Phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method, controller and memory

Abstract

The invention is suitable for the technical field of phased array antenna wave control, and provides a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method, a controller and a memory. The method comprises the following steps: acquiring initial phase shift values of K channels of a phased array; performing step-by-step calibration on the initial phase shift values of the K channels of the phased array, and performing accumulation calculation on calibration data obtained by step-by-step calibration through a built-in data mode to obtain forced calibration data; the step-by-step calibration comprises array element calibration, temperature calibration, formula calibration, subarray calibration and forced calibration; the forced calibration data is data after the beam pointing offset error is corrected; obtaining a final phase shift value based on the forced calibration data; the final phase shift value is used for calibrating beam pointing. According to the method provided by the invention, the data storage amount can be obviously reduced under the condition of high-precision beam pointing.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application belongs to the technical field of phased array antenna beam control, and in particular, relates to a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method, a controller and a memory. Background Art

[0002] Microwave active phased array antenna realizes beam pointing switching through beam controller. The beam controller mainly uses a computer (generally refers to devices such as Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Central Processing Unit (CPU)) to send the array element phase data stored in the non-volatile memory FLASH ROM to the phase shifting device inside each array element (composed of antenna and TR channel) of the phased array, thereby realizing the switching of beam pointing by controlling the array element phase.

[0003] The beam pointing error of a phased array refers to the deviation between the actual beam pointing achieved by controlling the phase shifters of each element of the phased array and the beam pointing requirement. This error has an important impact on the pointing accuracy and application of the phased array radar system.

[0004] On the one hand, due to the differences in antenna element processing, the mutual coupling characteristics between antenna elements, the phase shift accuracy of the phase shifter, and the phase change of the element caused by the temperature change of the product, there is a deviation between the beam pointing result obtained by controlling each phase shifter through beam pointing theory calculation and the beam pointing requirement. On the other hand, with the increase in the number of phased array elements, scanning angles, and beam pointing accuracy requirements, the data storage capacity of phase shifters for different beam pointing increases exponentially, resulting in an increase in the FLASH ROM storage capacity in the beam controller, and the increase in storage capacity brings about a large hardware cost.

[0005] As a method to realize beam switching, the separate table lookup method has high beam pointing accuracy when beam switching exists, but the data storage capacity is large. If the data storage capacity is reduced, the beam pointing accuracy will be poor. In view of this contradiction, it is an urgent problem to achieve high-precision beam pointing while reducing the data storage capacity. Summary of the invention

[0006] To overcome the problems existing in the related art, the embodiments of the present application provide a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method, a controller and a memory, which can solve the problem of how to reduce the amount of data storage while achieving high-precision beam pointing.

[0007] This application is implemented through the following technical solutions:

[0008] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method, comprising:

[0009] Obtaining initial phase shift values ​​of K channels of the phased array;

[0010] The initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array are calibrated step by step, and the calibration data obtained by the step-by-step calibration are accumulated and calculated by means of built-in data to obtain the forced calibration data; the step-by-step calibration includes array element calibration, temperature calibration, formula calibration, subarray calibration and forced calibration; the forced calibration data is the data after correcting the beam pointing offset error;

[0011] Based on the forced calibration data, a final phase shift value is obtained; the final phase shift value is used to calibrate the beam pointing.

[0012] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, initial phase shift values ​​of K channels of the phased array are calibrated step by step, and various calibration data obtained by the step-by-step calibration are accumulated and calculated by means of built-in data to obtain forced calibration data, including:

[0013] Based on the external phase data of the K channels of the phased array, array element calibration is performed on the initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array to obtain array element calibration data;

[0014] In all array elements of the phased array, the first array element data is obtained by using the built-in array element calibration data, and temperature calibration is performed on all array elements based on the first array element data to obtain temperature calibration data; the temperature calibration data is data after correcting the phase drift caused by the temperature change of the active circuit of the phased array element;

[0015] Temperature calibration data is embedded in the first array data to obtain second array data, and based on the second array data, formula calibration is performed on all array elements to obtain formula calibration data; the formula calibration data is data after beam pointing is controlled by a phased array beam pointing theory algorithm;

[0016] The third array data is obtained by calibrating the data with the built-in formula in the second array data, and sub-array calibration is performed on all array elements based on the third array data to obtain sub-array calibration data; the sub-array calibration data is the data after correcting the inconsistency of array element phases caused by the mutual coupling effect of antennas under different angle beam pointing conditions;

[0017] The subarray calibration data is built into the third array data to obtain the fourth array data, and based on the fourth array data, all array elements are forced to calibrate to obtain forced calibration data; the forced calibration data is data after correcting the beam pointing offset error caused by the decrease in antenna gain at a large angle.

