A method, apparatus and system for mixing

Abstract

The application provides a mixing method, device and system, which can modulate a baseband signal or a low-middle frequency signal into a high frequency signal. The mixing of the signal is realized through the interaction between the electron beam and the signal, which overcomes the efficiency and power problems in generating a high frequency mixing signal in the prior art. In addition, the embodiment of the application can also realize the functions of generating a high frequency signal and amplifying a high frequency signal. The application uses a low-middle frequency signal to modulate the electron beam at two levels of speed, and then filters and releases the energy of the electron beam after two-stage speed modulation, so as to obtain a mixing signal in a high frequency band.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of communication, and in particular to a mixing method, device and system. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the development of intelligence and digitization of various industries, the demand for spectrum bandwidth of wireless connection is increasing, and the frequency of electromagnetic waves used by wireless communication systems is also increasing. At present, the wireless communication systems and standards in millimeter wave (mmWave) frequency bands such as 28 GHz, 39 GHz and 60 GHz have gradually matured, and in the future, higher frequency bands of millimeter wave spectrum and other frequency bands higher than the millimeter wave frequency band will be opened for wireless access and transmission.

[0003] Taking a transmitter of a millimeter wave wireless communication system as an example, to modulate a baseband signal to a carrier frequency in a millimeter wave frequency band for transmission, a twice mixing architecture is generally needed. As shown in FIG. 1, a transmitter using a twice mixing architecture first mixes a baseband signal with a local oscillator signal with a selected frequency f1 through an intermediate frequency (IF) mixer, filters out an intermediate frequency signal through an IF filter, then mixes the intermediate frequency signal with a local oscillator signal with a selected frequency f2 through a radio frequency (RF) mixer, filters out a radio frequency signal with a carrier frequency f1+f2 through an RF filter, and feeds the radio frequency signal into a corresponding antenna for transmission after signal amplification through a power amplifier. Figure 1

[0004] At present, a mixer is mainly implemented by a circuit designed by a diode, a transistor, a field effect transistor and other devices made of semiconductor materials. Due to the carrier mobility and various parasitic capacitances in the semiconductor and other factors, the intrinsic frequency of the transistor is determined. At present, the intrinsic frequency of the transistor is 100-300 GHz, and to obtain higher efficiency, the working frequency of the transistor is generally about 1 / 10 of the intrinsic frequency. With the continuous increase of the carrier frequency band of wireless communication (i.e. the frequency of the local oscillator signal input into the mixer is continuously increased), the diode, field effect transistor and other transistor devices made of semiconductor materials need higher working frequencies. When the working frequency approaches or exceeds the intrinsic frequency of the transistor, the semiconductor mixer and power amplifier will encounter a bottleneck. Although there are transistors designed by using semiconductor materials with higher electron mobility and working at a higher frequency band at present, the efficiency and power of the transistors at a high frequency band are difficult to improve.

[0005] ​At present, in order to solve the above problems, a power amplifier module composed of a solid-state power amplifier and a traveling wave tube power amplifier is used to drive and amplify the signal passing through a radio frequency mixer, but the generation of a radio frequency signal with a high frequency still needs to rely on a semiconductor mixing device. As known from the above, when the frequency of the radio frequency signal to be generated is close to the intrinsic frequency of a transistor, the solid-state mixer can generate the radio frequency signal, but the gain and efficiency of the solid-state power amplifier are very low; when the frequency of the radio frequency signal to be generated exceeds the intrinsic frequency of the transistor, the solid-state mixer will not work, and therefore how to generate a signal in a high frequency band becomes a problem to be solved. SUMMARY

[0006] The present application provides a practical mixing method, device and system, which can modulate a baseband signal or a low frequency signal into a high frequency signal. The mixing of the signal is realized through the interaction of the electron beam and the signal, which overcomes the efficiency and power problems faced by the existing scheme when generating a high frequency mixed signal. Moreover, the embodiment of the present application can also simultaneously realize the functions of generating a high frequency signal and amplifying a high frequency signal.

[0007] In a first aspect, the present application provides a mixing method, comprising: obtaining a first signal, the frequency of the first signal being a first frequency, the first signal being used to carry first data; performing speed modulation on a first electron beam according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam, the second electron beam comprising a first component, the characteristics of the first component corresponding to the characteristics of the first signal; performing speed modulation on the second electron beam according to a second signal to obtain a third electron beam, the frequency of the second signal being a second frequency, the third electron beam comprising a second component, the second component being obtained by modulating the first component by the second signal; processing the third electron beam to obtain a third signal corresponding to the second component, the frequency of the third signal being the sum of the first frequency and the second frequency, the third signal carrying the first data.

[0008] In a possible design, the third signal is amplified while processing the third electron beam to obtain the third signal corresponding to the second component.

[0009] In the above manner, the velocity modulation of the first electron beam by the first signal can be understood as follows: since the first signal is an electromagnetic wave, the magnetic field generated by the electromagnetic wave acts on the first electron beam, and the electrons in the first electron beam can move according to the action of the magnetic field, so the electrons in the first electron beam can be called the second electron beam after velocity modulation. The movement speed of the electrons in the second electron beam corresponds to the characteristics of the magnetic field (for example, the place with strong magnetic field makes the electrons move faster, and the place with weak magnetic field makes the electrons move slower), and since the characteristics of the magnetic field correspond to the characteristics of the first signal (for example, the frequency characteristics, the characteristics of the first data), the second electron beam has characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the first signal (for example, the frequency characteristics, the characteristics of the first data). Similarly, under the action of the second signal, the second electron beam is velocity-modulated to obtain the third electron beam, at this time, the third electron beam has a part of electrons only affected by the first signal (this part of electrons is called the first component), a part of electrons only affected by the second signal (this part of electrons is called the third component), and a part of electrons affected by the first signal and then affected by the second signal (this part of electrons is called the second component, and the characteristics of the second component correspond to the characteristics of the signal generated by mixing the first signal and the second signal). Therefore, the third electron beam includes the second component, and optionally, the first component and the third component. The electromagnetic wave formed by the magnetic field generated by the movement of the electrons in the second component includes the fourth signal and the third signal described above, the frequency of the third signal is the sum of the first frequency and the second frequency, the data carried by the third signal is the first data described above, the frequency of the fourth signal is the difference between the first frequency and the second frequency, and the data carried by the fourth signal is the first data described above. Therefore, processing the third electron beam can obtain the third signal. In the above manner, the baseband signal or the low-frequency signal can be modulated into a high-frequency signal, and the mixing of signals is realized through the interaction between the electron beam and the signal, thereby overcoming the efficiency and power problems in generating a high-frequency mixed signal in the prior art. Moreover, the embodiments of the present application can also realize the functions of generating a high-frequency signal and amplifying a high-frequency signal.

[0010] In a possible design, the velocity modulation of the first electron beam according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam includes: velocity modulation of the first electron beam passing through a first modulation module according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam, the first modulation module corresponds to the first frequency, and the first modulation module is a spiral waveguide slow wave structure.

[0011] For example, the first frequency is a frequency in a low-frequency band or a medium-frequency band.

[0012] In the above manner, since the structure of the first modulation module corresponds to the first frequency, the first signal can propagate in the first modulation module and generate a magnetic field to modulate the velocity of the first electron beam. When the first frequency is a low frequency or a medium frequency, and the baseband signal has a large bandwidth, the relative bandwidth is large, and the first modulation module with a spiral waveguide slow wave structure can support a large relative bandwidth and is easy to process at a low frequency.

[0013] It should be noted that the waveguide structure of the first modulation module in the above manner is designed to keep the velocity of the input electron beam (i.e., the first electron beam) unchanged or to speed up the input electron beam, i.e., only to modulate the velocity of the electron beam and not to release energy.

[0014] In a possible design, the velocity of the first electron beam is modulated according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam, including modulating the velocity of the first electron beam passing through a second modulation module according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam, the second modulation module corresponding to the first frequency, and the second modulation module being a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridge waveguide slow wave structure.

[0015] For example, the first frequency is a medium frequency or a high frequency.

