A base station antenna and a base station device

Abstract

The present application discloses a base station antenna and base station equipment, and the base station antenna includes: a signal processing unit, a signal feeding unit and an antenna array; the signal processing unit has a first channel with a remote radio frequency unit, and is used to receive a first control message from the remote radio frequency unit through the first channel; the first control message is used to indicate the timing information of the first signal and the beam state corresponding to the timing information; according to the first control message, a control instruction of the first signal is sent to the signal feeding unit; the control instruction is used to instruct the signal feeding unit to perform a phase-shifted feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state; the signal feeding unit is used to perform phase-shifted feeding processing on the first signal from the signal processing unit based on the phase-shifted feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state according to the control instruction, and send it to the antenna array; the antenna array is used to transmit the first signal after phase-shifted feeding.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communication technology, and in particular to a base station antenna and base station equipment. Background Art

[0002] Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) technology is the core technology of the long term evolution system and the new wireless (NR) system. In the MIMO system, multiple antennas are used between the transmitting end and the receiving end of the base station equipment. The transmitting end and the receiving end can form corresponding channels between each antenna, and these channels corresponding to each antenna do not affect or interfere with each other. Signals can be transmitted between the transmitting end and the receiving end through these channels to achieve spatial diversity and multiplexing of the channels. By using the above-mentioned base station antenna to transmit signals, it not only helps to improve the transmission rate of the signal and the amount of data transmitted at one time, but also improves the quality and accuracy of signal transmission through non-interfering channel transmission.

[0003] To achieve different beam directions and beam coverage using multiple antennas, the remote radio unit (RRU) can send control commands to the antenna. These control commands can be used to change the phase of the collinear array antenna element, or change the amplitude of the vertical and horizontal components of the collinear array antenna element, or change the field strength of the composite component of the collinear array antenna element. After receiving the control command, the antenna adjusts the phase shifter by adjusting the motor drive voltage, thereby adjusting the phase and other parameters of the antenna element and adjusting the antenna beam direction.

[0004] However, in the existing technology, there may be a large delay from the RRU sending the antenna control command to the antenna adjusting the beam direction, resulting in the base station being unable to send or receive a specific beam direction at the required time, making it difficult to improve the antenna's transmission performance. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present application provides a base station antenna and base station equipment for dynamically adjusting the base station antenna as needed so that the antenna sends or receives a specific beam direction, thereby improving the performance of the base station antenna.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a base station antenna, comprising a signal processing unit, a signal feeding unit, and an antenna array;

[0007] The signal processing unit has a first channel with the remote radio frequency unit, and is configured to receive a first control message from the remote radio frequency unit through the first channel; the first control message is used to indicate timing information of the first signal and a beam state corresponding to the timing information; the first signal is a transmit signal or a receive signal; according to the first control message, a control instruction of the first signal is sent to the signal feeding unit; the control instruction is used to instruct the signal feeding unit to perform a phase shift feeding state based on the timing information corresponding to the beam state;

[0008] The signal feeding unit is configured to perform phase-shift feeding processing on the first signal from the signal processing unit based on the phase-shift feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state according to the control instruction, and send the first signal to the antenna array; or, perform phase-shift feeding processing on the first signal from the antenna array based on the phase-shift feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state according to the control instruction, and send the first signal to the signal processing unit;

[0009] The antenna array is used to transmit the first signal after phase-shift feeding, or receive the first signal and send it to the signal feeding unit.

[0010] Taking the first signal as a transmitting signal as an example, through the above design, the signal processing unit can determine the timing information of the first signal and the beam state corresponding to the timing information based on the first control message, so that the signal processing unit sends a control instruction for the first signal to the signal feeding unit based on the timing information corresponding to the first signal; so that the signal feeding unit adjusts the phase-shifted feeding state of the signal feeding unit according to the control instruction, so that the phase-shifted feeding state can be adjusted to the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal, thereby enabling the antenna array to transmit the first signal with the corresponding beam state. Correspondingly, taking the first signal as a receiving signal as an example, through the above design, the signal processing unit can determine the timing information of the first signal and the beam state corresponding to the timing information based on the first control message, so that the signal processing unit sends a control instruction for the first signal to the signal feeding unit based on the timing information corresponding to the first signal. When the antenna array receives a first signal, the antenna array can transmit the first signal to the signal feed unit. At this point, the signal feed unit can adjust its phase-shifted feeding state based on the received control instruction, so that the phase-shifted feeding state corresponds to the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal. Since the signal feed unit is adjusted to the corresponding phase-shifted feeding state based on the timing of the first signal, the first signal can be received normally, and the received first signal can be transmitted to the signal processing unit, which then transmits it to the remote radio frequency unit to complete the correct reception of the first signal.

[0011] In an optional design, a second channel is further included between the signal processing unit and the remote radio frequency unit; the signal processing unit is further used to: before receiving the first control message sent from the remote radio frequency unit through the first channel, receive a second control message sent from the remote radio frequency unit through the second channel; the second control message is used to indicate the phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit; the phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit has a corresponding relationship with the beam state; when the signal processing unit sends the control instruction of the first signal to the signal feeding unit according to the first control message, it is specifically used to: determine the control instruction of the first signal according to the first control message and the second control message and send it to the signal feeding unit.

[0012] In the above design, the remote radio frequency unit can send the correspondence between the phase-shifted feeding state and the beam state of the signal feeding unit to the signal processing unit in advance through the second channel. As a result, the signal processing unit does not need to determine the correspondence between the phase-shifted feeding state and the beam state of the signal feeding unit, thereby reducing the amount of calculation required by the signal processing unit, improving the efficiency of the signal processing unit in processing signals, improving the performance of the base station antenna, and reducing the delay of the base station antenna.

[0013] In an optional design, the first control message may include beam state indication information; the beam state indication information is used to indicate the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal.

[0014] In the above design, the remote radio frequency unit and the base station antenna can pre-set the size of the time unit for the timing information corresponding to the beam state in the first signal. For example, the minimum time unit corresponding to each beam state can be pre-set to be one subframe. In this case, the beam state indication information can include the beam state corresponding to each subframe. In this scenario, after receiving the beam state indication information, the base station antenna can determine that the beam state indicated in the beam state indication information corresponds to the beam state corresponding to each subframe based on the pre-set minimum time unit corresponding to each beam state being one subframe, and also determine the timing information corresponding to each beam state. For example, beam state 1 corresponds to the first and second subframes, beam state 2 corresponds to the second subframe, and so on. For another example, the remote radio frequency unit and the base station antenna can pre-set that the beam state indication information is used to indicate the initial timing position of each beam state. For example, the beam state indication information includes the subframe number of the first consecutive occurrence of beam state 1, the subframe number of the first consecutive occurrence of beam state 2, and the last subframe number of the first signal. Thus, the signal processing unit can determine the subframe position corresponding to beam state 1 and the subframe position corresponding to beam state 2.

[0015] In an optional design, the first control message also includes synchronization indication information; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate timing information of the first signal.

[0016] In the above design, the remote radio frequency unit can dynamically adjust each beam state indicated by the beam state indication information, and indicate the timing information of the first signal through the synchronization indication information. The base station antenna can determine the timing information corresponding to each beam state in the first signal based on the beam state indication information and the synchronization indication information in the first control message, and adjust the base station antenna according to the timing information corresponding to each beam state to realize the transmission and reception of signals in a specific beam direction.

[0017] In an optional design, the synchronization indication information includes: a relative relationship between the timing information of the first signal and the timing information of the first control message.

[0018] In the above design, the remote radio frequency unit can dynamically adjust each beam state indicated by the beam state indication information. By synchronizing the indication information to indicate the relative relationship between the timing information of the first signal and the timing information of the first control message, it can avoid indicating the corresponding beam state of each time unit in the first signal and effectively reduce the overhead of the first control message.

[0019] In an optional design, the synchronization indication information further includes: the first signal is a transmission signal or a reception signal. Through the above design, the base station antenna can determine whether the first signal is a transmission signal or a reception signal based on the first control message received on the first channel.

[0020] In an optional design, a third channel is also included between the signal processing unit and the remote radio frequency unit; the signal processing unit is also used to receive synchronization indication information from the remote radio frequency unit through the third channel; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate timing information of the first signal.

[0021] With the above design, if the signal processing unit may be unable to promptly transmit the indication information in the first control message via the first channel, it can also transmit the synchronization indication information via a third channel. For example, the first channel is used to transmit the beam state indication information in the first control message, and the third channel is used to transmit the synchronization indication information in the first control message. For another example, the first control message can be divided into a first part and a second part based on the data volume of the first control message. The first part of the first control message is transmitted via the first channel, and the second part is transmitted via the third channel. This reduces the transmission delay of the first control message, prepares the base station antenna to adjust to the corresponding beam state at the timing corresponding to the first signal, and reduces the requirements on the base station antenna.