[0018] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, performing array element calibration on initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array based on external phase data of the K channels of the phased array to obtain array element calibration data includes:

[0019] Each time the beam is controlled, the initial phase shift value of each of the K channels of the phased array plus the external phase data of the corresponding channel are written into the memory to obtain array element calibration data.

[0020] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, temperature calibration is performed on all array elements based on the first array data to obtain temperature calibration data, including:

[0021] Divide all array elements of the first array data into M sub-arrays according to regions, and divide the operating temperature range of the phased array antenna into k temperature intervals on average; k ≥ 2;

[0022] The ambient temperature of k temperature intervals is adjusted to the specified temperature, and the internal phase data of M sub-arrays at the specified temperature are collected and written into the memory to obtain the temperature calibration data.

[0023] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, formula calibration is performed on all array elements based on the second array data to obtain formula calibration data, including:

[0024] The phase shifters of the K channels of the second array data are assigned values ​​by the phase shift value calculation formula to obtain formula calibration data.

[0025] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, a phase shift value calculation formula is expressed as:

[0026] Φ i =F·(kx i cosθsinφ+ky i sinθ)

[0027] Among them, Φ i is the phase shift value of the i-th array element; F = f / 100MHz; f is the operating frequency; k is the frequency interval; (x i ,y i ) is the coordinate of the ith array element, i=1,...,N, N is the number of array elements in each subarray; K channels include M subarrays; θ is the elevation angle of the beam; φ is the azimuth angle of the beam.

[0028] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, performing sub-array calibration on all array elements based on the third array data to obtain sub-array calibration data includes:

[0029] Divide all array elements of the third array data into M sub-arrays according to regions, and divide the phased array beam pointing angle range equally according to the preset beam pointing range;

[0030] After the acquisition area angle is divided equally, the receiving phase and transmitting phase data of each direction of each sub-array are written into the memory to obtain the sub-array calibration data.

[0031] In a possible implementation manner of the first aspect, based on the fourth array data, all array elements are forcibly calibrated to obtain the forced calibration data, including:

[0032] Measuring the correspondence between the actual beam pointing of the phased array of the fourth array data and the actual pointing requirement;

[0033] Based on the corresponding relationship, determine the correction table;

[0034] All array elements are forcibly calibrated based on the correction table to obtain forced calibration data.

[0035] In a second aspect, the present application provides a controller for executing the phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method as described in the first aspect.

[0036] In a third aspect, the present application provides a memory for storing data generated in the process of performing array element calibration, temperature calibration, formula calibration, subarray calibration and forced calibration step by step in the phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method of the first aspect.

[0037] It can be understood that the beneficial effects of the second to third aspects mentioned above can be found in the relevant description of the first aspect mentioned above, and will not be repeated here.

[0038] Compared with the prior art, the embodiments of the present invention have the following beneficial effects:

[0039] In the embodiment of the present application, each calibration data obtained by the step-by-step calibration is accumulated and calculated by means of built-in data, which can significantly improve the beam pointing accuracy while significantly reducing the data storage volume, reducing the storage volume by 80% compared with the single table lookup method.

[0040] It is to be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the present specification. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0041] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art 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 labor.

[0042] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the application background of a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0043] Figure 2 It is a flow chart of a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method provided in one embodiment of the present application;

[0044] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a step-by-step calibration process provided by an embodiment of the present application;

[0045] Figure 4 is a schematic diagram of an azimuth angle φ and a pitch angle θ provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0046] Figure 5 It is a schematic diagram of the structure of a controller provided in one embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0047] In the following description, specific details such as specific system structures, technologies, etc. are provided for the purpose of illustration rather than limitation, so as to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present application. However, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that the present application may also be implemented in other embodiments without these specific details. In other cases, detailed descriptions of well-known systems, devices, circuits, and methods are omitted to prevent unnecessary details from obstructing the description of the present application.