[0016] In the above manner, since the structure of the second modulation module corresponds to the first frequency, the first signal can propagate in the second modulation module and generate a magnetic field to modulate the velocity of the first electron beam. When the first frequency is a medium frequency or a high frequency, the size of the second modulation module is small, so a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridge waveguide slow wave structure that is easy to process is used.

[0017] It should be noted that the waveguide structure of the second modulation module in the above manner is designed to keep the velocity of the input electron beam (i.e., the first electron beam) unchanged or to speed up the input electron beam, i.e., only to modulate the velocity of the electron beam and not to release energy.

[0018] In a possible design, the velocity of the second electron beam is modulated according to the second signal to obtain a third electron beam, including modulating the velocity of the second electron beam passing through a third modulation module according to the second signal to obtain the third electron beam, the third modulation module corresponding to the second frequency, and the third modulation module being a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridge waveguide slow wave structure.

[0019] For example, the second frequency is a medium frequency or a high frequency.

[0020] In the above manner, since the structure of the third modulation module corresponds to the second frequency, the second signal can propagate in the third modulation module and generate a magnetic field to modulate the velocity of the second electron beam. When the second frequency is a medium frequency or a high frequency, the size of the third modulation module is small, so the folded waveguide slow wave structure or the double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure is easy to process.

[0021] It should be noted that the waveguide structure of the third modulation module in the above manner is designed to keep the velocity of the input electron beam (i.e. the second electron beam) unchanged or increase the velocity of the input electron beam, that is, only the velocity of the electron beam is modulated, and no energy is released.

[0022] In a possible design, the velocity of the second electron beam is modulated according to the second signal to obtain a third electron beam, including: performing a first processing on the second electron beam to match the cross-sectional radius of the second electron beam with the third modulation module, and modulating the second electron beam after the first processing according to the second signal through the third modulation module to obtain the third electron beam.

[0023] In the above manner, if the frequency difference between the first frequency and the second frequency is large, the cross-sectional radius difference between the first modulation module and the third modulation module will be large, which will affect the movement of the electron beam from the first modulation module to the third modulation module. Therefore, the second electron beam is processed to match the cross-sectional radius of the second electron beam with the third modulation module, so that the third electron beam obtains a better modulation effect.

[0024] In a possible design, the third electron beam is processed to obtain the third signal, including: processing the third electron beam by using a first energy release module to obtain the third signal, the first energy release module corresponding to the frequency of the third signal, and the first energy release module being a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure.

[0025] Exemplarily, the third frequency is a high frequency.

[0026] In the above manner, since the structure of the first energy release module corresponds to the frequency of the third signal, only the third signal can propagate in the first energy release module, that is, the third component included in the third electron beam can generate a signal on the first energy release module, and signals of other frequencies generated by other components included in the third electron beam are attenuated by the first energy release module, so that the first energy release module naturally has a filtering function. The magnetic field generated when the signal generated by the third component on the first energy release module propagates in the first energy release module can strengthen the motion characteristics of the electrons of the third component (for example, the faster the electron motion speed, the faster the motion speed, and the slower the electron motion speed, the slower the motion speed), so that the signal strength generated by the third component with strengthened motion characteristics is strengthened, and therefore, the first energy release module also amplifies the signal generated by the third component. That is, the first energy release module has a filtering and amplifying function.

[0027] In the above manner, when the third frequency is a frequency in a high frequency band, the size of the first energy release module is small, so that a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure easy to process is adopted.

[0028] In a possible design, the third electron beam further includes the first component and a third component, and the third component corresponds to the characteristic of the second signal.

[0029] In the above manner, when the third electron beam includes the first component and the third component, the first energy release module also has a filtering function, and can avoid generation of signals corresponding to the first component and the third component, and only generate the third signal.

[0030] In a second aspect, the present application provides a mixing device, comprising: a first modulation module, the first modulation module is used for obtaining a first signal, and performing velocity modulation on a first electron beam according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam, the frequency of the first signal is a first frequency, the first signal is used for carrying first data, and the second electron beam includes a first component, and the characteristic of the first component corresponds to the characteristic of the first signal; a second modulation module, the second modulation module is used for performing velocity modulation on the second electron beam according to a second signal to obtain a third electron beam, the frequency of the second signal is a second frequency, and the third electron beam includes a second component, and the second component is obtained by modulating the first component by the second signal; and a first energy release module, the first energy release module is used for processing the third electron beam to obtain a third signal corresponding to the second component, the frequency of the third signal is the sum of the first frequency and the second frequency, and the third signal carries the first data.

[0031] In a possible design, the first energy release module processes the third electron beam to obtain a third signal corresponding to the second component while amplifying the third signal.

[0032] In the above manner, the speed modulation of the first electron beam by the first modulation module according to the first signal can be understood as follows: since the first signal is an electromagnetic wave, a magnetic field generated by the propagation of the electromagnetic wave in the first modulation module acts on the first electron beam, and the electrons in the first electron beam can move according to the action of the magnetic field, so the first electron beam can be called as the second electron beam obtained after the speed modulation of the electrons. The movement speed of the electrons in the second electron beam corresponds to the characteristic of the magnetic field (for example, the place with a stronger magnetic field makes the electrons move faster, and the place with a weaker magnetic field makes the electrons move slower), and since the characteristic of the magnetic field corresponds to the characteristic of the first signal (for example, the frequency characteristic or the characteristic of the first data), the second electron beam has a characteristic corresponding to the characteristic of the first signal (for example, the frequency characteristic or the characteristic of the first data). Similarly, under the action of the magnetic field generated by the propagation of the second signal in the second modulation module, the second electron beam is subjected to speed modulation to obtain the third electron beam, at this time, a part of the electrons in the third electron beam are only affected by the first signal (this part of the electrons is called the first component), a part of the electrons in the third electron beam are only affected by the second signal (this part of the electrons is called the second component), and a part of the electrons in the third electron beam are affected by the first signal and then affected by the second signal (this part of the electrons is called the third component, and the characteristic of the third component corresponds to the characteristic of the signal generated by the mixing of the first signal and the second signal). Therefore, the third electron beam includes the second component, the electromagnetic wave formed by the magnetic field generated by the movement of the electrons in the second component includes the fourth signal and the third signal, the frequency of the third signal is the sum of the first frequency and the second frequency, the third signal carries the first data, the frequency of the fourth signal is the difference between the first frequency and the second frequency, and the fourth signal carries the first data. Therefore, the first energy release module processes the third electron beam to obtain the third signal.

[0033] In the above manner, the baseband signal or the low-frequency signal can be modulated into a high-frequency signal, and the mixing of signals is implemented through the interaction between the electron beam and the signal, thereby overcoming the efficiency and power problems in generating a high-frequency mixed signal in the prior art. In addition, the embodiments of the present application can also simultaneously implement the functions of generating a high-frequency signal and amplifying a high-frequency signal.

[0034] In a possible design, the first modulation module includes a first slow wave structure, the first slow wave structure is used for the first modulation module to perform speed modulation on the first electron beam passing through the first slow wave structure according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam, the first slow wave structure corresponds to the first frequency, and the first slow wave structure is a spiral waveguide slow wave structure.

[0035] For example, the first frequency is a frequency in a low frequency band or a medium frequency band.

[0036] In the above manner, since the structure of the first slow wave structure corresponds to the first frequency, the first signal can propagate in the first slow wave structure and a magnetic field can be generated to velocity-modulate the first electron beam. When the first frequency is a frequency in a low frequency band or a medium frequency band, the baseband signal has a large bandwidth, and the relative bandwidth is large. The first slow wave structure is a spiral waveguide slow wave structure, which can support a large relative bandwidth and is easy to process in a low frequency band.

[0037] In a possible design, the first modulation module includes a second slow wave structure, where the second slow wave structure is used by the first modulation module to velocity-modulate the first electron beam passing through the second slow wave structure according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam, the second slow wave structure corresponds to the first frequency, and the second slow wave structure is a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridged waveguide slow wave structure.

[0038] For example, the first frequency is a frequency in a medium frequency band or a high frequency band.

