Low-altitude airspace coverage methods, apparatus, equipment, storage media and program products

Abstract

This disclosure relates to a low-altitude airspace coverage method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product in the field of wireless communication technology. The method includes: mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground and then selecting target ground base stations; calculating the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the flight path airspace; determining the beamwidth of a lens antenna based on link budget results; and further determining the required number of lens antenna beams within the elevation angle range based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the flight path airspace and the beamwidth of the lens antenna. This disclosure uses a Luneburg lens antenna instead of the AAU antenna commonly used in existing 5G ground base stations. It selects the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the flight path airspace after mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground, and obtains the number of lens antenna beams based on the beamwidth of the lens antenna obtained from the link budget results. This low-altitude airspace coverage method is low-cost and achieves effective low-altitude airspace coverage.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of wireless communication technology, and in particular to a method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product for low-altitude airspace coverage. Background Technology

[0002] Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones for short, have broad application prospects and can support solutions in many fields such as transportation, energy, and public utilities. Combining UAVs with mobile communication technology creates networked UAVs that access low-altitude mobile communication networks.

[0003] Currently, the application scenarios and communication needs of connected drones are mainly focused on low-altitude airspace below 300 meters. The existing solution for deploying communication networks in low-altitude airspace is to use ground-based 5G base stations to cover the low-altitude airspace. Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating low-altitude airspace coverage achieved by existing 5G base stations, as shown below. Figure 1 As shown, the 4.9GHz and 2.6GHz frequency bands of existing terrestrial 5G base stations are used in conjunction for low-altitude airspace coverage. The 2.6GHz band primarily covers the airspace below 150 meters, requiring a 64T64R antenna and four beams of coverage in the vertical dimension to provide coverage at a certain altitude. The 4.9GHz band mainly focuses on airspace coverage from 150 meters to 300 meters; different coverage altitude requirements can be adjusted by adjusting the antenna downtilt angle.

[0004] Existing low-altitude airspace coverage methods have the following problems:

[0005] 1. Existing 5G base stations cannot meet the vertical 4-beam requirement of low-altitude networks, so a new 2.6GHz cell needs to be added for the low-altitude airspace, which increases investment costs.

[0006] 2. The existing 4.9GHz terrestrial base station's AAU (Active Antenna Unit) antenna (64T64R) cannot meet the diverse needs of low-altitude network services, resulting in a failure to achieve full low-altitude coverage.

[0007] 3. Using a single beam from a ground base station to cover the low-altitude airspace results in coverage gaps caused by the limited envelope of the ground base station's AAU antenna. Furthermore, low-altitude scenarios require coverage performance in both the horizontal and vertical dimensions, making it difficult to achieve effective low-altitude airspace coverage using existing AAU antennas. Summary of the Invention

[0008] To address the aforementioned technical problems, this disclosure provides a method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product for low-altitude airspace coverage, achieving effective low-altitude airspace coverage.

[0009] A first aspect of this disclosure provides a low-altitude airspace coverage method, comprising:

[0010] After mapping the low-altitude flight path to the ground, the target ground base station is selected;

[0011] Calculate the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path;

[0012] The beamwidth of the lens antenna is determined based on the link budget results;

[0013] The required number of lens antenna beams within the elevation angle range is determined based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path and the beamwidth of the lens antenna.

[0014] A second aspect of this disclosure provides an apparatus comprising:

[0015] The filtering module is configured to filter out target ground base stations after mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground.

[0016] The elevation angle module is configured to calculate the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path;

[0017] The beamwidth module is configured to determine the beamwidth of the lens antenna based on the link budget results;

[0018] The beam count module is configured to determine the number of lens antenna beams required within the elevation angle range based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path and the beamwidth of the lens antenna.

[0019] A third aspect of this disclosure provides an electronic device, including:

[0020] At least one processor;

[0021] Memory for storing the at least one processor-executable instruction;

[0022] The at least one processor is used to execute the instructions to implement the above-described method.

[0023] A fourth aspect of this disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium that, when instructions in the computer-readable storage medium are executed by a processor of an electronic device, enables the electronic device to perform the methods described above.

[0024] A fifth aspect of this disclosure provides a computer program product, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of low-altitude airspace coverage described above.

[0025] The above-mentioned at least one technical solution adopted in the embodiments of this disclosure can achieve the following beneficial effects: Luneburg lens antenna is selected instead of the AAU antenna commonly used in existing terrestrial 5G base stations; target terrestrial base stations are selected by mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground; the elevation angle of the target terrestrial base station facing the flight path airspace is calculated; and the beamwidth of the lens antenna is determined according to the link budget result; further, the number of lens antenna beams required within the elevation angle range is determined according to the elevation angle of the target terrestrial base station facing the flight path airspace and the beamwidth of the lens antenna. The low-altitude airspace coverage scheme of this disclosure utilizes the characteristic of Luneburg lens antennas to emit multiple beams from the center of the lens antenna towards the target coverage area to form full coverage of the target coverage area. By selecting the target ground base station for setting up the lens antenna, and based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight route and the beamwidth of the lens antenna, the number of beams of the lens antenna covering the low-altitude airspace is obtained. By setting up the lens antenna according to this number of beams, the low-altitude airspace coverage performance can be achieved to meet the requirements. Moreover, compared with the existing low-altitude airspace coverage scheme that uses two 5G AAU antennas, this scheme only requires one Luneburg lens antenna, which also has a certain cost advantage. Attached Figure Description

[0026] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this disclosure and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this disclosure.

