Experimental device for testing performance of thunder and lightning detection equipment based on real thunder and lightning electromagnetic pulse signals
By constructing an experimental device based on real lightning waveforms and utilizing components such as external memory, FPGA board, and digital-to-analog converter, the controllability and accuracy issues of lightning detection equipment testing were solved, enabling efficient and accurate performance evaluation in the laboratory.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202610315316.2
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2026-03-16
- Publication Date
- 2026-05-19
AI Technical Summary
Existing testing methods for lightning detection equipment are highly random, time-consuming, risky, and costly in the field. Laboratory-simulated signals differ significantly from the electromagnetic characteristics of real lightning, making it difficult to accurately assess equipment performance.
An experimental device was constructed using an external dynamic random access memory, a high-performance FPGA core board, a high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter, a lightning detection equipment data acquisition card, and a host computer module. The device performance was tested using real lightning waveform data, achieving controllable repeatability and efficient simulation of the signal.
The laboratory has enabled efficient and controllable performance testing of lightning detection equipment, avoiding the uncertainties of field testing and the characteristic differences of laboratory simulated signals, thus improving testing efficiency and accuracy.
Smart Images
Figure CN122063519A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of lightning detection technology, and in particular to an experimental device for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals. Background Technology
[0002] Lightning detection equipment has significant application value, serving as a powerful scientific tool for revealing the physical mechanisms of atmospheric discharge and improving climate models, as well as a crucial line of defense for reducing disaster losses. Through high-precision real-time monitoring and intelligent early warning, lightning detection equipment can significantly reduce the risk of lightning strikes in aviation, power, and other fields. Before the engineering application of lightning detection equipment, its performance must be tested. This involves applying the electromagnetic pulse signal generated by lightning to the detection equipment and comparing the detection parameters with standard values to quantitatively evaluate the equipment's effectiveness.
[0003] Currently, testing methods for lightning detection equipment are mainly divided into two types: real lightning environment signal testing and laboratory simulated signal testing. Real lightning environment signal testing places the equipment in a natural environment and uses electromagnetic pulses directly generated by cloud-to-ground lightning or cloud-to-ground lightning to conduct the test. This method can reflect the equipment's response and anti-interference capability in a real environment. Laboratory simulated signal testing uses high-voltage pulse power supplies, high-frequency antennas, or coils to generate simulated lightning electromagnetic pulses or magnetic fields, which are then injected or radiated to the device under test through a coupling network. This method has the advantages of controllable parameters, high repeatability, low cost, and safety.
[0004] However, existing testing methods all have significant limitations. For testing in real lightning environments: First, safety risks are uncontrollable; extremely high electromagnetic pulse energy can damage equipment, and expensive protective facilities are required. Second, test controllability and repeatability are poor; lightning occurs randomly at time and location, and parameters fluctuate greatly, making it difficult to repeatedly generate the same signal to verify equipment stability or locate faults. Third, testing is costly and time-consuming, often requiring months to find suitable weather conditions. For laboratory simulated signal testing: Although the controllability problem is solved, the experimental conditions cannot fully simulate the complex discharge path and environmental factors (such as terrain and climate) of real lightning. More importantly, lightning simulated signals have limitations; their waveforms are often idealized and differ from the complex lightning waveforms in nature, and the frequency range may not cover all components of real signals. In addition, limited by the capacity and technical means of laboratory equipment, it is difficult to simulate real lightning signals with large scale, high intensity, and irregular characteristics such as rapid rise edges, leading to deviations between test results and actual conditions. Summary of the Invention
[0005] In order to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art, the purpose of this invention is to provide an experimental device for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals. This invention solves the problems of strong randomness, long cycle, uncontrollable risk and high cost of lightning testing in the field environment, as well as the significant difference between laboratory lightning simulation signals and real lightning electromagnetic characteristics in the prior art.
[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention provides the following solution: An experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals, comprising: The external dynamic random access memory, FPGA high-performance core board, high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module, lightning detection equipment data acquisition card and host computer module are connected in sequence. The external dynamic random access memory is used to pre-store real lightning waveform data; The FPGA high-performance core board is used to read the real lightning waveform data from the external dynamic random access memory and send the real lightning waveform data to the high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module. The high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module is used to convert the real lightning waveform data into a continuous real lightning analog waveform and output it to the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card. The lightning detection equipment data acquisition card is used to generate monitoring data based on the real lightning analog waveform and transmit the monitoring data to the host computer module. The host computer module is used to receive, process, and display the monitoring data for comparison with the pre-stored real lightning waveform data.
