Signal processing method and device and communication equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a signal processing method and device and communication equipment, and the method comprises the steps: generating N first electric signals of which the frequencies are arranged according to the magnitude to form an arithmetic progression, carrying out the electro-optical conversion of a superposed signal of the N first electric signals, obtaining a first optical signal, carrying out the optical delay processing, and obtaining a second optical signal, the time delay between the second optical signal and the first optical signal is a first time delay, the second optical signal is subjected to photoelectric conversion, the converted electric signal is subjected to frequency division filtering to obtain N third electric signals, the frequency of one third electric signal is the same as that of one first electric signal, and the time delay is the first time delay. Then, based on the N first electric signals, the N third electric signals and the radio frequency signals, N first frequency mixing signals are obtained through frequency mixing, the frequency of the first frequency mixing signals is the same as that of the radio frequency signals, and the time delays of the N first frequency mixing signals are arranged according to the magnitude to form an arithmetic progression; the performance requirement and the number requirement for optical modules in a light-operated beam forming system can be reduced.

Description

Signal processing method, device and communication equipment

[0001] The present application relates to the field of communications, and more specifically, to a signal processing method, apparatus and communication equipment.

[0002] Phased array antennas can achieve beamforming of radiated signals by controlling the feeding phase of the radiating elements in the array antenna to change the shape of the radiation pattern. Compared with mechanical rotating antenna beam scanning, phased array antennas have the advantages of high gain, high reliability, and light weight. They are the main antenna form for the development of wireless communications and radars.

[0003] Phased array antennas can use electrical phase shifters to achieve phase shifting of RF signals, local oscillator signals, or intermediate frequency signals. However, due to limited bandwidth, electrical phase shifters can only guarantee accurate phase shifting at the operating frequency. Signals that deviate from the operating frequency will cause beam deflection and cannot support broadband multi-frequency application requirements. Optical true delay time (OTDT) technology can modulate RF signals onto light, and use the transmission delay of the optical delay link to achieve delayed phase shifting of RF signals, supporting broadband signals at different frequencies to obtain the same delay amount. Therefore, at present, broadband signal beamforming can be achieved by replacing electrical phase shifters with optically controlled phased arrays (OCPA) using optical delay lines (ODL) based on adjustable OTDT.

[0004] However, with the development of large-scale antenna technology, the number of array elements has increased significantly, resulting in a significant increase in the number of optical delay links required, and high-performance optical delay links are required to ensure that high-frequency signal transmission is not distorted. Currently, the implementation of large-scale optically controlled phased array systems is difficult and complex.

[0005]

[0006] The present application provides a signal processing method, apparatus and communication equipment, which can reduce the performance requirements and quantity requirements for optical modules in an optical control beamforming system, thereby reducing the implementation complexity of the beamforming signal.

[0007] In a first aspect, a signal processing device is provided, which includes an electrical frequency comb generation module, an optoelectronic conversion module, an optical delay line module, an electro-optical conversion module, a frequency division filtering module and a mixing module.

[0008] Among them, the electrical frequency comb generation module is used to generate N first electrical signals, and the frequencies of the N first electrical signals are arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression, and N is a positive integer. The photoelectric conversion module is used to perform electro-optical conversion on the superposition signal of the N first electrical signals to obtain a first optical signal. The optical delay line module is used to perform optical delay processing on the first optical signal to obtain a second optical signal, and the time delay between the second optical signal and the first optical signal is the first time delay. The electro-optical conversion module is used to perform photoelectric conversion on the second optical signal to obtain a second electrical signal. The frequency division filtering module is used to perform frequency division filtering on the second electrical signal to obtain N third electrical signals, and the frequency of one of the third electrical signals is the same as that of one of the first electrical signals and the time delay is the first time delay. The mixing module is used to mix the N first electrical signals, the N third electrical signals and the radio frequency signal to obtain N first mixed signals, wherein the frequency of the first mixed signal is the same as that of the radio frequency signal, and the time delay of the N first mixed signals is arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression.

[0009] According to the above scheme, the signal processing device only needs one optical processing module (including one electro-optical conversion module, one optical delay line module and one optoelectronic conversion module) to process one optical signal to obtain N first mixed signals with the same delay as the radio frequency signal for beamforming of the radio frequency signal. This can reduce the number and performance requirements of optical modules in the optical control beamforming system, thereby reducing the difficulty and complexity of signal processing of the beamforming signal. In addition, fewer optical modules reduce the implementation cost of beamforming.

[0010] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the signal processing device further includes an antenna array, which is used to send the N first mixed signals.

[0011] According to the above solution, the signal processing device also includes an antenna array, which radiates the N first mixed signals with equal delay amounts through the antenna array to achieve beamforming of the radio frequency signal in the wireless channel.

[0012] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the direction of the beam formed by the N first mixing signals in the channel is related to the first time delay amount and the tolerance of the frequency of the N first electrical signals.

[0013] Optionally, the optical delay line module is an optical delay line module with adjustable delay.

[0014] According to the above solution, the tolerance of the delay amount of the N first mixing signals output by the mixing module is proportional to the tolerance of the frequency of the N first electrical signals and the first delay amount. The signal processing device can control the delay amount of the optical delay line module to delay the input optical signal, thereby controlling the delay amount tolerance of the N first mixing signals and obtaining a signal for beamforming that meets the beam direction requirements.

[0015] In combination with the first aspect, in some implementations of the first aspect, the mixing module is specifically used to mix the N first electrical signals with the radio frequency signal respectively to obtain N second mixed signals, and to mix the N second mixed signals with the N third electrical signals to obtain the N first mixed signals. Among them, one second mixed signal among the N second mixed signals is obtained by mixing the first electrical signal having a first frequency with the radio frequency signal, and one first mixed signal among the N first mixed signals is obtained by mixing the one second mixed signal with the third electrical signal having a first frequency.

[0016] That is to say, the frequencies of the first electrical signal and the third electrical signal participating in obtaining a first frequency mixing signal are the same. If the frequency of the first electrical signal participating in obtaining the above-mentioned second frequency mixing signal is the first frequency, then the frequency of the third electrical signal participating in obtaining the second frequency mixing signal is also the first frequency. This enables the frequency mixing module to obtain N first frequency mixing signals with equal delay amounts.

[0017] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the delay amount between the first mixing signal and the radio frequency signal is the product of a first delay coefficient and the first delay amount, and the magnitude of the first delay coefficient is the ratio of the first frequency to the frequency of the radio frequency signal.

[0018] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the tolerance of the delay amounts of the N first mixing signals is the product of a second delay coefficient and the first delay amount, the second delay coefficient is the ratio of a second frequency to the frequency of the RF signal, and the second frequency is the tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals.

[0019] According to the above scheme, the tolerance of the delay amount of the N first frequency mixing signals is proportional to the tolerance of the frequency of the N first electrical signals (i.e., the second frequency) and the first delay amount, and is inversely proportional to the frequency of the radio frequency signal. The delay amount forms a phase difference, and the phase tolerance of the N first frequency mixing signals is proportional to the tolerance of the frequency of the N first electrical signals (i.e., the second frequency) and the first delay amount. The signal processing device can control the tolerance of the delay amount of the N first frequency mixing signals by controlling the tolerance of the frequency of the N first electrical signals and / or the first delay amount, that is, obtain the corresponding phase tolerance, and obtain a signal for beamforming that meets the beam direction requirements.