[0027] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this disclosure or the prior art, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, for those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.

[0028] Figure 1 A schematic diagram illustrating low-altitude airspace coverage achieved by 5G base stations using existing technologies;

[0029] Figure 2 A flowchart illustrating a low-altitude airspace coverage method provided in this embodiment of the disclosure;

[0030] Figure 3 A schematic diagram illustrating the calculation of the maximum coverage distance when the track gauge T is less than a first threshold t, provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0031] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the calculation of the maximum coverage distance when the track gauge T is greater than or equal to a first threshold t, as provided in an embodiment of this disclosure.

[0032] Figure 5 A schematic diagram illustrating the calculation of the elevation angle for airspace oriented towards the flight path, provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0033] Figure 6 A schematic diagram of the beam of a lens antenna facing a low-altitude flight path provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0034] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of the beam feed corresponding to the lens antenna facing a low-altitude flight path provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0035] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of the lens antenna beam after multi-feed stepped power allocation provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0036] Figure 9 The tilt angle θ of the lens antenna provided in this embodiment of the disclosure i A schematic diagram;

[0037] Figure 10 A schematic diagram of a device for low-altitude airspace coverage provided in an embodiment of this disclosure;

[0038] Figure 11 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0039] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an exemplary computer system provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure. Detailed Implementation

[0040] To better understand the above-mentioned objectives, features, and advantages of this disclosure, the solutions disclosed herein will be further described below. It should be noted that, unless otherwise specified, the embodiments and features described herein can be combined with each other.

[0041] Numerous specific details are set forth in the following description in order to provide a full understanding of this disclosure, but this disclosure may also be implemented in other ways different from those described herein; obviously, the embodiments in the specification are only some, and not all, of the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0042] It should be understood that the steps described in the method embodiments of this disclosure may be performed in different orders and / or in parallel. Furthermore, the method embodiments may include additional steps and / or omit the steps shown. The scope of this disclosure is not limited in this respect.

[0043] It should be noted that the concepts of "first" and "second" mentioned in this disclosure are used only to distinguish different devices, modules or units, and are not used to limit the order of functions performed by these devices, modules or units or their interdependencies.

[0044] It should be noted that the terms "a" and "a plurality of" used in this disclosure are illustrative rather than restrictive, and those skilled in the art should understand that, unless otherwise expressly indicated in the context, they should be understood as "one or more".

[0045] The following is combined Figures 2-12 This disclosure describes the low-altitude airspace coverage method, apparatus, device, storage medium, and program product provided in the embodiments of this disclosure.

[0046] Figure 2 This is a flowchart illustrating a low-altitude airspace coverage method provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown below. Figure 2 As shown, the method includes:

[0047] S111: After mapping the low-altitude flight path to the ground, select the target ground base station;

[0048] Based on existing ground base stations, a suitable target ground base station must be selected, and the Luneburg lens antenna must be installed on the target ground base station as the base station antenna to achieve low-altitude airspace coverage of the target coverage area.

[0049] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the target airspace for low-altitude flight routes is determined, and after mapping the low-altitude flight routes to the ground, surrounding ground base stations are selected to obtain the target ground base stations that provide services for low-altitude airspace coverage.

[0050] First, the route information of the low-altitude air routes is clearly defined, and these routes are then vectorized. By adding vector points, low-altitude air routes containing route information are drawn. Specifically, this can be done by collecting electronic maps used for low-altitude network routes, utilizing the various network maps and editing functions provided by electronic map software to create vector maps and station information for the low-altitude routes. Route names are created in the low-altitude route list, and route information is obtained through "network address location" queries. The route information is then created by adding or inserting new data, thus defining the general outline of the low-altitude routes. Vector points are then added manually or by inserting data using network map tools to complete the drawing of the low-altitude route information.

[0051] Furthermore, the low-altitude flight path is mapped to the ground to obtain the low-altitude flight path mapped to the ground, which is referred to as the mapped ground flight path.

[0052] Furthermore, ground base stations whose distance from the mapped ground flight path does not exceed a distance threshold D are selected as target ground base stations. Based on the mapped ground flight path, ground base stations within the surrounding area that meet the conditions are selected as target ground base stations to achieve low-altitude airspace coverage. Understandably, the distance threshold D is a set value; for example, if the distance threshold D = 500 meters, then ground base stations whose distance from the mapped ground flight path does not exceed 500 meters are selected as target ground base stations.

[0053] S112. Calculate the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight route;

[0054] The Luneburg lens antenna serves as the base station antenna for the target ground station, providing low-altitude airspace coverage. Obtaining the elevation angle of the target ground station facing the flight path airspace is crucial for further determining the specific parameters of the lens antenna.

[0055] S113. Determine the beamwidth of the lens antenna based on the link budget results;

[0056] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the link budget result includes: the maximum downlink loss value.