[0039] In the above manner, since the structure of the second slow wave structure corresponds to the first frequency, the first signal can propagate in the second slow wave structure and a magnetic field can be generated to velocity-modulate the first electron beam. When the first frequency is a frequency in a medium frequency band or a high frequency band, the size of the second slow wave structure is small, and therefore a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridged waveguide slow wave structure that is easy to process is used.

[0040] In a possible design, the second modulation module includes a third slow wave structure, where the third slow wave structure is used by the second modulation module to velocity-modulate the second electron beam passing through the third slow wave structure according to the second signal to obtain a third electron beam, the third slow wave structure corresponds to the second frequency, and the third slow wave structure is a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridged waveguide slow wave structure.

[0041] For example, the second frequency is a frequency in a medium frequency band or a high frequency band.

[0042] In the above manner, since the structure of the third slow wave structure corresponds to the second frequency, the second signal can propagate in the third slow wave structure and a magnetic field can be generated to velocity-modulate the second electron beam. When the second frequency is a frequency in a medium frequency band or a high frequency band, the size of the third slow wave structure is small, and therefore a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridged waveguide slow wave structure that is easy to process is used.

[0043] In a possible design, the apparatus includes a third modulation module, configured to perform first processing on the second electron beam so that a cross-sectional radius of the second electron beam matches the third slow wave structure, and the third slow wave structure is configured for the second modulation module to perform velocity modulation on the second electron beam after the first processing to obtain a third electron beam.

[0044] In the above manner, if the frequency difference between the first frequency and the second frequency is large, the cross-sectional radius difference between the first slow wave structure and the third slow wave structure is large, which affects the movement of the electron beam from the first slow wave structure to the third slow wave structure, and therefore, the second electron beam is processed so that the cross-sectional radius of the second electron beam matches the third slow wave structure, thereby enabling the third electron beam to obtain a better modulation effect.

[0045] In a possible design, the first energy releasing module includes a fourth slow wave structure, the fourth slow wave structure is configured for the third electron beam to pass through and for the first energy releasing module to process the third electron beam to obtain the third signal, the fourth slow wave structure corresponds to the frequency of the third signal, and the fourth slow wave structure is a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ripple waveguide slow wave structure.

[0046] For example, the third frequency is a frequency in a high frequency band.

[0047] In the above manner, because the fourth slow wave structure corresponds to the frequency of the third signal in structure, only the third signal can propagate in the fourth slow wave structure, that is, the third component included in the third electron beam can generate a signal on the fourth slow wave structure, while signals of other frequencies generated by other components included in the third electron beam are attenuated by the fourth slow wave structure, and therefore, the fourth slow wave structure naturally has a filtering function. The magnetic field generated when the signal generated by the third component on the fourth slow wave structure propagates in the fourth slow wave structure can strengthen the movement characteristics (for example, the faster the electron movement speed, the faster the electron movement speed) of the electrons of the third component, so that the signal intensity generated by the third component with the strengthened movement characteristics is strengthened, and therefore, the fourth slow wave structure also amplifies the signal generated by the third component. That is, the fourth slow wave structure has a filtering and amplifying function.

[0048] In the above manner, when the third frequency is a frequency in a high frequency band, the fourth slow wave structure has a small size, and therefore, a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ripple waveguide slow wave structure that is easy to process is used.

[0049] In a possible design, the third electron beam further includes the first component and a third component, and the third component has a characteristic corresponding to a characteristic of the second signal. In the above manner, because the third component has the characteristic corresponding to the characteristic of the second signal, the third component can be separated from the first component in the fourth slow wave structure, and therefore, the third component can be separated from the first component in the fourth slow wave structure.

[0050] In the above manner, when the third electron beam includes the first component and the third component, the first energy release module also has a filtering effect, which can avoid generation of signals corresponding to the first component and the third component, and only generate the third signal.

[0051] In a third aspect, the application provides a mixing system, which comprises: an electron gun, a collecting electrode and the mixing device in the second aspect and any possible design thereof, wherein the electron gun is configured to generate an electron beam to be input into the mixing device, and the collecting electrode is configured to recycle the electron beam passing through the first energy release module.

[0052] In a fourth aspect, the application provides a transmitter system, which comprises the mixing system in the third aspect, an intermediate frequency mixer, an intermediate frequency filter and a transmitting device, wherein the intermediate frequency mixer and the intermediate frequency filter are configured to generate the first signal, and the transmitting device is configured to transmit the third signal. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0053] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional transmitter system.

[0054] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a transmitter system according to an embodiment of the application.

[0055] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a transmitter system according to another embodiment of the application.

[0056] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of a mixing system according to an embodiment of the application.

[0057] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a spiral waveguide slow wave structure.

[0058] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram of a transmitter structure according to an embodiment of the application.

[0059] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of a transmitter structure according to another embodiment of the application.

[0060] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of a folded waveguide slow wave structure.

[0061] Figure 9 is a schematic diagram of a double-ridged waveguide slow wave structure.

[0062] Figure 10 is a schematic diagram of a transmitter structure according to an embodiment of the application.

[0063] Figure 11 is a schematic diagram of a mixing method according to an embodiment of the application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0064] In order to make the purposes, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described clearly and completely below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are some but not all of the embodiments of the present application. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort belong to the scope of the present application.

[0065] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, first, a traditional transmitter system is described as shown in FIG. 1. Figure 1 Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a traditional transmitter system. The transmitter system 100 mainly includes a mixer 102, a filter 104, a mixer 111, a filter 105, a power amplifier 113, and an antenna 107. A baseband signal 101 is input into the mixer 102 as an input signal, a local oscillator signal 103 with a frequency of f1 is input into the mixer 102 as an input signal, the mixer 102 modulates the baseband signal onto a carrier with a frequency of f1, a signal 108 generated by the mixer 102 is input into the filter 104 as an input signal, the filter 104 filters the signal 108, and a signal 109 generated by the filter 104 has a frequency of f1, the signal 109 is input into the mixer 111 as an input signal, a local oscillator signal 106 with a frequency of f2 is input into the mixer 111 as an input signal, the mixer 111 modulates the signal 109 onto a carrier with a frequency of f1+f2, a signal 112 generated by the mixer 111 is input into the filter 105 as an input signal, the filter 105 filters the signal 112, and a signal 110 generated by the filter 105 has a frequency of f1+f2, the signal 110 is input into the power amplifier 113 as an input signal, the power amplifier 113 amplifies the signal 110 to generate a signal 114, and the signal 114 is fed into the antenna 107 for transmission. The mixer 102 can be an intermediate frequency mixer, the filter 104 can be an intermediate frequency filter, the mixer 111 can be a radio frequency mixer, and the filter 105 can be a radio frequency filter.

[0066] The mixer in the above traditional transmitter system relies on diodes, field effect tubes and other transistor devices made of semiconductor materials. Due to poor efficiency and power performance at high frequency bands, even if the power amplifier is improved to a traveling wave tube power amplifier, the current mixer is still difficult to generate millimeter waves and sub-megahertz signals at a higher frequency band, such as signals above 150 GHz.

[0067] In order to facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present application, the related technical concepts are briefly introduced below.

[0068] ​Electron beam: A stream of electrons produced by the bombardment of hot (thermionic emission), charged atoms or particles (secondary electron emission) or strong electric fields (field emission) (such as electron induction accelerators).

[0069] Slow wave structure: A device for enhancing the interaction between moving electrons and electromagnetic fields in a traveling wave type electron device, so that the energy of the electron stream is more effectively converted into the high frequency energy of the electromagnetic wave.

[0070] The transmitter system of the present application is described below. As shown in Figure 2 , Figure 2 is an example of a transmitter system according to an embodiment of the present application. The transmitter system 200 mainly includes a mixer 202, a filter 204, a mixer 205, and an antenna 207. The transmitter system 200 can be applied to the generation and transmission of millimeter wave and sub-megahertz signals. A baseband signal 201 is input into the mixer 202 as an input signal, and a local oscillator signal 203 with a frequency of f1 is input into the mixer 202 as an input signal. The mixer 202 modulates the baseband signal onto a carrier with a frequency of f1, and generates a signal 208. The signal 208 is input into the filter 204 as an input signal. The filter 204 filters the signal 208, and generates a signal 209 with a frequency of f1. The signal 209 is input into the mixer 205 as an input signal, and a local oscillator signal 206 with a frequency of f2 is input into the mixer 205 as an input signal. The mixer 205 generates a signal 210 with a frequency of f1+f2 using the signal 209, the local oscillator signal 206 with a frequency of f2, and an electron beam. The mixer 205 amplifies the signal 210, and feeds the signal 210 into the antenna 207 for transmission. The mixer 202 can be an intermediate frequency mixer, and the filter 204 can be an intermediate frequency filter. The mixer 205 is a device according to the present application, which has the functions of mixing, filtering, and power amplification.