[0048] It should be understood that when used in the present specification and the appended claims, the term "comprising" indicates the presence of described features, wholes, steps, operations, elements and / or components, but does not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, wholes, steps, operations, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0049] It should also be understood that the term “and / or” used in the specification and appended claims refers to any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items, and includes these combinations.

[0050] As used in the specification and appended claims of this application, the term "if" can be interpreted as "when" or "uponce" or "in response to determining" or "in response to detecting", depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase "if it is determined" or "if [described condition or event] is detected" can be interpreted as meaning "uponce it is determined" or "in response to determining" or "uponce [described condition or event] is detected" or "in response to detecting [described condition or event]", depending on the context.

[0051] In addition, in the description of the present application specification and the appended claims, the terms "first", "second", "third", etc. are only used to distinguish the descriptions and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0052] References to "one embodiment" or "some embodiments" etc. described in the specification of this application mean that one or more embodiments of the present application include specific features, structures or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment. Therefore, the statements "in one embodiment", "in some embodiments", "in some other embodiments", "in some other embodiments", etc. that appear in different places in this specification do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, but mean "one or more but not all embodiments", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in other ways. The terms "including", "comprising", "having" and their variations all mean "including but not limited to", unless otherwise specifically emphasized in other ways.

[0053] In order to facilitate understanding of the technical solution of this application, the technical terms involved in this application are introduced below:

[0054] 1. Beam refers to the directional beam energy flow formed by a specific transmitter or antenna structure during the propagation of electromagnetic waves or other types of waves. Simply put, beam refers to the phenomenon of concentrating wave energy in a certain direction. Beams are often used in wireless communication systems to achieve directional transmission and reception of signals by controlling the radiation pattern and directivity of the antenna.

[0055] 2. Phase shift refers to the phase change of a beam during propagation, and is usually used to describe the deflection or rotation of a beam. The phase shift can be determined by the position of each antenna element in the antenna array and the phase modulation method.

[0056] 3. Phased array is a technology that achieves beam control by adjusting the phase and amplitude of multiple antennas. Phased array replaces the traditional fixed-direction antenna with an array composed of many small antennas, each of which can independently adjust the phase and amplitude.

[0057] The present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0058] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the application background of a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method provided in an embodiment of the present application, see Figure 1 The phased array antenna 102 is connected to the target terminal 103 after being adjusted by the beam adjustment device 101. For example, the communication connection is made in the form of a beam to transmit data to the terminal 103. The terminal 103 can be a terminal such as a satellite, an airplane, or a car that can communicate with the phased array antenna, and the phased array antenna 102 can be an active phased array antenna such as a four-sided active phased array antenna.

[0059] The beam adjustment device 101 also includes a control chip (not shown) and a phase shifter (not shown). The control chip is connected to the control end of the phase shifter. The control chip can control the phase shifter. By controlling the phase shifter, the phase of the wave emitted by each antenna unit of the phased array antenna 102 can be changed to change the direction of the beam emitted by the phased array antenna.

[0060] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method provided by an embodiment of the present application, with reference to Figure 2 , the high-precision beam pointing calibration method of the phased array is described as follows:

[0061] The present application provides a phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method, including:

[0062] Step 201, obtaining initial phase shift values ​​of K channels of the phased array.

[0063] Exemplarily, there are several sub-arrays in the phased array antenna 102. Each sub-array includes several array elements arranged in an array. For example, there are M sub-arrays, each of which includes N array elements, and the phased array antenna 102 has a total of M×N array elements, and the number of channels K=M×N.

[0064] Under the condition that the phase shifter data of each array element of the phased array is cleared, the relative phase between each array element within the working bandwidth (BW) is tested to obtain the external phase data of K channels.

[0065] Step 202, the initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array are calibrated step by step, and at the same time, each calibration data obtained by the step-by-step calibration is accumulated and calculated by means of built-in data to obtain forced calibration data.

[0066] Among them, the step-by-step calibration includes array element calibration, temperature calibration, formula calibration, subarray calibration and forced calibration; the forced calibration data is the data after correcting the beam pointing offset error.

[0067] Step 203, obtaining a final phase shift value based on the forced calibration data.

[0068] The final phase shift value is used to calibrate the beam pointing.