[0057] Based on the formula: Downlink maximum loss = Downlink transmit EIRP (dBm) – Terminal receiver sensitivity – Beam gain of the lens antenna at the farthest coverage distance, the beam gain of the lens antenna at the farthest coverage distance can be obtained. Then, based on the beam gain of the lens antenna at the farthest coverage distance, the beamwidth of the lens antenna can be calculated. The beamwidth of the lens antenna includes the horizontal beamwidth and the vertical beamwidth.

[0058] S114. Determine the number of lens antenna beams required within the elevation angle range based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight route and the beamwidth of the lens antenna.

[0059] Given the beamwidth of the lens antenna and the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path, the number of lens antenna beams required within the elevation angle range can be obtained, i.e., the number of lens antenna sources.

[0060] In the embodiments of this disclosure, addressing the problem that existing schemes using two co-located AAU antennas to achieve low-altitude airspace coverage are difficult to effectively cover low-altitude airspace, this disclosure uses a Luneburg lens antenna instead of the AAU antenna commonly used in existing terrestrial 5G base stations. The process involves mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground and then selecting target ground base stations; calculating the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the flight path airspace; determining the beamwidth of the lens antenna based on the link budget results; and further determining the required number of lens antenna beams within the elevation angle range based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the flight path airspace and the beamwidth of the lens antenna. The low-altitude airspace coverage scheme of this disclosure utilizes the characteristic of Luneburg lens antennas to emit multiple beams from the center of the lens antenna towards the target coverage area to form full coverage of the target coverage area. By selecting the target ground base station for setting up the lens antenna, and based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight route and the beamwidth of the lens antenna, the number of beams of the lens antenna covering the low-altitude airspace is obtained. By setting up the lens antenna according to this number of beams, the coverage performance of the low-altitude airspace can be achieved as required. Moreover, compared with the existing low-altitude airspace coverage scheme that uses two 5GAAU antennas, this scheme only requires one Luneburg lens antenna, which also has a certain cost advantage.

[0061] In the embodiments of this disclosure, step S112, calculating the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path, includes:

[0062] S1121. Calculate the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network;

[0063] S1122. Calculate the elevation angle α facing the airspace above the flight path. i .

[0064] Among them, S1121 calculates the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network.

[0065] Based on the low-altitude flight path coverage distance l0, the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station, and the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude flight path, the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network is calculated.

[0066] Based on the selected target ground base stations, the coverage distance l0 of the low-altitude flight path, the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station, and the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude flight path can be obtained. Here, the track gauge T is the distance between the mapped ground flight path and the ground base station; in this embodiment, it can be the distance between the regional center point of the mapped ground flight path and the ground base station.

[0067] After mapping the low-altitude route to the ground, it can be divided into two cases according to the value of the track gauge T between the mapped ground route and the target ground base station: one is that the track gauge T is less than the first threshold t, such as the track gauge T < t = 30 meters (this is only an example in the embodiments of the present disclosure and can be set to other values according to the actual situation); the other is that the track gauge T is greater than or equal to the first threshold t.

[0068] For the first case where the track gauge T is less than the first threshold t, the maximum coverage distance L of the low-altitude network target airspace can be directly calculated. That is, when the track gauge T is less than the first threshold t, the maximum coverage distance of the low-altitude network target airspace

[0069] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram for calculating the maximum coverage distance when the track gauge T is less than the first threshold t provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. As Figure 3 shown, exemplarily, the track gauge T = T1 < t = 30 meters, the flight altitude of the low-altitude route is h0, and h0 = 300 meters which can be referenced as the common value in the current low-altitude network; the coverage distance of the low-altitude route is l0, and l0 = 1500 meters which can be referenced. Then:

[0070] The maximum coverage distance of the low-altitude network target airspace Referring to the above values, the maximum coverage distance L = l1 of the low-altitude network target airspace can be obtained, which is approximately 1530 meters.

[0071] For the second case where the track gauge T is greater than or equal to the first threshold t, the track gauge T needs to be considered to calculate the maximum coverage distance L of the low-altitude network target airspace. That is, when the track gauge T is greater than or equal to the first threshold t, the maximum coverage distance of the low-altitude network target airspace Among them,

[0072] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram for calculating the maximum coverage distance when the track gauge T is greater than or equal to the first threshold t provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure. As Figure 4 shown, exemplarily, the track gauge T is T2, and T2 = 500 meters can be referenced, T2 is greater than the first threshold t = 30 meters; the flight altitude of the low-altitude route is h0, and h0 = 300 meters which can be referenced as the common value in the current low-altitude network; the coverage distance of the low-altitude route is l0, and l0 = 1500 meters which can be referenced. The maximum coverage distance of the target airspace can be calculated Among them, Referring to the above values, the maximum coverage distance l of the target airspace can be obtained, which is approximately 1610 meters.

[0073] S1122. Calculate the elevation angle α facing the route airspace i .