[0071] Figure 3 is another example of a transmitter system according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in Figure 3As shown, the transmitter system 300 mainly includes a mixer 302, a filter 304, a mixer 305, an antenna 307, and a solid-state power amplifier 311. The transmitter system 300 can be used for the generation and transmission of millimeter-wave and sub-megahertz signals. The baseband signal 301 is input to the mixer 302, and the local oscillator signal 303 with frequency f1 is also input to the mixer 302. The mixer 302 modulates the baseband signal 301 onto a carrier wave with frequency f1 to generate signal 308. Signal 308 is input to the filter 304, which filters the signal 308 to generate signal 309 with frequency f1. Signal 309 is input to the solid-state power amplifier 311. Power amplifier 311 amplifies signal 309 to generate signal 312. Signal 312 is input to mixer 305. Local oscillator signal 306 with frequency f2 is also input to mixer 305. Mixer 305 uses signal 312, local oscillator signal 306 with frequency f2, and electron beam to generate signal 210 with frequency f1+f2. Mixer 305 amplifies signal 210 and feeds it into antenna 207 for transmission. Mixer 302 can be an intermediate frequency mixer, filter 304 can be an intermediate frequency filter, and mixer 305 is the device proposed in this application that simultaneously performs mixing, filtering, and power amplification functions.

[0072] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of an example mixing system according to an embodiment of this application. Figure 4 As shown, the mixing system 400 mainly includes an electron gun 401, a mixing device 402, and a collector 409. The mixing device 402 includes a modulation module 406, a modulation module 407, and an energy release module 408. The electron gun 401 emits an electron beam, which is injected into the mixing device 402. The mixing device 402 uses a signal 403 with frequency f1, a local oscillator signal 404 with frequency f2, and the electron beam to generate a signal 405 with frequency f1+f2. The signal 403 with frequency f1 is a baseband signal modulated onto a carrier wave with frequency f1. The collector 409 recovers energy from the electron beam passing through the mixing device 402. Modulation module 406 is used to speed modulate the electron beam injected into the mixer using a signal 403 with frequency f1. Modulation module 407 is used to speed modulate the electron beam injected into modulation module 407 using a local oscillator signal 404 with frequency f2. Energy release module 408 is used to generate a signal 405 with frequency f1+f2. Modulation module 406 can be a slow-wave structure corresponding to frequency f1, modulation module 407 can be a slow-wave structure corresponding to frequency f2, and energy release module 408 can be a slow-wave structure corresponding to frequency f1+f2. The slow-wave structure can be found in [reference needed]. Figure 5 ,Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of a helical waveguide slow wave structure.

[0073] The working process of the mixing system 400 is described as follows.

[0074] 1. The electron gun generates an electron beam, which is injected into the mixing device 402.

[0075] 2. The electron beam passes through the modulation module 406 in the mixing device 402, and at the same time, the signal 403 with the frequency f1 is input into the modulation module 406. The electron beam is subjected to the action of the electromagnetic field in the modulation module 406 to form velocity modulation. At this time, the electron beam has characteristics including the characteristics corresponding to the signal 403 with the frequency f1.

[0076] 3. The electron beam passing through the modulation module 406 continues to pass through the modulation module 407, and at the same time, the local signal 404 with the frequency f2 is input into the modulation module 407. The electron beam is subjected to the action of the electromagnetic field in the modulation module 407 to form velocity modulation. At this time, the electron beam has characteristics including the characteristics corresponding to the local signal 404 with the frequency f2, the characteristics corresponding to the signal 403 with the frequency f1, the characteristics corresponding to the signal 405 with the frequency f1+f2, and the characteristics corresponding to the signal (not shown in the figure) with the frequency f1-f2, that is, the modulation module 407 mixes the signal 403 with the frequency f1 and the local signal 404 with the frequency f2. Figure 4

[0077] 4. The electron beam passing through the modulation module 407 continues to pass through the energy release module 408. Since the energy release module 408 is a slow wave structure corresponding to the signal 405 with the frequency f1+f2, it naturally has a filtering effect, generates the signal 405 with the frequency f1+f2, and releases part of the energy due to the group clustering of the electron beam passing through the modulation module 407 in the energy release module to amplify the power of the signal 405 with the frequency f1+f2.

[0078] 5. The electron beam of the signal 405 with the frequency f1+f2 passing through the energy release module 408 is injected into the collector 409 for energy recovery.

[0079] The transmitter system of Figure 2 and Figure 3 and the mixing system of Figure 4 are described below. As shown in (a) of Figure 6 or (b) of Figure 6 , the transmitter structure of the present application is shown in Figure 6 . The transmitter structure of Figure 6 is described below.

[0080] ​The transmitter 500 mainly comprises a mixer 502, a modulation module 504, a modulation module 505, an antenna 507, an energy release module 509, an electron gun 511, and a collecting electrode 512, wherein the modulation module 504, the modulation module 505, and the energy release module 509 comprise a slow wave structure, for example, the transmitter 500(a). The electron gun 511 is configured to generate an electron beam; the mixer 502 is configured to mix a baseband signal 501 and a local oscillator signal 503 with a frequency of f1 to generate a signal 508 (wherein the center frequency of the signal 508 is f1), i.e., to modulate the baseband signal 501 onto a carrier wave with a frequency of f1; the modulation module 504 is configured to perform velocity modulation on the input electron beam by using the signal 508; the modulation module 505 is configured to perform velocity modulation on the input electron beam by using a local oscillator signal 506 with a frequency of f2; the energy release module 509 is configured to make the velocity-modulated electron beam form a cluster to generate energy, and release the energy to generate a signal 510 with a frequency of f1+f2; the antenna 507 is configured to transmit the signal 510; and the collecting electrode 512 is configured to recycle the energy of the electrons passing through the energy release module 509.

[0081] In a possible implementation, the transmitter 500 further comprises an enhanced magnetic field confinement module 513, for example, the transmitter 500(b) (see Figure 6 (b) in the foregoing description), wherein the enhanced magnetic field confinement module 513 is configured to reduce the cross-sectional radius of the electron beam passing through the modulation module 504, so as to facilitate better entry into the modulation module 505.

[0082] In a possible implementation, the mixer 502 can comprise a diode, a triode, a field effect transistor, or the like device made of a semiconductor material.

[0083] In a possible implementation, the modulation module 504 comprises a helical waveguide slow wave structure (for a specific structure, see Figure 5 ), which corresponds to the frequency f1.

[0084] In a possible implementation, the modulation module 505 comprises a folded waveguide slow wave structure (for a specific structure, see Figure 7 ), which corresponds to the frequency f2.

[0085] In a possible implementation, the energy release module 509 comprises a folded waveguide slow wave structure (for a specific structure, see Figure 8 , Figure 8 , which is a schematic diagram of an example of a folded waveguide slow wave structure) or a double-ridged waveguide slow wave structure (for a specific structure, see Figure 9 , Figure 9 , which is a schematic diagram of an example of a double-ridged waveguide slow wave structure), which corresponds to the frequency f1+f2.

[0086] The operation of the transmitter 500 will be described below.

[0087] The bandwidth of the baseband signal 501 is 20 GHz, and f1<<f2 (i.e., f1 is much smaller than f2) as an example, for example, f1 is 11 GHz, and f2 is 149 GHz.

[0088] (a) The baseband signal 501 is input into the mixer 502, the local oscillator signal 503 with a frequency of f1 is input into the mixer 502, the mixer 502 modulates the baseband signal 501 onto the carrier with a frequency of f1 to generate the signal 508 with a center frequency of f1, the electron gun 511 emits an electron beam and injects the electron beam into the modulation module 504.

