Communication device

Abstract

The invention discloses a communication device, and the device comprises an antenna array, a signal unit, and an amplification circuit. The second port and the third port of the signal unit are in signal isolation; the first port is coupled with the antenna array, the second port is coupled with the input end of the amplifying circuit, and the output end of the amplifying circuit is coupled with the third port. The signal from the antenna array is received through the first port of the signal unit, then the signal is output to the amplifying circuit through the second port, the amplifying circuit amplifies the signal of the antenna array and then outputs the signal from the third port, and under the condition that the second port and the third port are mutually isolated, the signal self-excitation problem can be avoided.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The embodiments of the present application relate to the field of communication technology, and in particular, to a communication device. Background Art

[0002] Reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS) can improve network coverage by reflecting electromagnetic wave signals. In addition, compared with traditional base stations, RIS does not require complex baseband signal processing, has low equipment cost, and does not require transmission cables such as optical fibers. It is one of the key technologies for future wireless communications.

[0003] The implementation circuits of RIS include two types: passive reconfigurable intelligent surface (Passive RIS) and active reconfigurable intelligent surface (Active RIS). Passive RIS does not amplify the reflection of the incident signal, and only by increasing the antenna area can a high gain of the reflected signal be obtained. Active RIS devices add a power amplifier circuit for the reflection of the incident signal, which can effectively reduce the antenna area, but will cause self-excitation problems. Summary of the invention

[0004] The embodiments of the present application provide a communication device and system to avoid the self-excitation problem of the RIS implementation circuit.

[0005] The coupling mentioned in the present application can be understood as a direct connection between two devices, or can be understood as an indirect connection between two devices. For example, the first port is coupled to the antenna. The direct connection can be understood as the first port being directly connected to the antenna; the indirect connection can be understood as any number of antenna arrays being connected to form an antenna connected to the first port, and can also be understood as the antenna being connected to the first port through a resistor device. This is only an illustrative explanation and does not specifically limit the coupling method.

[0006] In a first aspect, the present application provides a communication device, comprising an antenna array, a signal unit and an amplifying circuit; the signal unit comprises a first port, a second port and a third port; the second port and the third port are signal-isolated; the first port is coupled to the antenna array, the second port is coupled to the input end of the amplifying circuit, and the output end of the amplifying circuit is coupled to the third port.

[0007] The communication device in the present application can be used to implement a RIS circuit, and can also be used to implement a reflection circuit of an antenna array. The present application does not specifically limit which circuit is implemented by the communication device. The signal from the antenna array is received through the first port of the signal unit, and then output to the amplifier circuit through the second port. The amplifier circuit amplifies the signal of the antenna array and outputs it from the third port. When the second port and the third port are isolated from each other, the problem of signal self-excitation can be avoided.

[0008] In an optional manner, the signal unit includes: a first orthogonal coupler, a second orthogonal coupler and a third orthogonal coupler; the fourth port of the first orthogonal coupler is coupled to the antenna array, the first port of the first orthogonal coupler is coupled to the third port of the second orthogonal coupler, the second port of the first orthogonal coupler is coupled to the fourth port of the second orthogonal coupler, the first port of the second orthogonal coupler is coupled to the input end of the amplifier circuit, the fourth port of the third orthogonal coupler is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit, the third port of the first orthogonal coupler, the third port of the third orthogonal coupler and the second port of the second orthogonal coupler are grounded, the first port of the third orthogonal coupler is coupled to the second port of the first orthogonal coupler, and the second port of the third orthogonal coupler is coupled to the first port of the first orthogonal coupler;

[0009] The fourth port of the first orthogonal coupler is the first port of the signal unit, the first port of the second orthogonal coupler is the second port of the signal unit, and the fourth port of the third orthogonal coupler is the third port of the signal unit.

[0010] By constructing a signal unit through three orthogonal couplers, it can be ensured that the second port and the third port of the signal unit are isolated from each other, thereby avoiding the problem of signal self-excitation.

[0011] In an optional manner, it also includes a first matching circuit and a second matching circuit; one end of the first matching circuit is coupled to the fourth port of the second orthogonal coupler, and the other end is coupled to the first port of the third orthogonal coupler; one end of the second matching circuit is coupled to the third port of the second orthogonal coupler, and the other end is coupled to the second port of the third orthogonal coupler.