[0020] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the second mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal; or, the second mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal.

[0021] According to the above scheme, the first mixing signal and the second mixing signal are both single sideband signals after mixing. Specifically, N first mixing signals with equal delays can be obtained through the above sideband filtering rules for beamforming of RF signals.

[0022] In combination with the first aspect, in certain implementations of the first aspect, the frequency of the first electrical signal with the smallest frequency among the N first electrical signals is a third frequency, and the third frequency is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the radio frequency signal.

[0023] According to the above solution, the third frequency is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the radio frequency signal to avoid frequency aliasing of the double sideband signal after mixing, so that the mixing module can obtain a single sideband signal in the double sideband signal.

[0024] In an optional implementation, the third frequency may be equal to the tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals (ie, the second frequency).

[0025] Then, the second frequency needs to be greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the radio frequency signal to avoid frequency aliasing of the double-sideband signal after mixing.

[0026] In another optional implementation, the tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals may not be equal to the third frequency.

[0027] Each of the N first electrical signals generated by the electrical frequency comb generation module has the same basic frequency deviation, such as the basic frequency deviation can be the third frequency, wherein the frequency of the first electrical signal with the minimum frequency (i.e., the third frequency) is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the radio frequency signal to avoid frequency aliasing of the double-sideband signal after mixing. Thus, the frequency tolerance of the N first electrical signals can be set according to specific implementation requirements.

[0028] In a second aspect, a signal processing method is provided, which can be performed by a signal processing device or a communication device.

[0029] The method includes: generating N first electrical signals, the frequencies of the N first electrical signals are arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression, and N is a positive integer. Also, performing electro-optical conversion on the superimposed signal of the N first electrical signals to obtain a first optical signal, and then performing optical delay processing on the first optical signal to obtain a second optical signal, and the time delay between the second optical signal and the first optical signal is the first time delay. After performing photoelectric conversion on the second optical signal to obtain a second electrical signal, the second electrical signal is frequency-division filtered to obtain N third electrical signals, wherein one of the third electrical signals has the same frequency as one of the first electrical signals and the time delay is the first time delay. Also, based on the N first electrical signals, the N third electrical signals and the radio frequency signal, mixing is performed to obtain N first mixed signals, wherein the first mixed signal has the same frequency as the radio frequency signal, and the time delay of the N first mixed signals is arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression.

[0030] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the method further includes: sending the N first mixing signals.

[0031] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the direction of the beam formed by the N first mixing signals in the channel is related to the first time delay amount and the tolerance of the frequency of the N first electrical signals.

[0032] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the mixing based on the N first electrical signals, the N third electrical signals and the radio frequency signal to obtain N first mixed signals includes: mixing the N first electrical signals with the radio frequency signal respectively to obtain N second mixed signals, and mixing the N second mixed signals with the N third electrical signals to obtain the N first mixed signals. Among them, one second mixed signal among the N second mixed signals is obtained by mixing the first electrical signal having a first frequency with the radio frequency signal, and one first mixed signal among the N first mixed signals is obtained by mixing the one second mixed signal with the third electrical signal having a first frequency.

[0033] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the delay between the first mixing signal and the radio frequency signal is the product of a first delay coefficient and the first delay, and the magnitude of the first delay coefficient is the ratio of the first frequency to the frequency of the radio frequency signal.

[0034] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the tolerance of the delay amounts of the N first mixing signals is the product of a second delay coefficient and the first delay amount, the second delay coefficient is the ratio of a second frequency to the frequency of the RF signal, and the second frequency is the tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals.

[0035] In combination with the second aspect, in some implementations of the second aspect, the second mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal. Alternatively, the second mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal.

[0036] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the frequency of the first electrical signal with the smallest frequency among the N first electrical signals is a third frequency, and the third frequency is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the radio frequency signal.

[0037] In combination with the second aspect, in certain implementations of the second aspect, the tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals is a second frequency, and the second frequency is less than or equal to the third frequency.

[0038] In a third aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising at least one processor, wherein the processor is configured to execute a program or instruction stored in a memory, so that the communication device implements the method in the second aspect and any possible implementation manner of the second aspect.

[0039] Optionally, the communication device also includes the above-mentioned memory, and the processor is coupled to the memory.

[0040] Optionally, the communication device further comprises a communication interface, and the processor is coupled to the communication interface. In the embodiment of the present application, the communication interface may be a pin, a circuit, a bus, a module or other types of communication interfaces, without limitation.

[0041] In one implementation, the communication apparatus is a communication device, for example, an access network device or a terminal device.

[0042] In a fourth aspect, a transmitter is provided, comprising the signal processing device in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0043] In a fifth aspect, a communication device is provided, comprising the signal processing device in the above-mentioned first aspect and any possible implementation manner of the first aspect.

[0044] In a sixth aspect, a computer program product is provided, which includes a computer program code. When the computer program code is executed by one or more processors, a communication device including the processor performs the signal processing method in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0045] In the seventh aspect, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed on a computer, the computer executes the signal processing method in the above-mentioned second aspect and any possible implementation of the second aspect.

[0046] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a wireless communication system applicable to an embodiment of the present application;

[0047] FIG2 is a schematic diagram of a beamforming technology involved in an embodiment of the present application;

[0048] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of an optically controlled phased array of a space-division structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0049] FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an optically controlled phased array of a wavelength division structure provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0050] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a signal processing method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0051] FIG6 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a signal processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0052] FIG7 is a schematic diagram of a structure of a frequency mixing module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0053] FIG8 is another schematic diagram of the structure of the frequency mixing module provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of two beams with mirror-image beam directions provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] FIG10 is a schematic diagram of mixing a radio frequency signal provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0056] FIG11 is another schematic diagram of the structure of a signal processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0057] FIG12 is another schematic diagram of the structure of a signal processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0058] FIG. 13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0059] In the embodiments of the present application, " / " can indicate that the objects associated before and after are in an "or" relationship, for example, A / B can indicate A or B; "and / or" can be used to describe that there are three relationships between the associated objects, for example, A and / or B can indicate: A exists alone, A and B exist at the same time, and B exists alone, where A and B can be singular or plural. In order to facilitate the description of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, in the embodiments of the present application, the words "first" and "second" can be used to distinguish between technical features with the same or similar functions. The words "first" and "second" do not limit the quantity and execution order, and the words "first" and "second" do not necessarily limit the difference. In the embodiments of the present application, the words "exemplary" or "for example" are used to indicate examples, illustrations or explanations, and any embodiment or design described as "exemplary" or "for example" should not be interpreted as being more preferred or more advantageous than other embodiments or design. The use of words such as "exemplary" or "for example" is intended to present related concepts in a specific way for easy understanding.

[0060] In the embodiments of the present application, at least one (kind) can also be described as one (kind) or more (kinds), and more (kinds) can be two (kinds), three (kinds), four (kinds) or more (kinds), and the present application does not impose any limitation.