[0089] In a possible implementation, the electron beam is injected into the modulation module 504 through a vacuum environment.

[0090] (b) The signal 508 is input into the modulation module 504, the modulation module 504 makes the signal 508 pass through the slow wave structure to generate a magnetic field, which modulates the velocity of the electron beam passing through the modulation module 504.

[0091] It should be noted that since the slow wave structure in the modulation module 504 corresponds to the frequency f1, the signal 508 is naturally filtered, and the signal that can pass through the slow wave structure is the signal 508 with a frequency of f1 (which can be referred to as the filtered signal 508), so that the magnetic field generated by the filtered signal 508 has characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the signal, and the magnetic field can also be referred to as corresponding to the signal 508 with a frequency of f1, for example, the strength characteristics of the magnetic field correspond to the strength characteristics of the filtered signal 508 (the strength characteristics of the magnetic field can correspond to the frequency characteristics of the signal 508, the data characteristics of the baseband signal 501, etc.). Therefore, after the electron beam passing through the modulation module 504 is modulated by the magnetic field, the electron beam has characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the magnetic field (i.e., the characteristics of the electron beam correspond to the characteristics of the filtered signal 508), for example, the place where the magnetic field is strong makes the electron move faster, and the place where the magnetic field is weak makes the electron move slower.

[0092] In a possible implementation, since the spiral waveguide slow wave structure can support a larger relative bandwidth (i.e., the ratio of the bandwidth of the baseband signal to the carrier), and is easy to process in the low frequency band, the slow wave structure in the modulation module 504 can be a spiral waveguide slow wave structure.

[0093] (c) The electron beam passing through the modulation module 504 passes through the modulation module 505, and the local oscillator signal 506 with a frequency of f2 is input into the modulation module 505. The modulation module 505 causes the signal 506 to pass through the slow wave structure and generate a magnetic field. This magnetic field modulates the speed of the electron beam passing through the modulation module 505.

[0094] It should be noted that the characteristics of this magnetic field correspond to the characteristics of signal 506. After the magnetic field modulates the speed of the electron beam through the modulation module 504, the characteristics of the electron beam are affected by the magnetic field. For example, a strong magnetic field causes the electrons to move faster, while a weak magnetic field causes the electrons to move slower. At this time, some of the electron beam's characteristics include those corresponding to the characteristics of the filtered signal 508, some of the electron beam's characteristics include those corresponding to the characteristics of signal 506, and some of the electron beam's characteristics include those corresponding to the characteristics of the mixed signal of the filtered signal 508 and signal 506. The mixed signal of the filtered signal 508 and signal 506 is a signal with a frequency of f1+f2 or f2-f1.

[0095] In one possible implementation, since the structure of the slow-wave structure in the modulation module 505 corresponds to the frequency f2, and since the frequency f2 is relatively high, the size of the slow-wave structure becomes very small. This slow-wave structure can be a folded waveguide (such as...). Figure 8 (as shown) or double-corrugated waveguide (such as) Figure 9 (As shown).

[0096] It should be noted that, since modulation modules 504 and 505 need to perform velocity modulation on the electron beam, the phase velocity v of the electromagnetic wave input to modulation modules 504 and 505 along the direction of electron beam motion is... p The velocity v of the electron beam is greater than or equal to that of the electron beam. b That is, modulation module 504 and modulation module 505 are designed to keep the speed of the input electron beam constant or increase the speed of the input electron beam.

[0097] Wherein, phase velocity v p Depending on the type of slow-wave structure, for example, for a helical waveguide slow-wave structure, the phase velocity v p =c·sinθ, c is the speed of light, L is the periodic spacing of the helixes, and r is the helix radius. The velocity of the electron beam. η is the mass-to-charge ratio, and V is the accelerating voltage of the electron beam.

[0098] In one possible implementation, since the size of the slow-wave structure of the modulation module 505 is smaller than that of the slow-wave structure of the modulation module 504, the electron beam passing through the modulation module 504 can be injected into the enhanced magnetic field confinement module to reduce the cross-sectional radius of the electron beam and allow it to enter the modulation module 505 more effectively.

[0099] (d) The electron beam after passing through the modulation module 505 passes through the energy release module 509. The energy release module 509 enables the electrons to move and form a cluster and generate energy. The energy is released and a signal 510 with a frequency of f1+f2 is generated, which realizes the modulation of the baseband signal 501 onto the carrier wave with a frequency of f1+f2.

[0100] It should be noted that, since the slow-wave structure included in the energy release module 509 corresponds to the frequency f1+f2, only a portion of the electron beam passing through the energy release module 509, containing features corresponding to the characteristics of the signal at frequency f1+f2, can generate a magnetic field in the slow-wave structure, thus generating a signal 510 at frequency f1+f2. Furthermore, this magnetic field enhances the movement of electrons in this portion of the electron beam, enabling them to cluster and release energy, thereby amplifying the signal 510 at frequency f1+f2. Therefore, the energy release module 509 simultaneously achieves the functions of generating a mixing signal and amplifying the signal.

[0101] In one possible implementation, since the structure of the slow wave structure in the energy release module 509 corresponds to the frequency f1+f2, and the frequency f1+f2 is relatively high, the size of the slow wave structure becomes very small. The slow wave structure can be a folded waveguide or a double corrugated waveguide.

[0102] It should be noted that the slow-wave structure in the energy release module 509 aims to cause electrons to cluster and release energy to generate a mixing signal. Therefore, the phase velocity v of the electromagnetic wave along the direction of electron beam motion... p The velocity v of the electron beam is less than b Phase velocity v p and velocity v b The calculation method is explained above and will not be repeated here.

[0103] (e) Signal 510 is transmitted through antenna 507 to input the electron beam through energy release module 509 into collector 512 for electron recovery.

[0104] In one possible implementation, modulation module 504, modulation module 505 and energy release module 509 are all in a vacuum environment, which is conducive to the movement of the electron beam.

[0105] In one possible implementation, combined with Figure 2 and Figure 3The transmitter system can be known that the signal 308 outputted by the mixer 302 can be inputted into the mixing device 305 through the filter 304 or inputted into the mixing device 305 through the filter 304 and the solid-state power amplifier 311 to achieve the function of filtering or power amplification of the intermediate frequency signal. Figure 6 The filter 514 and / or the solid-state power amplifier 515 can also be included in the transmitter 500 (including the transmitter 500(a) or the transmitter 500(b)) in (a) of Figure 7 and the transmitter 500(d) in (b) of Figure 7 , wherein, Figure 7 is another example of the transmitter structure diagram of the embodiment of the present application. For specific content, please refer to Figure 2 , Figure 3 and Figure 6 described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0106] It should be noted that the above process (a) to (e) are described as examples for the sake of clarity of the process, but there is no order limitation.

[0107] It should be noted that the modulation module 504, the modulation module 505 and the energy release module 509 can be included in the mixing device 205 in Figure 2 or the mixing device 305 in Figure 3 .

[0108] The above embodiment can generate a high frequency radio frequency signal without relying on a semiconductor mixer and a solid-state power amplifier working in a high frequency band (such as a sub-megahertz frequency band) or a super high frequency band, and can amplify the radio frequency signal by using a slow wave structure, that is, simultaneously realize the functions of generation and amplification of the high frequency radio frequency signal. In addition, since the slow wave structure has a large loss to signals outside the working frequency, the effect of filtering the radio frequency signal can be obtained without the need of a radio frequency filter.

[0109] The present application also considers a transmitter structure 600 for generating a high frequency mixing signal when the frequency f1 and the frequency f2 are close and both are high, as shown in Figure 10 , Figure 10 is an example of the transmitter structure diagram of the embodiment of the present application. The transmitter structure in Figure 10 will be described below.