[0074] Based on the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude route, the coverage distance l0 of the low-altitude route, and the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network obtained in step S1121, the elevation angle α facing the airspace of the route is calculated. i ,in,

[0075] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the calculation of the elevation angle for airspace oriented towards the flight path, provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 5 As shown, for example, the calculation of the elevation angle for the low-altitude flight path airspace can refer to the case where the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station is less than a first threshold t. Based on the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude flight path, the coverage distance l0 of the low-altitude flight path, and the maximum coverage distance L = l1 of the target airspace of the low-altitude network, the elevation angle α for the flight path airspace is calculated. i ,

[0076]

[0077] In the embodiments of this disclosure, step S113, determining the beamwidth of the lens antenna based on the link budget result, includes:

[0078] Based on the formula: Downlink maximum loss = Uplink maximum loss = Uplink transmit equivalent omnidirectional radiated power + Terminal antenna gain - Base station receiver sensitivity, the downlink maximum loss value is obtained.

[0079] Based on the formula: Beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance = downlink transmitted equivalent omnidirectional radiated power – terminal receiver sensitivity – downlink maximum loss, the beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance can be obtained.

[0080] The beamwidth of the lens antenna is calculated based on the beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance. The beamwidth of the lens antenna includes the horizontal beamwidth and the vertical beamwidth.

[0081] Low-altitude networks differ significantly from terrestrial networks. Low-altitude airspace primarily employs a free-space model, as referenced in 3GPP 38.811. The free-space model calculation formula is as follows:

[0082] FSPL(d,f c )=j1+k2log 10 (f c )+k3log 10 (d);

[0083] Where FSPL is the free space path loss, f cThis refers to the wireless frequency band used, measured in GHz, such as 4.9GHz; d refers to the coverage distance, measured in meters, such as 1500 meters; k1, k2, and k3 are adjustment coefficients. Ideally, k1 = 32.45, k2 = 20, and k3 = 20, that is...

[0084] FSPL(d,f c ) = 32.45 + 20log 10 (f c )+20log 10 (d);

[0085] The model can be corrected to obtain the corrected values ​​of k1, k2, and k3, and then the corrected model calculation formula can be obtained.

[0086] The path loss can be calculated using the above model formula. Once the path loss value is obtained, the received signal level can be calculated and compared with the receiver sensitivity. The link budget is a calculation of the system's total gain and total loss; it is the signal level received by the terminal (UE) (RxSL). The received signal level is compared with the receiver sensitivity (RxS) to check if the channel state is normal. If the received signal level (RxSL) is better than the received sensitivity (RxS), the channel state is "pass" (available); otherwise, it is "failed" (unavailable).

[0087] The link budget formula for 5G terrestrial base stations is as follows:

[0088] Path loss (dB) = Base station transmit power (dBm) - 10 × 10g10 (number of subcarriers) + Base station antenna gain (dBi) - Base station feeder loss (dB) - Penetration loss (dB) - Vegetation loss (dB) - Human body blockage loss (dB) - Interference margin (dB) - Rain / snow margin (dB) - Slow fading margin (dB) - Human body loss (dB) + UE antenna gain (dB) - Thermal acoustic power (dBm) - UE noise figure (dB) - Demodulation threshold SINR (dB).

[0089] In low-altitude network scenarios, penetration loss, human body obstruction loss, and slow fading margin can be ignored. Therefore, the low-altitude network link budget formula can be simplified to:

[0090] Maximum link loss = Transmitted EIRP (dBm) - Receiver sensitivity + Total gain loss + Array gain; where EIRP is Effective Isotropic Radiated Power.

[0091] For uplink, the receiver sensitivity of the base station can be obtained from the equipment manufacturer and set to -97dBm. The preset terminal transmit power is 26+1.5dBm, the terminal antenna gain is 0dBi, and the array gain is 0dB. Considering that the SINR value is lower than that of the terrestrial network under the same RSRP receive level in low-altitude networks, the interference margin can be set to 9dB, according to:

[0092] Maximum uplink loss = Uplink transmit EIRP (dBm) + Terminal antenna gain – Base station receiver sensitivity.

[0093] Mobile communication systems are generally uplink-limited systems. Referring to the maximum uplink loss value, we assume that the maximum uplink loss value equals the maximum downlink loss value. The maximum downlink loss value can be calculated by reverse calculation based on the maximum uplink loss value, and the beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance can be further calculated.

[0094] The maximum downlink loss is calculated as: Downlink transmit EIRP (dBm) + Base station antenna gain – Terminal receiver sensitivity.

[0095] That is: the beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance = base station antenna gain = downlink transmit EIRP (dBm) – terminal receiver sensitivity - downlink maximum loss.

[0096] Based on the inherent characteristics of the lens antenna, after determining the operating frequency band of the lens antenna and presetting a certain lens antenna diameter, after obtaining the beam gain, the beamwidth of the beam generated by the lens antenna under that beam gain can be further obtained, including the horizontal beamwidth (horizontal 3dB fading beamwidth) and the vertical beamwidth (vertical 3dB fading beamwidth).