[0022] In an optional design, the communication rate of the first channel may be greater than the communication rate of the second channel.

[0023] In this way, the real-time performance of sending the first control message can be improved, and the sending delay of the first control message can be reduced.

[0024] In an optional design, the communication rate of the third channel may be greater than the communication rate of the second channel.

[0025] In this way, the real-time performance of sending the first control message can be improved, and the sending delay of the first control message can be reduced.

[0026] In one optional design, the signal feed unit includes a phase shifter, and the beam state indication information includes at least one of the following: the on / off state of the phase shifter, the connection state of the phase shifter, and beam direction information. This solution allows the content of the beam state indication information to be sent as needed, thereby increasing the flexibility of beam state indication.

[0027] In second aspect, the present application provides a remote radio frequency unit, comprising a processing module and a first port; the first port is used to connect a first channel between the remote radio frequency unit and the base station antenna; the processing module is used to generate a first control message; the first control message is used to indicate the timing information of the first signal, and the beam state corresponding to the timing information; the first signal is a sending signal or a receiving signal; the first port is used to send the first control message to the base station antenna through the first channel; the first control message is used to instruct the signal feeding unit in the base station antenna to adjust to the phase-shifted feeding state corresponding to the beam state of the first signal at the time corresponding to the timing information of the first signal.

[0028] Through the above design, the remote radio frequency unit can establish a first channel with the base station antenna via the first port, and the remote radio frequency unit can send a first control message to the base station antenna via the first channel. This causes the signal feed unit in the base station antenna to adjust to the phase-shifted feeding state corresponding to the beam state of the first signal at the time corresponding to the timing information of the first signal. Taking the first signal as a transmit signal as an example, after the signal processing unit receives the first control message via the first channel of the base station antenna, it can determine the timing information of the first signal and the beam state corresponding to the timing information based on the first control message. The signal processing unit then sends a control instruction for the first signal to the signal feed unit based on the timing information corresponding to the first signal. The signal feed unit adjusts the phase-shifted feeding state of the signal feed unit based on the control instruction so that the phase-shifted feeding state corresponds to the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal. In this way, the phase-shifted feeding state of the base station antenna can be adjusted at the time level corresponding to the beam state of the first signal, enabling the base station antenna to receive or transmit signals in a specific beam direction, thereby improving base station performance.

[0029] In an optional design, it also includes a second port; the second port is used to connect the second channel between the remote radio frequency unit and the base station antenna; the processing module is also used to generate a second control message before generating the first control message; the second control message is used to indicate the phase-shifted feeding state of the signal feeding unit; the phase-shifted feeding state of the signal feeding unit has a corresponding relationship with the beam state; the second port is used to send the second control message to the base station antenna through the second channel.

[0030] Through the above method, the remote radio frequency unit can send a second control message to the base station antenna based on the second channel, and send the correspondence between the phase-shift feeding state and the beam state of the signal feeding unit to the signal processing unit. This can eliminate the need for the signal processing unit to determine the correspondence between the phase-shift feeding state and the beam state of the signal feeding unit, thereby reducing the amount of calculation required by the signal processing unit and improving the efficiency of the signal processing unit in processing signals, thereby improving the performance of the base station antenna and reducing the delay of the base station antenna.

[0031] In an optional design, the first control message includes: beam state indication information; the beam state indication information is used to indicate the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal.

[0032] In the above design, the remote radio frequency unit can pre-set the size of the time unit of the timing information corresponding to the beam state in the first signal with the base station antenna. For example, the minimum time unit corresponding to each beam state is pre-set to 1 subframe. At this time, the beam state indication information can include the corresponding beam state on each subframe, so that the base station antenna can determine the timing position corresponding to each beam state on the first signal (for example, the subframe position, or the position of the corresponding time unit) through the beam state indication information.

[0033] In an optional design, the first control message also includes: synchronization indication information; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate timing information of the first signal.

[0034] In the above design, the remote radio frequency unit can dynamically adjust each beam state indicated by the beam state indication information, and indicate the timing information of the first signal through the synchronization indication information. The base station antenna can determine the timing information corresponding to each beam state in the first signal based on the beam state indication information and the synchronization indication information in the first control message, and adjust the base station antenna accordingly to realize the transmission and reception of signals in a specific beam direction.

[0035] In an optional design, the synchronization indication information includes: the relative relationship between the timing information of the first signal and the timing information of the first control message. With this design, the remote radio frequency unit can dynamically adjust each beam state indicated by the beam state indication information, and indicate the relative relationship between the timing information of the first signal and the timing information of the first control message through the synchronization indication information. Thus, it is possible to avoid indicating the beam state corresponding to each time unit in the first signal, effectively reducing the overhead of the first control message.

[0036] In an optional design, the synchronization indication information further includes: whether the first signal is a transmit signal or a receive signal. With this design, the remote radio frequency unit can also indicate whether the first signal is a transmit signal or a receive signal, so that the base station antenna adjusts the signal feed unit accordingly to transmit the first signal or receive the first signal at the corresponding time.

[0037] In an optional design, it also includes a third port; the third port is used to connect the third channel between the remote radio frequency unit and the base station antenna; the processing module is also used to generate synchronization indication information; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate the timing information of the first signal; the third port is used to send the synchronization indication information to the base station antenna through the third channel.

[0038] With the above design, when the processing module may be unable to timely transmit the indication information in the first control message via the first channel, it can transmit it via the third port of the third channel. For example, the first channel is used to transmit the beam state indication information in the first control message, and the third channel is used to transmit the synchronization indication information in the first control message. For another example, the processing module can also divide the first control message into a first part and a second part based on the data volume of the first control message, transmitting the first part of the first control message via the first channel and transmitting the second part of the first control message via the third channel. This can reduce the transmission delay of the first control message, prepare the base station antenna to adjust to the corresponding beam state at the timing corresponding to the first signal, and reduce the requirements on the base station antenna.

[0039] In an optional design, the communication rate of the first channel is greater than the communication rate of the second channel. This can improve the real-time performance of sending the first control message and reduce the transmission delay of the first control message.

[0040] In an optional design, the communication rate of the third channel is greater than the communication rate of the second channel. This can improve the real-time performance of sending the first control message and reduce the transmission delay of the first control message.

[0041] In one optional design, the base station antenna includes a phase shifter, and the beam state indication information includes at least one of the following: a phase shifter switch status, a phase shifter connection status, and beam direction information. This design allows for the content of the beam state indication information to be sent as needed, thereby increasing the flexibility of beam state indication.

[0042] Illustratively, in the base station antenna described in the first aspect, at least one of the multiple radiating elements included in the antenna array is a dual-polarized radiating element. In the base station antenna described in the first aspect, the phase-shifted feed network may be a vertical feed network for adjusting the downtilt angle of the beam.

[0043] In a third aspect, embodiments of the present application further provide a base station device, comprising the base station antenna according to the first aspect and any possible design of the first aspect, and / or the remote radio frequency unit according to the second aspect and any possible design of the second aspect. Furthermore, the base station device may further include multiple transceivers, each of which is connected to a radio port of the base station device.

[0044] Illustratively, in the base station device shown in the third aspect above, the transceiver may be a remote radio unit (RRU). BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] Figure 1aA schematic diagram illustrating the internal structure of a base station antenna is shown as an example;

[0046] Figure 1b A schematic diagram of a system architecture applicable to the embodiments of the present application is exemplified;

[0047] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating the internal structure of a base station antenna is shown as an example;

[0048] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating the internal structure of another base station antenna is shown as an example;

[0049] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating the internal structure of another base station antenna is shown as an example;

[0050] Figure 5a A schematic diagram illustrating a connection method between a base station antenna and a transceiver provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplified;

[0051] Figure 5b The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a phase shifter switch provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] Figure 5c A schematic structural diagram of a phase shifter provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown;

[0053] Figure 5d A schematic structural diagram of a phase shifter provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplarily shown;

[0054] Figure 6a A schematic diagram exemplarily illustrates a flow chart of a method for controlling a base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 6b A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a first control message provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplified;

[0056] Figure 6c A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a first control message provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplified;

[0057] Figure 6d A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a first control message provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplified;

[0058] Figure 6e A schematic diagram illustrating the structure of a first control message provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplified;

