 Wave circuit 6023. At this time, the analog signal transmitted by the switching circuit 605 is an intermediate frequency signal. The intermediate frequency circuit and the switching circuit can be integrated in the radio frequency chip, and the millimeter wave circuit can be integrated in the millimeter wave chip.

As shown in FIG. 10 , the first analog channel 601 may further include a first millimeter-wave circuit 6013 and a first intermediate frequency circuit 6014 coupled with the first power splitter 6012, and the second analog channel 602 may further include a The second millimeter-wave circuit 6023 and the second intermediate frequency circuit 6024 are coupled to the power divider and combiner 6022 . At this time, the analog signal transmitted by the switching circuit 605 is an analog baseband signal. The intermediate frequency circuit and the switching circuit can be integrated in the radio frequency chip, and the millimeter wave circuit can be integrated in the millimeter wave chip.

On the basis of FIG. 7 , as shown in FIGS. 11 to 14 , the switching circuit 605 includes a third power divider 6051 and a double throw switch 6052 , and the first digital channel 603 is coupled to the third power divider 6051 The combining terminal, the first branching terminal of the third power splitting combiner 6051 is coupled to the first analog channel 601 , and the second branching terminal of the third power splitting combiner 6051 is coupled to the first terminal of the double throw switch 6052 , the second digital channel 604 is coupled to the second terminal of the double throw switch 6052 , and the second analog channel 604 is coupled to the third terminal of the double throw switch 6032 . The double throw switch 6052 can be a double pole double throw switch or a single pole double throw switch. The double throw switch 6052 can be switched between two states in which the first terminal of the double throw switch 6052 can be coupled with the third terminal such that the second branch terminal of the third power splitter combiner 6051 coupled to the second analog channel 604 ; alternatively, in the second state, the second terminal of the double throw switch 6052 may be coupled to the third terminal such that the second digital channel 604 is coupled to the second analog channel 604 .

Optionally, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 12 , the switching circuit 605 may further include a matching circuit 6053 connected to ground (for example, a resistor R, which may be 50 ohms), and the fourth terminal of the double throw switch 6052 is coupled to a The matching circuit 6053 is grounded, that is, the matching circuit 6053 is grounded. The function of the matching circuit 6053 is to prevent echo interference caused by floating pins, thereby ensuring signal quality. At this time, the double-throw switch 6052 is a double-pole double-throw switch. As shown in FIG. 11 , in the first state, the fourth terminal of the double-throw switch 6052 is coupled to the second terminal, so that the second digital channel 604 is coupled to the matching circuit 6053; or, as shown in FIG. 12, in the second state, the fourth terminal of the double throw switch 6052 is coupled to the first terminal, so as to couple the second branch terminal of the third power splitter combiner 6051 to the matching circuit 6053.

Optionally, as shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 , the third power divider and combiner 6051 is a reconfigurable power divider and combiner (or called a power divider switch or a power divider and combiner). At this time, the double throw The switch 6052 is a single-pole double-throw switch, which can save a matching circuit compared to FIG. 11 . The third power divider 6051 can switch between two states, as shown in FIG. 13 , in the first state (power divider state), the third power divider 6051 (reconfigurable power divider The combining terminal of the combiner) is coupled with the first branch terminal and the second branch terminal; as shown in FIG. 14, in the second state (switch state), the third power divider 6051 (reusable A power splitting/combiner) couples the first split terminal to the combined terminal, and disconnects the coupling between the second split terminal and the combined terminal.