[0097] In the embodiments of this disclosure, step S114 involves determining the required number of lens antenna beams within the elevation angle range based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path and the beamwidth of the lens antenna. Specifically, the elevation angle α calculated according to step S112... i The target airspace range of the low-altitude flight path can be obtained. Combined with the beamwidth of the lens antenna calculated in step S113, the elevation angle α for the low-altitude flight path can be calculated. i The minimum number of lens antenna beams required within the specified range. To satisfy the airspace coverage performance for low-altitude flight paths, the minimum number of lens antenna beams n is: (Min(n)*b0)-α i >0, where b0 is the horizontal beamwidth of the lens antenna beam, α i The angle of elevation.

[0098] The beam gain is obtained from the lens antenna parameters. After setting a certain lens antenna diameter, the horizontal beamwidth b0 (degrees) of the lens antenna beam is determined, and then combined with the elevation angle α.i The above formula yields the minimum number of beams required for the lens antenna to satisfy the airspace coverage performance for low-altitude flight paths. For example, with a base station antenna gain of 16 dBi, the horizontal beamwidth of the lens antenna can be obtained as 19 degrees, and the elevation angle α... i =160 degrees, so the minimum number of beams n required for the lens antenna is 9. Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the beam of the lens antenna facing a low-altitude flight path provided in an embodiment of this disclosure, as shown below. Figure 6 As shown, the beam configuration of the lens antenna is determined.

[0099] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the beam-corresponding feed source for a lens antenna facing a low-altitude flight path, as provided in an embodiment of this disclosure. Figure 7 As shown, from the working principle of the lens antenna, each beam corresponds to a feed source and must pass through the center of the lens antenna sphere. The dashed line of beam b5 indicates that it passes through the center of the sphere from the feed source.

[0100] In the embodiments of this disclosure, a multi-feed stepped power allocation method is further designed to achieve the required coverage performance in the low-altitude airspace. Specifically, the outermost beam is allocated the highest transmit power, and the transmit power of the beams gradually decreases towards the normal direction, thus performing multi-feed stepped power allocation.

[0101] refer to Figure 7 As shown in step 114, the number of beams of the lens antenna facing the low-altitude flight path airspace and the corresponding number of feed sources are known. From the perspective of coverage performance requirements, the low-altitude airspace is mainly facing the low-altitude flight path. The low-altitude flight path is generally set at a certain altitude, such as 300 meters above the ground. Therefore, the middle beams of the beam generated by the lens antenna, such as b5, b0, and b1, do not need to have the same beam gain as the edge beams, such as b4 and b8.

[0102] Since the beamwidth of a lens antenna is determined after its beam gain is set (i.e., the horizontal half-power beamwidth and the vertical half-power beamwidth), a stepped power allocation method can be designed for a single-lens antenna with multiple feeds to better suit the requirements of low-altitude flight paths and avoid power waste in the case of multiple feeds. The outermost beams receive the highest power, and the transmitted power gradually decreases towards the normal direction. The reduction factor can be set according to the link budget, such as: The power allocation method is as follows:

[0103] The power allocated to the edge beam is P0, that is:

[0104] Power_b4=P0

[0105] Power_b8=P0

[0106] The power of the beam gradually decreases as it propagates towards the normal direction, as follows:

[0107]

[0108]

[0109] The power of the beam, which propagates towards the normal direction, decreases further, becoming:

[0110]

[0111]

[0112] For beams advancing towards the normal direction, the power further decreases in a stepwise manner, as follows:

[0113]

[0114]

[0115] Finally, the beam with the lowest power in the normal direction is:

[0116]

[0117] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the lens antenna beam after multi-feed stepped power allocation provided in an embodiment of this disclosure, as shown below. Figure 8 As shown, the beam of the lens antenna provides uniform coverage in the low-altitude region.

[0118] Understandably, the step power reduction factor for a single-lens antenna with multiple feed sources can be adjusted based on the link budget and can be set to other factors.

[0119] In the embodiments of this disclosure, when the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station is sufficiently small, it can be understood that the target ground base station is directly below the low-altitude flight path. Therefore, since the normal direction of the lens antenna's sphere center is vertically downward, a tilt angle θ needs to be set for the lens antenna. i Therefore, further, when the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station is greater than the second threshold W, the tilt angle θ of the lens antenna is set to shift from the vertically upward direction to the horizontal direction. i ,but

[0120] Where h0 is the flight altitude of the low-altitude route and h2 is the altitude of the lens antenna.

[0121] Figure 9 The tilt angle θ of the lens antenna provided in this embodiment of the disclosure i A schematic diagram, such as Figure 9As shown, when the track gauge T between the ground flight path and the target ground base station after flight path mapping is greater than the second threshold W, that is, when the track gauge is T2, the lens antenna height is h2, and h0 is the flight altitude of the low-altitude flight path, according to the engineering parameters of the ground base station. At this time, a tilt angle θ is set for the lens antenna. i The angle by which the vertical upward direction shifts to the horizontal direction.

[0122] In an embodiment of this disclosure, an example is used: a UAV equipped with test instruments is used to test the coverage performance of the target airspace to verify whether the airspace coverage method of single-lens multi-feed stepped power allocation meets the design requirements. Using a UAV equipped with test instruments to test the target airspace verifies its coverage performance. Because low-altitude networks have high network coverage overlap, the actual interference value is greater, and the interference margin parameter may not match the value in the link budget, requiring verification by test instruments.