[0059] Figure 7a The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0060] Figure 7bA schematic diagram exemplarily illustrates a flow chart of a method for controlling a base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0061] Figure 8a The following is a schematic diagram showing the structure of another base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0062] Figure 8b A flowchart of a method for controlling a base station antenna provided in an embodiment of the present application is exemplified. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0063] The embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0064] The embodiment of the present application provides a base station antenna, such as Figure 1a As shown, the system includes multiple antenna ports, a feed network, and multiple antenna arrays. The feed network includes multiple input ports, multiple output ports, and a switch (not shown). The multiple input ports are connected to the multiple antenna ports one by one, and each output port can be connected to an antenna array corresponding to the feed network. The switch of the feed network can be used to change the connection state between the output port and the input port of the feed network. When adjusting the switch of the feed network, that is, in different connection states of the feed network, the number of input ports connected to the multiple output ports in the feed network is different, and the transceiver channels formed by the connection between the input ports and the antenna ports can also be different, so as to achieve the selection of the antenna array when transmitting and receiving signals. In addition, the switch of the feed network can also include a switch of a phase shifter in the feed network to switch the phase of the antenna element of the corresponding base station antenna. The switching timing and switching state are determined by the control message sent by the transceiver, and the switch of the feed network is controlled according to the switching timing and switching state, so that the base station antenna can synchronously switch the phase and other states of the antenna element of the corresponding base station antenna when transmitting and receiving signals in the corresponding beam state, thereby achieving symbol-level switching of the beam direction of the base station antenna.

[0065] The following are explanations of the terms involved or may be involved in this application:

[0066] 1) Time domain resources, including time units. A time unit can be a slot, a mini-slot, a symbol, or other time domain granularity (such as a system frame or a subframe). A slot can include at least one symbol, for example, 14 symbols, or 12 symbols.

[0067] In 5G NR, a time slot can be composed of at least one of the following: a symbol used for downlink transmission, a flexible symbol, and a symbol used for uplink transmission. Such a time slot composition is called a different time slot format (SF), and there may be up to 256 time slot formats.

[0068] Timeslots can have different timeslot types, each containing a different number of symbols. For example, a mini slot contains less than 7 symbols, 2 symbols, 3 symbols, or 4 symbols, while a regular slot contains 7 symbols or 14 symbols. Due to the different subcarrier spacing, the length of each symbol can be different, and therefore the timeslot length can also be different.

[0069] 2) At least one refers to one, or more than one, including one, two, three and more; multiple refers to two, or more than two, including two, three, four and more; connected refers to coupling, including direct connection or indirect connection via other devices to achieve electrical connectivity.

[0070] The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, the application scenario of the base station antenna provided by the embodiment of the present invention is introduced, and then the specific structure of the base station antenna provided by the embodiment of the present invention is introduced.

[0071] The technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can be applied to long term evolution (LTE) systems, LTE frequency division duplex (FDD) systems, LTE time division duplex (TDD) systems, universal mobile telecommunication systems (UMTS), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) communication systems, and new radio (NR) communication systems. Of course, the technical solutions provided in the embodiments of the present application can also be applied to machine to machine (M2M) networks, Internet of Things (IoT) networks or other networks. In the embodiments of the present application, the above terms all refer to links established between devices of the same type, and their meanings are the same. The so-called devices of the same type can be links between terminals, links between base stations, links between relay nodes, etc., and the embodiments of the present application do not limit this.

[0072] Please refer to Figure 1b , is an application scenario applied by the embodiment of the present application, or a network architecture applied by the embodiment of the present application. Figure 1b As shown, the network architecture may include wireless access network equipment, such as but not limited to Figure 1bThe network architecture may also include other network devices, such as wireless relay devices and wireless backhaul devices. Figure 1b Not shown. The network device is an access device for the terminal to access the network through wireless communication, which can be a base station. Among them, the network device corresponds to different devices in different systems. For example, in the fourth-generation mobile communication technology (4th-generation, 4G) system, it can correspond to the evolutionary base station (evolutional Node B, eNB or e-NodeB) in LTE, and in the 5G NR system, it corresponds to the next generation node B (next generation node B, gNB). The wireless access network device can be located in a base station subsystem (BSS), a terrestrial radio access network (UMTS terrestrial radio access network, UTRAN) or an evolved terrestrial radio access network (evolved terrestrial radio access, E-UTRAN), and is used to provide cell coverage of wireless signals to achieve connection between the terminal device and the wireless network radio frequency end. Specifically, the base station 100 can be a base transceiver station (BTS) in a GSM or CDMA system, a node B (NB) in a WCDMA system, an eNB or eNodeB in an LTE system, or a wireless control module in a cloud radio access network (CRAN) scenario, or the base station 100 can also be a relay station, an access point, a vehicle-mounted device, a wearable device, a base station in a future 5G network, or a base station in a future evolved PLMN network, for example, a new wireless base station, which is not limited in the embodiments of the present application.

[0073] The embodiments of the present application can be applied to both uplink and downlink signal transmission. For downlink signal transmission, the transmitting device is a network device, and the corresponding receiving device is a terminal. For uplink signal transmission, the transmitting device is a terminal, and the corresponding receiving device is a network device. The embodiments of the present application do not limit the direction of signal transmission.

[0074] The following takes the network device as a base station as an example. Specifically, wireless access network devices may include but are not limited to: Figure 1bBase station 100 is shown. Base station 100 may include an antenna 110, a transceiver (TRX) 120, and a baseband processing unit 130. The base station antenna may utilize a new generation of beamforming antennas to form an antenna system, such as a hybrid beamforming (HBF) antenna system formed by utilizing various beamforming antennas. Transceiver 120 may be connected to an antenna port of base station antenna 110. Base station antenna 110 may receive transmit signals sent by transceiver 120 through its antenna port and radiate the signals through the radiating elements of base station antenna 110, or may transmit receive signals received by the radiating elements of base station antenna 110 to transceiver 120.

[0075] In an implementation, the transceiver 120 may be a remote radio unit (RRU), and the baseband processing unit 130 may be a baseband unit (BBU). In this case, the BBU may be used to process the baseband signal to be transmitted and transmit it to the RRU, or receive and process the received signal sent by the RRU (i.e., the baseband signal obtained by converting the received radio frequency signal received by the base station antenna 110 during the signal reception process and then processed by the RRU). The RRU may convert the baseband signal to be transmitted sent by the BBU into a transmit radio frequency signal (including performing necessary signal processing on the baseband signal to be transmitted, such as signal amplification), and then transmit the transmit radio frequency signal to the base station antenna 110 through the antenna port of the base station antenna 110, which radiates the transmit radio frequency signal. Alternatively, the RRU may also receive the receive radio frequency signal sent by the antenna port of the base station antenna 110, convert it into a receive baseband signal, and then transmit it to the BBU.

[0076] It should be understood that Figure 1b Only the connection relationship between one transceiver 120 and one antenna port of the base station antenna 110 is illustrated. In other optional implementations, the number of antenna ports in the base station antenna 110 may be at least two, and the number of transceivers 120 may also be at least two, wherein each antenna port may be connected to one transceiver 120, and multiple transceivers 120 may be connected to the same baseband processing unit 130.

[0077] The BBU can be connected to the RRU via a common public radio interface (CPRI) or enhanced CPRI (eCPRI), and the RRU can be connected to the base station antenna 110 via a feeder. The base station antenna 110 can be a passive antenna, separate from the RRU and connected via a cable. Alternatively, the base station antenna 110 can be an active antenna unit (AAU), where the antenna unit of the AAU and the RRU are integrated. The AAU implements some physical layer processing functions, RF processing, and related functions of the active antenna.

[0078] Figure 2 An internal structure diagram of a base station antenna is shown as an example. Figure 2 As shown, in this example, the base station antenna 110 may include an antenna array, a feed network, and an antenna port. The base station antenna may include a feed network and an antenna array. The antenna array may be composed of radiating elements arranged according to a certain geometric pattern, and is used to receive and / or radiate radio waves. Among them, the first end of the feed network is connected to the antenna port of the base station antenna, and the antenna port is used to connect to the port of the transceiver 120 to realize communication between the base station antenna and the transceiver 120. The second end of the feed network is connected to the antenna array. The remote RF module in this example may include an RF transmission port T X , RF receiving port R X , RF transmission port T X , RF receiving port R X Antenna port for connecting base station antennas.

[0079] During downlink transmission, the signal from the RF transmitting port T X The transmission signal can be transmitted to the feed network in sequence through the output end of the transceiver, the antenna port and the first end of the feed network, and then the feed network feeds the transmission signal and sends it to the antenna array for radiation. During uplink transmission, the antenna array receives the reception signal and sends it to the feed network through the second end of the feed network. The feed network then feeds the reception signal and sends it to the RF receiving port R through the first end of the feed network and the antenna port in sequence. X .