[0069] Exemplarily, the microwave active phased array antenna achieves a beam pointing accuracy of 0.1 within the working bandwidth (BW, unit: Hz), within the working temperature (TW, unit: ℃) range, and within the beam pointing range (Z, unit: °). The calibration data obtained by step-by-step calibration are accumulated and calculated by means of built-in data, thereby solving the contradictory problems of high beam pointing accuracy but large data storage volume, and small data storage volume but poor beam pointing accuracy in the traditional separate table lookup method for beam switching. This significantly improves the beam pointing accuracy while significantly reducing the data storage volume, which is 80% less than the storage volume of the separate table lookup method.

[0070] Then, the following embodiments can set the total number of array elements to K=MN, where K is the total number of array elements, M is the number of sub-arrays, and N is the number of array elements in a sub-array. The number of phase shifter bits is 12 bits (6 bits for transmission and 6 bits for reception). The beam pointing range is Z (number of azimuth pointings, 1° step) × Z (number of elevation pointings, 1° step). Under these conditions, the specific implementation methods of each step are introduced.

[0071] In one embodiment, see Figure 3 , the external phase data of the K channels of the phased array are calibrated step by step, and the specific implementation process of accumulating and calculating each calibration data is introduced in detail. Then, step 202 includes:

[0072] Step 2021: Based on the external phase data of the K channels of the phased array, array element calibration is performed on the initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array to obtain array element calibration data.

[0073] Exemplarily, step 2021 includes:

[0074] Each time the beam is controlled, the initial phase shift value of each of the K channels of the phased array plus the external phase data of the corresponding channel are written into the memory to obtain array element calibration data.

[0075] Array element calibration is mainly used to correct the phase inconsistency between phased array elements caused by differences in the active circuit of the phased array elements and the processing of the antenna. The amount of data finally written into the memory is: (number of channels) × (number of phase shifter bits) × (number of frequency points) = K × 12 bits × (BW / 100MHz) = 12K (BW / 100MHz) bits.

[0076] Array element calibration is to correct the inherent relative phase difference between active circuits and passive antennas between single array elements. The value has a certain randomness and the value range is -180" to +180°. Since the phase difference is only related to the active circuit transmission path and the antenna and has nothing to do with the microwave signal space transmission path, it does not contain beam pointing information. During calibration, the normal of the phased array surface is aligned with the measurement standard antenna for measurement and calibration. According to the product working bandwidth, several working frequency points are selected in the entire frequency band for phase calibration. Therefore, array element calibration only contains frequency information.

[0077] Step 2022: In all array elements of the phased array, internal array element calibration data is stored to obtain first array data, and temperature calibration is performed on all array elements based on the first array data to obtain temperature calibration data.

[0078] The temperature calibration data is the data after correcting the phase drift of the active circuit of the phased array element caused by temperature change.

[0079] Exemplarily, based on the first array data, temperature calibration is performed on all array elements to obtain temperature calibration data, including: dividing all array elements of the first array data into M sub-arrays according to regions, and evenly dividing the operating temperature range of the phased array antenna into k temperature intervals; k≥2. The ambient temperature of the k temperature intervals is adjusted to a specified temperature, and the internal phase data of the M sub-arrays at the specified temperature is collected and written into a memory to obtain the temperature calibration data.

[0080] For example, taking k as 4, under the condition that each array element has built-in array element calibration data, all array elements of the phased array are divided into M sub-arrays according to the region, each sub-array includes N array surface units, and the operating temperature range of the phased array antenna is evenly divided into 4 intervals. Under a typical temperature condition in each interval, when calibrating K channels, the N units of each sub-array are assigned the same value, and the phase consistency between different sub-arrays within the working bandwidth (BW) of the phased array is tested and temperature calibration data is generated. Temperature calibration mainly realizes the correction of phase drift caused by temperature changes in the active circuit of the phased array element.

[0081] The typical temperature may be an average value or any value in each interval of the operating temperature range.

[0082] The final amount of data written into the memory is: (number of temperature intervals)×(number of subarrays)×(number of phase shifter bits)×(number of frequency points)=4×M×12(bits)×(BW / 100MHz)=48M(BW / 100MHz)bits.

