Phase shifter chip and phase shifting system

Abstract

The embodiment of the present application provides a phase shifter chip and a phase shifting system. The phase shifter chip includes: a digital control module and N phase shifter units, N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the N phase shifter units are communicatively connected with the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip in a one-to-one correspondence; the digital control module is communicatively connected with the N phase shifter units respectively, and the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units are synchronously adjusted according to the phase shift control signals of the N phase shifter units to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components. The embodiment of the present application can be applied to large-scale RIS design, without the need to lead out the DC control line of the reconfigurable device in each RIS unit, which greatly reduces the number of leads, and reduces the difficulty of lead layout and system complexity of large-scale RIS arrays.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of chip technology, and in particular to a phase shifter chip and a phase shifting system. Background Art

[0002] The existing large-scale reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) design has problems such as wiring difficulties due to the large number of units and leads.

[0003] The existing commercial phase shifter chips have high precision, which greatly exceeds the bit number requirements of RIS, but the high cost and high insertion loss brought by them are unbearable for large-scale RIS design. In addition, commercial phase shifter chips usually have only one RF path, and each unit needs to be connected to a phase shifter chip, which cannot reduce the complexity of the system. Moreover, current commercial phase shifter chips generally do not have integrated numerical control modules, and multiple external control pins are required to control the phase shift of each bit. Using them for RIS will bring more control lines and bias lines, making it difficult to carry out large-scale design. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a phase shifter chip and a phase shifting system to solve the problem that existing commercial phase shifter chips generally do not have an integrated numerical control module, require multiple external control pins to control the phase shift of each bit, and use for RIS will bring more control lines and bias lines, making it difficult to carry out large-scale design.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the embodiments of the present application are implemented as follows:

[0006] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a phase shifter chip, the phase shifter chip comprising: a digital control module and N phase shifter units, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein:

[0007] The N phase shifter units are communicatively connected with the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip in a one-to-one correspondence;

[0008] The digital control module is respectively connected to the N phase shifter units for communication, and synchronously adjusts the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signals of the N phase shifter units, so as to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components.

[0009] Optionally, the digital control module is communicatively connected to an external control device to read a phase-shifted electrical signal written by a user in the external control device, parse the phase-shifted electrical signal to generate a phase-shifted control signal corresponding to N phase shifter units, and synchronously control the phase-shifted state of the N phase shifter units according to the phase-shifted control signal.

[0010] Optionally, a cache unit is provided in the digital control module to cache the phase-shifted electrical signal read from the external control device.

[0011] Optionally, each of the phase shifter units is provided with a phase shift control circuit, and the phase shift control circuit is provided with a transistor switch.

[0012] The digital control module controls the switching state of the transistor switch through the phase shift control signal to adjust the phase shift state of the N phase shifter units.

[0013] Optionally, the phase shifter unit is a dual-port transmission-type phase shifter unit, and both a signal input port and a signal output port of the phase shifter unit are communicatively connected to the corresponding electronic component.

[0014] Optionally, the phase shifter unit is a single-port echo-type phase shifter unit, and a single signal port of the phase shifter unit is communicatively connected to the corresponding electronic component.

[0015] Optionally, the phase shifter chip is any one of a microwave frequency band chip, a millimeter wave frequency band chip and a terahertz frequency band chip.

[0016] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a phase shifting system, comprising: a control device, N electronic components, and any of the above-mentioned phase shifter chips, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein:

[0017] The control device is in communication connection with the phase shifter chip to receive a phase shift control signal input by a user, and sends the phase shift control signal to the phase shifter chip;

[0018] The N phase shifter units in the phase shifter chip are communicatively connected with the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip in a one-to-one correspondence, so as to synchronously adjust the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signal, so as to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components.

[0019] Optionally, the electronic element is an electromagnetic element disposed on a reconfigurable intelligent metasurface, and the phase shifter chip is disposed on the reconfigurable intelligent metasurface.

[0020] Optionally, the control device is any one of a host computer and an FPGA chip.