[0080] Specifically, the output end of the feeding network is connected to the antenna array, and is used to feed each radiating unit in the antenna array, so that the antenna array radiates multiple beams, where different beams can cover different ranges; the feeding network may include a phase shifter for changing the radiation direction of the antenna array radiation beam; the feeding network may include a vertical dimension feeding network and a horizontal dimension feeding network.

[0081] The vertical-dimensional feeding network can be used to adjust the beam width and vertical-dimensional beam pointing of the beam. In a specific implementation, the vertical-dimensional feeding network can be a phase-shifting network for adjusting the downtilt angle of the beam radiated by the radiating element, and the phase-shifting network can include at least one phase shifter. In an implementation, the multiple output ends of the vertical-dimensional feeding network can be respectively connected to each radiating element in a column of the antenna array, and the input end of the vertical-dimensional feeding network is connected to an output port. The input end of the feeding network is connected to the antenna port to form a transceiver channel, wherein each antenna port corresponds to a transceiver channel, and the antenna port can be connected to the transceiver 120.

[0082] The horizontal-dimensional feeding network can be used to perform horizontal-dimensional beamforming on the transmitted signal, and can be used to change the beam width, shape and beam pointing of the beam; in a specific implementation, the horizontal-dimensional feeding network can also be used to adjust the horizontal-dimensional azimuth angle of the beam radiated by the radiating unit; the horizontal-dimensional feeding network includes multiple input ports, multiple output ports and a switching switch; the switching switch is used to switch the connection state between the output port and the input port, each output port is connected to at least one input port in each connection state, and the number of input ports connected to the multiple output ports in any two connection states is different; the multiple input ports are respectively connected one by one to the multiple antenna ports, and the antenna port is used to send the transmit signal to the input port connected to the antenna port, and to receive the receive signal sent by the input port connected to the antenna port.

[0083] Using the above structure, the number of antenna ports connected to the antenna array in base station antenna 110 can be changed by changing the connection state between the output port and the input port in the horizontal feed network, thereby changing the number of transceiver channels actually available to base station antenna 110. Furthermore, each antenna port connected to the antenna array can be connected to transceiver 120. This allows the number of TRXs used in the base station equipment to be changed based on the required transceiver channel usage without having to replace the base station antenna, thereby achieving switching of antenna transceiver signals. The TRXs can be RRUs.

[0084] To electronically adjust the antenna, an electrical control circuit can be added between the transceiver and the base station antenna. This circuit allows the transceiver to send antenna adjustment commands to the antenna. Accordingly, components for electrical antenna control are added to the feed network.

[0085] The feed network may also include a control module, a driver module, and an execution module. The base transceiver station sends control commands to the antenna via a slow control channel. The control module parses the control commands to determine their content. Based on the content of the control commands and the driver module's status information, the control module determines control instructions for the driver module. These control instructions can be used to adjust the driver module's drive signal, causing the driver module to drive the transmission device, which in turn causes the physical position of the phase shifter in the execution module to change. The driver module controls the execution module to adjust the antenna's phase, ultimately achieving a phase difference between the RF signals in different elements of the antenna array. By changing the phase of the collinear array antenna elements, the amplitude of the vertical and horizontal components, and the field strength of the combined component, the vertical angle of the antenna is adjusted. Specifically, the control module sends corresponding control instructions to the driver module, instructing it to control the execution module to change the RF signal beam formed by the antenna to adjust the antenna beam direction.

[0086] In some embodiments, as Figure 3 As shown, the control module may include an MCU; the driving module may include: a motor, a transmission device, and a motor driving device for driving the phase shifter antenna array; and the execution module may include: a phase shifter, etc.

[0087] The base station transceiver sends control commands to the antenna through a slow control channel. The control module determines the content of the control command by parsing the control command. The control module determines the control instruction of the drive module based on the content of the control command and the status information of the drive module. The control instruction can be used to adjust the drive signal of the motor in the drive module so that the motor drive output drives the specified drive voltage to control the operation of the motor. After the motor runs, it drives the transmission device, causing the physical position of the phase shifter in the execution module to change. The drive motor controls the execution module to adjust the phase of the antenna, ultimately achieving the phase difference of the RF signal of the antenna array in different arrays.

[0088] Combine Figure 3 The slow control channel connects the transceiver and MCU via an RS485 interface, supporting the traditional RS485 signal multi-point bus method. Multiple transceivers and MCUs can be connected in star and daisy-chain configurations via the RS485 interface. This RS485 interface enables the transceiver to control base station antennas (remote electric tilt (RET) devices) without an MCU equipped with an electric tilt control unit, controlling the antenna's downtilt angle and improving downtilt control performance. The slow control channel has a data communication rate of 9.6 kbps.

[0089] Combine Figure 2 In other embodiments, Figure 4As shown, the slow control channel between the transceiver and the MCU can be connected via a bias tee (BiasT) and an OOK modem. The connection can be shared with the control command signal via a coaxial cable, DC power line, and RF signal line between the transceiver and the base station antenna. This connection method is suitable for communication between the transceiver and a base station antenna equipped with an RCU (for example, an antenna with an integrated bias tee). The data communication rate of the slow control channel is 9.6 kbps.

[0090] In the embodiment of the present application, the control commands sent by the slow control channel can meet the AISG protocol. Under this protocol, there is no mandatory timing constraint relationship between the time when the control commands sent by the transceiver are sent and the time when the antenna beam state of the base station antenna takes effect. Therefore, the base station antenna adjusts the beam direction according to the received control command, which is only applicable to the scenario where the same beam state is maintained for a long period of time. In the scenario where the beam direction changes over time, since the base station antenna cannot determine when to adjust the antenna state, it cannot adjust to the corresponding beam direction in time as needed. The adjustment of the base station antenna in the above scheme is difficult to apply to the scenario where the beam direction changes dynamically or the uplink and downlink transmission of the base station is dynamically switched. For example, the transmitting and receiving signals use the same feeding network, resulting in the transmitting and receiving signals can only be electrically adjusted through the same set of phase-shifted feeding parameters. This method couples the uplink and downlink transmissions together, making it impossible for the base station antenna to adjust to the different beams required for uplink and downlink transmissions in time, resulting in a slow transmission rate of the interface and reducing the network performance of the base station antenna.

[0091] Based on the above problems, Figure 5a As shown, a structural schematic diagram of a base station antenna and a transceiver provided in an embodiment of the present application, the feeding network of the base station antenna may include: a signal processing unit and a signal feeding unit; that is, the base station antenna may include a signal processing unit, a signal feeding unit and an antenna array; the signal feeding unit is used to phase-shift feed the transmission signal from the transceiver and send it to the antenna array; or, receive the reception signal from the antenna array and send it to the transceiver; the antenna array is used to radiate the transmission signal after phase-shift feeding, or, receive the reception signal and send it to the signal feeding unit.

[0092] The signal processing unit is connected to the transceiver; a first channel is included between the signal processing unit and the transceiver.

[0093] In one possible implementation, the first channel can be a channel connecting the transceiver and the signal processing unit via an RS485 interface. In another possible implementation, the first channel can be a channel connecting the transceiver and the signal processing unit via BiasT and OOK modem. To synchronously transmit control information related to the beam state, the communication rate of the first channel can be set to be greater than the default communication rate of the AISG protocol (the communication rate of the slow control channel).

[0094] The signal processing unit is used to receive a first control message from the transceiver through the first channel; the first control message is used to indicate the timing information of the first signal and the beam state information corresponding to the timing information; the first signal is the transmitting signal or the receiving signal; the signal processing unit can convert the received first control message into a control instruction that can be parsed and executed by the driving module, so as to instruct the driving module to control the execution module to adjust the beam direction and beam state corresponding to the first signal transmitted by the antenna array based on the timing information corresponding to the first signal.

[0095] It should be noted that the timing information in this application may be the time domain resources of the first signal configured by the base station, and this application does not limit the specific configuration method.

[0096] During the specific implementation process, the signal processing unit can send a control instruction of the first signal to the signal feeding unit according to the first control message; the control instruction is used to instruct the signal feeding unit on the phase shift feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state information.

[0097] In some embodiments, the signal feeding unit may include a driving module and an execution module. The driving module may include a phase shifter switch, which may be used to control the on and off of the phase shifter. For example, the phase shifter switch may control the switching of the transceiver mode of the base station antenna. For example, when the phase shifter switch is in the on state, the base station antenna is in a signal transmitting mode, and when the phase shifter switch is in the off state, the base station antenna is in a signal receiving mode. In some embodiments, the phase shifter switch may also be used to connect to the port of the antenna array, and control the working state of different antenna arrays through the phase shifter. In other embodiments, multiple phase shifter switches may be provided, each phase shifter switch being used to turn on the corresponding connected base station antenna array. By combining multiple phase shifter switches, the turned-on antenna array is selected to achieve the joint operation of the corresponding antenna arrays and the beam state of the corresponding signal.