[0061] The technical solution in this application will be described below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0062] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application can be applied to various communication systems, such as mobile communication systems, wireless local area network communication systems, etc., and can be specifically applied to fifth generation (5th generation, 5G) mobile communication systems and future communication systems, or systems that integrate multiple communication systems, etc., and are not limited to the embodiments of the present application.

[0063] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of a communication system 100 applied in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG1 , the communication system 100 may include at least one communication device, such as a wireless access network device 110a and a wireless access network device 110b as shown in FIG1 , and the at least one communication device may also be a terminal, as well as terminals 120a to 120j as shown in FIG1 . The communication device in the communication system may process the radio frequency signal by the signal processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application to obtain a plurality of signals with equal delays, so that the plurality of signals are radiated through the antenna array of the communication device to form a directional beam. For example, the access network device may process the radio frequency signal to be sent to the terminal by the signal processing method provided in the embodiment of the present application to obtain a plurality of signals with equal delays, and send the plurality of signals to the terminal through the antenna array, so that the plurality of signals form a beam pointing to the terminal in the channel.

[0064] In order to better understand the solution of the present application, the following describes the relevant technologies and terms involved in the embodiments of the present application:

[0065] 1. Arithmetic sequence

[0066] An arithmetic sequence is a sequence in which, starting from the second term, the difference between each term and its previous term is equal to the same constant. This constant is called the common difference of the arithmetic sequence.

[0067] The multiple signals with equidistant frequencies involved in the embodiments of the present application refer to the frequencies of the multiple signals being arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression, that is, the frequencies of the multiple signals are different, and the frequency difference between two signals with adjacent frequencies is the same. For example, N signals are represented as f(ω, t), f(ω+Δω, t), f(ω+2Δω, t), ..., f(ω+(N-1)Δω, t), and the frequencies of the N signals are arranged in size as ω, ω+Δω, ω+2Δω, ..., ω+(N-1)Δω. It can be seen that the frequencies of the N signals are different, and the frequency difference between two signals with adjacent frequencies is the same, which is Δω. That is, the frequencies of the N signals are arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression with a tolerance of Δω, and the N signals can be called N signals with equidistant frequencies.

[0068] And, the multiple signals with equal delays involved in the embodiments of the present application refer to the delays of multiple signals arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression, that is, the delays of multiple signals are different, and the delay difference between two signals with adjacent delays is the same. For example, N signals are represented by f(ω, t), f(ω, t+Δt), f(ω, t+2Δt), ..., f(ω, t+(N-1)Δt), and the delays of the N signals are arranged in size as 0, Δt, 2Δt, ..., (N-1)Δt. It can be seen that the delays of the N signals are different, and the delay between two signals with adjacent delays is the same, all Δt. That is, the delays of the N signals are arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression with a tolerance of Δt, and the N signals can be called N signals with equal delays.

[0069] 2. Beamforming technology

[0070] Beamforming technology refers to adjusting the phase of the RF signal so that the radiated signal radiated by the antenna array has a certain directionality, which can achieve higher antenna array gain. Among them, the main lobe of the radiation pattern of the antenna array can be called a beam.

[0071] For example, the antenna array shown in FIG2 includes N array element antennas, which are evenly spaced at intervals of d, that is, the interval between two adjacent antennas is d. RF (t) After phase adjustment, N signals are obtained, namely SRF (t), S RF (t)e jΔθ , S RF (t)e j2Δθ , S RF (t)e j3Δθ ,…,S RF (t)e j(N-1)Δθ , the phases of the N signals are arranged in order to form an arithmetic sequence with a tolerance of Δθ. The N signals are sent to the wireless channel through the N array element antennas of the antenna array, where the phase difference between the signals sent by two adjacent array element antennas is Δθ. This makes the direction of the beam formed by the signal sent by the antenna array deviate from the direction perpendicular to the radiation surface of the antenna array by an angle α. Most of the signal energy is concentrated in this direction, which enhances the coverage of the signal in this direction. As shown in Figure 2, the angle α is related to the distance d between the two adjacent array element antennas and the wave path difference c·Δτ between the transmitted signals, that is, α=arcsin(c·Δτ / d), and the phase difference Δθ between the two adjacent array element antennas is related to the signal frequency ω s The relationship between the delay Δτ and the time delay Δθ can be expressed as Δθ = ω s ·Δτ, where ω s =2πc / λ, λ is the wavelength of the signal, c is the speed of light, that is, the propagation speed of the wireless signal. Therefore, the path difference can be expressed by the phase difference Δθ as c·Δτ=Δθ·λ / 2π, and the relationship between the angle α and the phase difference Δθ can be expressed as α=arcsin(Δθ·λ / 2πd).

[0072] It should be understood that FIG2 illustrates the principle of beamforming technology by taking a column antenna array in which N array element antennas are arranged side by side as an example. The antenna array may also be a planar array including multiple rows and columns of array elements, which can achieve higher antenna array gain.

[0073] At present, beamforming of radio frequency signals is mainly achieved by using an optically controlled phased array using optical true delay technology, for example, an optically controlled phased array with a space division structure as shown in FIG3 and an optically controlled phased array with a wavelength division structure as shown in FIG4 .

[0074] The optically controlled phased array with space division structure uses space division to realize the adjustable ODL connection of different array elements. As shown in Figure 3, the RF signal S to be transmitted RF (t) modulates a semiconductor laser (laser diode, LD) to generate an intensity modulated optical signal, which is passed through an optical splitter to obtain N optical signals, which are respectively passed through different adjustable ODL units to achieve different delay controls. The N adjustable ODL units (including ODL1, ODL2, ..., ODL N) is converted into an electrical signal with equal delay by a photodetector (PD) and then radiated from the antenna element to the wireless channel. For an array of N elements, the space division system shown in Figure 3 requires 1 LD, N ODL units and N PDs.

[0075] The optically controlled phased array with wavelength division structure uses wavelength division to realize the adjustable ODL connection of different array elements. As shown in Figure 4, the RF signal S to be sent RF (t) modulates to the LD array with equal wavelength spacing to generate N intensity modulated optical signals. After coupling through the wavelength division multiplexer, they are input into the adjustable ODL with linear dispersion characteristics. Optical signals of different wavelengths enter different delay channels, and the time delay distribution of optical signals of different wavelengths is obtained. After passing through the wavelength division multiplexer, they are input into the PD array and converted into electrical signals with equal delays, which are radiated into the wireless channel by the antenna array elements. For an array of N array elements, the wavelength division system shown in Figure 4 requires N LDs and N PDs.

[0076] In order to ensure that high-frequency signal transmission is not distorted, LD and PD are required to have large bandwidth and high linearity, and the performance requirements of LD and PD are high. In addition, the delay step of the adjustable ODL decreases with the increase of frequency. For the millimeter wave band, it is required to reach the picosecond (PS) level. The control speed of ODL requires the optical switch to switch at high speed. Therefore, the optically controlled phased array also has high performance requirements for the adjustable ODL. With the development of large-scale antenna technology, large-scale antenna arrays include thousands of array elements, that is, the value of N in Figures 3 and 4 is in the thousands. The huge number of high-performance devices makes the implementation of optically controlled phased arrays difficult and costly. The present application proposes that the superposition signal of multiple signals with equal frequency difference can be input into an optical processing module (including an electro-optical conversion module, an optical delay line module and an optoelectronic conversion module) to realize the delay control of one optical signal, and then the frequency division processing of one signal output by the optical processing module can obtain multiple delayed signals with equal frequency difference, and after mixing with the radio frequency signal, multiple signals with equal delay amount can be obtained for beamforming of radio frequency signals. The above-mentioned solution provided in the present application can reduce the performance requirements and quantity requirements for optical modules in the optical control beamforming system, and reduce the implementation complexity of the beamforming signal.