[0083] Exemplarily, temperature calibration is an iterative calibration accumulation based on array element calibration. Based on the fact that the temperature in the phased array sub-array is basically the same, the phase difference of the entire phased array surface is compensated by measuring the phase offset of the sub-array. Since the phase deviation caused by the temperature change of the product is only related to the active circuit transmission path and has nothing to do with the microwave signal space transmission path, it does not contain beam pointing information. During calibration, the normal of the phased array surface is aligned with the measurement standard antenna for measurement and calibration. Since temperature calibration is an iterative accumulation based on array element calibration, it contains temperature information in addition to frequency information.

[0084] Step 2023: embed the temperature calibration data in the first array data to obtain second array data, and perform formula calibration on all array elements based on the second array data to obtain formula calibration data.

[0085] The formula calibration data is the data after the beam pointing is controlled by the phased array beam pointing theory algorithm.

[0086] Exemplarily, based on the second array data, formula calibration is performed on all array elements to obtain formula calibration data, including: assigning values ​​to phase shifters of K channels of the second array data by a phase shifter calculation formula to obtain formula calibration data.

[0087] Based on the second array data, all array elements are calibrated by formula. That is, under the condition that each array element has built-in array element calibration data and temperature calibration data, the phased array beam pointing theoretical algorithm is used to achieve 0.1° step accuracy control of beam pointing.

[0088] The calculation formula of the ideal phase shifter is expressed as:

[0089]

[0090] Among them, Φ i is the phase shift value of the i-th array element; (x i ,y i ) is the coordinate of the ith array element, i = 1, ..., N, N is the number of array elements in each sub-array; f is the operating frequency; θ is the elevation angle of the beam; φ is the azimuth angle of the beam; c is the speed of light.

[0091] The definitions of azimuth angle φ and elevation angle θ are as follows: Figure 4 As shown, the array is in the yoz plane, where point p is the beam pointing point. Then the beam pointing elevation angle θ = ∠POB, and the beam pointing azimuth angle φ = ∠AOB.

[0092] To facilitate calculation, the position information (x i ,y i ) and the frequency interval k are put together and recorded as kx i ,ky iAmong them, the frequency interval The azimuth and elevation angle range is Z(°)×10, that is, the azimuth and elevation angle ranges are based on the preset value Z and then multiplied by 10. The angle range is from 0° to Z×10°. Within this range, the angle change can be stepped or adjusted in units of 0.1°. For example, if Z=3, the angle range is 0° to 30°, and it can be fine-tuned in steps of 0.1° within this range. Then, the table size for storing or calculating cosθsinφ and sinθ is Z 2 ×100+Z×10.

[0093] Calculate the phase shift value Φ of each unit i ,Will Substituting the calculation formula of the ideal phase shifter, the phase shift value can be realized in the computer:

[0094] Φ i =F·(kx i cosθsinφ+ky i sinθ)

[0095] Among them, the size of F is related to the operating frequency f, F=f / 100MHz.

[0096] The amount of data finally written into the memory is: (number of channels) × (number of phase shifters) × (kx i andky i number) + (pointing area, 0.1° step) × (number of phase shifters corresponding to cosθsinφ and sinθ) = K × 16 bits × 2 + (Z 2 ×100+Z×10)×16(bits)=(32K+Z 2 ×1600+Z×160)bits.

[0097] Exemplarily, the formula calibration is an accumulative iteration based on the temperature calibration, mainly based on the frequency information and temperature information contained in the temperature calibration, further refining the frequency step and increasing the beam pointing information according to the different phase shifts of each array element according to different beam pointings.

[0098] Step 2024: calibrate the data using a formula built into the second array data to obtain third array data, and perform sub-array calibration on all array elements based on the third array data to obtain sub-array calibration data.

[0099] The subarray calibration data is the data after correcting the inconsistency of array element phase caused by the mutual coupling effect of the antenna under different angle beam pointing conditions.

[0100] Exemplarily, based on the third array data, sub-array calibration is performed on all array elements to obtain sub-array calibration data, including: dividing all array elements of the third array data into M sub-arrays according to regions, and dividing the phased array beam pointing angle range by regional angle according to a preset beam pointing range; collecting receiving phase and transmitting phase data of each pointing direction of each sub-array after the regional angle is divided, and writing them into a memory to obtain the sub-array calibration data.

[0101] Based on the third array data, sub-array calibration is performed on all array elements, that is, under the condition that each array element has built-in array element calibration data, temperature calibration data and formula calibration data, all array elements of the phased array are divided into M sub-arrays according to regions (which may be the same as the temperature calibration sub-array division).