[0098] The execution module may include at least one phase shifter, which is used to switch or control the phase and amplitude of the radio frequency signal to achieve different beam states.

[0099] The control instruction sent by the signal processing unit may be sent at the time of the timing information of the first signal corresponding to the corresponding beam state. The control instruction may carry a control signal corresponding to the beam state of the driving module. For example, the control signal may be to control the execution module to turn on or off the phase shifter switch in the execution module, or the control signal may be to control the execution module to set the corresponding port in the phase shifter to a connected state or a disconnected state. After the execution module receives the control signal sent by the driving module, it may convert the control signal into a control instruction for switching or controlling the phase and amplitude of the radio frequency signal to achieve the corresponding beam state adjustment. After the driving module receives the control instruction, it may convert the control signal of the execution module controlled by the driving module indicated in the received control instruction into a control signal for controlling the phase shifter in the execution module, thereby adjusting the phase shift feeding state of the phase shifter at the timing information corresponding to the beam state information.

[0100] A possible implementation is Figure 5b As shown, the phase shifter switch can drive the PIN transistor in two states: forward bias and reverse bias. In some embodiments, when the PIN transistor is in forward bias, for example, the driving voltage is 1V, the driving current reaches a constant current state, and the phase shifter switch is turned on. When the PIN transistor is in reverse bias, a reverse high voltage (for example, Figure 5b The voltage shown is 50V), which turns the PIN transistor off and the phase shifter off. This phase shifter switch can achieve microsecond-level switching, synchronizing the base station antenna beam with the transceiver air interface signal (e.g., the first signal). This ensures that the beam state in each time domain symbol corresponds to the phase shift feeding state of the scheduling antenna, achieving symbol-level beam scheduling.

[0101] In one possible implementation, the execution module may include a phase shifter composed of electrically controlled switching devices such as PIN tubes, MEMS switches, and FET tubes, or may be an integrated control module, which is not limited here.

[0102] In some embodiments, as Figure 5c As shown, taking the example of adjusting the phase of a phase shifter by switching the RF branch of the RF channel of the antenna array, by switching the ports connected to the feed network, for example, the phase shifter includes port 1, port 2, and port 3. When the feed network is connected between port 1 and port 2, the corresponding phase of the phase shifter is θ; when the feed network is connected between port 1 and port 3, the corresponding phase of the phase shifter is θ2; when the feed network is connected between port 2 and port 3, the corresponding phase of the phase shifter is θ+θ2. In this case, by loading different RF branches, the phase of the phase shifter can be changed.

[0103] like Figure 5dAs shown, the phase shifter uses switches to open or close the RF channel, rotating the RF channel to change the phase of the antenna array connected to the phase shifter. For example, by controlling switch S1 at the input and switch S1' at the output, the input and output are connected via RF channel l1. By controlling switch S2 at the input and switch S2' at the output, the input and output are connected via RF channel l2. This approach adjusts the input and output phases. By adjusting the RF channel switches, the antenna array phase is adjusted, achieving discrete phase control.

[0104] Optionally, after the signal processing unit determines the state of the antenna array when the driving module and the execution module transmit the first signal, it may also feed back state information of the base station antenna that transmits the first signal to the transceiver through the first channel.

[0105] The status information of the base station antenna may include status information of a driving module, status information of an execution module, status information of an antenna array, and the like. It may also include time information corresponding to the status information of the base station antenna, and the time information may correspond to timing information of the first signal. In some embodiments, the status information of the driving module may include adjusting a driving signal for a motor in the driving module, the status information of the execution module may include physical location information of a phase shifter in the execution module, and the status information of the antenna array may include information such as the phase of the antenna, the amplitude of the vertical and horizontal components, and the field strength of the combined component.

[0106] The transceiver may determine the transmission status of the first signal based on the fed-back status information of the base station antenna transmitting the first signal, and may further adjust the control message sent to the base station antenna to improve the transmission performance of the base station antenna.

[0107] Of course, the signal processing unit may also feed back other management and maintenance information for controlling the base station antenna to the transceiver through the first channel. For details, please refer to the above embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0108] Use Figure 5a For base station antennas, each signal (such as a transmit or receive signal) can determine the time-domain location corresponding to its phase-shifted feed through control messages. Phase shifters then adjust the antenna array to radiate or receive the signal at the corresponding time-domain location. This approach maximizes the flexibility of phase-shifted feed, helping to achieve the desired beam for each uplink and downlink transmission.

[0109] Combine Figure 5a The structural diagram of the base station antenna and transceiver is as follows: Figure 6aAs shown, an embodiment of the present application provides a base station antenna control method, wherein the transceiver is connected to the base station antenna; the base station antenna and the transceiver can each be provided with a first port, and a first channel is established with the first port of the base station antenna through the first port of the transceiver; wherein, in one possible implementation, the first channel can be a channel connecting the transceiver and the signal processing unit through an RS485 interface, and in another possible implementation, the first channel can also be a channel connecting the transceiver and the signal processing unit through BiasT and OOKmodem. In order to synchronously transmit relevant control information of the beam state, the communication rate of the first channel can be set to be greater than the default communication rate of the AISG protocol (the communication rate of the slow control channel). The method comprises:

[0110] Step 601: Send a first control message to a base station antenna through a first channel.

[0111] The first control message is used to indicate the timing information of the first signal and the beam state information corresponding to the timing information; the first signal is a transmitting signal or a receiving signal; the first control message is used to adjust the signal feeding unit of the base station antenna to the corresponding phase-shifted feeding state based on the timing information corresponding to the beam state information to radiate the first signal.

[0112] Correspondingly, the signal processing unit receives the first control message from the transceiver through the first channel.

[0113] In a specific implementation, the first control message may indicate the timing information of the first signal and the beam state information corresponding to the timing information in a variety of ways. Ways a1 and a2 are used as examples below.

[0114] Mode a1: indicating the beam state of the first signal by indicating the corresponding beam state in each time unit.

[0115] For example, the first control message includes: beam state indication information; the beam state indication information is used to indicate the beam state information corresponding to the timing information of the first signal.

[0116] In some embodiments, the time units occupied by the beam states corresponding to each beam state information may be identical. Therefore, the time domain size occupied by each beam state may be pre-set. For example, the time unit occupied by each beam state may be the size of a subframe or a symbol. In other embodiments, the time domain sizes occupied by different beam states may be disregarded, and the beam state in each time unit may be transmitted as a beam state indication message. This avoids the overhead of transmitting the time domain size occupied by each beam state and the complexity of setting the corresponding indication information, while also reducing the complexity of the signal processing unit parsing the first control message.

[0117] In some embodiments, taking a time unit as a symbol as an example, the first control message may indicate the beam state indication information corresponding to each symbol. Figure 6b As shown, beam state indication information 1 is used to indicate the beam state in time unit 1, beam state indication information 2 is used to indicate the beam state in time unit 2, beam state indication information 3 is used to indicate the beam state in time unit 3, and beam state indication information 4 is used to indicate the beam state in time unit 4. The time length T1 of each time unit is the same value. For example, each time unit corresponds to each symbol in the available time-frequency resources. Therefore, the time length of each time unit is the length of one symbol. Therefore, the first control message may not carry the time domain location corresponding to each beam state information indication. Taking beam state indication information 1 as an example, when the signal processing unit receives the beam state indication information 1, it can determine the starting time of time unit 1 for sending the control instruction corresponding to the beam state indication information 1 to the feeding network based on the preset delay time and the time when the beam state indication information 1 is received (for example, after determining the cyclic prefix (CP) in the received beam state indication information 1 as the starting time, within the preset time). When the starting time of time unit 1 is reached, the control instruction corresponding to the beam state indication information 1 is sent to adjust the base station antenna to the state of the base station antenna corresponding to the beam state indication information 1. Figure 6b Each beam state indication information in the beam state indication information 1 to the beam state indication information 4 illustrated in the figure may be sent in one first control message or in multiple first control messages.