[0077] FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of a signal processing method 500 provided in an embodiment of the present application. The following description is given by taking a signal processing device executing the method as an example, but the present application is not limited thereto, and the signal processing method can also be executed by a communication device. Exemplarily, the signal processing device may include an electrical frequency comb generation module, an electro-optical conversion module, an optical delay line module, an optoelectronic conversion module, a frequency division filtering module, and a mixing module. The signal processing method 500 includes but is not limited to the following steps:

[0078] S501, a signal processing device generates N first electrical signals, and the frequencies of the N first electrical signals are arranged in order to form an arithmetic progression.

[0079] The signal processing device can generate N first electrical signals through the electrical frequency comb generating module. Exemplarily, as shown in FIG6 , the signal processing device generates N first electrical signals through the electrical frequency comb generating module, the N first electrical signals are N single-frequency signals with different frequencies, and the frequencies of the N first electrical signals are arranged in order to form an arithmetic progression with a tolerance of the second frequency Δω, that is, the N first electrical signals are N signals with arithmetic differences in frequency, and the N first electrical signals can be expressed as:

[0080] cos[Δωt+θ1], cos[2Δωt+θ2], cos[3Δωt+θ3],…, cos[NΔωt+θ N ].

[0081] Since the phase of the first electrical signal will be offset in the subsequent processing process, the embodiment of the present application does not limit the phase of the first electrical signal generated by the signal processing device.

[0082] S502: A signal processing device performs electrical-to-optical conversion on a superimposed signal of N first electrical signals to obtain a first optical signal.

[0083] The signal processing device superimposes the N first electrical signals to obtain a superimposed electrical signal. Exemplarily, the signal processing device further includes a signal superposition module as shown in FIG6. After the N first electrical signals output by the electrical frequency comb generation module are input into the signal superposition module, a superimposed electrical signal e1(t) output by the signal superposition module is obtained. The superimposed electrical signal e1(t) can be expressed as:

[0084]

[0085] After the signal processing device obtains the superimposed electrical signal, the superimposed electrical signal is converted into an electrical-optical signal to obtain a first optical signal. Exemplarily, as shown in FIG6 , the signal processing device inputs the superimposed electrical signal e1(t) into the electrical-optical conversion module to obtain a first optical signal O1(t) output by the electrical-optical conversion module. For example, the first optical signal O1(t) is an optical signal obtained by the electrical-optical conversion module by performing optical intensity modulation based on the superimposed electrical signal e1(t).

[0086] The signal processing device executes S502 to convert N first electrical signals (i.e., N first electrical signals) into one optical signal (i.e., first optical signal). The signal processing device processes one optical signal by executing the following steps to obtain N signals with equal delays.

[0087] S503: The signal processing device performs optical delay processing on the first optical signal to obtain a second optical signal, where the delay between the second optical signal and the first optical signal is the first delay.

[0088] For example, as shown in FIG6 , the signal processing device can obtain a second optical signal based on the first optical signal through an optical delay line module, wherein the optical delay line module is used to change the transmission length of the optical signal (i.e., change the optical path of the optical signal), thereby changing the optical true time delay (OTDT). The signal processing device inputs the first optical signal O1(t) into the optical delay line module to obtain a second optical signal O2(t) output by the optical delay line module, and the time delay between the second optical signal and the first optical signal is the first time delay τ. The optical delay line module performs time delay processing on the first optical signal O1(t) to obtain a second optical signal O2(t)=O1(t-τ).

[0089] The signal processing device can control the delay amount of the optical delay line module for delay processing of the input optical signal. The delay amount is proportional to the delay amount tolerance of the N first mixing signals with equal delay amounts output by the mixing module introduced below. The delay amount tolerance of the N first mixing signals determines the direction of the beam formed after the N first mixing signals are radiated by the antenna array. Therefore, the signal processing device can control the direction of the beam formed after the N first mixing signals are radiated by the antenna array by controlling the delay amount of the optical delay line module for delay processing. The optical delay line module can also be called an adjustable optical delay line module, which is not limited in this application.

[0090] S504: The signal processing device performs photoelectric conversion on the second optical signal to obtain a second electrical signal.

[0091] The signal processing device inputs the second optical signal O2(t) into the photoelectric conversion module to obtain a second electrical signal e2(t). For example, the second optical signal is a light intensity modulated signal, and the photoelectric conversion module demultiplexes the second optical signal to obtain a second electrical signal.

[0092] S505: The signal processing device performs frequency division filtering on the second electrical signal to obtain N third electrical signals, wherein a third electrical signal has the same frequency as a first electrical signal and a delay amount is the first delay amount.

[0093] The signal processing device inputs the second electrical signal into the frequency division filtering module to obtain N third electrical signals, and the frequency of one third electrical signal is the same as that of one first electrical signal and the delay is the first delay, then the frequencies of the N third electrical signals are arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression. Exemplarily, as shown in FIG6 , after the second electrical signal e2(t) is input into the frequency division filtering module, N third electrical signals output by the frequency division filtering module are obtained, and the frequencies of the N third electrical signals are arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression with a tolerance of Δω, and the N third electrical signals can be expressed as:

[0094] cos[Δω(t-τ)+θ1], cos[2Δω(t-τ)+θ2], cos[3Δω(t-τ)+θ3],…, cos[NΔω(t-τ)+θ N ].

[0095] Among them, a third electrical signal has the same frequency as a first electrical signal, for example, the third electrical signal cos[Δω(t-τ)+θ1] has the same frequency as the first electrical signal cos[Δωt+θ1], both frequencies are Δω, and the time delay between the third electrical signal and the first electrical signal is the first time delay τ. For another example, the third electrical signal cos[3Δω(t-τ)+θ1] has the same frequency as the first electrical signal cos[3Δωt+θ1], and the time delay is the first time delay τ.

[0096] That is, after the signal processing device performs the processing from S502 to S503 on the N first electrical signals, a delayed signal (ie, a third electrical signal) with a delay amount of τ for each first electrical signal is obtained.

[0097] S504, the signal processing device mixes the N first electrical signals, the N third electrical signals and the radio frequency signal to obtain N first mixed signals, wherein the frequency of the first mixed signal is the same as that of the radio frequency signal, and the time delays of the N first mixed signals are arranged in order to form an arithmetic progression.