[0123] In this embodiment of the disclosure, the problem of difficulty in achieving effective low-altitude airspace coverage using two co-located AAU antennas in existing technologies is addressed. This embodiment uses a Luneburg lens antenna instead of the AAU antenna commonly used in existing terrestrial 5G base stations. The target terrestrial base station is selected by mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground; the elevation angle of the target terrestrial base station facing the flight path airspace is calculated; and the beamwidth of the lens antenna is determined based on the link budget results. Furthermore, the required number of lens antenna beams within the elevation angle range is determined based on the elevation angle of the target terrestrial base station facing the flight path airspace and the beamwidth of the lens antenna. The low-altitude airspace coverage scheme of this disclosure utilizes the characteristic of Luneburg lens antennas to emit multiple beams from the center of the lens antenna towards the target coverage area to form full coverage of the target coverage area. By selecting the target ground base station for setting up the lens antenna, and based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight route and the beamwidth of the lens antenna, the number of beams of the lens antenna covering the low-altitude airspace is obtained. By setting up the lens antenna according to this number of beams, the low-altitude airspace coverage performance can be achieved to meet the requirements. Moreover, compared with the existing low-altitude airspace coverage scheme that uses two 5G AAU antennas, this scheme only requires one Luneburg lens antenna, which also has a certain cost advantage.

[0124] The above description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. It should be noted that, for those skilled in the art, several improvements, optimizations and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these should also be considered within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0125] Figure 10 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a device for low-altitude airspace coverage provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown below. Figure 10 As shown, the device 1000 includes:

[0126] The filtering module 1001 is configured to filter out target ground base stations after mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground.

[0127] The elevation angle module 1002 is configured to calculate the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight route;

[0128] The beamwidth module 1003 is configured to determine the beamwidth of the lens antenna based on the link budget result;

[0129] The beam count module 1004 is configured to determine the number of lens antenna beams required within the elevation angle range based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path and the beamwidth of the lens antenna.

[0130] In some embodiments, the elevation angle module 1002 includes:

[0131] The drawing module is configured to draw low-altitude flight paths containing route information by adding route vector points;

[0132] The mapping module is configured to map the low-altitude flight path to the ground to obtain the mapped ground flight path.

[0133] The base station filtering module is configured to filter out ground base stations whose distance from the mapped ground flight path does not exceed a distance threshold as target ground base stations.

[0134] In some embodiments, the filtering module 1001 includes:

[0135] The maximum coverage distance module is configured to calculate the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network based on the low-altitude route coverage distance l0, the track gauge T between the mapped ground route and the target ground base station, and the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude route.

[0136] The elevation angle module is configured to calculate the elevation angle α facing the airspace of the low-altitude route based on the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude route, the coverage distance of the low-altitude route l0, and the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network. i ,in,

[0137] In some embodiments, the maximum coverage distance module includes:

[0138] The first coverage distance module is configured to determine the maximum coverage distance of the low-altitude network target airspace when the track gauge T is less than a first threshold t.

[0139] The second coverage distance module is configured to determine the maximum coverage distance of the low-altitude network target airspace when the track gauge T is greater than or equal to the first threshold t. in,

[0140] In some embodiments, the beamwidth module 1003 includes:

[0141] The downlink maximum loss module is configured to obtain the downlink maximum loss value based on: downlink maximum loss value = uplink maximum loss value = uplink transmit equivalent omnidirectional radiated power + terminal antenna gain - base station receiver sensitivity;

[0142] The beam gain module is configured to obtain the beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance based on: beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance = downlink transmit equivalent omnidirectional radiated power – terminal receiver sensitivity – downlink maximum loss value.

[0143] The beamwidth submodule is configured to calculate the beamwidth of the lens antenna based on the beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance. The beamwidth of the lens antenna includes a horizontal beamwidth and a vertical beamwidth.

[0144] In some embodiments, the beam number module 1004 is further configured to meet the airspace coverage performance of low-altitude flight paths, and the minimum number of beams n for the lens antenna is:

[0145] (Min(n)*b0)-α i >0, where b0 is the horizontal beamwidth of the lens antenna beam, α i The angle of elevation.

[0146] In some embodiments, the device 1000 further includes:

[0147] The power distribution module is configured to allocate the maximum transmit power to the outermost beam, and the transmit power of the beams gradually decreases as they move towards the normal direction, thus performing multi-feed stepped power distribution.

[0148] In some embodiments, the device 1000 further includes:

[0149] The tilt angle module is configured to set a tilt angle θ, which shifts the lens antenna from the vertically upward direction to the horizontal direction, when the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station is greater than a second threshold W. i ,but

[0150] Where h0 is the flight altitude of the low-altitude route and h2 is the altitude of the lens antenna.

[0151] The specific implementation process of the functions and roles of each module in the above device can be found in the implementation process of the corresponding steps in the above method, and will not be repeated here.

[0152] Figure 11This is a schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic device provided in an embodiment of the present disclosure, such as... Figure 11 As shown, this disclosure also provides an electronic device 1100, which includes at least one processor 1101 and a memory 1102 coupled to the processor 1101. The memory 1102 is used to store at least one processor 1101 executable instructions, wherein the at least one processor 1101 is used to execute the instructions to implement the steps of the method described above in this disclosure.