It should be noted that the structure of the switching circuit in FIGS. 11 to 14 can be applied to any of the drawings in FIGS. 8 to 10 . For example, applying the structure of the switching circuit in FIG. 11 to FIG. 8 can obtain the communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in FIG. 15 , and applying the structure of the switching circuit in FIG. 12 to FIG. A communication device and its radio frequency circuit; the structure of the switching circuit in FIG. 11 is applied to FIG. 9 to obtain the communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in FIG. 17 , and the structure of the switching circuit in FIG. 12 is applied to FIG. 9 to obtain The communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in FIG. 18; the structure of the switching circuit in FIG. 11 is applied to FIG. 10 to obtain the communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in FIG. 19, and the structure of the switching circuit in FIG. 12 is applied to In FIG. 10, the communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in FIG. 20 can be obtained. The communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in FIG. 21 can be obtained by applying the structure of the switching circuit in FIG. 13 to FIG. 8 , and the communication device shown in FIG. 22 can be obtained by applying the structure of the switching circuit in FIG. 14 to FIG. 8 . and its radio frequency circuit; the structure of the switching circuit in Figure 13 is applied to Figure 9 to obtain the communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in Figure 23, and the structure of the switching circuit in Figure 14 is applied to Figure 9 to obtain Figure 24 The communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown; the structure of the switching circuit in Figure 13 is applied to Figure 10 to obtain the communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in Figure 25, and the structure of the switching circuit in Figure 14 is applied to Figure 10 The communication device and its radio frequency circuit shown in FIG. 26 can be obtained in .

The working principle of the radio frequency circuit shown in FIG. 6 to FIG. 26 is described below with reference to FIG. 27 , that is, the radio frequency circuit can perform the channel switching method shown in FIG. 27 . As shown in FIG. 27 , the channel switching method includes:

S2701 . In the first mode, the switching circuit 605 couples the first analog channel 601 and the second analog channel 602 to the first digital channel 603 . In other words, in the first mode, when receiving a signal, the switching circuit 605 combines the analog signal output by the first analog channel 601 and the analog signal output by the second analog channel 602 to provide the first digital channel 603; or, when When transmitting a signal, the switching circuit 605 splits the analog signal output from the first digital channel 603 to the first analog channel 601 and the second analog channel 602 . The analog signal may be the millimeter wave signal shown in FIG. 8 , the intermediate frequency signal shown in FIG. 9 , or the analog baseband signal shown in FIG. 10 .

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 11 and 13 , in the first mode, the double-throw switch 6052 is in the first state, that is, the first end is coupled to the third end, so as to connect the second The shunt end is coupled to the second analog channel 602 . As shown in FIG. 13 , the third power divider and combiner 6051 operates in the first state (power divider and combiner state). At this time, the first analog channel 601 and the second analog channel 602 are combined and coupled to the first digital channel 603 through the third power divider 6051 . Optionally, as shown in FIG. 11 , in the first mode, the double-throw switch 6052 may also couple the second terminal to the fourth terminal, so as to couple the second digital channel 604 to the matching circuit 6053 .

When at least one of the following conditions is met, the processor (not shown in the figure) controls the switching circuit 605 to switch to the first mode: the reference signal receiving power (RSRP) of the received signal is less than the first RSRP threshold, The signal noise ratio (SNR) of the received signal is less than the first SNR threshold, or the transmit power control (transmit power control, TPC) of the transmitted signal is greater than the first TPC threshold. That is to say, when the signal quality is poor, multiple analog channels are coupled to one digital channel. Taking two digital channels and 8 RF channels as an example, only one digital channel works, and the ratio of the working digital channel to the RF channel is 1:8, the same digital baseband signal is transmitted through more antennas, and better communication quality can be obtained when transmitting or receiving signals.

S2702 . In the second mode, the switching circuit 605 couples the first analog channel 601 to the first digital channel 603 and couples the second analog channel 602 to the second digital channel 604 . In other words, in the second mode, when receiving a signal, the switching circuit 605 provides the analog signal output by the first analog channel 601 to the first digital channel 603, and provides the analog signal output by the second analog channel 602 to the second digital channel 604 ; or, when transmitting a signal, the switching circuit 605 provides the analog signal output by the first digital channel 603 to the first analog channel 601 , and provides the analog signal output by the second digital channel 604 to the second analog channel 602 . The analog signal may be the millimeter wave signal shown in FIG. 8 , the intermediate frequency signal shown in FIG. 9 , or the analog baseband signal shown in FIG. 10 .

Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 14 , in the second mode, the double-throw switch 6052 is in the second state, that is, the second terminal is coupled to the third terminal, so as to couple the second analog channel 602 to the second digital channel 604. As shown in FIG. 14 , the third power divider 6051 operates in the second state (switch state) to couple the first analog channel 601 to the first digital channel 603 . Optionally, as shown in FIG. 12 , in the first mode, the double-throw switch 6052 can also couple the first terminal to the fourth terminal, so as to couple the second branch terminal of the third power splitter 6051 to the fourth terminal. Matching circuit 6053.

The processor (not shown in the figure) controls the switching circuit 605 to switch to the second mode when at least one of the following conditions is met: the RSRP of the received signal is greater than the second RSRP threshold, the SNR of the received signal is greater than the second SNR threshold, or The TPC of the transmitted signal is less than the second TPC threshold. The second RSRP threshold may be greater than the first RSRP threshold, the second SNR threshold may be greater than the first SNR threshold, and the second TPC threshold may be less than the first TPC threshold to increase the hysteresis range and prevent frequent back and forth between the first condition and the second condition switch. That is to say, when the signal quality is good, connect one analog channel to one digital channel, take two digital channels and eight RF channels as an example, both digital channels are working, and the ratio of the working digital channel to the RF channel is 2 :8, at this time in multiple input multiple output (MIMO) mode, two digital channels transmit independent digital baseband signals, which can obtain greater data flow, or one of the digital channels and analog channels can be closed. , to reduce power consumption.

For other contents of the channel switching method, reference may be made to the foregoing descriptions about FIG. 6 to FIG. 14 , which will not be repeated here.

In the radio frequency circuit, the channel switching method, and the communication device provided by the embodiments of the present application, in the first mode, the switching circuit couples the first analog channel and the second analog channel to the first digital channel, and the same digital baseband signal passes through more antennas. In the second mode, the switching circuit couples the first analog channel to the first digital channel, couples the second analog channel to the second digital channel, and the two Each digital channel transmits independent digital baseband signals, which can obtain greater data traffic through MIMO, and expand the implementation flexibility of the hybrid beamforming radio frequency architecture.

As shown in FIG. 28 , an embodiment of the present application further provides a communication device 28, including a processor 2801 for storing instructions, and the instructions run on the processor 2801, so that the communication device can execute the channel switching method shown in FIG. 27 . . Optionally, the communication device may include a memory 2802, coupled (eg, via a bus 2803) to the processor 2801, for storing the above-described instructions.

An embodiment of the present application further provides a computer-readable storage medium, where instructions are stored in the computer-readable storage medium, and the instructions are executed on a processor (not shown in the figure) of the communication device, so that the communication device executes the process shown in FIG. 27 . corresponding method. The embodiment of the present application also provides a computer program product containing instructions, and the instructions run on the processor of the communication device, so that the communication device executes the corresponding method in FIG. 27 . That is, the software instructions are used to execute the above channel switching method, so as to control any of the radio frequency circuits in FIG. 6 to FIG. 26 to complete the switching control of the switching circuit therein. The software instructions may be stored in the above-mentioned computer-readable storage medium, such as a non-volatile memory. Of course, the non-volatile memory may be replaced by a volatile memory, which is not limited in this embodiment. A processor of the communication device is used to execute the software instructions, the processor may include a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a microprocessor or a micro-controller (micro- control unit, MCU), etc. at least one. The processor can further control and manipulate other parts other than the switching circuits in FIGS. 6 to 26 , such as controlling the gain and phase of any analog channel or any radio frequency channel, or controlling the working mode of the digital baseband processor.

It should be understood that, in various embodiments of the present application, the size of the sequence numbers of the above-mentioned processes does not mean the sequence of execution, and the execution sequence of each process should be determined by its functions and internal logic, and should not be dealt with in the embodiments of the present application. implementation constitutes any limitation.