[0098] For example, as shown in FIG6 , the signal processing device inputs the N first electrical signals, the N third electrical signals and the radio frequency signal into the mixing module to obtain N first mixed signals output by the mixing module. The radio frequency signal can be expressed as:

[0099] A(t)cos[ω s t+θ0+θ(t)]

[0100] Where A(t) represents the amplitude of the RF signal, ω s represents the center frequency of the RF signal, θ0+θ(t) represents the phase shift of the RF signal, θ0 is the fixed phase shift, and θ(t) is the time-varying phase shift. The N first mixing signals can be expressed as:

[0101]

[0102] As above, the delay tolerance of the N first mixing signals is the product of the second delay coefficient and the first delay τ, and the second delay coefficient is the frequency tolerance (ie, the second frequency) Δω of the N first electrical signals and the frequency ω of the RF signal. s That is to say, the delay amounts of the N first mixing signals are sorted by size to form a tolerance of An arithmetic progression of .

[0103] According to the above scheme, the signal processing device only needs one optical processing module (including one electro-optical conversion module, one optical delay line module and one optoelectronic conversion module) to process one optical signal, and then N first mixed signals with the same delay as the radio frequency signal can be obtained for beamforming of the radio frequency signal. The difficulty and complexity of implementation are low, and fewer optical modules reduce the implementation cost of beamforming.

[0104] In an optional implementation, the signal processing device further includes an antenna array, and the antenna array is used to send the N first mixed frequency signals.

[0105] The antenna array includes N array element antennas, which are evenly spaced at intervals of d, that is, the interval between two adjacent antennas is d. Each array element antenna sends a first mixing signal, and the time delay of the first mixing signal sent between two adjacent array element antennas is Since the time delay forms a phase difference, the time delay is The first mixing signal can also be expressed as A(t)cos[ω s t+nΔωτ+θ0+θ(t)], n is a positive integer less than or equal to N, so compared with the delay of the RF signal The phase difference between the first mixed signal and the RF signal is nΔωτ. Based on the beamforming technology introduced above, the delay of the signal sent by two adjacent array antennas is Then the direction of the beam formed by the N first mixed signals sent by the antenna array deviates from the angle perpendicular to the radiation surface of the antenna array by Here, c is the speed of light, which is the speed at which wireless signals propagate.

[0106] From the above description, it can be known that the direction of the beam formed in the channel after the N first mixed signals are radiated through the antenna array is related to the first time delay τ and the tolerance Δω of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals.

[0107] In one example, the signal processing device can adjust the direction of the beam by adjusting the value of the first delay τ. For example, the value of the frequency tolerance Δω of the N first electrical signals generated by the electrical frequency comb generating module is fixed, and the optical delay line module is an optical delay line module with adjustable delay. The signal processing device can adjust the delay of the optical delay line module to adjust the delay tolerance of the N first mixing signals output by the mixing module, thereby adjusting the direction of the beam formed after the N first mixing signals are radiated through the antenna array.

[0108] In another example, the signal processing device can adjust the value of the frequency tolerance Δω and the value of the first time delay τ of the N first electrical signals generated by the electrical frequency comb generating module. The signal processing device can adjust the value of the frequency tolerance Δω and the value of the first time delay τ to achieve adjustment of the delay tolerance of the N first mixing signals output by the mixing module, thereby achieving adjustment of the direction of the beam formed after the N first mixing signals are radiated through the antenna array.

[0109] For example, the signal processing device may adjust the beam direction to point to the receiving end of the RF signal, so that the energy of the RF signal is gathered to the receiving end as much as possible, thereby increasing the probability that the receiving end successfully receives the RF signal.

[0110] According to the above scheme, the signal processing device can obtain the equidistant time-delay signal of the radio frequency signal through fewer optical modules and with lower implementation difficulty and complexity, thereby realizing beamforming.

[0111] In an optional implementation, the signal processing device mixes N first electrical signals with radio frequency signals respectively to obtain N second mixed signals, and then mixes the N second mixed signals with N third electrical signals to obtain N first mixed signals. Among them, one second mixed signal among the N second mixed signals is obtained by mixing a first electrical signal having a first frequency with a radio frequency signal, and one first mixed signal among the N first mixed signals is obtained by mixing a second mixed signal with a third electrical signal having a first frequency. In other words, the frequencies of the first electrical signal and the third electrical signal involved in obtaining a first mixed signal are the same.

[0112] Exemplarily, as shown in FIG7 , the mixing module includes a first mixing unit and a second mixing unit. The signal processing device inputs N first electrical signals into the first mixing unit. The first mixing unit mixes the N first electrical signals with the radio frequency signal respectively to obtain N second mixing signals. The N second mixing signals can be expressed as:

[0113] A(t)cos[(ω s +Δω)t+θ0+θ(t)+θ1], A(t)cos[(ω s+2Δω)t+θ0+θ(t)+θ2], A(t)cos[(ω s +3Δω)t+θ0+θ(t)+θ3],…,A(t)cos[(ω s +NΔω)t+θ0+θ(t)+θ N ].

[0114] Furthermore, after the N second mixing signals and the N third electrical signals are input into the second mixing unit, N first mixing signals output by the second mixing unit are obtained.

[0115] The frequencies of the first electrical signal and the third electrical signal involved in obtaining a first mixing signal are the same. For example, the first mixing unit converts the first electrical signal cos[nΔωt+θ n ] is mixed with the RF signal to obtain the second mixed signal A(t)cos[(ω s +nΔω)t+θ0+θ(t)+θ n ], and then input to the second mixing unit, the second mixing unit mixes the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal cos[nΔω(t-τ)+θ n ] to obtain the first mixed signal It can be seen that the frequencies of the first electrical signal and the third electrical signal involved in obtaining the first mixing signal are both nΔω. Among them, the time delay between the first mixing signal and the radio frequency signal is is the product of the first delay coefficient and the first delay amount τ, and the magnitude of the first delay coefficient is the first frequency nΔω and the frequency ω of the RF signal s ratio.

[0116] After the two signals are mixed, a double-sideband signal including an upper sideband signal and a lower sideband signal will be obtained. The second mixed signal and the first mixed signal are single-sideband signals obtained by filtering the double-sideband signals after mixing. Specifically, the following two implementation modes may be included:

[0117] In the first implementation mode, the second mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal.

[0118] For example, as shown in FIG. 7 , the first frequency mixing unit converts the RF signal A(t)cos[ω s t+θ0+θ(t)] and cos[nΔωt+θ n ]After mixing, the upper sideband signal A(t)cos[(ω s +nΔω)t+θ0+θ(t)+θ n] and the lower sideband signal A(t)cos[(ω s -nΔω)t+θ0+θ(t)-θ n ]. In the example shown in FIG7 , the second mixing signal output by the first mixing unit is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the two signals. The second mixing unit converts the second mixing signal A(t)cos[(ω s +nΔω)t+θ0+θ(t)+θ n ] and the third electrical signal cos[nΔω(t-τ)+θ n ]After mixing, we get:

[0119] Upper sideband signal: as well as,

[0120] Lower sideband signal:

[0121] The second mixing unit outputs the lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the two signals, which is the first mixing signal. The N first mixing signals output by the second mixing unit are the same as the center frequency ω of the RF frequency. s N signals that are identical and have equal delays.

[0122] The N first mixing signals output by the second mixing unit can be expressed as:

[0123]

[0124] As mentioned above, the delay amounts of the N first mixing signals are sorted by size to form a tolerance of The N first mixed signals can correspond to the element antennas of the antenna array in the above order (that is, the order of the time delay from small to large), and the delay tolerance is The equivalent phase tolerance is Δωτ=Δθ, so the beam direction obtained after the antenna array sends the signal can be shown as 901 in Figure 9.