[0012] By adding the first matching circuit and the second matching circuit, the amplitude and phase of the output signal can be corrected, and the signal transmission between the third orthogonal coupler and the second orthogonal coupler can be suppressed.

[0013] In an optional manner, the first matching circuit is composed of a resistor and an inductor.

[0014] In an optional manner, the amplification circuit includes: a low noise amplifier (LNA) and a power amplifier (PA); the input end of the LNA is coupled to the second port of the signal unit, the output end of the LNA is coupled to the input end of the PA, and the output end of the PA is coupled to the third port of the signal unit.

[0015] Among them, when LNA amplifies the signal, the amplitude of noise amplification in the signal is small, which can suppress the amplification of noise. When PA amplifies the signal, it can ensure the amplification power of the signal. Combining the two different amplifiers can not only ensure the gain of signal amplification but also avoid introducing too much noise.

[0016] In an optional manner, the device further includes: a phase shifter; an input end of the phase shifter is coupled to an output end of the amplifier circuit, and an output end of the phase shifter is coupled to a third port of the signal unit.

[0017] By using a phase shifter, the output angle of the signal can be adjusted, and signals at different angles can be emitted through the antenna array, which can radiate more communication devices.

[0018] In an optional manner, there are M signal units, where M is a positive integer; the second port of each signal unit is coupled to the input end of the amplifier circuit, and the third port of each signal unit is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit.

[0019] The power consumption of a communication system using the above communication device can be reduced by cascading multiple signal units, and the construction cost of the communication device can also be saved because multiple communication devices share an amplifier.

[0020] These and other aspects of the present application will become more clearly understood in the description of the following embodiments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of the structure of a communication system provided by the present application is shown;

[0022] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of Active RIS is shown;

[0023] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of another Active RIS is shown;

[0024] Figure 4 A schematic diagram of an Active RIS provided by the present application is shown;

[0025] Figure 5 A schematic diagram of a signal unit provided by the present application is shown;

[0026] Fig. 6A A schematic diagram of signal processing of a signal unit provided by the present application is shown;

[0027] Figure 6B A schematic diagram of signal processing of a signal unit provided by the present application is shown;

[0028] Figure 7 A schematic diagram of an Active RIS provided by the present application is shown;

[0029] Figure 8 A schematic diagram of an Active RIS provided by the present application is shown;

[0030] Fig. 9 A schematic diagram of a phase shift controller provided by the present application is shown;

[0031] Fig.10 A schematic diagram of an Active RIS provided by the present application is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described in detail below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0033] See also Figure 1 The schematic diagram of the communication architecture applicable to the present application includes network equipment, terminal equipment and RIS. RIS significantly improves network coverage by reflecting electromagnetic wave signals, and because it does not have complex baseband signal processing compared to traditional base stations, the equipment cost is low, and no transmission cables such as optical fibers are required, it is considered to be one of the key technologies for future wireless communications. It relies on several antennas and circuit units integrated on a plane to amplify and reflect the incident signal, forming a reflected beam to achieve signal enhancement in the weak coverage area of ​​the base station, intelligently reconfigure the wireless propagation environment, and thus significantly improve the performance of the wireless communication network. It has broad application prospects in current and future wireless network communication systems.

[0034] The network device 110 is a node in a radio access network (RAN), which can also be called a base station or a RAN node (or device). At present, some examples of access network devices are: the next generation node B (gNB), transmitting point (TP), transmission reception point (TRP), home base station (e.g., home evolved NodeB, or home Node B, HNB), macro base station, micro base station (also called small station), relay station, base band unit (BBU) in the fifth generation (5G) mobile communication network, or network devices in the communication system evolved after 5G such as the sixth generation (6G). The network device may also be other devices with network device functions, for example, the network device may also be a device that performs base station functions in device-to-device (D2D), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications, etc. It may also include centralized units (CU) and distributed units (DU) in a cloud radio access network (C-RAN) system, and network devices in a non-terrestrial network (NTN) communication system, that is, it may be deployed on a high-altitude platform or satellite. The embodiments of the present application do not specifically limit this.