[0118] For example, in one possible scenario, the transceiver may send a first control message to indicate beam state indication information 1 and beam state indication information 2. The signal processing unit may determine time unit 1 and time unit 2 based on the positions of beam state indication information 1 and beam state indication information 2 in the first control message. For example, the signal processing unit receives beam state indication information 1 at time 1, and according to a preset delay time (i.e., the time agreed upon by the signal processing unit and the transceiver to send a control instruction corresponding to beam state indication information 1 after receiving the beam state indication information), the signal processing unit determines time unit 1 after delaying the time corresponding to the time at time 1. The signal processing unit receives beam state indication information 2 at time 2, and according to the preset delay time, the signal processing unit determines time unit 2 after delaying the time corresponding to the time at time 1. Furthermore, the transceiver can indicate time unit 1 and time unit 2 at the position of the first control message through beam state indication information 1 and beam state indication information 2 in the first control message, and indicate the corresponding beam state on time unit 1 through beam state indication information 1, and indicate the corresponding beam state on time unit 2 through beam state indication information 2. Therefore, the signal processing unit can control the base station antenna to adjust to the beam state indicated by beam state indication information 1 when time unit 1 arrives, and control the base station antenna to adjust to the beam state indicated by beam state indication information 2 when time unit 2 arrives according to the received first control message.

[0119] Optionally, the first control message may further include indication information indicating whether the first signal is a received signal or a transmitted signal. The indication information may be combined with the beam state indication information or sent separately, which is not limited here.

[0120] In other embodiments, the messages sent in time units 1 to 4 are broadcast messages, and the transceiver may send beam status indication information corresponding to different time units within a scanning cycle to the signal processing unit. Figure 6cAs shown, within a scanning cycle, the sectors that the broadcast message needs to scan include four beam directions. Therefore, the first control message needs to transmit beam state indication information corresponding to at least four beam directions, for example, beam state indication information 1 through beam state indication information 4. In this case, the first control message sent by the transceiver can carry beam state indication information 1 through beam state indication information 4 in sequential scanning order. Accordingly, the signal processing unit can determine, based on beam state indication information 1 through beam state indication information 4 carried in the first control message, that four beam directions need to be scanned within each scanning cycle, and scan them in the order of beam state indication information 1 through beam state indication information 4. Furthermore, the switching timing for each beam state can be determined based on the preconfigured length of the time unit occupied by each beam state. Furthermore, the base station antenna can be controlled accordingly based on the determined switching timing for each beam state, enabling the broadcast message to scan the four beam directions.

[0121] In a specific implementation process, the beam state indication information includes at least one of the following: a state of a phase shifter switch, a connection state of a phase shifter, and beam direction information.

[0122] In one possible implementation, the beam state indication information 1 can be used to indicate the beam direction corresponding to the beam state. For example, the beam direction can include the angle corresponding to the beam in the horizontal direction and the angle corresponding to the vertical direction. Optionally, the beam state indication information 1 can also be used to indicate the transceiver mode of the signal. For example, the beam state indication information 1 can be used to indicate that the signal corresponding to the time unit is a transmit signal, or the beam state indication information 1 can be used to indicate that the signal corresponding to the time unit is a receive signal. The signal processing unit determines the state of the phase shifter switch or the connection state of the phase shifter based on the beam state indication information 1 to realize the beam direction and transceiver mode indicated by the beam state indication information 1.

[0123] In one possible implementation, beam state indication information 1 can be used to indicate the state of a phase shifter switch. When the phase shifter switch is in the state indicated by beam state indication information 1, the corresponding beam direction and signal transmission and reception mode can be achieved. For example, when phase shifter switch 1 is in a forward bias state, phase shifter switch 1 is turned on, and the base station antenna is in a signal transmission state. When phase shifter switch 1 is in a reverse bias state, phase shifter switch 1 is turned off, and the base station antenna is in a signal reception state.

[0124] In another possible implementation, the beam state indication information 1 can be used to indicate the connection state of the phase shifter, so that the connection state of the phase shifter, when in the state indicated by the beam state indication information 1, can achieve the corresponding beam direction. Figure 5c, the beam state indication information 1 can be used to indicate the port to which the phase shifter is connected. For example, the beam state indication information 1 can be used to indicate that the phase shifter is connected to port 1 and port 2, so as to realize the phase of the antenna moved by the phase shifter through the beam state indication information. For example, in combination with Figure 5d Beam state indication information 1 can also be used to indicate whether a phase shifter's RF channel is on or off. For example, beam state indication information 1 can be used to indicate that the phase shifter is connected to S1 and S2, thereby enabling the phase of the antenna shifted by the phase shifter to be indicated by the beam state indication information. Specific parameters indicated can be determined based on the structure of the phase shifter and are not limited here.

[0125] Mode a2: The first control message includes beam status indication information and synchronization indication information; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate each timing information of the first signal.

[0126] In a possible implementation, the synchronization indication information includes: a relative relationship between each timing information of the first signal and the timing information of the first control message.

[0127] For example, Figure 6d As shown, the first control message includes beam state indication information 1 to beam state indication information 4, and synchronization indication information 1 to synchronization indication information 4. Each synchronization indication information corresponds to the length or number of time units occupied by the beam state corresponding to each beam state indication information. For example, the time length occupied by beam state 1 corresponding to beam state indication information 1 is 4 symbols. At this time, synchronization indication information 1 can indicate a time length of 4 symbols. The time length occupied by beam state 2 corresponding to beam state indication information 2 is 2 symbols. At this time, synchronization indication information 2 can indicate a time length of 2 symbols. The time length occupied by beam state 3 corresponding to beam state indication information 3 is 2 symbols. At this time, synchronization indication information 3 can indicate a time length of 2 symbols. The time length occupied by beam state 4 corresponding to beam state indication information 4 is 1 symbol. At this time, synchronization indication information 1 can indicate a time length of 1 symbol.

[0128] In another possible implementation, the synchronization indication information includes: whether the first signal is a transmission signal or a reception signal. The synchronization indication information indicates whether the resource corresponding to each time unit is an uplink resource or a downlink resource, and determines whether the signal on each time unit is a transmission signal or a reception signal.

[0129] For example, Figure 6eAs shown, beam state indication information 1 and beam state indication information 2 correspond to uplink signals, with a time length of T1, and beam state indication information 3 to beam state indication information 5 correspond to downlink signals, with a time length of T2. At this time, the synchronization indication information can be indicated at the position of the first time unit where the signal is switched to the uplink signal. For example, synchronization indication information 1 is used to indicate that the position is the starting position of the uplink signal, and synchronization indication information 2 is used to indicate that the position is the starting position of the downlink signal. Alternatively, the end position of the uplink and downlink switching can also be indicated, and it is used to indicate that the next time unit is the time domain position of the switching. For example, synchronization indication information 1 is used to indicate that the next time unit is the starting position of the uplink signal, and synchronization indication information 2 is used to indicate that the next time unit is the starting position of the downlink signal.

[0130] In another possible implementation, the synchronization indication information may also be used to indicate the duration of the uplink and downlink signals. For example, synchronization indication information 1 may be used to indicate T1, and synchronization indication information 2 may be used to indicate T2. Of course, the indication method of the synchronization indication information may also be set as needed, which is not limited here.

[0131] Step 602: The signal processing unit controls the base station antenna to transmit and receive the first signal according to the first control message.

[0132] In a possible implementation, the signal processing unit may send a control instruction of the first signal to the signal feeding unit according to the first control message. The control instruction is used to instruct the signal feeding unit to perform a phase shift feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state. For a specific implementation process, please refer to Figure 5a to Figure 5d The implementation method in will not be repeated here.

[0133] Through the above method, the transceiver obtains the beam state of the first signal at each timing information from the baseband unit, generates a first control message for the base station antenna, and transmits the first control message to the base station antenna via the first channel. Accordingly, the antenna's signal processing unit converts the first control message into control information for the driver module and the execution module (e.g., information indicating the switching state of the phase shifter and an enable signal for the phase shifter). The enable signal is used to control the phase shifter switch, ensuring that the beam state at each timing information of the first signal and the phase shift feeding state of the phase shifter are synchronously adjusted, achieving symbol-level beam synchronization.

[0134] like Figure 7aFigure 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a base station antenna and transceiver provided in an embodiment of the present application. The base station antenna includes a signal processing unit, a signal feeding unit, and an antenna array. The signal processing unit is connected to the transceiver. A first channel is provided between the signal processing unit and the transceiver. A second channel is provided between the transceiver and the base station antenna. In this embodiment of the present application, the second channel can be a slow control channel that complies with the AISG protocol. The communication rate of the first channel is greater than the communication rate of the second channel.