[0125] In the second implementation mode, the second mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal.

[0126] For example, as shown in FIG8 , the first mixing unit converts the RF signal A(t)cos[ω s t+θ0+θ(t)] and cos[nΔωt+θ n ] The second mixed signal output after mixing is the lower sideband signal A(t)cos[(ω s -nΔω)t+θ0+θ(t)-θ nIn the example shown in FIG8 , the second frequency mixing unit converts the second mixing signal A(t)cos[(ω s -nΔω)t+θ0+θ(t)-θ n ] and the third electrical signal cos[nΔω(t-τ)+θ n ]After mixing, we get

[0127] Upper sideband signal: as well as,

[0128] Lower sideband signal:

[0129] The second mixing unit outputs the upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the two signals, which is the first mixing signal. The N first mixing signals output by the second mixing unit are the same as the center frequency ω of the RF frequency. s N signals that are identical and have equal delays.

[0130] The N first mixing signals output by the second mixing unit can be expressed as:

[0131]

[0132] The N first mixed signals may correspond to the element antennas of the antenna array in the above order (i.e., the order of the time delay from small to large), and the time delay tolerance is: The equivalent phase tolerance is -Δωτ=-Δθ, and the beam direction obtained after the antenna array sends the signal can be shown as 902 in Figure 9. As shown in Figure 9, the beam direction formed by the N first mixed signals obtained in the second embodiment and the first embodiment after being radiated by the antenna array is mirrored.

[0133] In a specific implementation, the signal processing device may adopt one of the above two implementations to filter the double-sideband signal obtained by mixing to obtain a single-sideband signal. Alternatively, the signal processing device may implement the above two implementations and switch between the two implementations as required. A beamforming signal of the radio frequency signal (i.e., N first mixing signals) can be obtained, and beamforming of the radio frequency signal can be achieved.

[0134] In one example, the signal processing device can implement the above two implementations and switch between the two implementations as needed. For example, when the signal processing device adopts implementation mode 1, the N first mixing signals output by the second mixing unit as shown in FIG7 correspond to the element antennas of the antenna array in sequence, and the delay tolerance of the N first mixing signals according to the arrangement order of the element antennas is Then the beam direction obtained after the antenna array sends the signal can be shown as 901 in FIG. 9 , and the direction of the beam deviates from the direction perpendicular to the radiation surface of the antenna array by an angle of And, when the signal processing device adopts the second implementation mode, the N first mixing signals output by the second mixing unit as shown in FIG8 correspond to the element antennas of the antenna array in sequence, then according to the arrangement order of the array antennas and the arrangement order of the element antennas, the delay tolerance of the N first mixing signals is Then the beam direction obtained after the antenna array sends the signal can be shown as 902 in FIG. 9 , and the direction of the beam deviates from the direction perpendicular to the radiation surface of the antenna array by an angle of In a specific implementation, implementation mode 1 or implementation mode 2 may be adopted according to the required beam direction.

[0135] In an optional implementation, the frequency of the first electrical signal with the smallest frequency among the N first electrical signals is a third frequency, and the third frequency is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the radio frequency signal.

[0136] As described above, the mixing module needs to obtain a single-sideband signal by filtering after mixing. In order to avoid frequency aliasing of the double-sideband signal obtained after mixing, the condition that the third frequency is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the RF signal needs to be met. Specifically, as shown in (a) of FIG10 , the center frequency of the RF signal is ω s , bandwidth is ω BW , then the RF signal has a starting frequency of The end frequency is Taking the mixing of the RF signal and the first electrical signal with a frequency of Δω as an example, (b) in FIG10 shows the upper sideband signal and the lower sideband signal after mixing, where the center frequency of the upper sideband signal is ω s +Δω, the starting frequency is The end frequency is The center frequency of the lower sideband signal is ω s -Δω, the starting frequency is The end frequency is It can be seen from (b) in Figure 10 that if Δω is less than half of the RF signal bandwidth, that is The starting frequency of the upper sideband signal will be lower than the ending frequency of the lower sideband signal. The mixed upper sideband signal will overlap with the lower sideband signal frequency, so that the mixing module cannot filter out one of the single sideband signals from the double sideband signal.

[0137] Therefore, the frequency of the first electrical signal that needs to be mixed with the RF signal is greater than half of the bandwidth of the RF signal. When the frequency of the first electrical signal with the smallest frequency among the N first electrical signals is Δω (i.e., Δω is an example of the third frequency) greater than half of the bandwidth of the RF signal, the frequencies of the N first electrical signals are all greater than half of the bandwidth of the RF signal, so that the frequency of the double-sideband signal after mixing is not aliased.

[0138] For the first embodiment, the center frequencies of the double-sideband signals obtained by mixing the second mixing signal and the third electrical signal are respectively ω s and ω s +2nΔω, where nΔω is the frequency of the third electrical signal, and n is a positive integer less than or equal to 1. And for the above-mentioned second embodiment, the center frequencies of the double-sideband signals obtained by mixing the second mixing signal and the third electrical signal are ω respectively. s and ω s -2nΔω, where nΔω is the frequency of the third electrical signal, and n is a positive integer less than or equal to 1. It can be seen that if the frequency of the first electrical wire signal with the smallest frequency among the N first electrical signals (i.e., the third frequency) is greater than half of the bandwidth of the RF signal, the frequency of the double-sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal will not be aliased, and a single-sideband signal can be obtained by filtering.

[0139] In the example shown in FIG6, the scheme of the present application is described by taking the frequency of the first electrical signal with the smallest frequency among the N first electrical signals (i.e., the third frequency) as an example equal to the frequency tolerance of the N first electrical signals. Since the frequency of the first electrical signal with the smallest frequency in the example shown in FIG6 is the frequency tolerance Δω, the frequency tolerance Δω needs to be greater than half of the bandwidth of the RF signal. FIG11 is another example provided by an embodiment of the present application, in which the first electrical signal generated by the electrical frequency comb generation module may have a frequency offset ω0, so that the third frequency is not equal to the frequency tolerance Δω, then the third frequency is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the RF signal, and there is no need to require the frequency tolerance to be greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the RF signal. As shown in FIG11, the frequencies of the N first electrical signals generated by the electrical frequency comb generation module are ω0+Δω, ω0+2Δω, ω0+3Δω, ..., ω0+NΔω, respectively. After being processed by each module, the frequency division filtering module outputs N third electrical signals with equal frequency differences, wherein the frequency of a third electrical signal is the same as that of a first electrical signal and the delay is the first delay τ. After the mixing module mixes the N first electrical signals with a frequency offset ω0, the N third electrical signals with a frequency offset ω0 and the radio frequency signal, the N first mixed signals output by the mixing module can be expressed as:

[0140]

[0141] Compared with the N first mixing signals output by the mixing module in the embodiment shown in FIG6 , each first mixing signal output by the mixing module in the embodiment shown in FIG11 includes a phase shift ω0τ, but the N first mixing signals still have a delay tolerance of The time-delayed equal-difference signal.