[0035] The terminal device may also be referred to as UE, mobile station (MS), mobile terminal (MT), etc. It is a device that provides voice or data connectivity to users, and may also be an IoT device. For example, the terminal devices 101 to 106 include handheld devices and vehicle-mounted devices with wireless connection functions. At present, the terminal device can be: a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a PDA, a customer-premises equipment (CPE), a mobile internet device (MID), a wearable device (such as a smart watch, a smart bracelet, a pedometer, etc.), an in-vehicle device (such as a car, a bicycle, an electric car, an airplane, a ship, a train, a high-speed train, etc.), a virtual reality (VR) device, an augmented reality (AR) device, a wireless terminal in industrial control, a smart home device (such as a refrigerator, a television, an air conditioner, an electric meter, etc.), an intelligent robot, a workshop device, a wireless terminal in self-driving, a wireless terminal in remote medical surgery, a wireless terminal in a smart grid, a wireless terminal in transportation safety, a wireless terminal in a smart city, or a wireless terminal in a smart home, a flying device (such as an intelligent robot, a hot air balloon, a drone, an airplane), etc. The terminal device may also be other devices having terminal functions. For example, the terminal device may also be a device that serves as a terminal in D2D communication.

[0036] The RIS proposed in the related art includes two types: Passive RIS and Active RIS. Passive RIS does not amplify the incident signal reflection, so the antenna area must be increased to obtain high gain of the reflected signal. Considering the equipment cost and equipment volume, the design of Passive RIS has little room for improvement. Active RIS equipment adds a power amplifier circuit for incident signal reflection, which can effectively reduce the antenna area, but will cause self-excitation problems. Figure 2 As shown, the signal sent by the base station to the terminal is a downlink signal, and the signal sent by the terminal to the base station is an uplink signal. Each antenna unit of the RIS includes antennas in two polarization directions. Figure 2In the figure, the +45° polarization direction and the -45° polarization direction are used as examples to illustrate) and the signal reflection amplification is performed respectively. The output signal of the amplifier circuit will be input into the amplifier circuit again, forming a self-excited loop to continuously amplify the signal, thereby causing the reflected signal on the antenna to be distorted.

[0037] In order to avoid the above self-excitation problem, some studies have proposed a solution of loading an active amplifier between the antennas in two polarization directions within the antenna unit, as follows Figure 3 , taking the polarization direction of -45° as input and the polarization direction of +45° as output. Because the two polarization directions are orthogonal, the signal from the output polarized antenna leaking to the input polarized antenna is very weak, which is equivalent to signal isolation, thus avoiding the self-excitation problem caused by the amplification of the reflected signal. However, this method sacrifices the antenna polarization gain. Usually, each antenna unit can have two different polarized reflected signals. Figure 3 The solution has only 1 reflected signal.

[0038] In addition, the transmission paths of the signal from the base station to the terminal and the signal from the terminal to the base station in this scheme are not reciprocal. Specifically, the transmission path from the base station to the terminal is: wireless channel between the base station and RIS -> antenna polarization -45° -> amplifier circuit -> antenna polarization +45° -> wireless channel between the terminal and RIS. The transmission path from the base station to the terminal is: wireless channel between the terminal and RIS -> antenna polarization -45° -> amplifier circuit -> antenna polarization +45° -> wireless channel between the base station and RIS. This non-reciprocal transmission path leads to non-reciprocal channels for the uplink and downlink as a whole. Channel reciprocity is an important feature requirement of wireless multi-antenna algorithms. It is difficult for non-reciprocal base stations to make good beamforming algorithms, and non-reciprocal channels will reduce the communication capacity of the system.

[0039] Based on this, the present application provides an Active RIS implementation circuit to avoid the problem of self-excitation and ensure the reciprocity of the transmission path.