[0007] The present invention discloses the following technical effects: This invention provides an experimental device for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals. The invention includes an external dynamic random access memory, a high-performance FPGA core board (AC7100B), a high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter (DAC) output module (AD9767), a lightning detection equipment data acquisition card (FPGA+STM32+ADC+BeiDou antenna), and a host computer module (industrial control computer + display component). This invention patent enables efficient performance testing of lightning detection equipment in the laboratory using real lightning data. It avoids the problems associated with testing in real-world environments, such as long testing cycles, low efficiency, unpredictability, instantaneity, geographical dispersion of lightning events, limited sample size of real lightning data, poor repeatability, and difficulty in precisely controlling signal parameters. It also avoids the problems encountered when testing lightning detection equipment performance using simulated lightning signals in the laboratory, such as simplified discharge processes and differences between simulated lightning signal characteristics and real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals. This device achieves the same effect in both laboratory and real-world lightning environments. Furthermore, because this device can continuously send massive amounts of real lightning signals to the lightning detection equipment, its actual response efficiency in natural lightning environments is even higher. Attached Figure Description
[0008] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the drawings used in the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.
[0009] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an experimental device for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals, provided for an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 The waveform diagram of real lightning waveform data provided in the embodiments of the present invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the storage of real lightning waveform data as provided in an embodiment of the present invention.
[0010] Figure label: 1-External dynamic random access memory, 2-FPGA high-performance core board, 3-High-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module, 4-Lightning detection equipment data acquisition card, 5-Host computer module. Detailed Implementation
[0011] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.
[0012] To make the above-mentioned objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.
[0013] like Figure 1 As shown, this invention provides an experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals, comprising: The external dynamic random access memory 1, FPGA high-performance core board 2, high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module 3, lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4, and host computer module 5 are connected in sequence. The external dynamic random access memory 1 is used to pre-store real lightning waveform data; The FPGA high-performance core board 2 is used to read the real lightning waveform data from the external dynamic random access memory 1 and send the real lightning waveform data to the high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module 3. The high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module 3 is used to convert the real lightning waveform data into a continuous real lightning analog waveform and output it to the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4. The lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4 is used to generate monitoring data based on the real lightning analog waveform and transmit the monitoring data to the host computer module 5. The host computer module 5 is used to receive the monitoring data, process and display it for comparison with the pre-stored real lightning waveform data.
[0014] Based on existing raw lightning VLF detection data (data sources: short baseline VLF / LF 3D lightning detection network dataset from the Institute of Electrical Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences; JASA dataset from the University of Science and Technology of China; national VLF / LF 3D lightning location system dataset; WWLLN (Global Lightning Location System) dataset for global lightning activity monitoring based on VLF electromagnetic wave signals; and the 2025 East Indian Ocean voyage marine VLF lightning dataset from the Lightning Laboratory of the University of Science and Technology of China, etc.), the real lightning data in these datasets were obtained through lightning detection networks that have been operating stably for many years. This data consists of dual-channel data in both east-west and north-south directions. The data is stored in digital form (lightning waveform sampling points). The real lightning data from these datasets is pre-stored in external dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The pre-stored real lightning data includes cloud-to-ground lightning, cascade leaders, and return strokes, with each waveform containing sampling points for a complete cycle, thus ensuring the sufficiency of real lightning data test samples.
[0015] The FPGA high-performance core board 2 (AC7100B) supports dynamically acquiring lightning waveform sampling point data from external DRAM. This is primarily achieved using single-trigger or continuous mode via the SPI / I2C interface. The FPGA high-performance core board 2 (AC7100B) utilizes software programmability to program parameters, specifying the transmission rate and repetition count. It uses the FPGA's DCM (Digital Clock Manager) to generate the system clock, and the FPGA's state machine controls the generation of the lightning waveform sampling point data read address. The integrated DMA controller within the FPGA enables efficient transfer of real lightning waveform sampling point data, allowing the FPGA high-performance core board 2 (AC7100B) to continuously send real lightning waveform sampling point data from external DRAM to the high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter (DAC) output module (AD9767).