[0102] For example, the preset beam pointing range can be Z×Z=2°×2°. Then, the phased array beam pointing angle range is divided equally according to each area angle of the preset beam pointing range 2°×2°, and the phase consistency between different sub-arrays under the central pointing condition of each different beam pointing area is tested and sub-array calibration data is generated, mainly to correct the inconsistency of array element phase caused by antenna mutual coupling effect under different angle beam pointing conditions.

[0103] Perform subarray calibration on all array elements, collect the receiving phase and transmitting phase data of each subarray and write them into the memory, and spread the data of each subarray to the 16 channels of the subarray, that is, the calibration values ​​of each channel in the subarray are the same. The final amount of data written into the memory is: (beam pointing range / preset beam pointing range) × (number of channels) × (number of phase shifter bits) × (number of subarrays) × (number of frequency points) = (Z 2 / (2°×2°))×M×12(bits)×(BW / 100MHz)=3M×Z 2 ×(BW / 100MHz)bits

[0104] Exemplarily, the subarray calibration is an accumulative iteration based on the formula calibration, mainly based on the result of the formula calibration (superimposed with frequency information, temperature information and beam pointing information), for the deviation between the phase difference between array elements and the theoretical calculation (mainly the formula calibration result) under different angle beam pointing conditions caused by antenna mutual coupling. Since the deviation is mainly caused by the mutual coupling between antenna array elements, it is more appropriate to adopt the subarray calibration method, and accumulate the subarray phase difference with the phase of each array element result after the formula calibration to achieve each pointing phase value.

[0105] Step 2025: Incorporate sub-array calibration data into the third array data to obtain fourth array data, and based on the fourth array data, perform mandatory calibration on all array elements to obtain mandatory calibration data.

[0106] The mandatory calibration data is data after correcting the beam pointing offset error caused by the decrease in antenna gain at a large angle.

[0107] Exemplarily, based on the fourth array data, all array elements are forced to be calibrated to obtain forced calibration data, including: measuring the correspondence between the actual beam pointing of the phased array of the fourth array data and the actual pointing requirement; based on the correspondence, determining a correction table; based on the correction table, all array elements are forced to be calibrated to obtain forced calibration data.

[0108] Based on the fourth array data, all array elements are forced to be calibrated. That is, under the conditions that each array element has built-in array element calibration data, temperature calibration data, formula calibration data and sub-array calibration data, the beam pointing offset error caused by the decrease in antenna gain at large angles is mainly corrected. The corresponding relationship between the actual beam pointing of the phased array and the actual pointing requirement is found through testing, thereby realizing forced calibration of the pointing angle.

[0109] Among them, the measurement of actual beam pointing is:

[0110] When the actual required azimuth and elevation angles are (φ0, θ0), use electronic scanning to measure the actual beam pointing. The required elevation angle is fixed at θ0, and the required azimuth angle is scanned within plus or minus 1° of φ0, with a scanning step of 0.1°. Draw the azimuth difference pattern, find the lowest point of the azimuth difference pattern amplitude, and record the required azimuth angle φ1 at this time. Then fix the required azimuth at φ1, scan the required elevation angle within plus or minus 1° of θ0, with a scanning step of 0.1°, draw the elevation difference pattern, find the lowest point of the elevation difference pattern, and record the required elevation θ1 at this time. Then (φ1, θ1) is the actual beam pointing.

[0111] Make a correction table based on the actual beam pointing and pointing requirements:

[0112] At any required pointing position (φ0, θ0) in the table, fill in the required azimuth angle φ1 and required elevation angle θ1 that can make the antenna point to the actual beam direction. After making the correction table, write it into the memory. When the operator needs to point to (φ0, θ0), the algorithm automatically reads the accurate required angle (φ1, θ1) at this time.

[0113] Through the measurement of the actual beam pointing after calibration and the correction table, the required pointing position and the actual beam pointing position are matched one by one, so that the accurate phase shifter configuration can be quickly found from the correction table. The final amount of data written to the memory is: (pointing area) × (0.1° step) × (number of phase shifter bits) × (number of θ and θ) × (number of frequency points) = Z 2 (pointing area)×100×16(bits)×2×(BW / 100MHz)=3200×Z 2 ×(BW / 100MHz)bits.