[0040] It should be pointed out that in the embodiments of the present application, "coupling" refers to electrical connection, and the connection between two electrical components can be a direct or indirect connection between the two electrical components. For example, the connection between A and B can be either a direct connection between A and B, or an indirect connection between A and B through one or more other electrical components, such as A and B, or A and C can be directly connected, C and B can be directly connected, and A and B can be indirectly connected through C. For example, the first port is coupled to the antenna, and the direct connection can be understood as the direct connection between the first port and the antenna; the indirect connection can be understood as the connection between the antenna and the first port after any number of antenna arrays are connected, and it can also be understood as the connection between the antenna and the first port through a resistor device. This is only an illustrative explanation, and the coupling method is not specifically limited.

[0041] like Figure 4A communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application can be used to implement a RIS circuit and can also be used to implement a reflection circuit of an antenna, which is not specifically limited in the present application. Figure 4 In the figure, a communication device for realizing a RIS circuit is taken as an example, and antenna polarizations of +45° and -45° are taken as examples for explanation. The base station can send a downlink signal to the terminal through the RIS circuit, and the terminal can send an uplink signal to the base station through the RIS circuit. The RIS circuit includes an antenna array, a signal unit 40, and an amplifier circuit 41. The signal unit 40 includes a first port 1, a second port 2, and a third port 3; the second port 2 is signal-isolated from the third port 3; the first port 1 is coupled to the antenna array, the second port 2 is coupled to the input end of the amplifier circuit, and the output end of the amplifier circuit is coupled to the third port.

[0042] The signal from the antenna array is received through the first port of the signal unit, and then output to the amplifier circuit through the second port. The amplifier circuit amplifies the signal of the antenna array and outputs it from the third port. When the second port and the third port are isolated from each other, the problem of signal self-excitation can be avoided.

[0043] The above-mentioned signal unit can be constructed by an orthogonal coupler, and can also be constructed by other devices to ensure signal isolation between the second port and the third port, which is not specifically limited in this application. Optionally, the signal unit is constructed by three orthogonal couplers, as shown below Figure 5As shown, the signal unit includes a first orthogonal coupler 401, a second orthogonal coupler 402 and a third orthogonal coupler 403; the fourth port 4014 of the first orthogonal coupler 401 is coupled to the antenna array, the first port 4011 of the first orthogonal coupler 401 is coupled to the third port 4023 of the second orthogonal coupler 402, the second port 4012 of the first orthogonal coupler 401 is coupled to the fourth port 4024 of the second orthogonal coupler 402, the first port 4021 of the second orthogonal coupler 402 is coupled to the input end of the amplifier circuit, the fourth port 4034 of the third orthogonal coupler 403 is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit, and the third port 4036 of the first orthogonal coupler 401 is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit. The first port 4013, the third port 4033 of the third orthogonal coupler 403 and the second port 4022 of the second orthogonal coupler 402 are grounded, the first port 4031 of the third orthogonal coupler 403 is coupled with the second port 4012 of the first orthogonal coupler 401, and the second port 4032 of the third orthogonal coupler 403 is coupled with the first port 4011 of the first orthogonal coupler 401; wherein the fourth port 4014 of the first orthogonal coupler 401 is the first port 1 of the signal unit, the first port 4021 of the second orthogonal coupler 402 is the second port 2 of the signal unit, and the fourth port 4034 of the third orthogonal coupler 403 is the third port 3 of the signal unit. In practical applications, the third port 4013 of the first orthogonal coupler 401, the third port 4033 of the third orthogonal coupler 403 and the second port 4022 of the second orthogonal coupler 402 can be connected to a resistor first and then grounded. Figure 5 This is indicated in the text.

[0044] Specifically, the input and output relationship of the four ports of the orthogonal coupler is shown in Table 1. Take the signal input from port 1 as an example: port 2 is isolated from the signal of port 1, and there is no signal output from port 2; the output signal strength of port 3 is half of that of port 1, that is, the power is 3dB lower than that of port 1 input, and the output signal phase remains unchanged; the output signal strength of port 4 is half of that of port 1, that is, the power is 3dB lower than that of port 1 input, and the output signal is delayed, with a phase of +90°. The processing of other ports is similar, so I will not go into details here.