[0135] Combine Figure 5a ,like Figure 7a The base station antenna shown, on the basis of the signal that meets the requirements of independent electrical adjustment, can also utilize the slow control channel (second channel) in the original base station antenna, that is, the base station antenna and the transceiver can respectively set a second port, and establish a second channel with the second port of the base station antenna through the second port of the transceiver. The transceiver can send a second control message that does not have high requirements on time in advance to reduce the overhead of the first control message sent by the first channel. At the same time, this structure can also directly combine the antenna structure in this application with the traditional antenna structure without directly replacing the traditional antenna structure, and it also helps to improve the flexibility of deploying base station antennas. Combined with Figure 7a The architecture of the base station antenna and transceiver shown in FIG. 1 , an embodiment of the present application provides a method for controlling the base station antenna, such as Figure 7b As shown, including:

[0136] Step 701: The transceiver sends a second control message to the base station antenna through the second channel.

[0137] In a specific implementation, the second control message may carry different information to be combined with the first control message to indicate the beam state of the first signal in the timing information and the corresponding phase shift feeding state.

[0138] Mode b1: the second control message is used to indicate the phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit; the phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit corresponds to the beam state.

[0139] In some embodiments, the second control message may be a phase-shift feeding state indicating the switching state of the phase shifter, the connection state of the phase shifter, and so on. At the same time, it can also be used to indicate the correspondence between the phase-shift feeding state and the beam state. Accordingly, after receiving the second control message, the control module can send the second control message to the signal processing unit, and the signal processing unit can determine the phase-shift feeding state corresponding to the beam state according to the second control message. Since the correspondence between the phase-shift feeding state and the beam state of the signal feeding unit does not change substantially over time, it can be sent to the base station antenna in advance through the second channel, thereby avoiding the second control message occupying the first channel, reducing the delay of the first channel in sending the first control message, and further improving the flexibility of the transceiver in controlling the base station antenna.

[0140] Mode b2: The time domain position corresponding to each beam state can be sent periodically, that is, the transceiver pre-sets the time domain position corresponding to each beam state, for example, combined with Figure 6c The four beam states indicated by beam state indication information 1 through 4 constitute a scanning cycle. Therefore, the transceiver can pre-indicate the duration of the scanning cycle and the duration of each beam direction within each scanning cycle via the second channel. It can also indicate the order of the four beam states within each scanning cycle. The transceiver can include the starting beam state information of the scanning cycle in the control message sent on the first channel to indicate all four beam states included in a complete scanning cycle. This eliminates the need to indicate each beam state individually, saving signaling overhead and reducing latency on the first channel.

[0141] Therefore, the second control message may further include: synchronization indication information; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate the time-frequency information corresponding to the beam state.

[0142] Correspondingly, when the time lengths of the uplink signal and the downlink signal are also pre-set, the second control message can also be used to indicate the time lengths of the uplink signal and the downlink signal. When the transceiver sends the first control message through the first channel to indicate the uplink signal, it can carry the starting position of the uplink signal. That is, the position of the uplink signal can be determined based on the length of the uplink signal indicated in the second control message, effectively saving the overhead of the first control message. Similarly, when the transceiver sends the first control message through the first channel to indicate the downlink signal, it can carry the starting position of the downlink signal. That is, the position of the downlink signal can be determined based on the length of the downlink signal indicated in the second control message, effectively saving the overhead of the first control message.

[0143] In another possible implementation, when the uplink signal and the downlink signal are periodically distributed, the second control message can also be used to indicate the time length of the uplink signal and the time length and period of the downlink signal. Thus, when the transceiver sends the first control message through the first channel to indicate the uplink signal or the downlink signal, it can carry the starting position of a period of the uplink signal and the downlink signal, that is, the position of the uplink signal and the downlink signal within a period can be determined based on the length of the uplink signal and the length of the downlink signal indicated in the second control message, effectively saving the overhead of the first control message.

[0144] Step 702: The transceiver sends a first control message to the base station antenna through a first channel.

[0145] In a specific implementation, the first control message indicates the timing information on the first signal. There are multiple ways to indicate the beam state corresponding to the timing information. The following uses ways c1 and c2 as examples for illustration.

[0146] Mode c1: The first control message includes: beam state indication information; the beam state indication information is used to indicate the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal. The beam state indication information may include beam direction information. For example, the beam direction information may be a preset beam index number.

[0147] In this manner, the time domain position corresponding to each beam state can be pre-set. After the transceiver is pre-set, synchronization indication information can be generated. The synchronization indication information is used to indicate the length of the time unit of each timing information corresponding to each beam state indication information. For example, the synchronization indication information can be the length T1 of the time unit of the beam state corresponding to the beam state information or the minimum number of time units. Since the synchronization indication information does not need to be changed or scheduled in real time, it can be combined with Figure 6b The first control message sent via the first channel does not need to carry synchronization indication information. Instead, it is sent to the base station antenna in advance via the second channel in the form of synchronization indication information. For example, the synchronization indication information can be sent to the control module via the second channel in the form of a second control message, and the control module forwards the synchronization indication information to the signal processing unit.

[0148] Mode c2: In a scenario where the time domain position corresponding to each beam state cannot be pre-set, the time domain position corresponding to each beam state can be indicated by the synchronization indication information. In this case, the first control message may further include: synchronization indication information. The synchronization indication information may refer to Figure 6b The implementation method of including synchronization indication information in the first control message will not be repeated here.

[0149] Alternatively, in combination with method b2, when the second control message sends synchronization indication information, the synchronization indication information in the first control message can be set accordingly. For example, the second control message carries the time length corresponding to the beam direction, and the synchronization indication information in the first control message can be used to indicate the starting time domain position corresponding to each beam direction. For another example, the second control message carries the time length corresponding to the uplink signal, and the synchronization indication information in the first control message can be used to indicate the starting time domain position corresponding to the uplink signal. For details, please refer to method b2 and will not be repeated here. This allows for flexible configuration of control messages and improves the performance of the transceiver in controlling the base station antenna.

[0150] Step 703: The base station antenna sends and receives the first signal according to the first control message and the second control message.

[0151] The information processing unit can determine the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal and the corresponding phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit under the beam state according to the beam state indication information in the first control message and the correspondence between the beam state and the phase-shift feeding state in the second control message. The signal processing unit can send a control instruction of the first signal to the signal feeding unit according to the determined phase-shift feeding state at the moment corresponding to the corresponding timing information. The control instruction is used to instruct the signal feeding unit to the phase-shift feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state. For the specific implementation process, please refer to Figure 5a to Figure 5d The implementation method in will not be repeated here.

[0152] Through the above method, the transceiver obtains the beam state of the first signal at each timing information from the baseband unit, generates a first control message and a second control message for the base station antenna, sends the pre-configured information to the base station antenna in advance via the second channel, and uses the first channel to transmit the first control message to the base station antenna, including beam state indication information or synchronization indication information with higher latency requirements. Accordingly, the antenna's signal processing unit converts the first and second control messages into control information in the driving module and the execution module (for example, indication information of the phase shifter switch state and an enable signal for the phase shifter), and uses the enable signal to control the phase shifter switch, so that the beam state at each timing information of the first signal and the phase shifter feed state can be synchronously adjusted, achieving symbol-level beam synchronization.

[0153] Considering that the overhead of sending the first control message through the first channel may be large, such as Figure 8aAs shown, it is a structural schematic diagram of a base station antenna and a transceiver provided in an embodiment of the present application, wherein the base station antenna includes a signal processing unit, a signal feeding unit and an antenna array; the signal processing unit is connected to the transceiver; a first channel is included between the signal processing unit and the transceiver; a third channel is also included between the transceiver and the base station antenna; that is, the base station antenna and the transceiver can each be provided with a third port, and a third channel is established with the third port of the base station antenna through the third port of the transceiver. The communication rates of the first channel and the second channel can be the same or different. Both the first channel and the third channel can be used to transmit the first control message. Optionally, a second channel is also included between the transceiver and the base station antenna; the setting method of the second channel can refer to Figure 6a The communication rate of the first channel is greater than the communication rate of the second channel; the communication rate of the third channel is greater than the communication rate of the second channel.

[0154] Combine Figure 8a ,like Figure 8b As shown, an embodiment of the present application provides a base station antenna control method, the method further comprising:

[0155] Step 801: Sending a first part of a first control message to the base station antenna through a first channel;

[0156] For example, the first part of the first control message may be beam state indication information. For a specific implementation, reference may be made to the above embodiment, which will not be described in detail here. Furthermore, the first part of the first control message may also be other content of the first control message, which is not limited here.

[0157] Step 802: Send the second part of the first control message to the base station antenna through the third channel;

[0158] For example, the second part of the first control message may be synchronization indication information of the first control message.

[0159] In one possible implementation, the synchronization indication information may be used to indicate each piece of timing information of the first signal. In another possible implementation, the synchronization indication information includes: a relative relationship between each piece of timing information of the first signal and the timing information of the first control message. In yet another possible implementation, the synchronization indication information may also be used to indicate whether the first signal is an uplink signal or a downlink signal. For a specific implementation, reference may be made to the above embodiment and will not be repeated here.