[0110] In Figure 10The transmitter 600(a) shown in (a) in the figure is taken as an example for illustration. The transmitter 600 mainly comprises a mixer 602, a modulation module 604, a modulation module 605, an antenna 607, an energy release module 609, an electron gun 611, and a collecting electrode 612. The modulation module 604, the modulation module 605, and the energy release module 609 comprise a slow wave structure. The electron gun 611 is configured to generate an electron beam; the mixer 602 is configured to mix a baseband signal 601 and a local oscillator signal 603 with a frequency of f1 to generate a signal 608 (wherein the center frequency of the signal 608 is f1), i.e., to modulate the baseband signal 601 onto a carrier with a frequency of f1; the modulation module 604 is configured to perform velocity modulation on the input electron beam by using the signal 608; the modulation module 605 is configured to perform velocity modulation on the input electron beam by using a local oscillator signal 606 with a frequency of f2; the energy release module 609 is configured to enable the velocity-modulated electron beam to form a cluster to generate energy, and release the energy to generate a signal 610 with a frequency of f1+f2; the antenna 607 is configured to transmit the signal 610; and the collecting electrode 612 is configured to recycle the energy of the electron passing through the energy release module 609.

[0111] In a possible implementation, the mixer 602 can comprise a diode, a triode, a field effect transistor, or the like made of a semiconductor material.

[0112] In a possible implementation, the modulation module 604 comprises a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure corresponding to the frequency f1.

[0113] In a possible implementation, the modulation module 605 comprises a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure corresponding to the frequency f2.

[0114] In a possible implementation, the energy release module 609 comprises a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure corresponding to the frequency f1+f2.

[0115] The working process of the transmitter 600 and the like are described below.

[0116] The bandwidth of the baseband signal 601 is taken as 20 GHz, and f1

[0117] (a) The baseband signal 601 is input into the mixer 602, and the local oscillator signal 603 with frequency f1 is input into the mixer 602. The mixer 602 modulates the baseband signal 601 onto the carrier wave with frequency f1 to generate a signal 608 with center frequency f1. The electron gun 611 emits an electron beam and injects the electron beam into the modulation module 604.

[0118] In one possible implementation, the electron beam is injected into the modulation module 604 through a vacuum environment.

[0119] (b) The signal 608 is input into the modulation module 604, which causes the signal 608 to pass through a slow wave structure to generate a magnetic field, which modulates the speed of the electron beam passing through the modulation module 604.

[0120] It should be noted that since the slow-wave structure in the modulation module 604 corresponds to the frequency f1, it naturally filters the signal 608, making the portion of the signal 608 with frequency f1 (which can be called the filtered signal 608) that passes through the slow-wave structure. Therefore, the magnetic field generated by the filtered signal 608 has characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the signal, or the magnetic field corresponds to the portion of the signal 608 with frequency f1. For example, the strength of the magnetic field corresponds to the strength of the filtered signal 608 (the strength of the magnetic field can correspond to the frequency characteristics of the signal 608, the data characteristics of the baseband signal 601, etc.). Therefore, after the magnetic field modulates the speed of the electron beam passing through the modulation module 604, the characteristics of the electron beam correspond to the characteristics of the magnetic field (i.e., the characteristics of the electron beam correspond to the characteristics of the filtered signal 608). For example, a strong magnetic field causes the electrons to move faster, and a weak magnetic field causes the electrons to move slower.

[0121] In one possible implementation, since the frequency f1 is relatively high and the size of the slow-wave structure is small, the slow-wave structure in the modulation module 604 can be a folded waveguide (such as...). Figure 8 (as shown) or double-corrugated waveguide (such as) Figure 9 (As shown).

[0122] (c) The electron beam passing through the modulation module 604 passes through the modulation module 605, and the local oscillator signal 606 with a frequency of f2 is input into the modulation module 605. The modulation module 605 causes the signal 606 to pass through the slow wave structure and generate a magnetic field. This magnetic field modulates the speed of the electron beam passing through the modulation module 605.

[0123] It should be noted that the characteristics of this magnetic field correspond to the characteristics of signal 606. After the magnetic field modulates the speed of the electron beam through the modulation module 604, the characteristics of the electron beam are affected by the magnetic field. For example, a strong magnetic field causes the electrons to move faster, while a weak magnetic field causes the electrons to move slower. At this time, some of the electron beam's characteristics include those corresponding to the characteristics of the filtered signal 608, some of the electron beam's characteristics include those corresponding to the characteristics of signal 606, and some of the electron beam's characteristics include those corresponding to the characteristics of the mixed signal of the filtered signal 608 and signal 606. The mixed signal of the filtered signal 608 and signal 606 is a signal with a frequency of f1+f2 or f2-f1.

[0124] In one possible implementation, since the structure of the slow-wave structure in the modulation module 605 corresponds to the frequency f2, and since the frequency f2 is relatively high, the size of the slow-wave structure is relatively small. This slow-wave structure can be a folded waveguide (such as...). Figure 8 (as shown) or double-corrugated waveguide (such as) Figure 9 (As shown).

[0125] It should be noted that, since modulation modules 604 and 605 need to perform velocity modulation on the electron beam, the phase velocity v of the electromagnetic wave input to modulation modules 604 and 605 along the direction of electron beam motion is... p The velocity v of the electron beam is greater than or equal to that of the electron beam. b Among them, the phase velocity v p and the velocity v of the electron beam b The calculation method can be found in the explanation in transmitter 500, and will not be repeated here.

[0126] (d) The electron beam after passing through the modulation module 605 passes through the energy release module 609. The energy release module 609 enables the electrons to move and form a cluster and generate energy. The energy is released and a signal 610 with a frequency of f1+f2 is generated, which realizes the modulation of the baseband signal 601 onto the carrier wave with a frequency of f1+f2.

[0127] It should be noted that, since the slow-wave structure included in the energy release module 609 corresponds to the frequency f1+f2, only a portion of the electron beam passing through the energy release module 609, containing features corresponding to the characteristics of the signal at frequency f1+f2, can generate a magnetic field in the slow-wave structure, thus generating a signal 610 at frequency f1+f2. Furthermore, this magnetic field enhances the movement of electrons in this portion of the electron beam, enabling them to cluster and release energy, thereby amplifying the signal 610 at frequency f1+f2. Therefore, the energy release module 609 simultaneously achieves the functions of generating a mixing signal and amplifying the signal.

[0128] In a possible implementation, the slow wave structure in the energy release module 609 has a structure corresponding to the frequency f1+f2, and the frequency f1+f2 is high, so the size of the slow wave structure is small. The slow wave structure can be a folded waveguide (as shown in Figure 8 ) or a double corrugated waveguide (as shown in Figure 9 ).

[0129] It should be noted that the slow wave structure in the energy release module 609 is to make the electrons form a group and release energy to generate a mixed signal as much as possible. Therefore, the phase velocity v p of the electromagnetic wave along the direction of the electron beam is less than the movement speed v b of the electron beam. The calculation method of the phase velocity v p and the movement speed v b is described above and will not be repeated here.

[0130] (e) The signal 610 is transmitted by the antenna 607, and the electron beam passing through the energy release module 609 is input into the collector 612 to recover the electrons.

[0131] In a possible implementation, the modulation module 604, the modulation module 605, and the energy release module 609 are all in a vacuum environment, which is conducive to the movement of the electron beam.

[0132] In a possible implementation, in combination with the transmitter system of Figure 2 and Figure 3 , the signal 308 output by the mixer 302 can be input into the mixing device 305 through the filter 304 or input into the mixing device 305 through the filter 304 and the solid-state power amplifier 311, so as to achieve the filtering or power amplification of the intermediate frequency signal. The transmitter 600 in Figure 10 may also include the filter 514 and / or the solid-state power amplifier 515. For details, refer to Figure 7 , which will not be repeated here.

[0133] It should be noted that the modulation module 604, the modulation module 605, and the energy release module 609 can be included in the mixing device 205 in Figure 2 or the mixing device 305 in Figure 3 .

[0134] In a possible implementation, the local oscillator signal 603 with the frequency f1 is input into the modulation module 604 as an input signal, the baseband signal 601 is modulated to a carrier with the frequency f2 by the mixer 602, to generate a signal 608 with the center frequency f2, and the signal 608 is input into the modulation module 605 as an input signal, for example Figure 10The transmitter 600(b) shown in (b) of FIG. 6 is specific to the transmitter 600(a), and thus details are not repeated here.