[0153] The processor 1101 described above can also be referred to as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), which can be an integrated circuit chip with signal processing capabilities. Each step in the method described in this embodiment can be implemented by integrated logic circuits in the hardware of the processor 1101 or by instructions in software form. The processor 1101 described above can be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an ASIC, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, or discrete hardware components. The general-purpose processor can be a microprocessor or any conventional processor. The steps of the method in conjunction with this embodiment can be directly implemented by a hardware decoding processor, or implemented by a combination of hardware and software modules in the decoding processor. The software modules can be located in the memory 1102, such as random access memory, flash memory, read-only memory, programmable read-only memory, electrically erasable programmable memory, registers, or other mature storage media in the art. The processor 1101 reads information from the memory 1102 and, in conjunction with its hardware, completes the steps of the method described above.

[0154] Figure 12 This is a schematic diagram of an exemplary computer system provided by an embodiment of the present disclosure. Various operations / processes according to embodiments of the present disclosure, implemented via software and / or firmware, can be transmitted from a storage medium or network to a computer system with a dedicated hardware architecture, for example... Figure 12 The computer system 1200 shown is equipped with the programs that constitute the software. When various programs are installed, the computer system is able to perform various functions, including those described above.

[0155] Computer system 1200 is intended to represent various forms of digital electronic computer devices, such as laptop computers, desktop computers, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframe computers, and other suitable computers. Electronic devices may also represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital processors, cellular phones, smartphones, wearable devices, and other similar computing devices. The components shown herein, their connections and relationships, and their functions are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the implementation of the present disclosure described and / or claimed herein.

[0156] like Figure 12 As shown, the computer system 1200 includes a computing unit 1201, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes based on a computer program stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 1202 or a computer program loaded from a storage unit 1208 into a random access memory (RAM) 1203. The RAM 1203 may also store various programs and data required for the operation of the computer system 1200. The computing unit 1201, ROM 1202, and RAM 1203 are interconnected via a bus 1204. An input / output (I / O) interface 1205 is also connected to the bus 1204.

[0157] Multiple components in the computer system 1200 are connected to the I / O interface 1205, including: an input unit 1206, an output unit 1207, a storage unit 1208, and a communication unit 1209. The input unit 1206 can be any type of device capable of inputting information into the computer system 1200. The input unit 1206 can receive input numerical or character information and generate key signal inputs related to user settings and / or function control of the electronic device. The output unit 1207 can be any type of device capable of presenting information and may include, but is not limited to, a monitor, speaker, video / audio output terminal, vibrator, and / or printer. The storage unit 1208 may include, but is not limited to, a hard disk and an optical disk. The communication unit 1209 allows the computer system 1200 to exchange information / data with other devices via a network such as the Internet, and may include, but is not limited to, a modem, network card, infrared communication device, wireless communication transceiver, and / or chipset, such as Bluetooth™ devices, Wi-Fi devices, WiMax devices, cellular communication devices, and / or the like.

[0158] The computing unit 1201 can be various general-purpose and / or special-purpose processing components with processing and computing capabilities. Some examples of the computing unit 1201 include, but are not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), various special-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) computing chips, various computing units running machine learning model algorithms, a digital signal processor (DSP), and any suitable processor, controller, microcontroller, etc. The computing unit 1201 performs the various methods and processes described above. For example, in some embodiments, the methods described above in the embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented as a computer software program tangibly contained in a machine-readable medium, such as storage unit 1208. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program can be loaded and / or installed on an electronic device via ROM 1202 and / or communication unit 1209. In some embodiments, the computing unit 1201 can be configured to perform the methods described above in the embodiments of this disclosure by any other suitable means (e.g., by means of firmware).

[0159] This disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium storing one or more programs that can be executed by one or more processors to implement the methods described in this disclosure.

[0160] Computer-readable storage media can be volatile memory, such as random-access memory (RAM); or non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, hard disk drive (HDD), or solid-state drive (SSD); or devices that include one or any combination of the above-mentioned memories, such as mobile phones, computers, tablet devices, personal digital assistants, etc.

[0161] It should be noted that the computer-readable storage medium described in this disclosure can be a computer-readable signal medium, a computer-readable storage medium, or any combination thereof. A computer-readable storage medium can be, for example, but not limited to, an electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination thereof. More specific examples of a computer-readable storage medium may include, but are not limited to: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer disk, a hard disk, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage device, magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination thereof. In this disclosure, a computer-readable storage medium can be any tangible medium containing or storing a program that can be used by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. In this disclosure, a computer-readable signal medium can include a data signal propagated in baseband or as part of a carrier wave, carrying computer-readable program code. Such propagated data signals can take various forms, including but not limited to electromagnetic signals, optical signals, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer-readable signal medium can be any computer-readable medium other than a computer-readable storage medium, which can send, propagate, or transmit a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. The program code contained on the computer-readable medium can be transmitted using any suitable medium, including but not limited to: wires, optical fibers, RF (radio frequency), or any suitable combination thereof.

[0162] Embodiments of this disclosure provide a computer program product, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the low-altitude airspace coverage method described above.

