Fault detection system of liquid crystal phased array antenna

Abstract

The invention, which relates to the technical field of antenna fault detection, discloses a fault detection system for a liquid crystal phased-array antenna, comprising a distributed sensing terminal, an edge computing terminal and a cloud collaborative terminal. According to the invention, distributed multi-modal data acquisition is carried out on the to-be-detected liquid crystal phased-array antenna through the distributed sensing terminal, fault identification and positioning are carried out on the to-be-detected liquid crystal phased-array antenna through the edge computing terminal, and then adaptive optimization and service life prediction are carried out on the to-be-detected liquid crystal phased-array antenna through the cloud collaborative terminal. The embedded and lightweight design is combined, the dynamic detection task requirement can be met, the real-time performance and the dynamic detection capacity are high, the multi-modal data fusion is combined with the fault positioning strategy, the specific fault position can be accurately positioned, normal detection work can be achieved during multi-fault concurrency, and in addition, through the environment self-adaptive compensation and anti-interference design, the real-time performance of the system is improved. Data interference can be effectively removed, and the fault detection precision is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of antenna fault detection, and particularly to a fault detection system for a liquid crystal phased array antenna. Background Art

[0002] A phased array antenna refers to an antenna that changes the pattern shape by controlling the feeding phase of the radiation units in the array antenna. A liquid crystal phased array antenna utilizes the characteristic that the dielectric constant of liquid crystal material can be electrically controlled and adjusted. By applying different voltages, the orientation of liquid crystal molecules is controlled, the effective refractive index is changed, the phase of the electromagnetic wave beam is modulated, and intelligent coding and electronic scanning of the beam are realized. It has technical characteristics such as small volume, light weight, low power consumption, low cost, and easy planar integration, and is suitable for the design of electronically tunable devices in the microwave, millimeter wave, and terahertz frequency bands.

[0003] A liquid crystal phased array antenna is composed of a large number of independent units. A single unit failure will cause abnormal local phase control, affect the beam pointing accuracy and sidelobe level. The faulty unit may destroy the amplitude / phase distribution of the array, resulting in a decrease in signal gain, beam distortion, and even communication interruption. In radar or satellite communication, such failures may directly affect the success or failure of the mission. Therefore, it is necessary to perform fault detection on it. The fault detection of a liquid crystal phased array antenna takes preventive maintenance and performance guarantee as the core objectives to ensure stable antenna performance, prevent potential faults, improve system reliability, and optimize the maintenance cycle.

[0004] The existing liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection technology cannot achieve dynamic detection. It requires the antenna to stop working and enter the offline detection mode, and cannot monitor faults in real time during system operation. The real-time performance and dynamic detection ability are insufficient, and there is a lot of data interference, which cannot be effectively removed, reducing the fault detection accuracy. In addition, when multiple faulty units exist simultaneously, it is difficult to accurately locate the specific fault position. Therefore, the present invention proposes a fault detection system for a liquid crystal phased array antenna to solve the problems existing in the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Aiming at the above problems, the purpose of the present invention is to propose a fault detection system for a liquid crystal phased array antenna, which solves the problems of insufficient real-time performance and dynamic detection ability, low fault detection accuracy of the existing liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection technology, and difficulty in accurately locating the specific fault position when multiple faulty units exist simultaneously.

[0006] To achieve the object of the present invention, the present invention is implemented through the following technical solutions: A fault detection system for a liquid crystal phased array antenna, comprising a distributed sensing terminal, an edge computing terminal, and a cloud collaborative terminal. The distributed sensing terminal includes an embedded sensing module for collecting the unit impedance, temperature, and optical data of each antenna, an array assistance module for periodically collecting the near-field radiation pattern of the antenna array, and a communication interface for transmitting the collected data to the edge computing terminal;

[0007] The edge computing terminal includes a real-time data processing module for performing real-time analysis and processing on the received collected data and a lightweight fault detection module for identifying antenna anomalies and inverting the antenna fault location. The real-time data processing module includes a data filtering unit for filtering the received collected data and a feature extraction unit for extracting features from the filtered data. The lightweight fault detection module includes an anomaly identification unit for identifying data anomalies and a fault location acquisition unit for inverting the location of the fault unit;

[0008] The cloud collaborative terminal includes a phase error compensation module for online calibration of the antenna array, a fault prediction module for predicting the fault location of the antenna array, and a life prediction module for predicting the life of the antenna array.