[0160] It should be noted that the first control message can be divided into the first and second parts based on the type of content sent by the first control message, for example, by the type of beam status indication information and synchronization indication information sent. This ensures that the field types of the messages sent in each channel are consistent, reducing the complexity of base station antenna parsing. Another possible division method can also be based on the data volume of the first control message, for example, dividing the first control message into two data packets of equal data volume as the first part of the first control message and the second part of the first control message. Sending the first part of the first control message through the first channel and sending the second part of the first control message through the third channel increases the time taken to send the first control message and reduces latency.

[0161] Step 803: The signal processing unit controls the sending and receiving of the first message according to the first part of the first control message and the second part of the first control message.

[0162] The signal processing unit can determine the first control message based on the first part of the first control message received by the first channel and the second part of the first control message received by the third channel. Through the first control message, the time domain position of the first signal and the beam state at each time domain position are determined. Then, the signal processing unit can send a control instruction of the first signal to the signal feeding unit according to the first control message. The control instruction is used to instruct the signal feeding unit on the phase shift feeding state of the timing information corresponding to the beam state. For the specific implementation process, please refer to Figure 5a to Figure 5d The implementation method in will not be repeated here.

[0163] Optionally, in this embodiment, the transceiver can also use the second channel in the original base station antenna to send the second control message in advance, which does not have a high time requirement, so as to reduce the overhead of the first control message sent by the first channel. The specific sending method and content of the second control message can be referred to. Figure 7b The implementation method in will not be repeated here.

[0164] Through the above method, the transceiver obtains the beam state of the first signal at each timing information from the baseband unit, generates a first control message for the base station antenna, sends the first part of the first control message to the base station antenna through the first channel, and sends the second part of the first control message to the base station antenna through the third channel. Accordingly, the antenna's signal processing unit converts the first and second parts of the first control message into control information in the driving module and the execution module (for example, indication information of the phase shifter switch state and the phase shifter enable signal), and uses the enable signal to control the phase shifter switch, so that the beam state at each timing information of the first signal and the phase shifter feed state can be synchronously adjusted to achieve symbol-level beam synchronization. This effectively improves the ability to send the first control message, reduces the delay in sending the first control message, reduces the complexity of the base station antenna receiving the first control message, and improves the applicability of the base station antenna.

[0165] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the embodiments of the present application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, the present application can adopt the form of a complete hardware embodiment, a complete software embodiment, or an embodiment in combination with software and hardware. Moreover, the present application can adopt the form of a computer program product implemented on one or more computer-usable storage media (including but not limited to magnetic disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) that contain computer-usable program code.

[0166] The present application is described with reference to the flowcharts and / or block diagrams of the methods, devices (systems), and computer program products according to the present application. It should be understood that each flow and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, as well as the combination of the flow chart and / or box in the flow chart and / or block diagram, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, an embedded processor, or other programmable data processing device to produce a machine, so that the instructions executed by the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing device produce a device for implementing the functions specified in one or more flow charts and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0167] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing device to operate in a specific manner, so that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce a product including an instruction device that implements the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0168] These computer program instructions can also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing device so that a series of operating steps are executed on the computer or other programmable device to produce a computer-implemented process, so that the instructions executed on the computer or other programmable device provide steps for implementing the functions specified in one or more processes in the flowchart and / or one or more boxes in the block diagram.

[0169] Obviously, those skilled in the art may make various modifications and variations to this application without departing from the scope of protection of this application. Thus, if these modifications and variations of this application fall within the scope of the claims of this application and their equivalents, this application is intended to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A base station antenna, characterized in that: including a signal processing unit, a signal feeding unit and an antenna array; The signal processing unit has a first channel with the remote radio frequency unit, and is configured to receive a first control message from the remote radio frequency unit through the first channel; The first control message is used to indicate timing information of a first signal and a beam state corresponding to the timing information; the first signal is a transmit signal or a receive signal; a control instruction for the first signal is sent to the signal feeding unit according to the first control message; the control instruction is used to instruct the signal feeding unit to perform a phase shift feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state; The signal feeding unit is configured to perform phase-shift feeding processing on the first signal from the signal processing unit based on the phase-shift feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state according to the control instruction, and send the first signal to the antenna array; or, perform phase-shift feeding processing on the first signal from the antenna array based on the phase-shift feeding state on the timing information corresponding to the beam state according to the control instruction, and send the first signal to the signal processing unit; The antenna array is configured to transmit the first signal after phase-shift feeding, or receive the first signal and send it to the signal feeding unit; A second channel is further provided between the signal processing unit and the remote radio frequency unit, and a communication rate of the first channel is greater than a communication rate of the second channel; The signal processing unit is further configured to receive a second control message sent from the remote radio frequency unit through the second channel; the second control message is used to indicate a phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit; and the phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit corresponds to the beam state; When the signal processing unit sends the control instruction of the first signal to the signal feeding unit according to the first control message, it is specifically configured to: According to the first control message and the second control message, a control instruction of the first signal is determined and sent to the signal feeding unit.

2. The base station antenna according to claim 1, wherein The first control message includes: Beam state indication information; the beam state indication information is used to indicate the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal.

3. The base station antenna according to claim 2, wherein: The first control message further includes: Synchronization indication information; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate the timing information of the first signal.

4. The base station antenna according to claim 3, wherein: The synchronization indication information includes: a relative relationship between the timing information of the first signal and the timing information of the first control message.

5. The base station antenna according to claim 3, wherein: The synchronization indication information also includes: the first signal is a sending signal or a receiving signal.

6. The base station antenna according to claim 2, wherein: A third channel is further included between the signal processing unit and the remote radio frequency unit; The signal processing unit is further configured to receive synchronization indication information from the remote radio frequency unit through the third channel; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate timing information of the first signal.

7. The base station antenna according to claim 6, wherein: The communication rate of the third channel is greater than the communication rate of the second channel.

8. The base station antenna according to any one of claims 2 to 6, wherein: The signal feeding unit includes a phase shifter; and the beam state indication information includes at least one of the following: The switching state of the phase shifter, the connection state of the phase shifter, and beam direction information.

9. A remote radio frequency unit, characterized in that: It includes a processing module and a first port; the first port is used to connect the first channel between the remote radio frequency unit and the base station antenna; The processing module is configured to generate a first control message; The first control message is used to indicate timing information of a first signal and a beam state corresponding to the timing information; the first signal is a transmitted signal or a received signal; The first port is configured to send the first control message to the base station antenna through the first channel; The first control message is used to instruct the signal feeding unit in the base station antenna to adjust to a phase-shifted feeding state corresponding to the beam state of the first signal at a time corresponding to the timing information of the first signal; Also includes a second port; the second port is used to connect a second channel between the remote radio frequency unit and the base station antenna, and the communication rate of the first channel is greater than the communication rate of the second channel; The processing module is further configured to generate a second control message; the second control message is configured to indicate a phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit; and the phase-shift feeding state of the signal feeding unit corresponds to a beam state; The second port is used to send the second control message to the base station antenna through the second channel.

10. The remote radio frequency unit according to claim 9, wherein: The first control message includes: Beam state indication information; the beam state indication information is used to indicate the beam state corresponding to the timing information of the first signal.

11. The remote radio frequency unit according to claim 10, wherein: The first control message further includes: Synchronization indication information; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate the timing information of the first signal.

12. The remote radio frequency unit according to claim 11, wherein: The synchronization indication information includes: a relative relationship between the timing information of the first signal and the timing information of the first control message.

13. The remote radio frequency unit according to claim 12, wherein: The synchronization indication information also includes: the first signal is a sending signal or a receiving signal.

14. The remote radio frequency unit according to claim 10, wherein: Also includes a third port; the third port is used to connect the third channel between the remote radio frequency unit and the base station antenna; The processing module is further configured to: generate synchronization indication information; the synchronization indication information is used to indicate timing information of the first signal; The third port is used to send the synchronization indication information to the base station antenna through the third channel.

15. The remote radio frequency unit according to claim 14, wherein: The communication rate of the third channel is greater than the communication rate of the second channel.

16. The remote radio frequency unit according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein: The base station antenna includes a phase shifter; and the beam state indication information includes at least one of the following: The switching state of the phase shifter, the connection state of the phase shifter, and beam direction information.

17. A base station device, characterized in that: include: The base station comprises the base station antenna according to any one of claims 1 to 8 and the remote radio frequency unit according to any one of claims 9 to 16.

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