[0016] like Figure 2-3As shown, the high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter AD9767 converts the digital signal of the lightning waveform sampling point into an analog signal as follows: Utilizing its dual-port independent architecture and 14-bit resolution, it achieves high-precision conversion. The FPGA reads the data stored in the external DRAM point by point at a set clock rate using an independent address counter, and synchronously outputs it to the dual-channel data interface of the AD9767. After latching the data on the rising edge of the clock, the AD9767 uses its two internal high-performance cores to convert the 14-bit digital code into a differential current signal, with a full-scale current of 20mA (set by the internal 1.2V reference source and external resistor RSET). The current signal is converted into a ±5V voltage signal by an external operational amplifier circuit, and finally outputs a continuous real lightning analog waveform through the dual-channel BNC interface. This real lightning analog waveform is sent to the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card at a 125MHz update rate, thus replacing the simulated lightning waveform in the laboratory with real lightning waveform data.
[0017] Furthermore, the lightning detection device data acquisition card 4 includes: STM32 microcontroller, FPGA board, analog-to-digital converter and Beidou antenna; The analog-to-digital converter is connected to the FPGA board to acquire the real lightning analog waveform in real time at a preset sampling rate. The FPGA board is used to receive the signal collected by the analog-to-digital converter. When it is detected that the analog voltage value corresponding to a certain point in the collected real lightning analog waveform exceeds the set trigger threshold, it sends a trigger signal to the STM32 microcontroller and buffers all sampled data points within a preset time range before and after the moment (40ms before and after, for a total of 80ms) into DDR memory. The STM32 microcontroller is used to parse the data of the Beidou antenna after receiving the trigger signal to obtain the trigger time and the latitude and longitude information of the lightning detection device, and send the time and latitude and longitude information to the FPGA board. The FPGA board is also used to package the sampling data points after the buffering is completed with the received time and latitude and longitude information to generate the monitoring data, and transmit the monitoring data to the host computer module 5.
[0018] Furthermore, the host computer module 5 includes: Industrial control computers and display components; The lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4 is connected to the industrial control computer, and the industrial control computer is connected to the display component; The industrial control computer is used to receive the monitoring data and process the monitoring data through a LabVIEW program software that has been written and runs stably on the industrial control computer, including: drawing the lightning time-domain waveform, extracting the trigger time and the latitude and longitude information of the lightning detection device; The display component is used to display the lightning time-domain waveform, the trigger time, and the latitude and longitude information of the lightning detection device based on the processed monitoring data.
[0019] Specifically, the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4 mainly includes an STM32 microcontroller, a high-speed FPGA board, an ADC (analog-to-digital converter), and a Beidou antenna. The FPGA board in the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4 controls the ADC chip to acquire continuous real lightning analog waveforms transmitted from the AD9767 dual-channel BNC interface in real time at a sampling rate of 10 MSPS. Because it is real lightning data, the analog voltage value corresponding to a certain point on the real lightning waveform acquired by the ADC will definitely exceed the trigger threshold set by the FPGA in the data acquisition card. Since the FPGA of the data acquisition card has pre-set the pre-trigger and post-trigger time lengths, at this time, the FPGA in the data acquisition card starts buffering all sampled data points within the preset time range before and after a certain point on the real lightning waveform that exceeds the trigger threshold into the FPGA's DDR memory. The time range of the sampled data points buffered in the DR memory is determined by the set Pre-trigger and Post-trigger time lengths. After the buffering ends, the sampled data points are sent to the LabVIEW host computer via Gigabit Ethernet. The LabVIEW program software, which is written and runs stably on the host computer, processes the sampled data points. LabVIEW mainly uses a data flow architecture to simultaneously receive data from both east-west and north-south channels, processes the sampled data points through its built-in digital signal processing toolkit, and finally uses waveform graphs to draw time-domain waveforms in real time. The waveforms are then displayed intuitively on the host computer's display unit, showing the real lightning waveform data originally stored in external DRAM, which was acquired in real time by the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4. Furthermore, when the analog voltage value corresponding to a point on the real lightning waveform acquired by the ADC exceeds the trigger threshold set by the FPGA in the data acquisition card, the FPGA board in the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4 sends a signal to the STM32 microcontroller. The STM32 microcontroller then parses the BeiDou data and transmits the parsed time (the time of lightning triggering) and latitude / longitude (the location of the lightning detection equipment in the laboratory) information to the FPGA board in the data acquisition card via serial communication. The FPGA board then transmits the time and latitude / longitude information parsed by the STM32 microcontroller to the host computer, where it is extracted by the LabVIEW program and displayed on the display unit. The host computer displays the real lightning waveform detected by the lightning detection equipment via the AD9767 dual-channel BNC interface and compares it with the corresponding lightning data in the existing raw lightning dataset. If the lightning signals are completely identical, it proves that the developed lightning detection equipment has excellent performance and can perform the lightning detection function well. If the lightning signals are inconsistent, it indicates that the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card 4 needs further optimization.