[0135] The above embodiment can generate a high-frequency radio frequency signal without relying on a semiconductor mixer and a solid-state power amplifier working at a high frequency band (e.g., a sub-megahertz frequency band) or an ultrahigh frequency band, and can amplify the radio frequency signal by using a slow wave structure, that is, simultaneously realize the functions of generation and amplification of the high-frequency radio frequency signal. In addition, since the slow wave structure has a large loss to signals outside the working frequency, the effect of filtering the radio frequency signal can be obtained without the need for a radio frequency filter.

[0136] It should be noted that the above process (a)-(e) are used for illustration only, and there is no order limitation.

[0137] The mixing method provided in the present application will be described in detail below, for example, Figure 11 as shown in the method 700 in (b) of FIG. 6, Figure 11 which is an example of a mixing method according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0138] S710, a first signal is obtained, a frequency of the first signal being a first frequency, and the first signal being used to carry first data.

[0139] S720, a first electron beam is velocity-modulated according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam, the second electron beam including a first component, a feature of the first component corresponding to a feature of the first signal.

[0140] S730, the second electron beam is velocity-modulated according to a second signal to obtain a third electron beam, a frequency of the second signal being a second frequency, and the third electron beam including a second component, the second component being obtained by modulating the first component by the second signal.

[0141] S740, the third electron beam is processed to obtain a third signal corresponding to the second component, a frequency of the third signal being a sum of the first frequency and the second frequency, and the third signal carrying the first data.

[0142] In a possible design, the third signal is amplified while the third electron beam is processed to obtain the third signal corresponding to the second component.

[0143] In the above manner, the velocity modulation of the first electron beam by the first signal can be understood as follows: since the first signal is an electromagnetic wave, the magnetic field generated by the electromagnetic wave acts on the first electron beam, and the electrons in the first electron beam can move according to the action of the magnetic field, so the electrons in the first electron beam can be called the second electron beam after velocity modulation. The movement speed of the electrons in the second electron beam corresponds to the characteristics of the magnetic field (for example, the place with strong magnetic field makes the electrons move faster, and the place with weak magnetic field makes the electrons move slower), and since the characteristics of the magnetic field correspond to the characteristics of the first signal (for example, the frequency characteristics, the characteristics of the first data), the second electron beam has characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the first signal (for example, the frequency characteristics, the characteristics of the first data). Similarly, under the action of the second signal, the second electron beam is velocity-modulated to obtain the third electron beam, at this time, the third electron beam has a part of electrons only affected by the first signal (this part of electrons is called the first component), a part of electrons only affected by the second signal (this part of electrons is called the third component), and a part of electrons affected by the first signal and then affected by the second signal (this part of electrons is called the second component, and the characteristics of the second component correspond to the characteristics of the signal generated by mixing the first signal and the second signal). Therefore, the third electron beam includes the second component, and optionally, the first component and the third component. The electromagnetic wave formed by the magnetic field generated by the movement of the electrons in the second component includes the fourth signal and the third signal described above, the frequency of the third signal is the sum of the first frequency and the second frequency, the data carried by the third signal is the first data described above, the frequency of the fourth signal is the difference between the first frequency and the second frequency, and the data carried by the fourth signal is the first data described above. Therefore, processing the third electron beam can obtain the third signal. In the above manner, the baseband signal or the low-frequency signal can be modulated into a high-frequency signal, and the mixing of signals is realized through the interaction between the electron beam and the signal, thereby overcoming the efficiency and power problems in generating a high-frequency mixed signal in the prior art. Moreover, the embodiments of the present application can also realize the functions of generating a high-frequency signal and amplifying a high-frequency signal.

[0144] In a possible design, the velocity modulation of the first electron beam according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam includes: velocity modulation of the first electron beam passing through a first modulation module according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam, the first modulation module corresponds to the first frequency, and the first modulation module is a spiral waveguide slow wave structure.

[0145] For example, the first frequency is a frequency in a low-frequency band or a medium-frequency band.

[0146] In the above manner, since the structure of the first modulation module corresponds to the first frequency, the first signal can propagate in the first modulation module and generate a magnetic field to modulate the velocity of the first electron beam. When the first frequency is a low frequency or a medium frequency, and the baseband signal has a large bandwidth, the relative bandwidth is large, and the first modulation module with a spiral waveguide slow wave structure can support a large relative bandwidth and is easy to process at a low frequency.

[0147] It should be noted that the waveguide structure of the first modulation module in the above manner is designed to keep the velocity of the input electron beam (i.e., the first electron beam) unchanged or to speed up the input electron beam, i.e., only to modulate the velocity of the electron beam and not to release energy.

[0148] In a possible design, the velocity of the first electron beam is modulated according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam, including modulating the velocity of the first electron beam passing through a second modulation module according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam, the second modulation module corresponding to the first frequency, and the second modulation module being a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridge waveguide slow wave structure.

[0149] For example, the first frequency is a medium frequency or a high frequency.

[0150] In the above manner, since the structure of the second modulation module corresponds to the first frequency, the first signal can propagate in the second modulation module and generate a magnetic field to modulate the velocity of the first electron beam. When the first frequency is a medium frequency or a high frequency, the size of the second modulation module is small, so a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridge waveguide slow wave structure that is easy to process is used.

[0151] It should be noted that the waveguide structure of the second modulation module in the above manner is designed to keep the velocity of the input electron beam (i.e., the first electron beam) unchanged or to speed up the input electron beam, i.e., only to modulate the velocity of the electron beam and not to release energy.

[0152] In a possible design, the velocity of the second electron beam is modulated according to the second signal to obtain a third electron beam, including modulating the velocity of the second electron beam passing through a third modulation module according to the second signal to obtain the third electron beam, the third modulation module corresponding to the second frequency, and the third modulation module being a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double-ridge waveguide slow wave structure.

[0153] For example, the second frequency is a medium frequency or a high frequency.

[0154] In the above manner, since the structure of the third modulation module corresponds to the second frequency, the second signal can propagate in the third modulation module and generate a magnetic field to modulate the velocity of the second electron beam. When the second frequency is a medium frequency or a high frequency, the size of the third modulation module is small, so the folded waveguide slow wave structure or the double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure is easy to process.

[0155] It should be noted that the waveguide structure of the third modulation module in the above manner is designed to keep the velocity of the input electron beam (i.e. the second electron beam) unchanged or increase the velocity of the input electron beam, that is, only the velocity of the electron beam is modulated, and no energy is released.

[0156] In a possible design, the velocity of the second electron beam is modulated according to the second signal to obtain a third electron beam, including: performing a first processing on the second electron beam to match the cross-sectional radius of the second electron beam with the third modulation module, and modulating the second electron beam after the first processing according to the second signal through the third modulation module to obtain the third electron beam.

[0157] In the above manner, if the frequency difference between the first frequency and the second frequency is large, the cross-sectional radius difference between the first modulation module and the third modulation module will be large, which will affect the movement of the electron beam from the first modulation module to the third modulation module. Therefore, the second electron beam is processed to match the cross-sectional radius of the second electron beam with the third modulation module, so that the third electron beam obtains a better modulation effect.

[0158] In a possible design, the third electron beam is processed to obtain the third signal, including: processing the third electron beam by using a first energy release module to obtain the third signal, the first energy release module corresponding to the frequency of the third signal, and the first energy release module being a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure.

[0159] Exemplarily, the third frequency is a high frequency.

[0160] In the above manner, since the structure of the first energy release module corresponds to the frequency of the third signal, only the third signal can propagate in the first energy release module, i.e., the third component included in the third electron beam can generate a signal on the first energy release module, and signals of other frequencies generated by other components included in the third electron beam are attenuated by the first energy release module, thus, the first energy release module naturally has a filtering function. The magnetic field generated when the signal generated by the third component included in the third electron beam propagates in the first energy release module can strengthen the motion characteristics of the electrons of the third component (e.g., the faster the electron motion speed, the faster the motion speed, and the slower the electron motion speed, the slower the motion speed), so that the signal strength generated by the third component with strengthened motion characteristics is strengthened, thus, the first energy release module also amplifies the signal generated by the third component. That is, the first energy release module has a filtering and amplifying function.