[0021] In an embodiment of the present application, the phase shifter chip includes: a digital control module and N phase shifter units, N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the N phase shifter units are connected to the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip in a one-to-one communication manner. The digital control module is connected to the N phase shifter units in communication, and the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units are synchronously adjusted according to the phase shift control signals of the N phase shifter units to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components. The embodiment of the present application can adjust the phase shift states of multiple electronic components (such as the electromagnetic unit of RIS, etc.) through a phase shifter chip, without the need to set a phase shifter chip for each electronic component for phase shift control. In the RIS system, there is no need to lead out the DC control line of the reconfigurable device in each RIS unit, which greatly reduces the number of leads, reduces the difficulty of lead layout and system complexity of large-scale RIS arrays.

[0022] The above description is only an overview of the technical solution of the present application. In order to more clearly understand the technical means of the present application, it can be implemented in accordance with the contents of the specification. In order to make the above and other purposes, features and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the specific implementation methods of the present application are listed below. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments of the present application will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0024] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a phase shifter chip provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0025] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of the structure of a transmission-type phase shifter chip provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0026] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of an echo-type phase shifter chip provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0027] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of a bit-shift data reading process provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0028] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a phase shifter chip provided in an embodiment of the present application applied to a RIS system;

[0029] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the structure of a phase shifting system provided in an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0031] Reference Figure 1 , showing a schematic structural diagram of a phase shifter chip provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0032] like Figure 1 As shown, the phase shifter chip 100 may include: a digital control module 111 and N phase shifter units (ie, phase shifter unit 1, phase shifter unit 2, . . . , phase shifter unit N), where N is a positive integer greater than 1.

[0033] The N phase shifter units are connected to the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip 100 in a one-to-one communication manner. Figure 1 As shown, phase shifter unit 1 is communicatively connected to electronic component 1, phase shifter unit 2 is communicatively connected to electronic component 2, ..., phase shifter unit N is communicatively connected to electronic component N, and so on.

[0034] In this embodiment, the electronic component may be, but is not limited to, an electromagnetic unit of a RIS.

[0035] The digital control module 111 is respectively connected to the N phase shifter units for synchronously adjusting the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signals of the N phase shifter units, so as to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components.

[0036] The above solution provided in the embodiment of the present application can adjust the phase shift state of multiple electronic components (such as the electromagnetic unit of RIS) through one phase shifter chip, without providing a phase shifter chip for each electronic component to perform phase shift control. In the RIS system, there is no need to lead out the DC control line of the reconfigurable device in each RIS unit, which greatly reduces the number of leads, reduces the difficulty of lead layout and system complexity of large-scale RIS arrays.

[0037] In a specific implementation of the present application, an external control device may also be provided to communicate with a digital control module in the phase shifter chip to provide a phase-shifted electrical signal to the phase shifter chip.

[0038] like Figure 1As shown, the digital control module 111 can be connected to the external control device 110 for communication so as to read the phase-shifted electrical signal written by the user in the external control device 110, and at the same time, analyze the phase-shifted electrical signal to generate phase-shifted control signals corresponding to N phase shifter units, and synchronously control the phase-shifted states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase-shifted control signals.

[0039] In this embodiment, the external control device 110 may be a host computer, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array) chip, etc. Specifically, the specific type of the external control device may be determined according to business requirements, and this embodiment does not impose any limitation on this.

[0040] A buffer unit may be provided in the digital control module 111 to buffer the phase-shifted electrical signal read from the external control device 110 .

[0041] In a specific implementation, the digital control module 111 can be connected to the external control device 110 through a digital signal line, a clock signal line, and an enable signal line. After the user inputs phase shift control data to the external control device 110, the external control device 110 can convert the phase shift control data input by the user into a phase shift electrical signal and send it to the digital control module 111.

[0042] The digital control module 111 can read the phase-shifted electrical signal transmitted by the external control device 110 through the digital signal line and store it in the cache unit. In the process of reading the phase-shifted electrical signal, the phase-shifted control signal corresponding to each phase shifter unit in the chip can be read according to the clock signal of the clock signal line. Specifically, the level of the data signal DATA can be read at each rising edge of the clock signal CLK, which is 1 when it is high and 0 when it is low.