[0009] A further improvement lies in that: the embedded sensing module includes an impedance sensor for real-time collecting the impedance data of each unit of the antenna array, a micro-thermocouple for real-time collecting the temperature data of each unit of the antenna array, and an optical feedback module for real-time collecting the optical data of each unit of the antenna array. The impedance sensor, the micro-thermocouple, and the optical feedback module are embedded in each antenna unit.

[0010] A further improvement lies in that: the array assistance module includes a near-field coupling probe for periodically collecting the near-field radiation pattern of the antenna array and a self-test signal generator for transmitting a test signal and analyzing the consistency of each unit of the antenna array through the echo. The near-field coupling probe is arranged at the edge of the antenna array, and the self-test signal generator transmits a swept-frequency microwave pulse as the test signal.

[0011] A further improvement lies in that: the communication interface includes a high-speed optical fiber bus for transmitting the original signal and an FPGA coprocessor for performing preliminary filtering and noise reduction processing on the original signal. The distributed sensing terminal transmits the collected data to the real-time data processing module through the high-speed optical fiber bus.

[0012] A further improvement lies in that: the distributed sensing terminal ensures the microsecond-level synchronization of the impedance, temperature, and optical data through a hardware timestamp, realizes synchronous data acquisition, and uses an attention mechanism to dynamically weight the confidence of different sensors.

[0013] A further improvement lies in that: the data filtering unit uses a high-pass filter to filter the signal and uses digital signal processing technology to amplify the signal. The features extracted by the feature extraction unit include impedance mutation rate, polarization response time, and temperature-dielectric constant correlation.

[0014] A further improvement lies in that: the anomaly recognition unit dynamically sets the baseline thresholds of impedance, temperature, and optical parameters based on the differential threshold, and quickly identifies data anomalies through comparison of adjacent unit data. The fault location acquisition unit combines the compressive sensing theory to invert and locate the fault unit position of the antenna array through the data of the near-field coupling probe.

[0015] A further improvement lies in that: the fault prediction module predicts potential faults of the antenna array by establishing a high-fidelity electromagnetic-thermal coupling simulation model of the antenna array and synchronizing sensor data in real time. The remaining life prediction module predicts the remaining life of each unit of the antenna array based on the aging law of liquid crystal materials and the load data of the drive circuit.

[0016] The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: The present invention performs distributed multi-modal data acquisition on the liquid crystal phased array antenna to be detected through a distributed sensing terminal, and performs fault identification and location on the liquid crystal phased array antenna to be detected through an edge computing terminal. Then, through the cloud collaborative terminal, adaptive optimization and remaining life prediction are performed on the liquid crystal phased array antenna to be detected. Combining embedded and lightweight design, it can meet the requirements of dynamic detection tasks, has strong real-time and dynamic detection capabilities, and adopts a multi-modal data fusion combined with a fault location strategy, which can accurately locate the specific fault location and can achieve normal detection work when multiple faults occur simultaneously. In addition, through the design of environmental adaptive compensation and anti-interference, data interference can be effectively removed, the fault detection accuracy is improved, and it provides help for the high-reliability application of liquid crystal phased array antennas. Description of the Drawings

[0017] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the system structure of the fault detection system of the liquid crystal phased array antenna of the present invention. Detailed Embodiments

[0018] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0019] A liquid crystal phased array antenna is an antenna that adjusts the radiation direction and beam of the antenna by controlling liquid crystal crystals. The overall performance of the phased array antenna is of great significance to the entire radar system. However, during the service of the phased array antenna, with the continuous deterioration of the electromagnetic environment and the long-term influence of the external natural environment, faults will inevitably occur in the phased array strips. After a fault occurs in the phased array strips, how to monitor its state, detect and eliminate the fault in a timely manner, and quickly restore the performance of the phased array antenna is a complex problem.