[0045] Table 1

[0046]

[0047] Regarding the above Figure 5 The signal unit in Fig. 6ATo understand the signal superposition situation, the signal of the first orthogonal coupler 401 is input from the fourth port 4014, and after being output through the first port 4011 (power -3dB, phase +90°) and the second port 4012 (power -3dB, phase unchanged), the fourth port 4024 of the second orthogonal coupler 402 receives the output signal of the first orthogonal coupler 401 from the second port 4012 of the first orthogonal coupler 401, and the third port 4023 of the second orthogonal coupler 402 receives the output signal of the first orthogonal coupler 401 from the first port 4011 of the first orthogonal coupler 401. For the second orthogonal coupler 402, the signal input end includes the third port 4023 and the fourth port 4024 of the second orthogonal coupler 402. Referring to Table 1 above, it can be seen that the output of the first port 4021 is a superimposed signal of a signal power of -6dB, a phase of +90° and a signal power of -6dB, a phase of +90°, and the signal output of the second port 4022 is a superimposed signal of a signal power of -6dB, a phase of +90° and a signal power of -6dB, a phase of +90°.

[0048] like Figure 6B As shown, the signal output from the first port 4021 is amplified by the amplifier and then transmitted to the fourth port 4034 of the third orthogonal coupler 403. Since the signal output from the first port 4021 is adjusted by the amplifier to some extent, in order to better illustrate the process of the signal being output from the third orthogonal coupler 403 to the first orthogonal coupler 401, the phase of the signal received by the fourth port 4034 of the third orthogonal coupler 403 is set to 0°. Of course, this is only an exemplary description, and the actual phase of the signal may not be 0°, and specific calculations can be performed based on the actual phase value. For the third orthogonal coupler 403, the input port of the signal is the fourth port 4034, and the output ports of the signal are the first port 4034 and the second port 4032. Referring to Table 1 above, it can be seen that the signal output from the first port 4031 has a power of -3dB and a phase of +90°, and the signal output power of the second port 4032 is -3dB and a phase of +0°. Afterwards, the first port 4011 of the first orthogonal coupler 401 receives a signal from the second port 4032, and the second port 4012 of the first orthogonal coupler 401 receives a signal from the first port 4031, and outputs it from the fourth port 4014. Referring to Table 1 above, it can be seen that the output of the fourth port 4014 is a superimposed signal of a signal power of -6dB, a phase of +90° and a signal power of -6dB, a phase of +90°.

[0049] In addition, it should be noted that the output signal of the first orthogonal coupler 401 is also input into the third orthogonal coupler 403, but because the fourth port 4034 of the third orthogonal coupler 403 is connected to the output end of the amplifier circuit, it is equivalent to that the output of the fourth port 4034 is blocked, so this signal will not be processed. The signal of the third orthogonal coupler 403 is input from the fourth port 4034, outputs through the first port 4031 and the second port 4032, and then outputs from the first port 4021 and the second port 4022 of the second orthogonal coupler 402. The signal output of the first port 4021 of the second orthogonal coupler 402 is a superimposed signal of a signal power of -6dB and a phase of +180° and a signal power of -6dB and a phase of +0°, reference Figure 6B It can be seen that the two output signals of the first port 4021 cancel each other due to the 180° phase shift, and the second orthogonal coupler 402 will not output any signal. Based on this, the port 3 input of the entire signal unit will not leak to the port 2, so that no self-excitation problem will occur.

[0050] Optionally, the amplification circuit includes: an LNA and a PA; the input end of the LNA is coupled to the second port 2 of the signal unit 40, the output end of the LNA is coupled to the input end of the PA, and the output end of the PA is coupled to the third port 3 of the signal unit 40. When the LNA amplifies the signal, the amplitude of the noise amplification in the signal is small, which can suppress the amplification of the noise, and when the PA amplifies the signal, the amplification power of the signal can be guaranteed. The combination of the two different amplifiers can not only ensure the gain of the signal amplification but also avoid the introduction of excessive noise.