[0043] When the RF phase shifter chip is working, after the CNC module recognizes the frame header in the Data signal, it reads the subsequent 8 bits and stores them in a storage unit (such as a shift register, etc.). After the Enable signal is raised, the phase shift of each channel is controlled at the same time. Figure 4 As shown in the figure, Clk represents the clock signal, Data represents the digital signal, Enable represents the enable signal, and Phase represents the phase shift. Each channel controls the phase shift of 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° through the four states of 2 bits 00, 01, 10, and 11. Figure 4In the example, the frame header is 100, the first channel is phase-shifted by 90°, the second channel is phase-shifted by 0°, the third channel is phase-shifted by 270°, the fourth channel is phase-shifted by 180°, and the frame end is 001. After the frame end is detected, the Enable signal is raised to complete the phase shift, and the four channels (i.e., four phase shifter units) are phase-shifted by the preset phase. Similarly, if it is a 1-bit design, 0 can be used to represent 0° and 1 to represent 180°; for a 3-bit design, 000 is used to represent 0°, 001 is used to represent 45°, 010 is used to represent 90°, 011 is used to represent 135°, 100 is used to represent 180°, 101 is used to represent 225°, 110 is used to represent 270°, and 111 is used to represent 315°; the same applies to higher bit numbers.

[0044] In practical applications, an enable signal raising logic program may be added to the digital control module to control the enable signal to be raised after the end of the frame is detected, thereby completing the phase shift.

[0045] In the embodiment of the present application, a phase shift control circuit is provided in each phase shifter unit, and a transistor switch is provided on the phase shift control circuit.

[0046] The digital control module can control the switching state of the transistor switch through the phase shift control signal to adjust the phase shift state of the N phase shifter units. For example, if it is a 2-bit phase shift unit, two transistor switches will be designed inside to control the phase shift state of the unit. When switches 1 and 2 are both closed, the phase shift is 0°; when switch 1 is closed and switch 2 is opened, the phase shift is 90°; when switch 1 is opened and switch 2 is closed, the phase shift is 180°; when switches 1 and 2 are both opened, the phase shift is 270°, etc. The corresponding relationship between the phase shift phase and the transistor switch can be set in advance, and this embodiment does not limit this.

[0047] When the phase shifter chip provided in the present application is applied to a large-scale RIS, the working state is changed by controlling the transistor switch inside the RF phase shifter chip through digital signals instead of using a current-driven PIN tube, which greatly reduces the power consumption of the RIS.

[0048] In a specific implementation of the present application, the phase shifter unit may be a dual-port transmission-type phase shifter unit, and both the signal input port and the signal output port of the phase shifter unit are communicatively connected to corresponding electronic components.

[0049] like Figure 2The transmission-type phase shifter chip 200 shown may include four phase shifter units, namely, transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 1, transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 2, transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 3, and transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 4, and a digital control module 211, and the digital control module 211 is respectively connected to the transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 1, transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 2, transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 3, and transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 4 in communication. These four transmission-type phase shifter units are dual-port transmission-type phase shifter units, which respectively include signal input ports (i.e., In#1, In#2, In#3, and In#4) and signal output ports (i.e., Out#1, Out#2, Out#3, and Out#4). Transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 1, transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 2, transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 3, and transmission-type phase shifter unit No. 4 are respectively connected to the corresponding electronic components in communication through their corresponding signal input ports and signal output ports.

[0050] In another specific implementation of the present application, the phase shifter unit may be a single-port echo-type phase shifter unit, and a single signal port of the phase shifter unit may be communicatively connected with a corresponding electronic component.

[0051] like Figure 3 As shown, the phase shifter chip is Figure 3 The echo type phase shifter chip 300 shown in the figure may include four transmission type phase shifter units, namely, echo type phase shifter unit No. 1, echo type phase shifter unit No. 2, echo type phase shifter unit No. 3, and echo type phase shifter unit No. 4, and a digital control module 311, wherein the digital control module 311 is respectively connected to the echo type phase shifter unit No. 1, the echo type phase shifter unit No. 2, the echo type phase shifter unit No. 3, and the echo type phase shifter unit No. 4 in communication. The four echo type phase shifter units are single-port echo type phase shifter units, each including a single input and output port (i.e., In&Out#1, In&Out#2, In&Out#3, and In&Out#4), and the echo type phase shifter unit No. 1, the echo type phase shifter unit No. 2, the echo type phase shifter unit No. 3, and the echo type phase shifter unit No. 4 are respectively connected to external electronic components in communication through their corresponding input and output ports.