[0020] See Figure 1 , this embodiment provides a fault detection system for a liquid crystal phased array antenna. The system is composed of a distributed sensing terminal for distributed multi-modal data acquisition of the liquid crystal phased array antenna, an edge computing terminal for fault identification and location of the liquid crystal phased array antenna, and a cloud collaborative terminal for adaptive optimization and life prediction of the liquid crystal phased array antenna;

[0021] The distributed sensing terminal is composed of an embedded sensing module, an array auxiliary module, and a communication interface. The embedded sensing module is used to collect the unit impedance, temperature, and optical data of each antenna. The array auxiliary module is used to periodically collect the near-field radiation pattern of the antenna array. The communication interface is used to transmit the collected data to the edge computing terminal. The distributed sensing terminal of this embodiment ensures the microsecond-level synchronization of impedance, temperature, and optical data through a hardware timestamp, eliminates environmental transient interference, realizes synchronous data acquisition, and uses an attention mechanism (Attention) to dynamically weight the confidence of different sensors. For example, in a high-temperature environment, the weight of impedance data is reduced, and the priority of optical data is increased to ensure the accuracy of data acquisition;

[0022] The edge computing terminal is composed of a real-time data processing module and a lightweight fault detection module. The real-time data processing module is used to perform real-time analysis and processing on the received collected data. The lightweight fault detection module is used to identify antenna anomalies and invert the antenna fault location. The real-time data processing module is composed of a data filtering unit and a feature extraction unit. The data filtering unit is used to perform preliminary filtering on the received collected data. The feature extraction unit is used to extract features from the preliminarily filtered data. The lightweight fault detection module is composed of an anomaly identification unit and a fault location acquisition unit. The anomaly identification unit is used to identify data anomalies. The fault location acquisition unit is used to invert the location of the fault unit;

[0023] The cloud - collaborative terminal consists of a phase - error compensation module, a fault prediction module, and a lifespan prediction module. The phase - error compensation module performs online calibration on the antenna array. The fault prediction module predicts potential faults of the antenna array by establishing a high - fidelity electromagnetic - thermal coupling simulation model of the antenna array and synchronizing sensor data in real - time. The lifespan prediction module predicts the remaining lifespan of each unit of the antenna array based on the aging law of liquid - crystal materials and the load data of the drive circuit.

[0024] The embedded sensing module in this embodiment consists of an impedance sensor, a micro - thermocouple, and an optical feedback module. The impedance sensor is used to monitor the changes in the dielectric constant and electrode impedance of the liquid - crystal material of the antenna array in real - time (with a sensitivity better than 0.1Ω) as the impedance data of each unit of the antenna array. The micro - thermocouple is used to collect the temperature data of each unit of the antenna array in real - time to compensate for the temperature - drift effect of the liquid - crystal material. The optical feedback module uses the birefringence characteristic of liquid crystals to capture the optical states of each unit of the antenna array, such as response delay and polarization - angle deviation, as the optical data of each unit of the antenna array. And the impedance sensor, micro - thermocouple, and optical feedback module are embedded in each antenna unit.

[0025] The array - assisted module in this embodiment consists of a near - field coupling probe and a self - test signal generator. The near - field coupling probe is arranged at the edge of the antenna array to periodically collect the near - field radiation pattern of the antenna array for auxiliary calibration and global verification. The self - test signal generator emits a swept - frequency microwave pulse as a test signal and analyzes the consistency of each unit of the antenna array through the echo.

[0026] The communication interface in this embodiment consists of a high - speed optical - fiber bus and an FPGA co - processor. The high - speed optical - fiber bus is used to transmit the original signal to reduce delay. The FPGA co - processor is used to perform preliminary filtering and noise reduction on the original signal. The distributed sensing terminal transmits the collected data to the real - time data - processing module through the high - speed optical - fiber bus.

[0027] The data - filtering unit in this embodiment uses a high - pass filter to filter the signal and uses digital signal - processing technology to amplify the signal. The features extracted by the feature - extraction unit include the impedance mutation rate, the polarization response time, and the temperature - dielectric - constant correlation.