[0161] In the above manner, when the third frequency is a frequency in a high frequency band, the size of the first energy release module is small, so a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure which is easy to process is adopted.

[0162] In a possible design, the third electron beam further includes the first component and a third component, and the third component has a feature corresponding to a feature of the second signal.

[0163] In the above manner, when the third electron beam includes the first component and the third component, the first energy release module also has a filtering function, and can avoid generation of signals corresponding to the first component and the third component, and only generate the third signal.

[0164] It should be noted that the embodiments in the specification are described in a progressive manner, and the same parts between the embodiments can be referred to each other, and each embodiment mainly describes the differences from other embodiments. Especially, for the system or system embodiments, since they are basically similar to the method embodiments, the description is relatively simple, and the related parts can be referred to the part of the method embodiments. The system and system embodiments described above are only illustrative, and the units described as separate components can be or can not be physically separated, and the components displayed as units can be or can not be physical units, i.e., they can be located in one place, or can be distributed on multiple network units. According to actual needs, part or all of the modules can be selected to achieve the purpose of the embodiment. Those skilled in the art can understand and implement without creative labor.

[0165] It should also be noted that, in the specification, relational terms such as first and second, and the like can be used solely to distinguish one from another entity or action without necessarily requiring or implying any actual such relationship or order between such entities or actions. Moreover, the terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but can include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. An element proceeded by "comprises... a" does not, without more constraints, exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises the element.

[0166] In several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, device and method can be implemented in other manners. For example, the described device embodiments are merely schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There can be another division manner for the actual implementation. For example, a plurality of units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections can be indirect couplings or communication connections through some interface, device or unit, and can be in electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0167] The units described as separate components can or can not be physically separate, and the components displayed as units can or can not be physical units, i.e., can be located in one place, or can be distributed on a plurality of network units. Some or all of the units can be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purposes of the embodiments.

[0168] In addition, each functional unit in the embodiments of the present application can be integrated into one unit, or each unit can be a physical unit, or two or more units can be integrated into one unit.

[0169] As used in this description, the terms "component," "module," "system", and the like are intended to refer to a computer-related entity, either hardware, firmware, a combination of hardware and software, software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, but is not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and / or a computer. By way of illustration, both an application running on a computing device and the computing device can be a component. One or more components can reside within a process and / or thread of execution and a component can be localized, partially localized, and / or distributed across two or more computers. Also, these components can execute from various computer readable media having various data structures stored thereon. The components can communicate by way of local and / or remote processes such as in accordance with a signal having one or more data packets (e.g., data from one component interacting with another component in a local system, distributed system, and / or across a network such as the Internet with other systems via the signal).

[0170] Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein can be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality, without referring to a specific sequence of operations for

[0171] If the functions are implemented in the form of software function units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solutions of the present application or the part of the technical solutions that essentially contribute to the prior art or the part of the technical solutions can be embodied in the form of a software product. The computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes a plurality of instructions for causing a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of the present application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: a U disk, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a magnetic disk or an optical disk, and various program code storage media.

[0172] The above merely provides the specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited to this. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of the changes or replacements within the technical range disclosed by the present application, which should be covered in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A mixing method, characterized in that, include: Acquire a first signal, the frequency of which is a first frequency, and the first signal is used to carry first data; The first electron beam is velocity-modulated according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam, the second electron beam including a first component, the characteristics of the first component corresponding to the characteristics of the first signal; The second electron beam is velocity-modulated according to the second signal to obtain the third electron beam, wherein the frequency of the second signal is the second frequency, and the third electron beam includes a second component, which is obtained by modulating the first component with the second signal. The third electron beam is processed to obtain a third signal corresponding to the second component, the frequency of the third signal being the sum of the first frequency and the second frequency, and the third signal carrying the first data.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of velocity modulation of the first electron beam according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam includes: The first electron beam is velocity-modulated by the first signal through the first modulation module to obtain the second electron beam. The first modulation module corresponds to the first frequency and is a helical waveguide slow wave structure.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of velocity modulation of the first electron beam according to the first signal to obtain the second electron beam includes: The first electron beam is velocity-modulated by the first signal through the second modulation module to obtain the second electron beam. The second modulation module corresponds to the first frequency and is a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure.

4. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The step of velocity modulation of the second electron beam according to the second signal to obtain the third electron beam includes: The second electron beam is velocity-modulated by the second signal through the third modulation module to obtain the third electron beam. The third modulation module corresponds to the second frequency and is a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of velocity modulation of the second electron beam according to the second signal to obtain the third electron beam includes: The second electron beam undergoes a first processing step to match its cross-sectional radius with that of the third modulation module. The third modulation module modulates the speed of the second electron beam after the first processing according to the second signal to obtain the third electron beam.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The process of processing the third electron beam to obtain the third signal includes: The third electron beam is processed using a first energy release module to obtain the third signal. The first energy release module corresponds to the frequency of the third signal. The first energy release module is a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure.

7. The method according to any one of claims 1-3, characterized in that, The third electron beam also includes the first component and the third component, and the characteristics of the third component correspond to the characteristics of the second signal.

8. A mixer, characterized in that, include: A first modulation module is configured to acquire a first signal and perform velocity modulation on a first electron beam according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam. The frequency of the first signal is a first frequency, and the first signal is used to carry first data. The second electron beam includes a first component, and the characteristics of the first component correspond to the characteristics of the first signal. The second modulation module is used to perform velocity modulation on the second electron beam according to the second signal to obtain the third electron beam. The frequency of the second signal is a second frequency. The third electron beam includes a second component, which is obtained by modulating the first component with the second signal. A first energy release module is used to process the third electron beam to obtain a third signal corresponding to the second component. The frequency of the third signal is the sum of the first frequency and the second frequency, and the third signal carries the first data.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first modulation module includes a first slow wave structure. The first slow wave structure is used by the first modulation module to perform velocity modulation on the first electron beam passing through the first slow wave structure according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam. The first slow wave structure corresponds to the first frequency and is a helical waveguide slow wave structure.

10. The apparatus according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first modulation module includes a second slow-wave structure. The second slow-wave structure is used by the first modulation module to perform velocity modulation on the first electron beam passing through the second slow-wave structure according to the first signal to obtain a second electron beam. The second slow-wave structure corresponds to the first frequency. The second slow-wave structure is a folded waveguide slow-wave structure or a double-corrugated waveguide slow-wave structure.

11. The apparatus according to any one of claims 8-10, characterized in that, The second modulation module includes a third slow wave structure. The third slow wave structure is used by the second modulation module to perform velocity modulation on the second electron beam passing through the third slow wave structure according to the second signal to obtain a third electron beam. The third slow wave structure corresponds to the second frequency. The third slow wave structure is a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure.

12. The apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that, The device includes: The third modulation module is used to perform a first processing on the second electron beam so that the cross-sectional radius of the second electron beam matches the third slow wave structure. The third slow wave structure is used by the second modulation module to perform velocity modulation on the second electron beam after the first processing to obtain the third electron beam.

13. The apparatus according to any one of claims 8-10, characterized in that, The first energy release module includes a fourth slow wave structure, which is used for the passage of the third electron beam and for the first energy release module to process the third electron beam to obtain the third signal. The fourth slow wave structure corresponds to the frequency of the third signal. The fourth slow wave structure is a folded waveguide slow wave structure or a double corrugated waveguide slow wave structure.

14. The apparatus according to any one of claims 8-10, characterized in that, The third electron beam also includes the first component and the third component, and the characteristics of the third component correspond to the characteristics of the second signal.

15. A mixing system, characterized in that, include: An electron gun, a collector, and a mixer according to any one of claims 8 to 14, wherein the electron gun is used to generate an electron beam to be input into the mixer according to any one of claims 8 to 14, and the collector is used to recover the electron beam.

16. A transmitter system, characterized in that, The system includes a mixing system, an intermediate frequency mixer, an intermediate frequency filter, and a transmitting device as described in claim 15, wherein the intermediate frequency mixer and the intermediate frequency filter are used to generate the first signal, and the transmitting device is used to transmit the third signal.

Images