[0052] In another specific implementation of the present application, the phase shifter chip may be any one of a microwave frequency band chip, a millimeter wave frequency band chip and a terahertz frequency band chip.

[0053] Phase shifter chips can be manufactured using CMOS and other processes at a low cost. Phase shifters can be designed for microwave frequency bands, millimeter wave frequency bands, and THz frequency bands for use in antenna design for corresponding frequency bands, and can be used to design multi-bit, multi-polarization RIS antennas.

[0054] The phase shifter chip provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to the RIS architecture, such as Figure 5 As shown, the RIS surface is provided with array-arranged antenna units 510 and phase shifter chips 520. For the RIS architecture of 8*8 array, in the traditional design, each unit on the RIS surface is connected to a single reconfigurable device. When used for large-scale design, the RIS architecture has the problem of many leads and complex structure, that is, an 8*8 2-bit RIS requires at least 128 DC bias lines, which brings high complexity to the overall design. However, by using the phase shifter chip provided in this embodiment, the RIS of the same scale only needs 16 Data signal lines (i.e., digital signal lines), and Enable signal lines (i.e., enable signals) and Clk signal lines (i.e., clock signal lines) shared by all chips, and the number of leads is reduced to 12.5% ​​of the original number. As the scale and the number of channels of the phase shifter chip increase, the benefits of reducing complexity will be higher, which greatly simplifies the RIS design and control, and is conducive to the design of multi-functional, multi-bit, high-frequency RIS.

[0055] The phase shifter chip provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: a digital control module and N phase shifter units, N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the N phase shifter units are connected in communication with the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip in a one-to-one correspondence. The digital control module is connected in communication with the N phase shifter units respectively, and the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units are synchronously adjusted according to the phase shift control signals of the N phase shifter units to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components. The embodiment of the present application can adjust the phase shift states of multiple electronic components (such as the electromagnetic unit of RIS, etc.) through a phase shifter chip, without the need to set a phase shifter chip for each electronic component for phase shift control. In the RIS system, there is no need to lead out the DC control line of the reconfigurable device in each RIS unit, which greatly reduces the number of leads, reduces the difficulty of lead layout and system complexity of large-scale RIS arrays.

[0056] Reference Figure 6 , shows a schematic diagram of the structure of a phase shifting system provided in an embodiment of the present application. Figure 6 As shown, the phase shifting system 600 may include: a control device 610, N electronic components (i.e., electronic component 1, electronic component 2, ..., electronic component N) and any of the above-mentioned phase shifter chips (as shown in the figure, the phase shifter chip 620), where N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein,

[0057] The control device 610 may be communicatively connected with the phase shifter chip 620 to receive a phase shift control signal input by a user and send the phase shift control signal to the phase shifter chip 620 .

[0058] The N phase shifter units (i.e. Figure 6The phase shifter unit 1, phase shifter unit 2, ..., phase shifter unit N) shown are connected in one-to-one communication with N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip 620 to synchronously adjust the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signal to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components.

[0059] In an embodiment of the present application, the electronic component is an electromagnetic component arranged on a reconfigurable intelligent metasurface, and the phase shifter chip is arranged on the reconfigurable intelligent metasurface and is separated from the electromagnetic unit, so that one phase shifter chip can be connected to multiple electromagnetic units to synchronously control the phase shift state of multiple electromagnetic units.

[0060] In this embodiment, the control device may be any one of a host computer, an FPGA chip, and the like. The specific type of the control device in this embodiment may be determined according to business requirements, and this embodiment does not impose any limitation on this.

[0061] The phase shift system provided in the embodiment of the present application includes: a control device, N electronic components and any of the above-mentioned phase shifter chips, N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the control device is connected to the phase shifter chip in communication to receive a phase shift control signal input by a user, and send the phase shift control signal to the phase shifter chip. The N phase shifter units in the phase shifter chip are connected to the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip in a one-to-one communication manner to synchronously adjust the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signal to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components. The embodiment of the present application can adjust the phase shift states of multiple electronic components (such as the electromagnetic unit of RIS, etc.) through a phase shifter chip, without the need to set a phase shifter chip for each electronic component for phase shift control. In the RIS system, it is not necessary to lead out the DC control line of the reconfigurable device in each RIS unit, which greatly reduces the number of leads, reduces the difficulty of lead layout and system complexity of large-scale RIS arrays.