[0020] The various embodiments in this specification are described in a progressive manner, with each embodiment focusing on the differences from other embodiments. The same or similar parts between the various embodiments can be referred to each other.
[0021] This document uses specific examples to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of the present invention. The descriptions of the above embodiments are only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of the present invention. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that, based on the ideas of the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of the present invention.
Claims
1. An experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals, characterized in that, include: The external dynamic random access memory, FPGA high-performance core board, high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module, lightning detection equipment data acquisition card and host computer module are connected in sequence. The external dynamic random access memory is used to pre-store real lightning waveform data; The FPGA high-performance core board is used to read the real lightning waveform data from the external dynamic random access memory and send the real lightning waveform data to the high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module. The high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module is used to convert the real lightning waveform data into a continuous real lightning analog waveform and output it to the lightning detection equipment data acquisition card. The lightning detection equipment data acquisition card is used to generate monitoring data based on the real lightning analog waveform and transmit the monitoring data to the host computer module. The host computer module is used to receive, process, and display the monitoring data for comparison with the pre-stored real lightning waveform data.
2. The experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals according to claim 1, characterized in that, The lightning detection equipment data acquisition card includes: STM32 microcontroller, FPGA board, analog-to-digital converter and Beidou antenna; The analog-to-digital converter is connected to the FPGA board to acquire the real lightning analog waveform in real time at a preset sampling rate. The FPGA board is used to receive the signal collected by the analog-to-digital converter. When it is detected that the analog voltage value corresponding to a certain point in the collected real lightning analog waveform exceeds the set trigger threshold, it sends a trigger signal to the STM32 microcontroller and buffers all sampled data points within a preset time range before and after the moment point into DDR memory. The STM32 microcontroller is used to parse the data of the Beidou antenna after receiving the trigger signal to obtain the trigger time and the latitude and longitude information of the lightning detection device, and send the time and latitude and longitude information to the FPGA board. The FPGA board is also used to package the sampled data points after the buffering is completed with the received time and latitude and longitude information to generate the monitoring data, and transmit the monitoring data to the host computer module.
3. The experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals according to claim 2, characterized in that, The FPGA board is configured with pre-trigger and post-trigger durations, and the durations can be set to different values.
4. The experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals according to claim 2, characterized in that, The preset sampling rate of the analog-to-digital converter is 10 MSPS.
5. The experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals according to claim 1, characterized in that, The host computer module includes: Industrial control computers and display components; The lightning detection device's data acquisition card is connected to the industrial control computer, and the industrial control computer is connected to the display component; The industrial control computer is used to receive the monitoring data and process the monitoring data through a LabVIEW program software that has been written and runs stably on the industrial control computer, including: drawing the lightning time-domain waveform, extracting the trigger time and the latitude and longitude information of the lightning detection device; The display component is used to display the lightning time-domain waveform, the trigger time, and the latitude and longitude information of the lightning detection equipment based on the processed monitoring data.
6. The experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals according to claim 1, characterized in that, The FPGA high-performance core board is model AC7100B.
7. The experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals according to claim 1, characterized in that, The high-performance dual-channel digital-to-analog converter output module uses the AD9767 chip.
8. The experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals according to claim 7, characterized in that, The AD9767 chip is used to latch data on the rising edge of the clock, convert the digital code into a differential current signal using two independent digital-to-analog converter cores, and then convert the differential current signal into the real lightning analog waveform via an external operational amplifier circuit.
9. The experimental apparatus for testing the performance of lightning detection equipment based on real lightning electromagnetic pulse signals according to claim 8, characterized in that, The actual lightning analog waveform is a ±5V voltage signal with an update rate of 125MHz.