[0114] For example, forced calibration does not correct the phase value between channels. Its main function is to solve the deviation between the actual beam pointing of the product and the requirement due to the non-omnidirectionality of the antenna. That is, when the user sets the product beam pointing to (φ1, θ1) and the actual beam pointing is (φ0, θ0), that is, when the beam requirement of the phased array is (φ0, θ0), the customer needs to set the beam pointing data to (φ1, θ1) when using the product.

[0115] Exemplarily, the phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method proposed in the present application can achieve different beam pointing accuracies: σ≤0.1 (beam pointing range).

[0116] Where σ is the root mean square, defined as:

[0117] Where n = Z 2 , that is, the number of all pointing; e i is the pointing error for each pointing direction, in degrees.

[0118] In order to verify the beneficial effects of the present invention, the data volume of the table lookup method and the data volume of the method of the present invention under the same conditions are evaluated:

[0120] The amount of data c1 required by the method of the present invention:

[0121] c1=12K(BW / 100MHz)bits+48M(BW / 100MHz)bits+(32K+Z 2

[0122] ×1600+Z×160)bits+3M×Z 2 ×(BW / 100MHz)bits+3200×Z 2 ×(BW / 100MHz)bits;

[0123] Storage required for single table lookup method:

[0124] c2 = (temperature point) × (number of units) × (direction area) × (number of phase shifter bits) × (number of frequency points) = 4 × K × Z 2 ×100×12(bits)×(BW / 100MHz).

[0125] For example, when K=256, M=16, Z=100, BW=5GHz,

[0126] c1=0.2GByte; c2=76.8GByte.

[0127] The amount of data saved = (c2-c1) / c2 = 99.7%.

[0128] It can be seen that the method of the present invention achieves high-precision beam pointing while significantly reducing the amount of data storage.

[0129] The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method proposed in the present invention accumulates and calculates the calibration data obtained by step-by-step calibration through built-in data, which can significantly improve the beam pointing accuracy while significantly reducing the data storage volume. Through multiple calculations and analyses, the storage volume can be reduced by more than 80% compared with the single table lookup method.

[0130] The present application also provides a controller, see Figure 5 The controller 700 may include: at least one processor 710 and a memory 720, wherein the memory 720 stores a computer program that can be run on the at least one processor 710, and when the processor 710 executes the computer program, the steps in any of the above method embodiments are implemented.

[0131] Exemplarily, the computer program may be divided into one or more modules / units, one or more modules / units are stored in the memory 720, and executed by the processor 710 to complete the present application. One or more modules / units may be a series of computer program segments capable of completing specific functions, and the program segments are used to describe the execution process of the computer program in the controller 700.

[0132] Those skilled in the art will understand that Figure 5 These are merely examples of controllers and do not constitute a limitation of the controller, which may include more or fewer components than those shown in the figure, or a combination of certain components, or different components, such as input and output devices, network access devices, buses, etc.

[0133] The processor 710 may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or the processor may be any conventional processor, etc.

[0134] The memory 720 may be an internal storage unit of the controller or an external storage device of the controller, such as a plug-in hard disk, a smart media card (SMC), a secure digital (SD) card, a flash card, etc. The memory 720 is used to store computer programs and other programs and data required by the controller and the memory. The memory 720 may also be used to temporarily store data that has been output or is to be output.

[0135] The bus may be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus may be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc. For ease of representation, the bus in the drawings of the present application is not limited to only one bus or one type of bus.

[0136] The embodiment of the present application also provides a memory for storing data generated in the process of performing array element calibration, temperature calibration, formula calibration, subarray calibration and forced calibration step by step in the phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method as in the above embodiment.

[0137] The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method provided in the embodiment of the present application can be applied to controllers such as computers, tablet computers, laptops, netbooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc. The embodiment of the present application does not impose any restrictions on the specific type of controller.

[0138] It should be understood that the size of the serial numbers of the steps in the above embodiments does not mean the order of execution. The execution order of each process should be determined by its function and internal logic, and should not constitute any limitation on the implementation process of the embodiments of the present application.