[0051] Optionally, the RIS circuit further includes a first matching circuit and a second matching circuit; one end of the first matching circuit is coupled to the fourth port 4024 of the second orthogonal coupler 402, and the other end is coupled to the first port 4031 of the third orthogonal coupler 403; one end of the second matching circuit is coupled to the third port 4023 of the second orthogonal coupler 402, and the other end is coupled to the second port 4032 of the third orthogonal coupler 403. By adding the first matching circuit and the second matching circuit, the amplitude and phase of the output signal can be corrected, and the signal transmission between the third orthogonal coupler and the second orthogonal coupler can be suppressed. Figure 7As shown, when the RIS circuit is designed, it includes a first matching circuit and a second matching circuit, and also includes an LNA and a PA. In the signal unit, since the amplitude and phase of the output signal of the orthogonal coupler are not very ideal 3dB attenuation and 0 degree / 90 degree delay, the corresponding matching circuit can be added as needed based on the actual characteristics of the orthogonal coupler to correct the amplitude and phase of the output signal to achieve signal suppression from the third orthogonal coupler 403 to the second orthogonal coupler 402. The first matching circuit and the second matching circuit can both be composed of resistors and inductors. Specifically, the first matching circuit and the second matching circuit can be inductors, which is not specifically limited here and is only exemplified.

[0052] In actual applications, since the terminal is mobile, if the RIS circuit can adjust the direction of reflection, the application will be more flexible. To this end, a phase shifter such as Figure 8 As shown, the input end of the phase shifter is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit, and the output end of the phase shifter is connected to the third port 3 of the signal unit 40, so as to achieve phase shifting of the incident signal and adjust the direction of the reflected beam as needed. Figure 8 In the example, the input end of the phase shifter is connected to the output end of the LNA, and the output end of the phase shifter is connected to the PA. Of course, in actual application, the input end of the phase shifter can also be connected to the PA, and the output end can be connected to the third port 3, which is not specifically limited here. In addition, the communication system may include multiple RIS circuits, and different RIS circuits are provided with phase shifters. In this case, the communication system may include a phase shift controller, which is connected to the phase shifters of each RIS circuit through the phase shift controller. Fig. 9 The phase shifters of Active RIS1 to Active RIS2n are respectively connected to the phase shift controller, and the phase shift controller can calculate the phase shift value of each reflection amplification unit according to the signal incident angle and reflection angle, and then control the switching of each phase shifter.

[0053] It should be noted that the incident angle between RIS and the base station is relatively fixed. During installation, the angle of RIS can be adjusted to determine the best angle based on the strongest energy. The reflection angle between RIS and the terminal may change dynamically according to the movement of UE. At present, RIS is mainly used to cover blind areas, and the range of blind areas is not too large, which may be 10 to 30 meters in depth. The reflection angle of RIS can be fixed, but the gain at the edge will be poor. Of course, in actual applications, the RIS can be used to dynamically scan the angle and select the best reflection angle based on the signal strength received from the terminal. For example, for an 8*8 antenna array, the incident angle is 15° and the reflection angle is 30°. The calculated phase shift value can be understood by referring to Table 2 below. The phase shift value for the X1Y1 antenna unit is 138°, and the phase shift value for the X2Y8 antenna unit is 202°.

[0054] Table 2

[0055] Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5 Y6 Y7 Y8 X1 138° 138° 138° 138° 138° 138° 138° 138° X2 202° 202° 202° 202° 202° 202° 202° 202° X3 265° 265° 265° 265° 265° 265° 265° 265° X4 328° 328° 328° 328° 328° 328° 328° 328° X5 32° 32° 32° 32° 32° 32° 32° 32° X6 95° 95° 95° 95° 95° 95° 95° 95° X7 158° 158° 158° 158° 158° 158° 158° 158° X8 222° 222° 222° 222° 222° 222° 222° 222°