[0142] Specifically, taking the mixing module adopting the above-mentioned implementation mode 1 as an example, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the first mixing unit in the mixing module converts the radio frequency signal A(t)cos[ω s t+θ0+θ(t)] and the first electrical signal cos[(ω0+nΔω)t+θ n ] mixing, wherein n is a positive integer less than or equal to N. The second mixing signal output by the first mixing unit is the upper sideband signal A(t)cos[(ω s +ω0+nΔω)t+θ0+θ(t)+θ n The second frequency mixing unit mixes the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal cos[(ω0+nΔω)(t-τ)+θ n ]After mixing, the first mixed signal is output, that is, the lower sideband signal obtained by mixing Therefore, the mixer module can output a delay tolerance of The delay equal difference signal of the mixing module using the above-mentioned embodiment 2 can be implemented with reference to the above, and will not be repeated here. The delay tolerance of the N first mixing signals output by the RF module shown in Figure 11 is the same as that of the N first mixing signals in the embodiment shown in Figure 6. Therefore, the beam direction formed by the N first mixing signals in the embodiment shown in Figure 11 and the embodiment shown in Figure 6 after being sent by the antenna array is also the same, that is, The embodiment shown in FIG. 11 can generate N first mixing signals with equal delays for beamforming of RF signals without limiting the frequency tolerance of the signal generated by the electrical frequency comb generation module to be greater than half of the RF signal bandwidth.

[0143] It should be understood that the signal processing method of each module shown in FIG. 11 except the electric frequency comb generating module is the same as that of FIG. 6 , and can be implemented with reference to the foregoing description, which will not be repeated here.

[0144] According to the above scheme, the signal processing device can obtain the equidistant time delay signal of the RF signal with fewer optical modules and lower implementation difficulty and complexity, thereby realizing beamforming. In addition, the frequency of the first electrical signal generated by the electrical frequency comb generation module can be lower than the RF frequency. As described above, the frequency of the first electrical signal only needs to be greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the RF signal. Since the higher the signal frequency, the higher the performance requirements of the optical module, therefore, compared with the optical module optically processing the RF signal, the scheme provided by the present application can obtain N signals with equidistant time delay of the RF signal with a lower performance optical module, further reducing the implementation cost.

[0145] The method provided by the present application is described in detail above in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following drawings illustrate the signal processing device provided by the present application. In order to implement the various functions in the method provided by the present application, the signal processing device may include a hardware structure and / or a software module, and implement the above functions in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module. Whether one of the above functions is executed in the form of a hardware structure, a software module, or a hardware structure plus a software module depends on the specific application and design constraints of the technical solution.

[0146] FIG6 and FIG11 are schematic structural diagrams of a signal processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application. For example, the signal processing device may include an electric frequency comb generation module, an electro-optical conversion module, an optical delay line module, an optoelectronic conversion module, a frequency division filtering module and a mixing module. Optionally, the signal processing device also includes an antenna array, which includes N array element antennas for transmitting the above-mentioned N first mixing signals. Each unit module can perform the above-mentioned operations and / or functions to implement the corresponding process of the above-mentioned method embodiment.

[0147] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit module executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0148] FIG12 is another schematic structural diagram of a signal processing device provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG12, the signal processing device includes an electric frequency comb generator, which may correspond to the electric frequency comb generating module shown in FIG6 and FIG11, and implement the operation and / or function of the above-mentioned electric frequency comb generating module, such as the electric frequency comb generator is used to generate N first electrical signals. As shown in FIG12, the signal processing device also includes an adder, which may correspond to the signal superposition module shown in FIG6 and FIG11, and is used to implement the operation and / or function of the above-mentioned signal superposition module, such as the signal superposition module is used to superimpose N first electrical signals to obtain a superposition signal.

[0149] The electro-optical conversion module shown in Figures 6 and 11 can be implemented by an analog optical transmitter, which is used to convert an analog electrical signal into an optical signal modulated by light intensity. Exemplarily, the analog optical transmitter can be a semiconductor laser (laser diode, LD) as shown in Figure 12. The optical delay line ODL shown in Figure 12 can correspond to the optical delay line module shown in Figures 6 and 11, and can implement the operation and / or function of the above-mentioned optical delay line module, such as the ODL is used to delay the first optical signal to obtain a second optical signal. The photoelectric conversion module shown in Figures 6 and 11 can be implemented by an analog optical receiver, which is used to convert the second optical signal into a third electrical signal. Exemplarily, the analog optical receiver can be a photodetector (photodetector, PD) as shown in Figure 12, such as the PD can be a photodiode (positive intrinsic-negative, PIN) detector or an avalanche photodiode (avalanche photo diode, APD) detector.

[0150] As shown in Figure 12, the signal processing device also includes a frequency division filter, which can correspond to the frequency division filter module shown in Figures 6 and 11 to implement the operation and / or function of the above-mentioned frequency division filter module. For example, the frequency division filter module is used to perform frequency division filtering on the second electrical signal to obtain N third electrical signals.

[0151] As shown in FIG12, the signal processing device also includes a plurality of multipliers, which can correspond to the mixing modules shown in FIG6 and FIG11 to implement the operation and / or function of the above-mentioned mixing modules. As shown in FIG12, a multiplication group among the plurality of multipliers includes N multipliers, and the N multipliers are used to mix the radio frequency signal and the N first electrical signals to obtain N second mixed signals. Another multiplier group among the plurality of multipliers also includes N multipliers, and the N multipliers are used to mix the N second mixed signals and the N third electrical signals to obtain N first mixed signals. Optionally, the signal processing device also includes at least one sideband filter, which is used to filter the double-sideband signal obtained after mixing to obtain a single-sideband signal.

[0152] Optionally, the signal processing device as shown in FIG. 12 may further include an antenna array, wherein the antenna array includes N array element antennas, and the N array element antennas are used to send the N first mixed frequency signals.

[0153] It should be understood that the specific process of each unit device executing the above corresponding steps has been described in detail in the above method, and for the sake of brevity, it will not be repeated here.

[0154] FIG13 is a schematic diagram of the structure of a communication device 1300 provided in an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG13 , the communication device 1300 includes a processor 1310 and a transmitter 1320. The communication device 1300 may also include a bus 1330, and the processor 1310 and the transmitter 1320 may be connected through the bus 1330 and communicate with each other. The communication device 1300 may be a network device or a terminal device in the communication system shown in FIG1 .

[0155] The processor 1310 can be used for internal processing of the device to implement certain control processing functions. The processor 1310 can execute a program or instruction to enable the transmitter 1320 to perform the signal processing method provided in the embodiment shown in FIG5 .

[0156] The transmitter 1320 may have a function of receiving signals in addition to transmitting signals. When the transmitter 1320 has a function of receiving signals, it may be referred to as a transceiver.

[0157] Optionally, the communication device 1300 further includes a memory 1340, and the memory 1340 is used to store the above-mentioned program or instruction. The processor 1310 and the memory 1340 can be provided separately or integrated together.

[0158] In the present application, the processor may be a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array or other programmable logic device, a discrete gate or transistor logic device, or a discrete hardware component, and may implement or execute the methods, steps, and logic block diagrams of the present application. A general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. The steps of the method in conjunction with the present application may be directly embodied as being executed by a hardware processor, or may be executed by a combination of hardware and software modules in the processor.