[0062] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A phase shifter chip, characterized in that: The phase shifter chip includes: a digital control module and N phase shifter units, where N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein: The N phase shifter units are communicatively connected with the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip in a one-to-one correspondence; the electronic components are electromagnetic components arranged on the reconfigurable intelligent metasurface, the phase shifter chip is arranged on the reconfigurable intelligent metasurface, a plurality of the phase shifter chips are arranged on the reconfigurable intelligent metasurface, and each of the phase shifter chips on the reconfigurable intelligent metasurface is communicatively connected with the N electromagnetic components on the reconfigurable intelligent metasurface; The digital control module is respectively connected to the N phase shifter units for communication, and synchronously adjusts the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signals of the N phase shifter units, so as to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components; Each of the phase shifter units is provided with a phase shift control circuit, and the phase shift control circuit is provided with a transistor switch. The digital control module controls the switching state of the transistor switch through the phase shift control signal to adjust the phase shift state of the N phase shifter units; wherein the digital control module is connected to the external control device through a digital signal line, a clock signal line and an enable signal line to read the phase shift electrical signal written by the user in the external control device, analyze the phase shift electrical signal to generate the phase shift control signals corresponding to the N phase shifter units, and synchronously control the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signal; The digital control module reads the phase-shifted electrical signal transmitted by the external control device through the digital signal line and stores it in the cache unit. During the reading process of the phase-shifted electrical signal, the phase-shifted control signal corresponding to each phase shifter unit in the chip is read according to the clock signal of the clock signal line.

2. The phase shifter chip according to claim 1, characterized in that: A buffer unit is provided in the digital control module to buffer the phase-shifted electrical signal read from the external control device.

3. The phase shifter chip according to claim 1, characterized in that: The phase shifter unit is a dual-port transmission type phase shifter unit, and the signal input port and the signal output port of the phase shifter unit are both communicatively connected with the corresponding electronic components.

4. The phase shifter chip according to claim 1, characterized in that: The phase shifter unit is a single-port echo-type phase shifter unit, and a single signal port of the phase shifter unit is communicatively connected with the corresponding electronic component.

5. The phase shifter chip according to claim 1, characterized in that: The phase shifter chip is any one of a microwave frequency band chip, a millimeter wave frequency band chip and a terahertz frequency band chip.

6. A phase shifting system, characterized in that: include: A control device, N electronic components and the phase shifter chip according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein N is a positive integer greater than 1, wherein the electronic component is an electromagnetic component arranged on a reconfigurable smart metasurface, the phase shifter chip is arranged on the reconfigurable smart metasurface, a plurality of the phase shifter chips are arranged on the reconfigurable smart metasurface, and each of the phase shifter chips on the reconfigurable smart metasurface is communicatively connected with the N electromagnetic components on the reconfigurable smart metasurface, The control device is in communication connection with the phase shifter chip to receive a phase shift control signal input by a user, and sends the phase shift control signal to the phase shifter chip; The N phase shifter units in the phase shifter chip are connected to the N electronic components outside the phase shifter chip in a one-to-one communication manner, so as to synchronously adjust the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signal, so as to adjust the phase shift states of the N electronic components; Each of the phase shifter units is provided with a phase shift control circuit, and the phase shift control circuit is provided with a transistor switch. The digital control module controls the switching state of the transistor switch through the phase shift control signal to adjust the phase shift state of the N phase shifter units; wherein the digital control module is connected to the external control device through a digital signal line, a clock signal line and an enable signal line to read the phase shift electrical signal written by the user in the external control device, analyze the phase shift electrical signal to generate the phase shift control signals corresponding to the N phase shifter units, and synchronously control the phase shift states of the N phase shifter units according to the phase shift control signal; The digital control module reads the phase-shifted electrical signal transmitted by the external control device through the digital signal line and stores it in the cache unit. During the reading process of the phase-shifted electrical signal, the phase-shifted control signal corresponding to each phase shifter unit in the chip is read according to the clock signal of the clock signal line.

7. The phase shifting system according to claim 6, characterized in that: The control device is any one of a host computer and a FPGA chip.

Images