[0056] In order to reduce system power consumption and RIS circuit design cost, the number of signal units 40 can be M, where M is a positive integer (usually greater than or equal to 2); the second port of each signal unit is coupled to the input end of the amplifier circuit, and the third port of each signal unit is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit. Fig.10 As shown, the figure includes two feed networks, which are respectively used to change the direction of the receiving (Rx) and transmitting (Tx) beams. Each antenna unit (antenna 1, antenna 2, antenna 3 and antenna 4) receives electromagnetic waves from space respectively, and synthesizes the signal by the receiving feed network after passing through the signal unit, and the amplifier amplifies the synthesized signal, and then the transmitting feed network distributes the signal to each signal unit (specifically, if there are 4 signal units above, the signal is evenly distributed into 4 parts and transmitted to each signal unit respectively), through the signal unit, and finally radiated into the free space by the antenna unit again. The power consumption of the communication system using the above communication device can be reduced by cascading multiple signal units, and the construction cost of the communication device can also be saved because multiple communication devices share the amplifier. In actual application, a cascade of multiple signal units can be set according to actual needs, such as setting 4 or 8, etc., which is not specifically limited in this application. If the radiation direction of the signal is not required, and a higher signal strength is required, multiple signal units can be set in cascade to realize the RIS circuit. If the radiation direction of the signal is required to be high, it is not recommended to use a cascade of multiple signal units to realize the RIS circuit.

[0057] It should be noted that in the description of the embodiments of the present application, "at least one" refers to one or more, wherein a plurality refers to two or more. In view of this, in the embodiments of the present invention, "a plurality" may also be understood as "at least two". "And / or" describes the association relationship of associated objects, indicating that three relationships may exist. For example, A and / or B may represent: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone. In addition, the character " / ", unless otherwise specified, generally indicates that the associated objects before and after are in an "or" relationship. In addition, it should be understood that in the description of the present application, words such as "first" and "second" are only used for the purpose of distinguishing descriptions, and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor can they be understood as indicating or implying order.

[0058] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed systems, devices and methods can be implemented in other ways. For example, the device embodiments described above are only schematic. For example, the division of the units is only a logical function division. There may be other division methods in actual implementation, such as multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of devices or units, which can be electrical, mechanical or other forms.

[0059] The above is only a specific implementation of the present application, but the protection scope of the present application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art who is familiar with the present technical field can easily think of changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed in the present application, which should be included in the protection scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A communication device, characterized in that: include: Antenna array, signal unit and amplification circuit; The signal unit includes a first port, a second port and a third port; The second port is signal isolated from the third port; The first port is coupled to the antenna array, the second port is coupled to the input end of the amplifier circuit, and the output end of the amplifier circuit is coupled to the third port.

2. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that The signal unit includes: a first orthogonal coupler, a second orthogonal coupler and a third orthogonal coupler; The fourth port of the first orthogonal coupler is coupled to the antenna array, the first port of the first orthogonal coupler is coupled to the third port of the second orthogonal coupler, the second port of the first orthogonal coupler is coupled to the fourth port of the second orthogonal coupler, the first port of the second orthogonal coupler is coupled to the input end of the amplifier circuit, the fourth port of the third orthogonal coupler is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit, the third port of the first orthogonal coupler, the third port of the third orthogonal coupler and the second port of the second orthogonal coupler are grounded, the first port of the third orthogonal coupler is coupled to the second port of the first orthogonal coupler, and the second port of the third orthogonal coupler is coupled to the first port of the first orthogonal coupler; The fourth port of the first orthogonal coupler is the first port of the signal unit, the first port of the second orthogonal coupler is the second port of the signal unit, and the fourth port of the third orthogonal coupler is the third port of the signal unit.

3. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that Also includes a first matching circuit and a second matching circuit; One end of the first matching circuit is coupled to the fourth port of the second orthogonal coupler, and the other end of the first matching circuit is coupled to the first port of the third orthogonal coupler; One end of the second matching circuit is coupled to the third port of the second orthogonal coupler, and the other end of the second matching circuit is coupled to the second port of the third orthogonal coupler.

4. The device according to claim 3, characterized in that The first matching circuit is composed of a resistor and an inductor.

5. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The amplifying circuit comprises: a low noise amplifier LNA and a power amplifier PA; The input end of the LNA is coupled to the second port of the signal unit, the output end of the LNA is coupled to the input end of the PA, and the output end of the PA is coupled to the third port of the signal unit.

6. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The device further comprises: a phase shifter; The input end of the phase shifter is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit, and the output end of the phase shifter is coupled to the third port of the signal unit.

7. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: There are M signal units, where M is a positive integer; the second port of each signal unit is coupled to the input end of the amplifier circuit after coupling, and the third port of each signal unit is coupled to the output end of the amplifier circuit after coupling.

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