[0159] In the present application, the memory may be a non-volatile memory, such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), etc., or a volatile memory (volatile memory), such as a random-access memory (RAM). The memory is any other medium that can be used to carry or store the desired program code in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer, but is not limited thereto. The memory in the present application may also be a circuit or any other device that can implement a storage function, for storing program instructions and / or data.

[0160] According to the method provided in the present application, the present application also provides a transmitter, including a module, circuit or unit for executing the signal processing method provided in the embodiment as shown in Figure 5, or including a signal processing device as shown in Figure 6 or Figure 11.

[0161] Optionally, the transmitter may have a function of receiving signals in addition to the function of transmitting signals. When the transmitter has the function of receiving signals, it may be called a transceiver or a transceiver.

[0162] According to the method provided by the present application, the present application also provides a computer program product, which includes: computer program code, when the computer program code is executed by one or more processors, it enables the communication device including the processor to execute the signal processing method provided by the embodiment shown in Figure 5.

[0163] The technical solution provided in this application can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function described in this application is generated in whole or in part. The above-mentioned computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium, and the computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server or a data center that includes one or more available media integrated. The available medium can be a magnetic medium (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., a digital video disc (DVD)), or a semiconductor medium, etc.

[0164] The present application also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program or instruction, and when the computer program or instruction is executed, the signal processing device executes the method shown in Figure 5. In this way, the functions described in the above embodiments can be implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or in other words, the part that contributes or the part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the method described in each embodiment of the present application. The storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as a USB flash drive, a mobile hard disk, a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory RAM, a magnetic disk or an optical disk.

[0165] In the 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 devices described above are only schematic. For example, the division of each unit 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.

[0166] 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

A signal processing device, characterized in that: include: An electrical frequency comb generating module, used for generating N first electrical signals, wherein the frequencies of the N first electrical signals are arranged in order to form an arithmetic progression, and N is a positive integer; an optoelectronic conversion module, used for performing electro-optical conversion on the superposition signal of the N first electrical signals to obtain a first optical signal; an optical delay line module, used for performing optical delay processing on the first optical signal to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the time delay between the second optical signal and the first optical signal is the first time delay; an electro-optical conversion module, configured to perform photoelectric conversion on the second optical signal to obtain a second electrical signal; A frequency division filtering module, used for performing frequency division filtering on the second electrical signal to obtain N third electrical signals, wherein the frequency of one of the third electrical signals is the same as that of one of the first electrical signals and the delay is the first delay; a mixing module, used for mixing based on the N first electrical signals, the N third electrical signals and the radio frequency signal to obtain N first mixed signals, wherein the frequency of the first mixed signal is the same as that of the radio frequency signal, and the delays of the N first mixed signals are arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that include: The antenna array is used to send the N first mixed frequency signals. The device according to claim 2, characterized in that The direction of the beam formed by the N first mixing signals in the channel is related to the first time delay amount and the tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that The mixing module is specifically used to: mix the N first electrical signals with the radio frequency signal respectively to obtain N second mixed signals; mix the N second mixed signals with the N third electrical signals to obtain the N first mixed signals, wherein one second mixed signal among the N second mixed signals is obtained by mixing the first electrical signal having a first frequency with the radio frequency signal, and one first mixed signal among the N first mixed signals is obtained by mixing the one second mixed signal with the third electrical signal having a first frequency. The device according to claim 4, characterized in that The second mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal; or, the second mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal. The device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that The time delay between the first mixing signal and the radio frequency signal is the product of a first time delay coefficient and the first time delay, and the magnitude of the first time delay coefficient is the ratio of the first frequency to the frequency of the radio frequency signal. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that The tolerance of the delay amounts of the N first mixing signals is the product of a second delay coefficient and the first delay amount, the second delay coefficient is the ratio of a second frequency to the frequency of the RF signal, and the second frequency is the tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals. The device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that The frequency of the first electrical signal with the smallest frequency among the N first electrical signals is a third frequency, and the third frequency is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the radio frequency signal. The device according to claim 8, characterized in that The tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals is a second frequency, and the second frequency is less than or equal to the third frequency. A signal processing method, characterized in that: include: Generate N first electrical signals, wherein the frequencies of the N first electrical signals are arranged in order to form an arithmetic progression, and N is a positive integer; Performing electro-optical conversion on the superimposed signal of the N first electrical signals to obtain a first optical signal; performing optical delay processing on the first optical signal to obtain a second optical signal, wherein the time delay between the second optical signal and the first optical signal is the first time delay; performing photoelectric conversion on the second optical signal to obtain a second electrical signal; performing frequency division filtering on the second electrical signal to obtain N third electrical signals, wherein one of the third electrical signals has the same frequency as one of the first electrical signals and the time delay is the first time delay; based on the N first electrical signals, the N third electrical signals and the radio frequency signal, mixing to obtain N first mixed signals, wherein the first mixed signal has the same frequency as the radio frequency signal, and the time delays of the N first mixed signals are arranged in size to form an arithmetic progression. The method according to claim 10, characterized in that The method further includes: sending the N first mixed signals. The method according to claim 11, characterized in that The direction of the beam formed by the N first mixing signals in the channel is related to the first time delay amount and the tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 12, characterized in that The mixing based on the N first electrical signals, the N third electrical signals and the radio frequency signal to obtain N first mixed signals includes: mixing the N first electrical signals with the radio frequency signal respectively to obtain N second mixed signals; mixing the N second mixed signals with the N third electrical signals to obtain the N first mixed signals, wherein one second mixed signal among the N second mixed signals is obtained by mixing the first electrical signal having a first frequency with the radio frequency signal, and one first mixed signal among the N first mixed signals is obtained by mixing the one second mixed signal with the third electrical signal having a first frequency. The method according to claim 13, characterized in that The second mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal; or, the second mixing signal is a lower sideband signal obtained by mixing the first electrical signal with the radio frequency signal, and the first mixing signal is an upper sideband signal obtained by mixing the second mixing signal with the third electrical signal. The method according to claim 13 or 14, characterized in that The time delay between the first mixing signal and the radio frequency signal is the product of a first time delay coefficient and the first time delay, and the magnitude of the first time delay coefficient is the ratio of the first frequency to the frequency of the radio frequency signal. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, characterized in that The delay tolerance of the N first mixing signals is the product of a second delay coefficient and the first delay, the second delay coefficient is the ratio of a second frequency to the frequency of the RF signal, and the second frequency is the frequency tolerance of the N first electrical signals. The method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, characterized in that The frequency of the first electrical signal with the smallest frequency among the N first electrical signals is a third frequency, and the third frequency is greater than half of the frequency bandwidth of the radio frequency signal. The method according to claim 17, characterized in that The tolerance of the frequencies of the N first electrical signals is a second frequency, and the second frequency is less than or equal to the third frequency. A transmitter, characterized in that The method comprises the signal processing device as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 9. A communication device, characterized in that: The device comprises at least one processor; the at least one processor is used to execute a program or instruction stored in a memory so that the communication device implements the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18. The communication device according to claim 20, characterized in that The communication device comprises the memory. A computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program or instruction. When the computer program or instruction is executed in a computer, the computer executes the method according to any one of claims 10 to 18.

Images