[0139] The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present application, rather than to limit them. Although the present application has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or make equivalent replacements for some of the technical features therein. These modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, and should all be included in the protection scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method, characterized in that: include: Obtaining initial phase shift values ​​of K channels of the phased array; The initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array are calibrated step by step, and the calibration data obtained by the step-by-step calibration are accumulated and calculated by means of built-in data to obtain the forced calibration data; The step-by-step calibration includes array element calibration, temperature calibration, formula calibration, subarray calibration and mandatory calibration; The mandatory calibration data is the data after the beam pointing offset error is corrected; Based on the forced calibration data, a final phase shift value is obtained; The final phase shift value is used to calibrate the beam pointing.

2. The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array are calibrated step by step, and each calibration data obtained by the step-by-step calibration is accumulated and calculated by means of built-in data to obtain the forced calibration data, including: Acquiring external phase data of K channels of the phased array; Based on the external phase data of the K channels of the phased array, performing array element calibration on the initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array to obtain array element calibration data; In all array elements of the phased array, the array element calibration data is built-in to obtain first array element data, and based on the first array element data, temperature calibration is performed on all array elements to obtain temperature calibration data; the temperature calibration data is data after correcting the phase drift caused by temperature change of the active circuit of the phased array element; The temperature calibration data is embedded in the first array data to obtain second array data, and based on the second array data, formula calibration is performed on all array elements to obtain formula calibration data; the formula calibration data is data after beam pointing is controlled by a phased array beam pointing theory algorithm; The formula calibration data is built into the second array data to obtain third array data, and based on the third array data, sub-array calibration is performed on all array elements to obtain sub-array calibration data; the sub-array calibration data is data after correcting the inconsistency of array element phases caused by antenna mutual coupling effects under different angle beam pointing conditions; The subarray calibration data is built into the third array data to obtain fourth array data, and based on the fourth array data, all array elements are forcibly calibrated to obtain forced calibration data; the forced calibration data is data after correcting the beam pointing offset error caused by the decrease in antenna gain at a large angle.

3. The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step of performing array element calibration on initial phase shift values ​​of the K channels of the phased array based on the external phase data of the K channels of the phased array to obtain array element calibration data includes: Each time the beam is controlled, the initial phase shift value of each channel of the K channels of the phased array plus the external phase data of the corresponding channel are written into the memory to obtain the array element calibration data.

4. The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step of performing temperature calibration on all array elements based on the first array data to obtain temperature calibration data includes: Divide all array elements of the first array data into M sub-arrays according to regions, and divide the operating temperature range of the phased array antenna into k temperature intervals on average; k≥2; The ambient temperature of the k temperature intervals is adjusted to a specified temperature, and the internal phase data of the M sub-arrays at the specified temperature are collected and written into a memory to obtain temperature calibration data.

5. The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step of performing formula calibration on all array elements based on the second array data to obtain formula calibration data includes: The phase shifters of the K channels of the second array data are assigned values ​​by a phase shift value calculation formula to obtain the formula calibration data.

6. The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The phase shift value calculation formula is expressed as: F i =F·(kx i cosθsinφ+ky i sinθ) Among them, Φ i is the phase shift value of the i-th array element; F = f / 100MHz; f is the operating frequency; k is the frequency interval; (x i ,y i ) is the coordinate of the ith array element, i=1,...,N, N is the number of array elements in each subarray; K channels include M subarrays; θ is the elevation angle of the beam; φ is the azimuth angle of the beam.

7. The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The performing sub-array calibration on all array elements based on the third array data to obtain sub-array calibration data includes: Divide all array elements of the third array data into M sub-arrays according to regions, and divide the phased array beam pointing angle range equally according to the preset beam pointing range by regional angles; After the acquisition area angle is divided equally, the receiving phase and transmitting phase data of each direction of each sub-array are written into the memory to obtain the sub-array calibration data.

8. The phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method according to claim 2, characterized in that: The step of performing forced calibration on all array elements based on the fourth array data to obtain forced calibration data includes: Measuring the correspondence between the actual beam pointing of the phased array of the fourth array data and the actual pointing requirement; Based on the corresponding relationship, determining a correction table; All array elements are forcibly calibrated based on the correction table to obtain the forced calibration data.

9. A controller, characterized in that: Execute the phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

10. A memory, characterized in that: Used to store data generated in the process of performing array element calibration, temperature calibration, formula calibration, subarray calibration and forced calibration step by step in the phased array high-precision beam pointing calibration method as described in any one of claims 1 to 8.

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