[0028] The anomaly - recognition unit in this embodiment dynamically sets the baseline thresholds of impedance, temperature, and optical parameters based on the differential threshold, and quickly identifies data anomalies through comparison of adjacent - unit data. The fault - location acquisition unit combines the compressed - sensing theory to invert and locate the fault - unit position of the antenna array through the data of the near - field coupling probe. According to the fault - location result, the drive - voltage matrix is dynamically adjusted to compensate for the phase error in real - time.

[0029] When the fault detection system of the liquid crystal phased array antenna is actually used, first, the embedded sensing module in the distributed sensing terminal is used to collect the unit impedance, temperature, and optical data of each antenna, and the array auxiliary module is used to periodically collect the near-field radiation pattern of the antenna array. Then, the communication interface is used to transmit the collected data to the edge computing terminal. Next, the real-time data processing module in the edge computing terminal is used to perform real-time processing and analysis on the received collected data to detect antenna faults. Subsequently, the lightweight fault detection module is used to invert the antenna fault location. Finally, the cloud collaborative terminal is used to predict potential antenna faults and the remaining life of each unit of the antenna array, thus completing the entire fault detection work.

[0030] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of the present invention shall be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection system, comprising a distributed sensing terminal, an edge computing terminal and a cloud collaboration terminal, characterized in that: The distributed sensing terminal includes an embedded sensing module for collecting unit impedance, temperature and optical data of each antenna, an array auxiliary module for periodically collecting near-field radiation patterns of the antenna array, and a communication interface for transmitting the collected data to the edge computing terminal; The edge computing terminal includes a real-time data processing module for performing real-time analysis and processing on the received collected data and a lightweight fault detection module for identifying antenna abnormalities and inverting the antenna fault position, the real-time data processing module includes a data filtering unit for filtering the received collected data and a feature extraction unit for extracting features from the filtered data, and the lightweight fault detection module includes an abnormality identification unit for identifying data abnormalities and a fault position acquisition unit for inverting the position of the fault unit; The cloud-based collaborative terminal includes a phase error compensation module for online calibration of the antenna array, a fault prediction module for predicting the fault location of the antenna array, and a life prediction module for predicting the life of the antenna array.

2. The liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The embedded sensing module includes an impedance sensor for real-time acquisition of impedance data of each unit of the antenna array, a micro-thermocouple for real-time acquisition of temperature data of each unit of the antenna array, and an optical feedback module for real-time acquisition of optical data of each unit of the antenna array. The impedance sensor, micro-thermocouple and optical feedback module are embedded in each antenna unit.

3. The liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The array auxiliary module includes a near-field coupling probe for periodically collecting the near-field radiation pattern of the antenna array and a self-test signal generator for transmitting a test signal and analyzing the consistency of each unit of the antenna array through echoes. The near-field coupling probe is arranged at the edge of the antenna array, and the self-test signal generator transmits a swept frequency microwave pulse as a test signal.

4. The liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The communication interface includes a high-speed optical fiber bus for transmitting the original signal and an FPGA coprocessor for performing preliminary filtering and noise reduction processing on the original signal. The distributed sensor terminal transmits the collected data to the real-time data processing module through the high-speed optical fiber bus.

5. The liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The distributed sensing terminal ensures microsecond synchronization of impedance, temperature, and optical data through hardware timestamps, realizes synchronous data collection, and uses an attention mechanism to dynamically weight the confidence of different sensors.

6. The liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The data filtering unit uses a high-pass filter to filter the signal and uses digital signal processing technology to amplify the signal. The features extracted by the feature extraction unit include impedance mutation rate, polarization response time and temperature-dielectric constant correlation.

7. The liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The abnormality identification unit dynamically sets the baseline thresholds of impedance, temperature and optical parameters based on the differential threshold, and quickly identifies data abnormalities by comparing the data of adjacent units. The fault location acquisition unit combines the compressed sensing theory to invert and locate the faulty unit position of the antenna array through near-field coupling probe data.

8. The liquid crystal phased array antenna fault detection system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The fault prediction module predicts potential faults of the antenna array by establishing a high-fidelity electromagnetic-thermal coupling simulation model of the antenna array and synchronizing sensor data in real time. The life prediction module predicts the remaining life of each unit of the antenna array based on the aging law of the liquid crystal material and the load data of the driving circuit.

Images