Those skilled in the art can clearly understand that, for the convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the above-described systems, devices and units may refer to the corresponding processes in the foregoing method embodiments, which will not be repeated here.

In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods may be implemented in other manners. For example, the device embodiments described above are only illustrative. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. In actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For example, multiple units or components may be combined or Can be integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored, or not implemented. On the other hand, the shown or discussed mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection may be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, and may be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

In the above embodiments, the device for implementing the control method may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented using a software program, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on the computer, all or part of the processes or functions described in the embodiments of the present application are generated. The computer may be a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, for example, the computer instructions may be downloaded from a website site, computer, server, or data center Transmission to another website site, computer, server or data center via wired (eg coaxial cable, optical fiber, Digital Subscriber Line, DSL) or wireless (eg infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.) means. The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or data storage devices including one or more servers, data centers, etc. that can be integrated with the medium. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (eg, a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (eg, a DVD), or a semiconductor medium (eg, a Solid State Disk (SSD)), and the like.

The above are only specific embodiments of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited to this. should be covered within the scope of protection of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

A radio frequency circuit, comprising: a first analog channel, a second analog channel, a first digital channel, a second digital channel and a switching circuit; the first analog channel and the second analog channel are used for performing phase adjustment in the analog domain to implement analog beamforming, and the first digital channel and the second digital channel are used for phase adjustment in the digital domain to implement digital beamforming;

In the first mode, the switching circuit is used to couple the first analog channel and the second analog channel to the first digital channel; wherein the analog signal output by the first analog channel and the The analog signal output by the second analog channel is combined and provided to the first digital channel; or, the analog signal output by the first digital channel is split and provided to the first analog channel and the second analog channel ;

In the second mode, the switching circuit is used for coupling the first analog channel to the first digital channel, and coupling the second analog channel to the second digital channel; wherein the first analog channel is The analog signal output by the analog channel is provided to the first digital channel, and the analog signal output by the second analog channel is provided to the second digital channel; or, the analog signal output by the first digital channel is provided To the first analog channel, the analog signal output by the second digital channel is provided to the second analog channel.
The radio frequency circuit according to claim 1, wherein the switching circuit comprises a power divider and combiner and a double throw switch, the first digital channel is coupled to a combining terminal of the power divider and combiner, and the The first shunt end of the power divider and combiner is coupled to the first analog channel, the second shunt end of the power divider and combiner is coupled to the first end of the double throw switch, the second a digital channel is coupled to the second end of the double throw switch, the second analog channel is coupled to the third end of the double throw switch;

In the first mode, the double throw switch is used to couple the first terminal to the third terminal to couple the second split terminal of the power divider to the second terminal analog channel;

In the second mode, the double throw switch is used to couple the second terminal to the third terminal to couple the second analog channel to the second digital channel.
The radio frequency circuit according to claim 2, wherein the switching circuit further comprises a matching circuit for grounding, and the fourth terminal of the double throw switch is coupled to the matching circuit;

In the first mode, the double-throw switch is further configured to couple the second terminal to the fourth terminal to couple the second digital channel to the matching circuit;

In the second mode, the double throw switch is also used to couple the first terminal to the fourth terminal to couple the second split terminal of the power splitter to the matching circuit.
The radio frequency circuit according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the power divider and combiner is a reconfigurable power divider and combiner;

In the first mode, the reconfigurable power divider and combiner operates in a power divider and combiner state, so as to connect the combiner end with the first branch end and the second branch end coupling;

In the second mode, the reconfigurable power divider/combiner operates in a switch state to couple the first branch terminal to the combiner terminal and disconnect the second branch terminal coupling with the combined terminal.
The radio frequency circuit according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein the analog signal is a millimeter wave signal, an intermediate frequency signal or an analog baseband signal.
The radio frequency circuit according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising: a processor that controls the switching circuit to switch to the first mode when at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:

The reference signal received power RSRP of the received signal is less than the first RSRP threshold, the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the received signal is less than the first SNR threshold, or the transmit power control TPC of the transmitted signal is greater than the first TPC threshold.
The radio frequency circuit according to any one of claims 1-5, further comprising: a processor that controls the switching circuit to switch to the second mode when at least one of the following conditions is satisfied:

The RSRP of the received signal is greater than the second RSRP threshold, the SNR of the received signal is greater than the second SNR threshold, or the TPC of the transmitted signal is less than the second TPC threshold.
A channel switching method, comprising:

In the first mode, the control switching circuit combines the first analog channel and the second analog channel to couple to the first digital channel; wherein the analog signal output by the first analog channel and the analog signal output by the second analog channel The signal is combined and provided to the first digital channel; or, the analog signal output by the first digital channel is divided and provided to the first analog channel and the second analog channel;

In the second mode, the switching circuit is controlled to couple the first analog channel to the first digital channel, and to couple the second analog channel to the second digital channel; wherein the first analog channel outputs The analog signal of the first digital channel is provided to the first digital channel, and the analog signal output by the second analog channel is provided to the second digital channel; or, the analog signal output by the first digital channel is provided to the a first analog channel, the analog signal output by the second digital channel is provided to the second analog channel;

The first analog channel and the second analog channel are used for phase adjustment in the analog domain to implement analog beamforming, and the first digital channel and the second digital channel are used for phase adjustment in the digital domain for digital beamforming.
The method of claim 8, wherein:

The controlling switching circuit to combine and couple the first analog channel and the second analog channel to the first digital channel includes: coupling the first end of the double throw switch in the switching circuit to the third end of the double throw switch a terminal to couple the second branch terminal of the power divider and combiner in the switching circuit to the second analog channel;

The controlling the switching circuit to couple the first analog channel to the first digital channel and the second analog channel to the second digital channel includes: coupling the second end of the double throw switch to the third terminal to couple the second analog channel to the second digital channel;

The first digital channel is coupled to the combining end of the power divider and combiner, the first branch end of the power divider combiner is coupled to the first analog channel, and the power divider and combiner The second shunt terminal of the rectifier is coupled to the first terminal of the double throw switch, the second digital channel is coupled to the second terminal of the double throw switch, and the second analog channel is coupled to the double throw switch the third end.
The method of claim 9, further comprising:

In the first mode, the second terminal of the double throw switch is coupled to the fourth terminal of the double throw switch to couple the second digital channel to a ground in the switching circuit matching circuit;

in the second mode, coupling the first end of the double throw switch to the fourth end to couple the second shunt end of the power divider combiner to the matching circuit;

Wherein, the fourth terminal of the double throw switch is coupled to the matching circuit.
The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the power divider/combiner is a reconfigurable power divider/combiner; the method further comprises:

In the first mode, the reconfigurable power divider/combiner is controlled to work in a power divider/combiner state, so as to connect the combiner end with the first branch end and the second branch end coupled;

In the second mode, the reconfigurable power divider/combiner is controlled to work in a switch state, so as to couple the first branch terminal to the combiner terminal and disconnect the second branch The coupling between the terminal and the combined terminal.
The method according to any one of claims 8-11, wherein the analog signal is a millimeter wave signal, an intermediate frequency signal or an analog baseband signal.
The method according to any one of claims 8-12, wherein when at least one of the following conditions is met, the switching circuit is controlled to switch to the first mode:

The reference signal received power RSRP of the received signal is less than the first RSRP threshold, the signal-to-noise ratio SNR of the received signal is less than the first SNR threshold, or the transmit power control TPC of the transmitted signal is greater than the first TPC threshold.
The method according to any one of claims 8-12, wherein when at least one of the following conditions is met, the switching circuit is controlled to switch to the second mode:

The RSRP of the received signal is greater than the second RSRP threshold, the SNR of the received signal is greater than the second SNR threshold, or the TPC of the transmitted signal is less than the second TPC threshold.
A communication device, characterized by comprising a digital baseband processor and the radio frequency circuit according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein the digital baseband processor is coupled to the first digital channel and the second digital channel of the radio frequency circuit digital channel.