[0163] In embodiments of this disclosure, computer program code for performing the operations of this disclosure can be written in one or more programming languages ​​or a combination thereof. These programming languages ​​include, but are not limited to, object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Java, Smalltalk, and C++, as well as conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the "C" language or similar programming languages. The program code can be executed entirely on a computer, partially on a computer, as a standalone software package, partially on a computer and partially on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In cases involving remote computers, the remote computer can be connected to the computer via any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or it can be connected to an external computer (e.g., via the Internet using an Internet service provider).

[0164] The modules, components, or units described in the embodiments of this disclosure can be implemented in software or hardware. The names of the modules, components, or units do not necessarily constitute a limitation on the module, component, or unit itself.

[0165] The functions described above in this document can be performed at least in part by one or more hardware logic components. For example, without limitation, exemplary hardware logic components that can be used include: field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), system-on-a-chip (SoCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), etc.

[0166] It should be noted that, in this document, terms such as "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0167] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this disclosure, enabling those skilled in the art to understand or implement it. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this disclosure. Therefore, this disclosure is not to be limited to the embodiments described herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein.

Claims

1. A method for low-altitude airspace coverage, characterized in that, include: After mapping the low-altitude flight path to the ground, the target ground base station is selected; Calculate the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path; The beamwidth of the lens antenna is determined based on the link budget results; The required number of lens antenna beams within the elevation angle range is determined based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight route and the beamwidth of the lens antenna. The calculation of the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path includes: Based on the low-altitude flight path coverage distance l0, the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station, and the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude flight path, the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network is calculated. Based on the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude route, the coverage distance l0 of the low-altitude route, and the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network, the elevation angle α facing the route airspace is calculated. i ,in, 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground and then filtering out target ground base stations includes: By adding route vector points, low-altitude routes containing route information can be drawn; The low-altitude flight path is mapped to the ground to obtain the mapped ground flight path; Ground base stations whose distance from the mapped ground flight path does not exceed a distance threshold are selected as target ground base stations.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The calculation of the maximum coverage distance L of the low-altitude network target airspace based on the low-altitude flight path coverage distance l0, the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station, and the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude flight path includes: When the track gauge T is less than the first threshold t, the maximum coverage distance of the low-altitude network target airspace When the track gauge T is greater than or equal to the first threshold t, the maximum coverage distance of the low-altitude network target airspace in, 4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The process of determining the beamwidth of the lens antenna based on the link budget result includes: Based on the formula: Downlink maximum loss = Uplink maximum loss = Uplink transmit equivalent omnidirectional radiated power + Terminal antenna gain - Base station receiver sensitivity, the downlink maximum loss value is obtained. Based on the formula: Beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance = downlink transmitted equivalent omnidirectional radiated power – terminal receiver sensitivity – downlink maximum loss, the beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance can be obtained. The beamwidth of the lens antenna is calculated based on the beam gain of the lens antenna covering the farthest distance. The beamwidth of the lens antenna includes the horizontal beamwidth and the vertical beamwidth.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The step of determining the required number of lens antenna beams within the elevation angle range based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path and the beamwidth of the lens antenna includes: The minimum number of beams n required for a lens antenna to meet the airspace coverage requirements of low-altitude flight paths is: (Min(n)*b0)-α i >0, where b0 is the horizontal beamwidth of the lens antenna beam, α i The angle of elevation.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: The outermost beam is assigned the highest transmit power, and the transmit power of the beams gradually decreases as they move towards the normal direction, thus implementing a multi-feed stepped power distribution.

7. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that, Also includes: When the track gauge T between the mapped ground flight path and the target ground base station is greater than the second threshold W, the tilt angle θ of the lens antenna is set to shift from the vertically upward direction to the horizontal direction. i ,but Where h0 is the flight altitude of the low-altitude route and h2 is the altitude of the lens antenna.

8. A device for low-altitude airspace coverage, characterized in that, include: The filtering module is configured to filter out target ground base stations after mapping low-altitude flight paths to the ground. The elevation angle module is configured to calculate the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path; The beamwidth module is configured to determine the beamwidth of the lens antenna based on the link budget results; The beam count module is configured to determine the number of lens antenna beams required within the elevation angle range based on the elevation angle of the target ground base station facing the airspace of the flight path and the beamwidth of the lens antenna. The elevation angle module includes: The maximum coverage distance module is configured to calculate the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network based on the low-altitude route coverage distance l0, the track gauge T between the mapped ground route and the target ground base station, and the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude route. The elevation angle module is configured to calculate the elevation angle α facing the airspace of the low-altitude route based on the flight altitude h0 of the low-altitude route, the coverage distance of the low-altitude route l0, and the maximum coverage distance L of the target airspace of the low-altitude network. i ,in, 9. An electronic device, characterized in that, include: At least one processor; Memory for storing the at least one processor-executable instruction; The at least one processor is configured to execute the instructions to implement the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, When the instructions in the computer-readable storage medium are executed by the processor of the electronic device, the electronic device is able to perform the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

11. A computer program product, comprising a computer program, characterized in that, When the computer program is executed by the processor, it implements the steps of the low-altitude airspace coverage method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

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